To Pucallpa on the road less traveled

I wanted to drive during the coolest part of the day, so I decided to get a collectivo (car ride, s.45) from Tingo Maria to Pucallpa, a six hour ride by car or 11 hr ride by bus. I woke up at 3:30am to catch my ride at 4am which was ready and waiting for me ON TIME!! And we were off into the darkness of the thin morning air. With no street lights on the dark mountain roads we swerved several times just missing a dog, and children going to school in the early morning. Soon the sun came up and I witnessed the most beautiful jungle landscape, with waterfalls, and colorful birds everywhere. Then the heat began to set in, and we came to a road-block, then another, and another...There are a lot of landslides and a never-ending amount of road work to be done on the roadways. Our 6 hour trip quickly turned into 7, then 8, then after 9 hours we were in Pucallpa.

Pucallpa is a crowded, busy city but still seems quite small compared to Lima. It definitely does not have the friendly charm that Huañuco and Tingo Maria had. People are nice but things seem a little more fast paced; so many motorcars buzzing everywhere- there are thousands of them. Not a tourist destination like the other popular places in Peru.

I found a moto-car to drive me to Pablo’s house where I waited for his son to arrive. As it turns out his son has a lodge on the outskirts of town, and NOT an apartment, like I thought. Well, I guess I should go check it out. We drove about 10 minutes down a flooded muddy road, and when we got to the end we parked. Juan, Pablo’s son, led me to a tall wooden gate that was locked. We entered paradise. It looked like untouched jungle besides a wooden walkway through the swampy marsh. After walking for a few minutes we reached another locked gate. This is Pucallpa´s little secret, a little hideaway from the noisy, boom’ box sounds of downtown.

Lush tropical plants, birds, flowers, butterflies, walking-stick insects, and a few friendly spiders that aren’t too friendly with the roaches (see photo). This entire place is not being used by other people right now so I have it all to myself. It´s a little lonely and challenging at times. I just want to turn on a TV, Listen to a radio, plug into the internet, call someone on the phone, watch a movie, drink myself silly...J-k. But there are no distractions, just like I had hoped for. Its Just my self in nature.

I might be helping out with English lessons in the near future, after I get settled into this new lifestyle. I also want to take some art classes at Pablo's School. I purchased some art supplies that I still need to drop off at the school. I think the next few weeks are going to be interesting.

I hope you enjoy the photos as they took several hours to upload. Also check the previous posting for new pics...