My last week in Trujillo was a fun one as my good buddy from high school, Brad Haney, came to visit me over his spring break. I also got the good news that I was accepted to the Industrial and Operations masters program at Michigan. WooHoo! Looks like its back to school in September.
Once again I was packing my bags and hopping on a bus to start my trip that would take just over a week to cross the Andes and travel down the Amazon to get to my last new home of my trip in Iquitos. My first stop along the trip was to visit Kuelap, a city/fortress built on the top of a mountain around 900ad by the Chachapoyans or ‘People of the Clouds.’ By this picture, you can probably tell how they got their name.
For me, Kuelap was really impressive, almost as good as Machu Picchu. It was also very unique in that they’re still doing work to uncover the ruins so being there makes you almost feel like you are a discoverer of the site. I think pictures for this one can do better than my words.
After Kuelap it was down in elevation to the city of Tarapoto which sits in the ‘Ceja de Selva’ or eyebrow of the jungle. The city has a jungle climate, but as it sits at a slightly higher elevation than the true jungle the vegetation isn’t quite as thick and there are a lot more lakes and waterfalls in the area. As there were lakes and waterfalls to see, that’s just what I set out to explore. I spent my first day in Tarapoto exploring the outskirts of the city and checking out a nearby waterfall.
On day two, I had a true adventure getting to Laguna Azul or Blue Lake. You know when you see those signs along the road for ‘falling rocks’ but never actually see any falling rocks? On my way to Laguna Azul I learned why they put those signs up.
As you can see above, a huge bolder had broken off of the cliff side above the road and blocked all traffic. I waited for about a half an hour for a backhoe to try and move the massive bolder off of the road. In the end it was only able to move the smallest of the three fallen rocks a tiny bit, just enough to make the road passable again.
While waiting for the rock to be moved, I got a chance to take in some of the scenery, and also noticed something peculiar below. It seemed the road that I was traveling on went straight into a river and then another road came out from the other side of the river with no bridge and no other apparent way to cross. I was intrigued. Getting closer, I found out how I was going to be crossing the river…by raft!
For all cars crossing the river, they must first pass onto a tiny raft which uses a cable system, letting one of two cables out a little bit more than the other so that the current of the river can push the raft to the other side. It was a pretty neat idea, but I think I prefer the old fashion bridge to get across my rivers!
The final part of the adventure to Laguna Azul included my guide using a machete to clear away brush in order to make a walking path to get to a small lake a short walk away from Laguna Azul. I guess traveling in Peru is a little bit different than in the States, but it’s always an adventure!
Until next time, keep livin’ the dream!
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