Sunday, March 30, 2008
Limeñas
Greetings from sweet and sunny Lima,
I guess there was an earthquake here yesterday, but we just rolled into town and so far things are stable. Exciting! Mercedes and I finished up in Cusco this morning by running around and taking all the touristy pictures we hadn´t had time for earlier. I really enjoyed that city and will miss it. We stayed with the very kindest people imaginable and I felt like I got a good feel for the place, despite being so busy. I originally was going to have several days to be a tourist before we left, but of course, Puya intervened. I ended up going to a whole new departmento, Apurimac, to the west of Cusco on a whirlwind two day collecting trip with a bunch of botanists inventorying the area. I was the Puya expert in residence, which meant I just had to stand by the side of the road and determine if the random stuff hauled down from the cliffsides were new species or not. And they are, as near as I can tell. Two more beauties to describe, new to the world. One with long, skinny green flowers that turn bright pink when they are spent and one with several long arms of fuzzy, dense flowers. Lots of work these are, but still quite exciting. This is a very remote part of Peru and it seems like just now scientists are fully investigating it. Remote equals hours and hours in a cramped truck and spending the night in a skunky little town, but such is the price to pay for discovery. Actually, Apurimac was very beautiful and the canyons along the river, raging straight through to the Amazon, were covered in giant cactus and seasonally dry forest. It is the season for the leaves to turn orange and then fall off, so it kind of looked like a bizarre mix of autumn in New England and the Sonoran desert, with giant blooming white Agaves thrown in for a touch of spring.
Now we are in Lima at Mercedes´mom´s house and I am well fed and a bit nappy in the humidity. Lima is SUCH a different scene from old timey Cusco and I am reminded of LA, Quito and many other places as we rush past TGI Fridays, McDonalds and kids rushing into traffic to sell Tampico. We should eventually find Bryan tonight, to hear his tales of renting a car in Lima and exploring nearby canyons. Tomorrow it is off to the Museo to figure out permitting and meet lots of people. My Spanish brain gets very tired at times like this, but thank God Mercedes is done with her work for her thesis project and can be with me to help smooth over Spanish situations. Hopefully we will not be in Lima long and can begin the giant haul to the north in a few days. I´ve got about fourteen good days left in me before I throw up my hands and choose to ignore Puya and go hiking or go to the beach instead. The end is in site, but it is paved in spiny, glorious plants. Back to itching my flea bites...
I guess there was an earthquake here yesterday, but we just rolled into town and so far things are stable. Exciting! Mercedes and I finished up in Cusco this morning by running around and taking all the touristy pictures we hadn´t had time for earlier. I really enjoyed that city and will miss it. We stayed with the very kindest people imaginable and I felt like I got a good feel for the place, despite being so busy. I originally was going to have several days to be a tourist before we left, but of course, Puya intervened. I ended up going to a whole new departmento, Apurimac, to the west of Cusco on a whirlwind two day collecting trip with a bunch of botanists inventorying the area. I was the Puya expert in residence, which meant I just had to stand by the side of the road and determine if the random stuff hauled down from the cliffsides were new species or not. And they are, as near as I can tell. Two more beauties to describe, new to the world. One with long, skinny green flowers that turn bright pink when they are spent and one with several long arms of fuzzy, dense flowers. Lots of work these are, but still quite exciting. This is a very remote part of Peru and it seems like just now scientists are fully investigating it. Remote equals hours and hours in a cramped truck and spending the night in a skunky little town, but such is the price to pay for discovery. Actually, Apurimac was very beautiful and the canyons along the river, raging straight through to the Amazon, were covered in giant cactus and seasonally dry forest. It is the season for the leaves to turn orange and then fall off, so it kind of looked like a bizarre mix of autumn in New England and the Sonoran desert, with giant blooming white Agaves thrown in for a touch of spring.
Now we are in Lima at Mercedes´mom´s house and I am well fed and a bit nappy in the humidity. Lima is SUCH a different scene from old timey Cusco and I am reminded of LA, Quito and many other places as we rush past TGI Fridays, McDonalds and kids rushing into traffic to sell Tampico. We should eventually find Bryan tonight, to hear his tales of renting a car in Lima and exploring nearby canyons. Tomorrow it is off to the Museo to figure out permitting and meet lots of people. My Spanish brain gets very tired at times like this, but thank God Mercedes is done with her work for her thesis project and can be with me to help smooth over Spanish situations. Hopefully we will not be in Lima long and can begin the giant haul to the north in a few days. I´ve got about fourteen good days left in me before I throw up my hands and choose to ignore Puya and go hiking or go to the beach instead. The end is in site, but it is paved in spiny, glorious plants. Back to itching my flea bites...
# posted by Rachel Jabaily @ 2:44 PM 
