Wednesday, April 09, 2008
The Black and White mountains
Hola,
Greetings from the final leg of the journey...Ancash and the Cordilleras Blanca y Negra. We took a ridiculously long busride from Lima yesterday, but I enjoyed seeing the transition, albeit slowly through a filthy window, from the starkest desert imaginable north of Lima to the lush, wildflower filled meadows at the base of the mountains. The bus chugged up the final bit of elevation to reveal the stunning white peaks, lush meadows and meandering rivers that for all the world look exactly like the grand Tetons. Except for the llamas and stretches of Puya raimondii. I haven´t seen them yet, unfortunately, but I know they are just beyond in the mist, waiting for me. In a few days we go to graph and photograph them, but no collecting.
This morning we got up super early after a lovely evening in Mercedes´ aunts house...actually, it is part of a giant house owned by her grandparents that was divided up after their death. Mercedes and her mom own a big part, but it is falling down and they have to do a lot of work to rehab it. Extreme homemakover or some such show should come down and help! They would have to watch out for all the baby turkeys and very friendly Rottweiler Roco.
We took a taxi up into the national Park and then started walking along this amazing aquamarine lake, flanked by huge peaks, waterfalls and glaciers. Pure magic and we decided this is what heaven should be like (minus stinging Loasaceae.) Huge Polylepsis forests with peeling red bark (excellent toiletpaper!), enough wild potatos to keep Mercedes more than happy and Puya angusta just starting to bloom! A big white fuzzball with deep green flowers just starting to poke out. I took lots of photos of these cliffhangers over the lake, with lots of nice ducks in the background. We had a delicious lunch of giant corn, edible lupine beans and sweet glass bottled Coke. Truly a magical day and hopefully more of the same (with more species!) tomorrow.
We are now in Mercede´s hometown of Caraz, just off the quaint red and white painted plaza in a big internet cafe. A nice place, but full of scary memories. In 1970 there was a huge earthquake and large piece of a glacier fell off the mountain and started a landslide that buried 30,000 people in the nearby town of Yungay. We drove over their graves today. We also drove past the busstop that was blown up by the Shining Path just seconds after young Mercedes and her mom passed by in a bus on Christmas years ago. Traveling here, Colombia and other places makes me admire the fortidude of the people of this continent and makes me realize that the US, at least recently, really doesn´t know what it is like to suffer terrorism, disorder or loss of life on a scale like many other nations have. Not to diminish any of our current events, but I have been thinking about that a lot lately and feel it is true.
But the US is awesome for so many reasons and now, as happens with any trip in the fourth quarter, I get homesick and reminisce about mis cosas favoritos de los EEUU. Free, thick and plentiful toilet paper that you can flush! Soap dispensers always full! Ample napkins! Decent restaurant service! Showers that have both hot water and decent pressure! Less smog and dirt! Less reggaeton! Less music in general everywhere at once! Less omnipresent soapoperas! REAL, freshground coffee! Less barking dogs...(sorry, Couscous)! Better sidewalks! Better seatbelts! Better quality plastics, hate to say! More cheese! Beer diversity! Faster and more plentiful highways! Doing my own laundry whenever I want! My darling husband and dachshund! Thats the list for now, which may grow. But you all know that I do love it here and I hope to not offend any South American readers. I´ll go off to dream of thick rolls of Charmin now...
Greetings from the final leg of the journey...Ancash and the Cordilleras Blanca y Negra. We took a ridiculously long busride from Lima yesterday, but I enjoyed seeing the transition, albeit slowly through a filthy window, from the starkest desert imaginable north of Lima to the lush, wildflower filled meadows at the base of the mountains. The bus chugged up the final bit of elevation to reveal the stunning white peaks, lush meadows and meandering rivers that for all the world look exactly like the grand Tetons. Except for the llamas and stretches of Puya raimondii. I haven´t seen them yet, unfortunately, but I know they are just beyond in the mist, waiting for me. In a few days we go to graph and photograph them, but no collecting.
This morning we got up super early after a lovely evening in Mercedes´ aunts house...actually, it is part of a giant house owned by her grandparents that was divided up after their death. Mercedes and her mom own a big part, but it is falling down and they have to do a lot of work to rehab it. Extreme homemakover or some such show should come down and help! They would have to watch out for all the baby turkeys and very friendly Rottweiler Roco.
We took a taxi up into the national Park and then started walking along this amazing aquamarine lake, flanked by huge peaks, waterfalls and glaciers. Pure magic and we decided this is what heaven should be like (minus stinging Loasaceae.) Huge Polylepsis forests with peeling red bark (excellent toiletpaper!), enough wild potatos to keep Mercedes more than happy and Puya angusta just starting to bloom! A big white fuzzball with deep green flowers just starting to poke out. I took lots of photos of these cliffhangers over the lake, with lots of nice ducks in the background. We had a delicious lunch of giant corn, edible lupine beans and sweet glass bottled Coke. Truly a magical day and hopefully more of the same (with more species!) tomorrow.
We are now in Mercede´s hometown of Caraz, just off the quaint red and white painted plaza in a big internet cafe. A nice place, but full of scary memories. In 1970 there was a huge earthquake and large piece of a glacier fell off the mountain and started a landslide that buried 30,000 people in the nearby town of Yungay. We drove over their graves today. We also drove past the busstop that was blown up by the Shining Path just seconds after young Mercedes and her mom passed by in a bus on Christmas years ago. Traveling here, Colombia and other places makes me admire the fortidude of the people of this continent and makes me realize that the US, at least recently, really doesn´t know what it is like to suffer terrorism, disorder or loss of life on a scale like many other nations have. Not to diminish any of our current events, but I have been thinking about that a lot lately and feel it is true.
But the US is awesome for so many reasons and now, as happens with any trip in the fourth quarter, I get homesick and reminisce about mis cosas favoritos de los EEUU. Free, thick and plentiful toilet paper that you can flush! Soap dispensers always full! Ample napkins! Decent restaurant service! Showers that have both hot water and decent pressure! Less smog and dirt! Less reggaeton! Less music in general everywhere at once! Less omnipresent soapoperas! REAL, freshground coffee! Less barking dogs...(sorry, Couscous)! Better sidewalks! Better seatbelts! Better quality plastics, hate to say! More cheese! Beer diversity! Faster and more plentiful highways! Doing my own laundry whenever I want! My darling husband and dachshund! Thats the list for now, which may grow. But you all know that I do love it here and I hope to not offend any South American readers. I´ll go off to dream of thick rolls of Charmin now...
# posted by Rachel Jabaily @ 5:32 PM 
