Alto Mayo

Today we head out 2 hours north to the capital of district.  We are off to see waterfalls and not many steps. The weather has been good so far only intermittently rain but still warm and humid.  Both of our arms and legs are fatigued from using the walking sticks yesterday.  The trip takes a little longer than expected because of road work not to mention the motor karts. We go through all lots of small towns that demonstrate the way people live.  This area is in a valley so there are lots of farms and growing rice, coffee and cocoa are chief crops.  Unfortunately our guide is not as fluent in English as we would have liked but stated that families own the land and harvest any crop they grow.  There seems to be large farms so it may actually be a cooperative endeavor.  In this part of Peru there are lots of lots for sale and unlike other Latin America countries it sounds like you could own vs lease the land. 

The first part of our trip is to an orchid nursery.  Dan is in hog heaven. Lots of varieties. He would love to purchase but is aware they couldn’t be shipped unless a certified grower.  It is a beautiful display.  Our guide says there is another area he wants to show us that has more orchids 

We are take to the Waqui ecological reserve.  It is a Botanical Garden. All of the plants are growing “naturally “ with only natural fertilizers.  Of course being a garden means lots more steps. My legs are wondering what have I done. After a climb of approximately 3-4 flights up. Well worth it at the top.  10-15 hummingbird feeders and dozens of hummingbirds.  Here the hummingbirds are as big or bigger than a parakeet. Vibrant colors and amazing.  

Back to lunch.   Here was an area that is like a public park with an open air restaurant that seats 300 or more people. Clearly meant for tour groups and places similar to what we have seen in other places.  Today we ordered one meal to split.  It worked much better.  In both restaurants there serve a little aperitif. Today’s was a cold coffee.  All the liquids are sweet today’s juice was a grape variety and very sweet. 

Tomorrow an excursion to Lago Linda.  This is actually part of the resort a private lake and we will start out at 0800. I think I have more granola bars.

It has been a good day.  When first planning this trip I wanted to stay in this town in Alto Mayo    After driving all over the city there was absolutely no place that would have been acceptable.  There were some cottages at the Ecological Park that would have worked but I am not sure if I would have been able to identify it as a locale. 

So even though our accommodations are focused on local tourists and the staff speaks little English, it is trul 4 stars compared with anything else.   I will try and add some photos.