Manu and the Amazon

Manu and The Amazon

To Manu Preserve.
Half of Rain Forest is rain.
The van slides and bucks.

Passing on cliff sides.
Amazonian road rage.
One wrong turn, we fall.

Sleeping in the van.
Bumped awake by road debris.
Adrenaline surge.

Driving in rain, mud.
The driver has nerves of steel.
The road ends: landslide.

We sit in the van.
The road has ceased to exist.
Surrounded by green.

Brown water swirls, foams.
Boat stops, guide points to tree tops.
Monkeys on branches.

Wisconsin poncho.
Flatboat, drenching rain, straight down.
Only I am dry.

Fraulein whips off her shirt.
Why don’t mosquitoes bite her?
We’re in the jungle.

Amazon night walk.
Still, hand-sized tarantulas.
Get close: photograph.

Big red moth near bulb.
Slapstick chase ends with capture.
Now free, it wants in.

Amazon night walk.
Mosquitoes veer from DEET.
I am repellant.

Frauleins are stoic.
Sauna jungle march at night.
British boys complain.

We climb the banyan.
Twelve stories above the ground.
Of course, then we spit.

Careful: inch long ants.
Jungle bugs crawl out at night.
Morning: shake your boots.

Ruins and The Inca Trail

Ruins and The Inca Trail

SPF-Fifty.
No compromise: white or burned.
Where’s my melanin?

Ollantaytambo.
Conquistadors, Inca fought.
Now tourists stroll there.

Saw Sacsayhuaman.
It’s pronounced ‘Sexy Woman’.
Zig zag walls, nice curves.

Run up ruin stair.
Tour group follows me: bad call.
I went the wrong way

Rain slicked Inca stair.
I don’t, but almost tumble.
Slight knee injury.

Inca trail gear up.
Walking stick and coca leaves.
Rain poncho, caffeine.

Sunscreen missed a spot.
Apocalyptic sunshine.
Hand, now a burned claw.

The guide says, ‘Don’t move.’
Kills the spider on my arm.
We finish dinner.

Hummingbirds buzz past.
I halt to photograph them.
Really, I need rest.

I’ve been converted.
My new god’s Pachamama.
To hell with YOU, Crom!

There is no air here.
Mountain trail climb, I’m panting.
Llamas stare, eat grass.

Rainy night at camp.
I meet a girl: talk, dance, laugh.
Share beer, up too late.

My turnstile friendships.
Tourists in Peru, meeting.
Then flying away.

Inca-set stone trails.
Standing on cliffs is common.
Fear defied by awe.

Climb to air-thin heights.
Crest the top, gasping, sweating.
Yes, the view’s worth it.

Andes on horseback.
We dismount, then crawl through caves.
A shaman guides us.

We walk the horses.
Deep slope to Tambomachay.
Perfect Inca stones.

Peru: The Flight In, Lima, Cuzco

What the hell have I done since March 11, 2007?

Visited Peru from March 24th through April 12th. Watched Rik’s two American Eskimo dogs for about a month. Worked. Played volleyball three to five times per week. Dated. Ran the Hound at the park on the weeks I have him. Hired a maid. Spent some time with my family. Played Civ IV. Began planning for a trip to Inida in the fall. Sorted through many Peru photos. Did physical therapy for the knee I sprained in Peru… So, it all starts with Peru…

The Flight In

Bored in Miami.
Close, loud-arguing Haitians.
Turn up the iPod.

Someone broke the plane.
Delay followed by delay.
Peru, close but not.

IPod: Sinatra.
They say a plane is coming.
Pace, drink, sit: repeat.

The plane bucks and drops.
Darkness and light etched coastlines.
My butt falls asleep.

Lima

Flew in and can’t sleep.
It hits me: I’m in Peru!
Dumb adrenaline.

Morning in Lima.
Post flight attempt to shower…
No water pressure.

Welcome to Gang Wars.
Ted was robbed. We’re both OK.
Day one is over.

Each house a fortress.
Graffiti, garbage and dirt.
Glad to leave Lima.

Cuzco

Cuzco morning stroll.
Fog, people drift across streets.
Clouds loll on mountains.

Need morning coffee.
I am up before Cuzco.
And now, it seems, lost…

Main Square in Cuzco.
Gold gilded church, beggars lurk.
Uniformed school girls.

Before eight A.M.
I sit on a bench and write.
And I’m sun-burning.

Thick black ponytails.
Inca, Spanish, Mestizo.
Great hair in Peru.

Women with llamas.
Five soles for their photo.
We pay, then they run!

Street kid unagi.
She’s selling finger puppets.
She frowns and I pay.

What’s on the menu?
Alpaca, guinea pig lunch.
They’re cute AND tasty!

Disco in Cuzco.
Beat moves women’s hips, shoulders.
Hair flipping follows.