This and That from Here and There: ALWAYS take boots!

After lunch on April 29, Jill and I set off with two of our young friends for Buena Esperanza. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into! This is what we were told: "Take the bus from Ayacucho to Poza Honda (about half an hour). From Poza Honda, you will travel by canoe about fifteen minutes to the entrance to Buena Esperanza. From the canoe landing to Sra. A's home, it's about a two hour hike. It hasn't been raining, so you won't need boots." Did you catch that last part? There were a few other minor misjudgments in the instructions given, but that last bit was WAY off!!! I'll let the pictures (lots of them) tell the story.

The canoe launch in Poza Honda

The canoe "driver" fixes the seats so that they are ready for passengers.

Ready to climb aboard

The canoe ride lasted more like half an hour. This was no problem. The water was calm. The sun was shining. A gentle breeze was blowing. The scenery was beautiful. "Ahhh," we thought. "This is the life!"

Turns out, the lady sitting next to me was heading for Buena Esperanza as well. We were glad she was there to direct us since none of the four of us had ever been here before.

M & I are on the seat behind me. They are the daughters of I & P where Jill and I lunched before setting off on this adventure.

Gorgeous!

I loved this tree out on the point, so Jill obligingly took a picture for me. :-)

Dwellings on the water's edge

Can you see the path winding up the mountain? We wished later that our trail had been so defined and "easy."

They call this floating green stuff "lechuga," which means "lettuce."

More lechuga

It's the home to gazillions of little green flying bugs that assault you when you get in amongst the floating greenery. And no, assault isn't too strong of a word!

The entrance to Buena Esperanza

Looking back down toward the water after we had climbed just a short distance

Here we go!

Little do we yet know what awaits us!

Smiling

"Hmmm. Maybe we should have brought our boots?"

"I'll be glad when we get to the top of this hill!"

Before very long, we're already quite a ways above the water.

J, the son of the home where we were going, met us after about 20 minutes of walking and took our backpacks with him on the burro. That was certainly much appreciated!

Hope you have good balance!

"I wonder if we should have brought our boots?!"

We met this little fellow on the trail.

Checking each other out

We walked through the creek instead of using the bridge.

So now, we get to the part where J and the burro take one trail, and we who are on foot take another trail. J's trail was too muddy for us, and our trail was too undefined, rocky, steep, pick your nasty adjective, for the burro. We were really really really glad for our guide (the lady from the canoe)! I, for one, would have never known that parts of the trail were actually a trail.

Here we go!

The view below

Crossing another creek

M & I taking a breather

Finally, after an hour and a half of hiking straight up, our path "leveled out."

Perhaps now would be a good time to mention the shift in my priorities from beginning to end of our hike.

1. I hope I don't get my shoes muddy. (That wish lasted for about 10 minutes max.)

2. I hope I don't ruin my shoes completely.

3. I hope I don't fall in the mud.

4. I hope I don't break my neck.

It's all about perspective!

Here are a couple of "feet shots."

Mine are the black ones on the left.

If you have a choice between grabbing a tree branch and barbed wire, choose the branch.

But sometimes you don't have time to make such a decision. Mine was the first injury, but three-fourths of our travel party sustained a barbed wire injury before it was all said and done.

So, all in all, our hike was 2.5 hours. The first hour and a half, as I already mentioned, was essentially straight up the mountain. (I am NOT exaggerating!) The last hour was up and down, so we were glad for a bit of a rest in the down stretches. It was also in this last part of the hike in that we decided that it likely would have been much better to have boots. (Insert ominous music here...)

We made it!!!!!

If you don't behave, I'm going to put you in a plastic bag and hang you from the wall!

Getting ready for that evening's Bible study - the purpose for our visit

Jill falls asleep trying to read the chapter.

Our hostess brought us a bowl of raw peanuts as a snack. They tasted like radishes. Fortunately, I like radishes.

It's time for a nap, Baby J.

Yes, this picture is quite blurry, but it's in real time. That hammock was really going!

He must be used to such swinging; he's sound asleep.

You can't really tell from the picture, but he's tied into the hammock so he doesn't fall out. Only his foot is sticking out.

The school across the "road" from Sra. A's home

You can see the wayward foot better in this picture.

The plastic tub at the far end of the room contains cacao. (And about a gajillion flies)

Here's a close-up of the cacao.

Beautiful skies

Our home for the night

The entrance to the house

We started at this elevation.

We ended at this elevation.

As the evening approached, we all had the same thought: "What if it rains tonight?!" Sure enough, around 7:30 or so, raindrops were heard on the tin roof. Fortunately, it didn't last very long. "Whew!" We all breathed a sigh of relief. However, that relief was short lived. By bedtime, it was pouring rain. And it just kept going and going and going. "Don't think about it, and go to sleep," was the advice I gave myself. And eventually it must have worked.

We left the next morning around 7:45 so that we would make the 10:30 canoe back to Poza Honda. (Our departure goal was 7:30, but when breakfast was served at 7:28, we decided it would be a little hard to get gone by then. Flexibility is key!)

As you will possibly be able to somewhat imagine, we were all very much longing for our boots as we trudged through the mud and muck that morning. The trip down took 20 minutes longer than the trip up, but we did, in fact, make the 10:30 canoe.

For your viewing entertainment:

https://youtu.be/zWQywh31Ja0

FYI: The frantic foot rubbing part way through this video was induced by what I thought was thousands of bugs biting me all at once on the tops of my feet. Turns out, I had encountered stinging nettle.

It's a little hard to tell, but this mud sticks to the bottom of your shoes like glue. Sticky, mucky glue. We learned a new little walk on this stretch of the path: Step, step, shake, step, step, shake. Perhaps you can see some of the mud caked on the bottom of my left shoe here.

Breathtaking views

Yes, parts of this trail are a real balancing act.

Smiling before we head down the muddy and VERY slippery rocky slope

Another challenging part of the trail

A trail of ants

We finally made it back to the water! Without anyone even falling! Two members of our group forsook their shoes a couple of times along the way, deciding that going barefoot through mud and "muck" was the better option. There were many times that we wished for photos but didn't dare get our cameras out because we were either too muddy or too unstable on our feet. Anyway, perhaps these "few" shots have given you a bit of an idea of our adventure. Though it was long and tiresome and hot, and we couldn't move very well a couple of days afterward, we enjoyed our time thoroughly. We laughed the whole way and worked as a team to get through the roughest patches of the path. It was definitely an experience I won't soon forget! I'd love to take you to Buena Esperanza when you come to visit. :-)