Leaving the hot zone

On the way back to KC now. Arrived once more in Tarapoto after over a week in Juanjui - getting to know the place and people there, learning about threats to the nature in and around the Rio Abiseo nacional park. Worked with Alex on plans for countering these, and last night I met with a group of young people at Alex's church to talk about my trip and the intention behind it to serve God by caring for nature and the poor. Showed photos from the trip of sustainable development projects that do both.

It was a very hot and bumpy, swerving ride to Tarapoto in a packed car on a rough dirt road for over 3 hours but with beautiful views of the Rio Huallaga much of the way. In this part of Peru, there are few cars - mostly motorcycles and mototaxis, like motortricycles. Cars are used mostly as long distance taxis. In Juanjui, as in Campur in Guatemala, people often walk long distances on paths between their houses and fields (chacras). There are no roads in the Rio Abiseo park - access is by river on the east side and by trail on the west.

Many thanks to Alex and Nataly for the accommodations at their house and for many delicious "typical" meals! Alex also helped me out with a loan since I wasn't able to reload my AAA debit card without a long delay and found out that banks in Peru require a PIN for cash advances from a credit card; some accept only VISA. International transfers from a bank in the US take 3 business days.

After arriving in Juanjui today around noon, I met with pastor Jose and his family for lunch. Great to see them again. Meeting them and others tonight to talk more about ideas for environmental education and action next year.

written by

cjones on December 20, 2007 from Tarapoto, Peru

from the travel blog: so-journ

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