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Heather left us on the 14 October - we were alone again. We had about 2 months left to travel the 12000km to Rio in Brazil. Our first stage was to cross the Andes for the ninth and final time following which to travel to the Atlantic ocean via the mighty Amazon river. First stop was Chiclayo a small city merely a stopping point for our continuing travel to Chachapoyas. Here we visited the ruined pre Inca city of Kuelap. This is a massive walled city standing on the top of a small hill in the middle of nowhere. In a fantastically defensive position would be attackers were repelled for years until the Incas came and brokered a deal with them. As per usual the cloud was down and it was threatening rain. The road to reach the city was a torturous 3 hours along a horrible rutted dirt track. The entrances narrow as you enter the city to allow only one person at a time to enter. It reminded James of the city of Gondor from Lord of the Rings.

6,000 km Later!

James and Anne Walkington
2006-10-23 13:28:51

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Heather left us on the 14 October - we were alone again. We had about 2 months left to travel the 12000km to Rio in Brazil. Our first stage was to cross the Andes for the ninth and final time following which to travel to the Atlantic ocean via the mighty Amazon river. First stop was Chiclayo a small city merely a stopping point for our continuing travel to Chachapoyas. Here we visited the ruined pre Inca city of Kuelap. This is a massive walled city standing on the top of a small hill in the middle of nowhere. In a fantastically defensive position would be attackers were repelled for years until the Incas came and brokered a deal with them. As per usual the cloud was down and it was threatening rain. The road to reach the city was a torturous 3 hours along a horrible rutted dirt track. The entrances narrow as you enter the city to allow only one person at a time to enter. It reminded James of the city of Gondor from Lord of the Rings.

After a 300km taxi ride which included a 150km/h driver, a
driver who worked on a 3,4,2 formation (number of passengers in front, middle and boot), and a car which was barely road worthy we reached Yurimaguas. This was to be the start of our Amazon travel still about 4500km from the Atlantic Ocean. First was a short trip into the Jungle. We boarded an early boat for the 12 hour journey to Lagunas in the Pacaya Samiri National Reserve, strung our hammocks up and watched the river go by. After a short tropical rain storm where the boat filled with water we reached Lagunas a small friendly jungle town. Found two guides the following morning called Carlos and Aladino and set out into the dense forest for 5 days in only a paddle canoe. We were in search of the elusive Anaconda!

We found our first Anaconda only 2 hours into the trip, initially it appeared to be sleeping, it soon moved when we touched the undergrowth around it scaring Anne nearly to death. This was only a baby but was still perhaps ...