waterfalls....

Day two started with a three hour drive into the selva. :) Today includes an incredible amount of driving... which is quite unfortunate. Especially since i can't read on the bus. i think it's less the bus, more the roads. I don't think the concept of straight exists here...

Waterfall number 1: Catarata Cabello de Angel ... quite beautiful, but too far away to hear. and the sound just might be my favorite part of waterfalls...

Waterfall Number 2 (abajo): Bridal Veil falls (why is this such a popular waterfall name? Can't we come up with something a little different?)

So, while we were chilling near waterfall number 2, there were guys working on the next stretch of road. No big deal... we couldn't hear them, they didn't bother us, it was all peachy. But i can't lie... i was greatly amused at the differences between the states and Peru. In the states, there is a little rock slide and they close the road till it's cleared...in the states, if there is more than a two foot drop, more than likely, you've got a guard rail. Haha, not in Peru!

In Peru, we've got a drop of about 20 ft... if not more. And there is no guardrail in sight. Not only that, but half of the road decided that it didn't want to be part of the hill anymore, but would rather be part of the valley down below. So, we have this brilliant idea to put up yellow caution tape on these flimsy poles so that the people realize you can't use that lane. The concept of a lane, however, is also foreign (seriously, the people here are so used to it, they probably would have stayed in the lane and just woven in and out of the parts that were missing. Regardless of the fact that the rest of it could fall at any moment). If you were trained to drive defensively in the states... don't drive in Peru.

They tell me that the best is yet to come, so i'm still waiting for the last waterfall... This one, we had to walk to... about a half hour through the jungle. :) Stupid me, i thought i could make it without bugspray... i did it in Iquitos for two days and only came home with one bug bite... here (southern Peru), aparentely, the bugs are different. I hope i don't die. jaja. The walk to the waterfalls was absolutely beautiful. I can't even begin to describe how much i love the selva. Everything is just sooo green and full of life. It's absolutely beautiful!

CATARATO EL TIRO

We finally got to the waterfall... I was climbing all over the place, and ended up taking pictures of the group 'swimming' in knee deep water. I took some pics, but then i went to get in the water too... It was sweet! So much power behind that little spout of water. It was basically awesome! I took a ton of pics, but the mist was so bad, that not many of them are clear. You can make out people and more than likely tell by the swimsuit who it is, but they are all really blurry. Here's one of the first ones that i took before my camera became so waterlogged that i got worried it would never work again. It still works though! No worries... that camera has been through everything i think. It survived 24 kids in Guate last year, it survived freezing weather in the Swiss alps, it's survived multiple falls and wettings in Peru and I'm sure it will be through more before i finish with it. :) Anyway, we got alot closer to the waterfall after this, to the point where it was hard to stand up because of the water swirling around your legs... so, it was a sweet experience, but a wet one and i had no towel to dry off... Yep. i'm that lazy, i decided i didn't feel like carrying a towel on a 30 minute hike... so i didn't. I'm sure i'll learn someday, but i'm not sure when it will click.

So, today, I was completely disappointed for the first time in Peru. :( So, we went to this awesome little restaurant to eat lunch. We didn't eat until like three, so i was basically famished (breakfast was at 7). So, we're allowed to order whatever we want and i open the menu and the house specialty is VENISON! I was basically exstatic. No, that doesn't even describe it. I was soo ready to order. I was going to order venison, now that is my kind of meat. I'm done with the chicken/fish that everyone eats here... it was time for the real stuff.

And then my order came. :( Who knew venison in peru is completely different from venison en los estados. It was sort of tough and not very yummy. I was bitterly disappointed... The rice wasn't cooked either. It was a very disappointing meal...well, except that we had yucca. :) That made it slightly better, but didn't make up for the venison. I think i can officially say that venison is now my favorite meat...and my least favorite at the same time.

So, i'm getting tired of dragging pictures around on here, so i'm going to post and start another one for the post-lunch adventure.