Alright, so I just got back from what was the most physically, mentally, and adjectivally exhausting trip I have ever been on. The trip itself was the inaugural run of the Amazon Canoe Challenge run by a friend I met on the Morocco Monkey Run. The teams seemed to be a collection of semi-lunatics which whom I was glad to be associated with.

So I will be discussing the whole trip which involves a capsize event, narco and uncontacted tribe territories, and large bugs in a series of posts because there’s too much for just 1.

So, onto the first day…

It started with a long bus ride from Cusco to Atalaya, Peru. I realize that doesn’t say much as there’s not much coming up when you type Atalaya, Peru, so here’s the GPS S12.889435 W71.357506, yea it’s pretty far out there.

The drive was lovely and it gave us a chance to meet the other 4 teams. Each of whom were insane for doing this as well.

So we were staying at the Manu Biological Station, which was just right in the middle of the jungle.

Keep the bug nets up and it isn’t a bad way to wake up.

That day we checked out the downed plane that is right nearby the station and met the local tribe that will be helping us along the way, the Shipitiari. To note on them, they always talk at low, calm volumes and it is a true community of sharing so anything we bring is expected to be shared. It is worth noting on this trip as a whole that we were basically the first tourists that would be visiting a large portion of this area, especially the Shipitiari village.

And I can promise that village visit was amazing, and will get it’s own post coming up.

The power went out at one point.

There were definitely plenty of bats living in the plane…

OK that about sums up that arrival day, and I’ll keep it short because the days after would get progressively more exhausting and interesting.

Here’s a few more photos from roadtrip and biostation as well.

Really nice showers, and my last one for about a week…

Better behaved monkeys than India that I will say.

It was her birthday, so everyone got her a cake.