I woke up this morning very early to the sounds of birds chirping. Brad was already up and reading his book in the chairs at the front of the cabin like an old man waiting to yell at the kids to get off his front lawn. I felt much better this morning, but slightly sad that today is the last real day of vacation away from home. Today we begin our travels back to the US after a long time abroad. After waking up, I went over to the main lodge where breakfast is served. Julio Cesar came by to ask how our day is going, and I asked if the kitchen could make me eggs benedict. He asked the kitchen, and the staff made me some eggs benedict for me as I sipped my coffee. I decided that I needed a good base for the malaria medications again, since I would have to take them early today. Not only is this because it’s possible I threw some up last night, but also because I’m unlikely to have a full meal for it to sit on until later tonight. With my bug bites, there’s no benefit in putting off the medications. This has the added benefit, that it will time out to align with our arrival back in Dallas Fort Worth so I can have a bigger meal there tomorrow too if I need to. After breakfast I went back to the cabin, where I hung around like a lazy person, reading, writing, and re-packing everything for this afternoon’s journey.
Around noon, one of the camp staff came to collect us from our cabin where we were escorted to the main lodge to fill out some final paperwork. Before leaving our cabin, I threw some citronella on my neck and wrists to help stop mosquitos until we left the amazon. Our trip did not include a lunch on the final day which I thought was rather curious, seeing as we would be heading straight to the airport after. Anyways, I digress. After filling out our paperwork it was time to leave. We gathered our gear and headed down towards the canoes. Dahlia and her brother shared the canoe trip back to the main city with Brad and I. On our journey I spent some time speaking with them about Lima, Peru, and her brother’s English education. He spoke with me for a little while about playing soccer for Peru, and playing against Chile and Brazil in some upcoming matches. Dahlia gave Brad and I some great advice for when we got to Lima. The hotel across the street has a restaurant and spa where you can check in your luggage if you patron the hotel. In the spa area you can take a shower to get cleaned up after travel, there’s a bar and a restaurant there. The hotel is owned by the American company Windam Gardens, so she recommended it to both Brad and I as a comfortable stop off place on our Lima layover.
When our canoe arrived at the main city, we waited at a lookout point for our luggage to arrive from storage. The lookout point over looks the river, the Amazon, and a massive orange suspension bridge which reminds me of the Golden Gate bridge. Whenever I see it, I think of California. After handing our luggage tags to the camp leader, we noticed some confusion around the bags and saw the lady run off with our tags in hand- out of site. Brad had the suspicion that they had lost one of our luggage’s because that’s how the trip had been so far. To our delight, we were called into the bus a short while later and passed our luggage as we did. By now it was getting overcast, and about to rain. Our luggage was loaded up onto the roof of the van and covered with a plastic tarp to keep the rain out. Within a few minutes of leaving, it started to rain. I was concerned that the rain would make my luggage heavier; and I would incur overage charges for the flight. I spent the drive looking out the window and watching the rain wash off the dirt from the buildings, and the tut-tuts pushing through the puddles on the street. I’ve always liked rain. It’s so calming.
On the way over to the airport our van stopped off at the butterfly house with the opportunity for the group to stop off and look at some Amazon butterflies. By now it was down pouring; and the butterfly exhibit was entirely outdoors. Brad and I decided that we had already wedged ourselves into the tiny bus seats, and didn’t want to get wet before the flights so instead we opted to stay in the bus. This was the popular opinion, as only a few people left the dry bus for the butterflies. After a few minutes, the bus was loaded back up and we pulled away through the city and over to the airport.
When we arrived at the airport, our van was unloaded quickly and the luggage was brought inside, one after another. When Brad’s luggage was brought down, he and I grabbed a wall and quickly merged our luggage together. Brad snagged some clean clothes and went to the bathroom to change while I fiddled with my luggage to throw my waterproof bag into my larger suit case. To my delight, everything fit again with some pushing. The weight was still of concern. We patiently waited in line, and checked ourselves and our luggage in without issues. I quickly drank my water, and threw it away before heading through security, which was in a wonderful air conditioned room. We walked through security and immediately into the gate. There were only two gates at this airport, although only one seemed to be used at a time. Our flight was leaving through Gate 1 which was separated from Gate two by a glass wall extending half the length of the room. On the open side of Gate 1 was a small café offering drinks, and chips. On the Gate 2 side was a large display of Lama wool merchandise, and a chocolate display. We grabbed a seat on the Gate 2 side, because Gate 1 was too crowded. Brad sat with my luggage while I got the both of us some chocolate from the chocolate stand. I mean… we’re in Peru… they’re known for chocolate. After spending a good amount of time browsing the flavors of the chocolate, I finally decided on a cappuccino flavored chocolate bar for Brad, and a 100% cocoa bar for myself when I get home. No that isn’t a typo, it was actually 100% cocoa… I imagined it to be like a pressed cocoa powder for baking. Brad opened his bar and shared it with me as we waited. The bar is white chocolate with a coffee flavor to it. It tasted great, but a little too sweet for me. I prefer mine to be a bit more bitter.
When our flight was called, Brad and I relinquished our seats in Gate 2 to stand in line for our flight. Directly behind us was a male sports team from the US and their chaperones. The boys were likely of high school age, and acted as such. Without much delay, we were on the flight and headed towards Lima. Nothing of interest happened on the fight. When we arrived, we grabbed our luggage from the carousel and Dahlia walked out of the airport with us to point us in the right direction of the hotel. We hugged her, and handed her our contact information to remain in contact after we left. Lima airport is just as crowded today, as it was when we first arrived. Brad and I pressed through the exterior walkways of the crowded airport towards the hotel; finally arriving after a short walk. When we arrived at the hotel, we both used the restroom; and I finally got my hairbrush out to see if I could detangle the mess that was above my head… and wash off the citronella from my body. To my dismay, I had started to break out in a rash on my wrist and neck, extending up to my hair line. It itches! This just confirms that yes, I am likely allergic to citronella… somehow.
After cleaning ourselves up, Brad and I checked our luggage in with the hotel and grabbed dinner in the restaurant. I had a chicken dinner and we both had the ceviche. Brad enjoyed some lychee ice cream to finish. After dinner we grabbed a few drinks in the bar of the hotel, played Uno, and talked about our journey a little while longer. The length of the layover was beginning to wear on us. It wasn’t that we wanted the journey to end, but we… or at least I, didn’t want to just be waiting around in an American style hotel in Peru. I would rather experience Lima, or continue on home. Additionally, throughout our trip we had largely been removed from Christmas related activities and feelings. Since we were on the other side of the equator, we didn’t have the seasonal reminders of Christmas such as cold weather, twinkling lights of the short winter nights, and warm beverages by a heater. Instead we’ve been in the jungle, and experiencing nature at its finest. Now that we sit in the hotel, we hear American Christmas music on the overhead speakers, Christmas lights, and Christmas décor. A not so subtle reminder that it actually is December, and we are nearing the end of the holiday season.
Brad and I made a pact to head back into the airport around 10pm to check into our flight as early as possible. The hotel had Wi-Fi, where we kept abreast of our flight itinerary. To our dismay, our flight had been delayed an hour. The delay is sufficient enough for us to be concerned about our connecting flights home after the flight to Dallas. I reminded Brad that there is literally nothing we can do about it now, and we will figure it out when we check-in, or when we get to Dallas. At 11pm, we left the comfort of the bar and walked over to check-in.
For check-in, we waded through a slew of people and past the lines of people waiting to check into the local airline carriers. For us, we were flying with American Airlines, which had a reasonably short line. As we waited in line, everyone around us seemed to be on our flight as well. So we waited in relative comfort that we were not alone. When we checked -in, we were informed that our flight would cause us to miss our connecting flights, but they have re-booked us on the next direct flights home. Thank goodness. The agent informed me that my bag was overweight, so I pulled out my waterproof bag and asked for that to be checked separately. It was just filled with my toothbrush, toothpaste, and dirty Amazon clothes. Even if it didn’t arrive, I wouldn’t be upset. After receiving our tickets, Brad and I made our way upstairs and through security.
