Still in Samaipata....

This is one of those small towns that travelers either pass right through, or can´t seem to leave. I´ve been here 6 days...longer at a stretch than anywhere on my trip thus far. I have become friends with the owners of the farm I´m staying on, and today they gave me a free upgrade to a beautiful cottage with a loft bedroom. I think they are trying to get me to stay in this lush, green valley forever; and I have to say, it´s almost tempting...

I almost wish I had thrilling adventure tales to relate, but I´m pleased to report that the most eventful happening of the day here is the twice-daily flocking of the parakeets (they are incredibly noisy)--once in the morning to make sure I´m awake, and once in the afternoon as they´re looking for a good set of trees to bed down in on the edge of the maize fields. There is a cliff overlooking the farm where they have built a big stone chair they call ¨The Throne.¨ At sunset, there is a glorious view of the valley and the lime-green flocks of birds flying around.

Since I have been here, I have done a few things besides contemplate my navel, eat fresh yogurt, and hit up internet cafes. I visited El Fuerte, an ususual pre-Inca site with lots of UFO lore, and walked the beautiful 12 kilometers back to Samaipata. I also went with my friends Rio (Mexican-American), Paola (American-Mexican) and Keith (Idaho-Texan) to a beautiful hiking spot today where we traipsed through the shallow river and visited some scenic waterfalls.

Eva, Rio, Miguel and I had a chance to take an afternoon hike into the wilderness around the Parque Nacional Amboro. On the two hour hike up to the summit of Cerro de la Mina, we passed through several distinctly different ecosystems. The first one was the domain of the gigantic ferns, which look a lot more like trees with ferns coming out of the top.

We then passed through cloud forest, where the temperature dropped significantly and although it does not rain frequently, the area was saturated with moisture from the almost constant cloud cover. Arriving at the summit, we were somewhat disappointed to find that it was completely clouded over and we were unable to see the valley below. We made a picnic lunch down in the cloud forest, and then Eva and I decided to climb back up to the top to see if the cloud cover had blown off. As we walked out to the edge of the foggy mountainside the dense clouds magically parted, treating us to a brief but gorgeous view of the rolling green valleys below.

The weather seems to vacillate between 75 degrees and sunny, and 55 degrees and misty. Pretty much perfect. Did I mention that land prices are incredibly cheap? The only downside is the slow internet connection...I´ll have to wait and post pictures when I get to a bigger city. Which will be, ohhhh, maybe sometime next month...