The trip to the lake in the mountains

Buying supplies!

So Saul wanted to visit this lake higher up in the mountains, about a 3 hour hike. "Sure!" The cab driver of the day left us about where the trail started, fairly deep within the mountains.

This was no tourist route, but a rough and torn trail on which they transport the milk from the cows each day. - I must give it to them, it is a tricky path, and not altogether easy at this altitude. But we trudged on, and kept our eyes open for special orchid leafs on the sides.

Saul found an rare species of Orchid hanging from the tree

We ventured into river, up into trees, through fields of mud to find these 'treasures'! As we  closed in on the 3 hour mark, a valley emerged in front of us, with only cows grazing lazily along a small stream the snaked throw the beautiful valley, surrounded by the neighbouring mountains tops. - "So, Saul, where is your lake??" I asked.

The Missing Lake

Not completely devastated, as the view was indeed rewarding, we sat down to eat.

Me: "Hey Saul! I think I know what happened to your lake!"

"You see these cows down there, I think they drank all of your lake!"

Saul: "Yeah, I think you're right. That must be it, the only logical explanation and it totally makes sense!"

"So maybe if we go down there and poke them, the lake will return!" 

...were the kind of conversations that Stig turned a deaf ear to.

We started our return journey a while later. At the time when the rain-  that had been hanging in the air stared to come down real hard, we had lost Saul in the woods and thus sought shelter on our own. We did find a little roof on the side of the path not too far ahead, and were joined but a skinny little Peruvian who emerged from the down pour with only a piece of garbage bag to cover himself and his rucksack. He kindly invited us to some of his home made spirits. "For the cold!" We accepted, and were surprised by the good quality. He advices us to wait a little longer, so we sat down to listen to his story. As an owner of 5-6 cows, he ventured to the "lake" 2-3 times a week. "Oh yeah, the lake emerges during the raining period!" He answered us kindly. I knew I was right!! 

Our rain shelter

So we marched on a bit later, and arrived at the road just in time to take cover with other cow herder as the next down pour caught up with us. And as promised, another shot at the finish line!

Even though we did not see the lake, I was perfectly happy to trudge through this perfectly peaceful and idyllic landscape decorated with rolling pastures, animals and small family huts on the side of the road that guided you through the hills, off the side of the mountains to the lake that had already been drunken. - I was only missing the small hobbits and a tavern for this day dream to come true! 

My experience in the Peruvian mountains

Not more than I new about orchids before I arrived to Peru, was I aware of the actual field work ahead of me in the mountains. All the crazy jungle stories I had heard in my life came back to form this vivid idea of what I was about to encounter in the "real jungle". Although my week out in the mountains did not realize this particular fantasy (and maybe better so), I was astonished by the vivid range of plants and life in these rain forests, and the breathtaking mountains all around us. 

Just arrived at Tarapoto

The mode of transportation!

We travelled about 16 hours the first day to get deep into the mountains. From Tarapoto where we landed with the plane, we took a 1,5 hr cab ride to Moyobamba, where we changed cab and had some over-due brunch (lunch & breakfast). After the necessary brunch we were off again, and started to approach the actual mountains. The humid weather and the lunch made us all a bit sleepy, so I decided to take a little nap in the back seat, ...and turned out to not be he only one. I woke straight up when Stig announced to Saul napping in the front seat: "Saul! Saul, the driver is also sleeping!"

We stopped to allow the driver to buy some energy drink and coca-leafs to chew on. Now, as we made it up into the mountains, with killer precipices on one side, and a curvy road ahead holding but one regular vehicle, I did not sleep much for the remaining 4-5 hours drive! Not only did my heroic escape plans of how to throw myself out of the car in the case that the car would drive off the road keep me occupied, but the stunning view of the jungle covered mountains in the white fog deserved its audience. 

We decided to stick with the driver, even though we were seriously considering to swap him out, and we arrived safely to Chachabomba in the evening. I noticed I had regained my appetite after my swing with salmonella in Bolivia, and ate two entire pizzas that night! Stig became my personal food advisor, so whenever the plates arrived on the table, I looked at Stig, (with almost a puppy face) for approval before devouring the plate of food I front of me. - what got left behind was almost always lettuce and home-made sauces, which made the food we ate veery dry. Ketchup help with the fries!

Our delicious breakfast we enjoyed
every morning

We woke up at 7, ate some breakfast before Saul, without our touristic presence organized a cab for the day, as we wanted to make stops along the way to Mendoza, which were to become our HQ for the week. I was excited to get started! - In Lima they have even put up street signs to advocate a quieter traffic, but our new (very alert driver) busted the horn in each curve as we had just left the city behind us and found ourselves with steep precipices and a narrow road ahead as we continued deeper into the mountains.

Getting ready

After awhile, we arrived a little creek between two mountain sides. This were to become our first search. We put our gear on, and I was pumped to find some gorgeous orchids! I threw myself into the vegetation, fought myself up the steep slope, constantly keeping my eyes open for flowers! 

At times I stopped amazed at the thriving world of plants and vines in all shapes and forms, about everywhere you looked. When you took a moment, it really started to sink in what a rich diversity and prosperity of life that existed, and how little of it you actually saw and understood. 

                                                  -

...but no orchids, none that my eyes could find. "No big deal, let's move on, gotta be around here somewhere!" So I continued to climb over tree trunks, through webs of slings, and under seas of fern! I sat again, marvelled at the rich diversity of plants, eye- hawking for orchids. At a point, I heard the small stream again and decided it was time to head back. So I grabbed a couple reliable fern and started my decent down to the stream. At times I slipped and got entirely submerged in them, and had to find a reliable foot to get my head above the surface again. 

Tired, but frilled at my first encounter with he jungle, I regrouped wih Stig and Saul. Now, this is the time when you show the rest of the group your amazing findings, and brag about your success. "But man, all I ever saw was just a bunch of leafs! I thought we were looking for flowers, orchids!!!"

The leaf bragging community! :)

I told them, "I saw a bunch of those in there, and those too!! There were so many I could take them with me!" And the truth is, there were leafs everywhere! At the next stop, Stig patiently showed me the difference between plants with leafs, and orchids with leafs. "Ahhhh, now I see! ...them everywhere." And there were orchids about everywhere I looked, but now I actually knew they were orchids! .... Now I just had to find the rare orchids! ...Great! 

"Aw what a beautiful flower! Stig! Stig! Look here! ... ah, just a regular flower eh, not a orchid. Sure, not that interesting then". As my two, professional companions ran around the woods, I decided to take some time to look around, enjoy the time, and focus on something I knew a little about, photography.

But as the days went on, I must say that I actually started to see the difference between the certain species, even though most of what I collected was immediately dismissed. "Por que sólo traés basura bo!?" - did my humorous friend Saul ask me when I joined the group again "Why did you only bring garbage!?" "...thanks Einstein!" :P

We visited new areas each day, and were specifically looking for a small number of orchids. We found 3 / 4 of the really important species during our expedition. When we got back to town and had dinner, not even what was still in me of my military discipline kept me up, even after one or two cups of coffee. The amount of orchid terms I tried to process, along with the sheer exercise made it hard to stay up till a decent hour. In the morning we all reunited for the epic breakfast before the next days adventure!  

Saul explained to me how, you can go with out food, climb a mountain, endure heavy rainfalls in search of orchids. Because, when you find them, it's all worth it! - And sure enough, although we were well fed, we fought through most obstacles and weather conditions to find the orchids. And how their faces lit up the when they found their precious species. - I could only smile and be reminded of Christmas when I was younger! 

...to be continued

Peru; & a thing or two about Orchids

Peru! What was going to be a motorbike adventure all the way up to Lima, took a temporary break in La Paz (Salmonella) and landed me on a flight to Lima a week later. In retrospect, i don´t think it was an entirely bad thing to leave the bike out of the Peruvian adventure, and heed the many warnings of driving alone in Peru. I was convinced that big city traffic, dangerous suburbs, and driving alone wouldn't be more of a problem than what I had already confronted along my way, but honestly, it was nice break from spending days on end in the drivers seat. 

The Wild Orchid Man

I met up with Stig at the airport in Lima. Stig, also known as the Wild Orchid Man in his community and a good friend to my family. In the car from the airport, he explained to me what in fact he is dedicating his life to. My blurred and misinformed idea of the orchid world quickly came into focus, and it started to make sense why someone would find interest and passion in collecting, and even studying this surprisingly complex plant. Orchids have actually evolved for over a 100 million of years and thrive in all parts of the world (apart from Antarctica), thus proving to be one of the most adaptable plants on our planet. 

Stig and Saul

Furthermore, there is a huge market world wide for orchids and it is quite a profitable business (especially trade with more unusual species). Stig told me something which I hadn´t paid attention to, that you´ll actually find orchids in most of the apartment windows in Sweden, and surely Sweden would not be an exception. Still, despite the world wide trade and profitability, it is of an entirely different reason that Stig and his partners head out into the jungle to look for the unique and rare plants. During my stay with Stig and his companion Saul, I witnessed a dedicated and very attentive work to the science of Orchids and the protection of new endangered species. 

There are in fact over 25,000 species of Orchids, belonging to one of +800 existing families. Still, many new species are found and "described" to the community each year. Saul explained to me that this is one of the most exciting parts of the of their work, to find something no one has ever seen before and then describe it. Still, they see it as very important to collect specimen of not yet completely described, rare or endangered species to protect them, improve the information available and increase their numbers.

It was truly a privilege to witness all the scientific work behind their passion of this perculiar plant. Saul also work in the orchid business and sell orchids around the world. Stig, now retired, travel around the work to dedicate his time to he study and protection of orchids.  

And heads up! - For those of you driving in and around Lima on motorbikes, the traffic is truly chaotic, uncompromising, and without mercy. A perfect spot for someone to relieve you of your belongings in heavy traffic. 

How to avoid food poisoning and what to od when you get it

Food poison is the least thing you would want to deal with when you are off travelling far from home, enjoying breathtaking scenery, exploring new places and cultures, and being away from your old work-routines. But avoiding "traveller´s diarrhea" is not straight-forward, and least of all a certain science. I was clearly not well informed when I arrived to Bolivia and Peru. Fortunately, there are some straight-forward steps you can take to significantly reduce the risk of becoming affected. 

Even though street food is often a rewarding step into the culture and life-styles of the native people, there is absolutely no guarantee of decent hygiene levels nor basic food safety in the preparation or preservation of the food. In Bolivia, it is highly recommended to avoid food from street vendors, but also keep in mind that meat is generally poorly treated hence making it a good host for bad bacteria.  

In Peru, my friends warned me about eating lettuce, explaining that it can often be washed with unclean water, thus carrying bad bacteria with it. Home-made mayonnaise and other sauces are also items to be cautions about, as there is no guarantee how long they have been left out. During my 10-days stay in Peru, I ate mainly chicken with french-fries, with exception for the lasagna and pizza that were occasionally offered! 

Here are some steps to avoid food poisoning:

1) Do not drink tap water! - Stay true to bottled / boiled water! Hence, avoid food that can have been washed or in contact with dirty water; (ex. ice).

2) Do not eat fruit or veggies that cannot be peeled. Especially not leafy veggies like lettuce or spinach.

3) Ensure that your food is thoroughly and recently cooked, served right-out-of-the-oven so to speak. Thus, avoid buffets, ice cream bars, home-made sauces (although sealed packages are mostly safe).

To sum it up: "Cook it, wash it, peel it or forget it".

What to do if you get food poisoning:

I was told by a doctor in Sweden that antibiotics is usually not needed in the "western" world, as you will start to recover within a few days. However, it is not a bad option when travelling in Asia or Central / South America. 

Hydration:

The most important thing to keep in mind is to stay hydrated. On my very laborious trips outside my bed room, I bought bread, bananas, and 2 lt bottles of water in which I  added a good amount with salt and sugar from the cafeteria. Furthermore, "white food", like rice, white bread, banana is recommended to eat, and the salt and sugar from the water will keep you replenished on salt and your energy level a little higher.

Private bathroom:

Not only is it convenient to have a toilet close by, but for the safety of the people around you, it is highly recommended to not share the bathroom with others. This will reduce the likelihood of spreading the bacteria to others. For this reason, it is vital that you are extremely tentative with your hygiene. (Always wash your hands after using the bathroom, with soap!) 

Here are some good reads of how to avoid what non of want to go through while travelling:

http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Having-Diarrhea-During-Travel

http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/safety-and-health/food-safety-how-to-avoid-getting-sick-while-traveling

http://blog.sitata.com/how-to-avoid-food-poisoning-what-to-do-if-you-get-sick/