Amazonas/Peru Pre-Adventure

Our Peru/Amazonas adventure began editing and sorting our packing lists to fit into one small suitcase per person and account for spending time in both the tropical jungle and at an elevation of 12,000+' in Cusco. Extreme variation in geography, elevation and planned land/water experiences require savvy packing. Our daughter whose trip will be extended for 3 weeks was limited to one backpack that could carry all her belongings, tent, and sleeping bag for approximately 5 weeks. Unlike most "vacations" where you can always buy what you forget, we will truly be off-grid for the majority of this trip-- fish collecting, navigating the origin of the Amazon river, and hiking. For this family, it is a test of letting go. We are going with what we have and making do with what we don't. I finally closed the suitcase and put my trust in the knowledge that a human's biggest asset is adaptability. Perhaps the trend in travel today is exotic locations and "over the top" often manufactured experiences. We are not immune to such impulses, but this trip is steeped in a primary focus of following one person's passion. Such endeavors require the head of a collector, the heart of an explorer, and the soul of authenticity. In practical terms, we will be sourcing my husband's fish keeping/breeding hobby to the place where his favorite freshwater fish live in the natural world: the Amazon Basin and the tributaries of Peru. And then we will visit one of the seven wonders if the world: Machu Picchu and our daughter will stay three weeks in the Andes taking part in an ecological research study. In more poetic terms, we will enter a place wilder than ourselves, where the constellations still burn bright and the natural world is still a wonder.  

#ecotravel #fishcollecting #Peru #Amazon #MachuPicchu