Saturday
The next morning, we left in the boat, and headed back to Infierno and then Puerto Maldonado. Along the way, we spotted a neon green and black snake, about a meter long, lounging on the shore. Just basking in the sun. It poked it head up, spotted our boat, and decided to go for a swim. It slithered its way, on top of the water, up to our boat. It must have found us completely uninteresting because it slithered around the backside of the boat and continued on up the river. Maybe looking for something a little easier to eat for breakfast.
Back in Puerto Maldonado, Explorer’s Inn dropped us off at Anaconda Lodge, where we would stay until our flight the following day. Walking down the dusty dirt road, we saw the fading sign: Anaconda Lodge/Thai Restaurant. Hmm, those two things don’t quite go together and certainly strange to be paired together in small jungle town of Puerto Maldonado. We walked through the gates and were approached by a staunch, German looking man striding to meet us, complete with a little black nylon fanny pack. The grounds were a little piece of jungle heaven inside the city. The owner, Donald, showed us all around (he was very excited about the tour) and let us choose our room. Each cabin had a pair of hammocks on the front porch, which we promptly used to take naps in the afternoon sun. Later, over a cup of tea, we found out Donald was from Switzerland and his wife, Wadee, was from Thailand. Ah ha! Now the Thai restaurant makes sense. Donald said he wanted to create his own jungle and had planted 50 different types of fruit trees on the grounds.
After our tea time, Donald and Wadee said they were headed out to a party/feast of sorts and asked if we’d like to join. It took 30 minutes by moto-cart (literally a cart hooked onto a motorcycle, driven by Jose, an employee of Anaconda) to get there.
It was the beginnings of a small carnival, complete with a big-wheel make-shift carousel ride. We had a popsicle – coconut flavor, with real coconut pieces in it. Since the carnival was only just beginning to be set up, we went on our way soon after arriving.
On our way back to Anaconda, we stopped at a park and were greeted by a white throated hog, nuzzling our legs and wanting to be petted. His fur was course and thick, his nose large and moist. There were animals of all kinds in this park, which was fenced in, and may or may not have been open to the public. Ducks and baby ducklings, macaws, happy little birds, and…. a sloth! A three toed sloth. It looked like a little alien and moved so s.l.o.w.l.y. We all sat at a picnic table and shared a Coke, poured into little plastic cups. All of a sudden a Tamarin jumps onto the table and tries to steal the Coke! The cup was too heavy for his little arms, so he tipped it over and the Coke spilled out across the table. The little monkey was satisfied with this and sat there licking up the sugary beverage. After he was satisfied, he used a hand rail to wipe his face clean. He began jumping around a bit, using our legs as spring boards. He jumped onto Jose’s shoulder and perched there while we walked around the grounds.
As we drove back to Anaconda, we realized that the entire town was all motorcycles! No cars! No wonder we were being chauffeured in a moto-cart. When we returned, Donald gave us an hour long tour of his plants. Fascinating for a while. But this guy was REALLY into his plants.
Now, you may be wondering “How come this fanny pack wearing man is spending so much time with only two of his guests?” Great question. Turns out, we were the ONLY guests at the Anaconda Lodge that night (also why we got to pick our cabin ourselves ;) ). Later, Wadee made Pad Thai for dinner, which was muy delicioso! From Anaconda, we could hear loud music, a concert, nearby. Wadee, a friend of hers and Jill and I decided we would head out after dinner to check out the concert. Donald, concerned and not to be attending the concert, repeatedly told Wadee to not drink many beers. Donald had the strong opinion that all Peruvians drank too much and never know when to stop. Also, that they were lazy, and dishonest. It seemed that his love of the jungle made up for his dislike of the people and culture. Later, we left to walk to the concert, and left Donald behind.
Once we got to the concert, Wadee, her friend, and I all bought a Cusqueña beer (“The Gold of the Incas”), and Jill bought a Coke. There were perhaps 20 other concert goers there watching, but the band was loud and powerful! After a while, we started to dance along with the band dancers, who were dressed in sparkly bras and knew high white pleather boots. We danced for a long time and Wadee (who definitely had had more than one beer) got all the Peruvians watching to dance too. Jill and I were hot commodities! I was asked to be a man’s lover and I turned him down of course, but he was angered nonetheless when Jose and I danced a bit later. He ended up slapping Jose in the face, which made Wadee mad and she slapped him in the head too! After all this lover proposing and slapping and dancing, we thought it was a good time to get going. Wadee, tipsy at this point, leaned on me all the way back. We knew Donald would not be too happy about Wadee’s defiant debauchery, but it had made for an entertaining night.
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