Road to the Amazon
PERU — In 2006, Liz Rakarich asked her friend Judy Reese, "Would you be interested in going down the Amazon?"
"Yeah," Reese replied quickly.
The women are not National Geographic photographers or college-aged backpackers. They are Butler County grandmothers out to see what the world holds beyond grocery trips and dentist appointments.
So while their families were bundled up for the winter snows in January, the pair packed their suitcases with capri pants and sandals for their 11-day Amazon adventure.
From Pittsburgh they flew to Miami and caught another plane to Lima, Peru, where they met their guide and fellow travelers with their travel company, one of many companies that specializes in tours for those 50 and older.
After the five-hour flight to Lima, they spent two nights there and enjoyed the city life, including Kennedy Square, a park area where dozens of artists display and sell their paintings on weekends, Reese said.
Following the stopover in Lima, the 22 Amazon travelers piled into a plane headed for Iquitos, Peru, where they boarded their boat, La Aguamarina.
Before departure, their guide, Erik Flores, made a detailed itinerary book for each passenger. It included maps of where they would go, details about each stop and even a recipe for a native drink called Pisco Sour that they would later enjoy in the boat's bar.Flores was very personable, accommodating and educated, according to Reese and Rakarich. He is originally from a small village along the Amazon called Santa Maria and traveled for his education.On La Aguamarina, guests' cabins had simple accommodations. The beds were on wooden frames on stilts, Reese said.The boat had about seven crew members, including a naturalist, and its musicians were cross-trained to be cabin boys. The crew cooked meals and provided laundry service and shoe cleaning for all passengers along with providing entertainment.When passengers went into the jungle for hikes and educational excursions, they were given hand wipes to carry with them. When they got back onto the boat, hot wet towels awaited.Rakarich said cleanliness was an important part of the travelers' safety. Each had to get vaccinated against malaria, hepatitis, yellow fever, tetanus and typhoid. Because of heavy rainfall, the rain forest has a higher incidence of malaria than the coastal regions of Peru.Travelers also could not drink anything but bottled water."You can't even brush your teeth (with the water)," Reese said.The temperature most days was a very humid 88 degrees, the women said.Trips like this are not possible in April because the Andes thaw turns the rain forest into a deep, watery mess, Reese said.
"In Lima, the better season (to visit) is from January to March. It's very warm here the rest of the year,"said Carla Blas of the Peru Export and Tourism Promotion Board.The travel company provided passengers with a list of what they should wear for each day's adventure.Reese's favorite adventure was climbing the rain forest canopy that includes nine sway bridges."If you hold the wire, it's not as scary,"she said of the bridges that sway because of their rope construction. Each bridge has a taut wire above it for hikers to hold on to.The bridges also had balconies at the end of each for hikers to rest between bridges."The rainforest was unbelievable,"Reese said.For jungle hikes, travelers were given gators — vinyl leggings that protect against snake bites.A favorite memory for Rakarich was day two on the river. She explored the river on a skiff and fished for piranhas in the Rio Yarapa, a smaller river off of the Amazon."They (the guides) gave us sticks with a line with wire at the end and little chunks of meat at the end of the wire,"Rakarich said.When she caught her carnivorous piranha, the guides took over as soon as the deadly fish hit the deck."They didn't want us to go near it," she said.They later cooked the fish."It tastes like a sweet meat — like tilapia," Rakarich said.
The Amazon trip proved to not only be a vacation and adventure for the two women, but also an educational experience.Reese and Rakarich saw a great deal of what life is like for typical Amazon villagers. Day four on the river included a lunch hosted by the local families in the Monte Alegre village."They have no electricity, a bamboo floor,"Rakarich said.Natives use "a lot of roots from the jungle (for the food) ... and mostly chicken or fish," Reese said. She said the roots taste similar to poi served in Hawaii, a root that is cooked and mashed to a thick liquid product. Fresh fruits and vegetables also are a large part of the Amazon diet."I ate quite a lot there," Rakarich said.Reese said she was a little more wary of the native foods."They are beautiful people,"Rakarich said of the Peruvian village people. "Amazon people have no stress but to exist."Before meeting the natives, travelers were told they could bring presents for the children, but could not give them any food or photos of their homes or cities in America. The group gave a package of balloons to the children.The group also visited a shaman who performed a ceremony for the travelers. A shaman is a spiritual leader and healer who is believed to communicate with the spiritual world and heal the sick.Those who wanted to participate in the ceremony sat inside an open air ceremonial hut."The structure was gorgeous,"Reese said.The shaman walked around the tent and blew smoke into the participants' hands. They would then put their hands up to their faces and the shaman would shake branches over their heads.Rakarich said he sometimes "puts people in a trance and looks into their bodies to see what's wrong with them."The shaman was training an apprentice who also was at the ceremony. Reese and Rakarich took a photo with the pair.Reese, who said she doesn't need anything else in her house, chose not to buy many souvenirs. Rakarich, however, brought back about a dozen representations of the Amazon culture. She bought hand-woven baskets, carved candles, figurines, jewelry and woodwork. Among the souvenirs was a necklace with a set of piranha teeth at its center.In their travels, the women always found something about each location — from Austria to Mexico to Ireland to the Bahamas — that was similar to America."This was the one exception," Reese said.
According to a study by Focalyst, a division of AARP, 15 percent of Baby Boomers, or those born between 1946 and 1964, and 16 percent of Matures, those born prior to 1946, have traveled internationally two to four times in the last three years.Companies provide many trips to exotic locations like Egypt, Africa, Turkey, Europe, Asia and others. The trips often cost between $1,200 and $6,500 including international airfare.The trip attended by Reese and Rakarich cost about $2,500.Blas said American tourism in Peru is divided into two groups — backpackers and group tourists."We get a lot backpackers that are 18 to 30. The older people come to Peru in groups," she said.
