The Voyages of Nathan: Peru work trip

I traveled to Peru for work, with USFS International Programs. I didn't have time to keep a full blog while I was there, but I wanted to keep track of the details in case I wanted to refer back to this later. There was a lot of paperwork required for this trip - I needed security training, a government passport, a Peru work visa, etc., all of which took months to get.

Friday, August 23rd: got up early, flew to Lima: got in late at night, then went across the street to the airport hotel to spend the night (very convenient). They provided a complimentary pisco sour when I arrived. The new Portland airport remodel looked nice.

Saturday, August 24th: got up early, flew to Puerto Maldonado, got a mototaxi (three-wheeled) to my hotel. There wasn't much of an obvious downtown here, but there were a few town squares, markets, and some tourist agencies near the bridge. I was pretty jetlagged from two nights without much sleep and long flights, so I didn't do anything too strenuous on this day, just explored the town and went to bed early; made arrangements for Sunday. The nice thing about motos (3-wheeled) is that you can lift them with one hand to do maintenance.

Sunday, August 24th: Went to Lago Sandoval as part of a tour. Walked to docks, took boat (long skinny with motor) to hiking trail, then hiked into the lake. Canoed around the lake (paddled for about half the way), to a lunch spot on the far side where lunch was provided, then canoed/hiked/boated back. Ate live termite (tastes woody, termite on trees, as opposed to termite in mounds, doesn't taste as good supposedly). Lots of cool birds; lake otters, some monkeys (including titi monkeys, though a different variety than I'd seen before). Cool wildlife. The boat operator stopped to help another boat that was broken down. Met Yamile for dinner in town; went to a place she knew (she used to live there, and the restaurant cat came up to visit her and beg for food). Lots of dogs and cats around. People smoking in restaurants, which I'm not used to.

Monday, August 25: met jovenes with the mentorship program; I'd had monthly video sessions with them for the last six months, but didn't really know them. Helped them develop their final proposal, poster, then I and they gave presentations at the building next door (part of Caritas offices - looked like old chapel). Saw monkeys cross the wires above the street. Lots of wires around. Interesting thing about restaurant payments - you pay at the table, with a credit card pad, but the numbers rearrange each time, so people can't see your PIN. Water not potable anywhere I was on this trip.

Tuesday, August 26th: drove then took a boat out to small town (San Jacinto): wandered around, looked at brazil nut trees, other vegetation, students presented on their work to the people in town, then came back. Had fish and vegetables for lunch.

Wednesday, August 27th: gave presentation again at UNAMAD campus, then went to Candela brazil nut factory, saw how nuts processed. Several of the jovenes were late and Yamile lectured them. In general people lax on times here. Meals haven't been very good - lots of cheese pizza, french fries with cheese, cheese empanadas, etc. It's interesting, they're all very young - 18-20ish, one 26, but several of them have kids.

Thursday, August 28: flew to Lima, Mercedes picked me up from the airport, then took me to USFS IP office, where I met people. We went out to a very good sushi restaurant that was supposedly Peruvian inflected (lots of Japanese influence after WWII); gravy on sushi. Ran late because Mercedes had wrong time. Presented on Tableau, Power BI, StoryMaps, etc., which in retrospect was wrong topic, but I got to answer their questions. Presentations were mostly in Spanish, except the last, which had a translator (which was somewhat distracting because I was trying to understand both the English and Spanish, and I kept switching which I used). Good Spanish practice, but stressful.

Friday, August 29th: unexpectedly, this was a holiday, so no work. I walked around, then rented a bike. My bike chain broke. Hotel was nicer than I needed, Miraflores, above cliffs by ocean. Lots of surfers.

Saturday, August 30th: took Uber out to Callao, got boat tour to Las Islas Palamino: rough seas, very dramatic islands, tons of birds, tons of sea lions, a few penguins. They gave wetsuits to people who wanted them and we swam with the sea lions (I kept my distance, much more than the others). Met nice woman from the U.S. who does these kinds of tours with groups. Afterwards took boat back. Went to submarine, naval museum, fort.