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From the Amazon to Baltimore
Jul. 21st, 2012 07:03 pmRight now I'm in Baltimore! How weird is that? I'm staying with my friend Flo, and she's been showing me around. I'll be in DC tomorrow, and then in New York for the rest of the week.
I really want to write a little bit about the Amazon before I forget all about it.
It was amazing. Amazing! I stayed for two nights in a reserve called Tambopata, and there were parrots at the reserve, and humming birds, and animals that I don't even know the names of! We went for a night walk on the first evening, and we saw loads of crickets, moths, ants (carrying those little pieces of leaves - just like in the movies) and a chicken spider! The chicken spider was probably bigger than my hand. Apparently they grow to be the size of dinner plates. They kind of look like tarantulas, but they live in holes and pounce on little sticks that annoying tour guides poke inside their homes.
The morning after was spent exploring the jungle, checking out enormous trees and feeding the piranha fish. (Don't worry, we just gave them crackers. No humans were harmed.) Also, we saw some monkeys and partridges from far away. I really liked the trees. They were truly amazing. Especially one tree that had originally climbed up a different tree, and eventually killed it in order to survive. The old dead tree then disappeared, leaving the new tree kind of empty on the inside, so that tourists can walk in there and pretend to be prisoners in a natural wooden cage.
In the afternoon we visited a farm that grows pineapple, papaya, avocado, all sorts of citrus fruit, peppers, bananas, star fruit and... cheese fruit. Cheese fruit smells horrible. It might help cure cancer, though. We got to taste some of the fruit, and I am so in love with papaya. It is utter yum!
The second evening included a night boat ride. We saw caimans (little crocodiles), baby caimans and giant hamsters! Mostly I just liked being on the river in the dark. It was exciting, and you could really listen to the sounds of the jungle.
Sadly, we did not spot any anacondas. Oh, well. Next time!
I had a bungalow to myself to sleep in. It was really beautiful, but had no glass in the windows! Just mesh netting. There was also a mosquito net over my bed. On the verandah there was a hammock! I spent hours in the hammock just chilling with a book. It was fairly awesome.
I didn't get sunburnt, and I didn't get completely devoured by mosquitos. Probably because it was "cold" and cloudy. I didn't need a jacket, so I didn't think it was cold. But clearly the mosquitos thought it was. Hah!
The flight to New York from Peru was uneventful, and the train ride from New York to Baltimore went well too. I found Flo's place, and we spent yesterday afternoon/evening exploring the inner harbour and eating at the Cheesecake factory. (Mmmmm. I'm so happy I was able to go there again!)
Today she showed me the campus of her University (she goes to Johns Hopkins because she is a genius) and I got a T-shirt! We also checked out the fair in town - Artscape. I tasted a corn dog, funnel cake and fresh squeezed lemonade. I think my arteries may never recover, but it was delicious!
Anyway, I think I have deprived the lovely Flo of her computer for long enough.
P.S. I'll be in Iceland next weekend! That is so bizarre.
I really want to write a little bit about the Amazon before I forget all about it.
It was amazing. Amazing! I stayed for two nights in a reserve called Tambopata, and there were parrots at the reserve, and humming birds, and animals that I don't even know the names of! We went for a night walk on the first evening, and we saw loads of crickets, moths, ants (carrying those little pieces of leaves - just like in the movies) and a chicken spider! The chicken spider was probably bigger than my hand. Apparently they grow to be the size of dinner plates. They kind of look like tarantulas, but they live in holes and pounce on little sticks that annoying tour guides poke inside their homes.
The morning after was spent exploring the jungle, checking out enormous trees and feeding the piranha fish. (Don't worry, we just gave them crackers. No humans were harmed.) Also, we saw some monkeys and partridges from far away. I really liked the trees. They were truly amazing. Especially one tree that had originally climbed up a different tree, and eventually killed it in order to survive. The old dead tree then disappeared, leaving the new tree kind of empty on the inside, so that tourists can walk in there and pretend to be prisoners in a natural wooden cage.
In the afternoon we visited a farm that grows pineapple, papaya, avocado, all sorts of citrus fruit, peppers, bananas, star fruit and... cheese fruit. Cheese fruit smells horrible. It might help cure cancer, though. We got to taste some of the fruit, and I am so in love with papaya. It is utter yum!
The second evening included a night boat ride. We saw caimans (little crocodiles), baby caimans and giant hamsters! Mostly I just liked being on the river in the dark. It was exciting, and you could really listen to the sounds of the jungle.
Sadly, we did not spot any anacondas. Oh, well. Next time!
I had a bungalow to myself to sleep in. It was really beautiful, but had no glass in the windows! Just mesh netting. There was also a mosquito net over my bed. On the verandah there was a hammock! I spent hours in the hammock just chilling with a book. It was fairly awesome.
I didn't get sunburnt, and I didn't get completely devoured by mosquitos. Probably because it was "cold" and cloudy. I didn't need a jacket, so I didn't think it was cold. But clearly the mosquitos thought it was. Hah!
The flight to New York from Peru was uneventful, and the train ride from New York to Baltimore went well too. I found Flo's place, and we spent yesterday afternoon/evening exploring the inner harbour and eating at the Cheesecake factory. (Mmmmm. I'm so happy I was able to go there again!)
Today she showed me the campus of her University (she goes to Johns Hopkins because she is a genius) and I got a T-shirt! We also checked out the fair in town - Artscape. I tasted a corn dog, funnel cake and fresh squeezed lemonade. I think my arteries may never recover, but it was delicious!
Anyway, I think I have deprived the lovely Flo of her computer for long enough.
P.S. I'll be in Iceland next weekend! That is so bizarre.
