Backwater

This entry is actually a day late. Yesterday after arriving in Puerto Maldonado and finding out that I had to kill some time until lunch was ready, I figured out how to ride a three wheeler into the town -- about 8km away. What a backwater this place is! Only the main streets are paved and many of the buildings are poorly constructed single storey affairs. People are friendly and helpful, and don´t seem as startled as they were in China to see a white face walking along the narrow sidewalk. Finding an internet ¨cafe¨ I proceeded to write up a page, only to have it lost when the internet connection crashed. Experience has led me this time to write first in WordPad and save it frequently!
That frustrating experience, the heat and humidity and my extreme sleepiness brought on by a sleepless night in the Lima airport took me in the direction of the town plaza, where there are some benches strategically located under some leafy trees where I had no trouble taking a nap and, I think, snoring! Before I knew it it was nearly noon and time to return to the Rainforest Expeditions facility for lunch. Only myself and Ketty the office manager ate in the reception area/bar. My vegetarianism is going quickly down the tubes out of hunger: a piece of grilled chicken was accompanied by some boiled potatoes and a small salad with tomatoes.
In the afternoon the sky decided to open up with a very dramatic thunder and lightning storm. Everyone got under cover, including the two friendly mutts apparently belonging to the resort and one very small kitten with an extremely pathetic ¨mew¨. I was reminded of Tom and Ab´s family when one of the dogs (50 lbs?) decided my lap was the best place to lie down. I must have made a friend because when nature called in the middle of the night, he was curled up on the hardwood floor right outside my door!
It seems my binoculars will not be magnifying an image of a macaw for another day or two yet, unfortunately, though the sounds coming out of the local forest are pretty unusual. It´s difficult to see what´s making them as they are so high up!