Travels

Well, I have made one of my goals since I got to Peru to travel as much as possible.  The country is huge, and features jungle, high mountains and rugged coastlines.  2013 allowed me to travel a lot for work, and also enjoy the jungle raft race.  But, since 2014 began, I have tried to ramp up the traveling a bit, thanks to having saved a little during 2013, and a new friend in my life who loves traveling around Peru.  I wanted to share a bit of my travels since the year began. 

I have visited some Pre-Incan archaeological sites near Lima, including Pachacamac and Caral. Caral happens to be the oldest site in the western hemisphere, believed to predate even the pyramids of ancient Egypt. 

I also visited Tingo Maria National Park, in the mix between the jungle and mountains, at around 800m (reminded me a little of Panama). 

I also visited the Reserva Paisajistica Nor-Yauyos Cocha.  A beautiful park in the mountains which works to protect beautiful landscapes, but also promotes rural, community-based tourism in the numerous small towns within the park. 

I had some pretty great visitors from home, which gave us all the opportunity to visit Cusco and Machu Picchu.  It's maybe even more impressive than you might expect. 

And, of course, my work still allows me to travel up and down Peru's coasts and islands, work with fishermen and see the beautiful fauna. 

Updates, and time is running out

Yet again, I have not been keeping up with the blog as well. Work has changed a little.  We got a new boss at my government job, and we've had some bureaucratic issues, which have made things frustrating, and put one of my projects towards the back burner.  But, I have also transitioned to working with a small, Peruvian NGO part of my time.  So, I am now part-time working with the government, continuing on my projects, and part-time supporting this NGO that is starting a project working with fishermen on collaborative data collection.

I have still been traveling a lot.  Now I have two different jobs that let me travel up and down the coast.  But, also, taking more advantage of my weekends and vacation days to see as much of Peru as I can.

Well, I now have less than two months left in my time in Peru. I have had some good Peace Corps friends leave, and I am also coming to realize that I need to wrap things up, and that my return to the US is coming soon.  

Updates

Sorry, I realize that once again I have begun to fail on updating this blog.  I am not over half way through my time in Peru.
At work, I have mostly been staying busy working on the park master plan.  We held a big conference in December where we brought together representatives from all over Peru (well, the coastal region), to construct the park vision and co-management committee.

I have been able to travel some as well for work. Including visiting a few new sites in our network, I have also traveled to our highly visited tourist site in order to help during our high season (It is summer down here, remember).  I even participated when we brought a TV station down to shoot some promotional video about the islands (still waiting for it to premiere).

In my personal time, I have been able to host lots of friends, including a few friends visiting Peru from the US, and also different Peace Corps friends that occasionally come into Lima from the country.  I live in a nice central part of the city, and it's always nice to explore Lima and show people around.  I also enjoyed the Christmas season down here, including participating in a choir during a Christmas Cantata.

2014 looks to be busy.  The workshops for my main project on fisheries management in one of our sites with a fellow Peace Corps volunteers should start next month.  In addition to continued work on our master plan. Plus, my time is winding down and I still have so much of Peru to see!