Perspectives on Peru

Trace Brewer: After a nine-hour flight, we made it to Lima. We made Peruvian meals in a cooking class. We made chichi madura (purple corn syrup, lemon and simple syrup) and ceviche, and the best thing we made was steak stir fry. While exploring Lima, we saw the catacombs at Convento de San Francisco, burial grounds for priests and residents. The catacombs were full of bones and made my bones tingle.

We took two flights to the Amazon jungle city, after which we took a grueling two-hour boat ride to the jungle. We saw a walking stick, a walking tree (it’s called that because every year the tree’s roots move so that it’s “walking”), a bullet ant and a leafcutter ant; then we saw the royal palm tree, which is large. We even ate termites (protein)! The next day we went to a big part of the jungle where we saw telephone trees, piranhas, macaws, alligators and more. On the last part of the trip, we saw Machu Picchu.

Taylor Brewer: The Amazon is a place full of strange fun. My mom, brother, cousin, grandmother and I arrived in Puerto Maldonado with our group after a much-delayed plane ride. We arrived at the campsite, and the wood cabins insinuated at what kind of stay we would have, but I was excited nonetheless.

At the start of the walk led by our tour guide, we saw a female walking stick, significantly larger than its male counterpart. I discovered a newfound fear and shivered every time I stepped on a stick. We found geckos climbing up the side of a building. Then we were reminded to stay away from bullet ants when we saw one on a tree nearby; they tear out chunks of skin!

The next day we went on a five-hour trip through the rainforest. It was fascinating. My favorite part was when we got to feed piranhas crackers. Other little fish would try to eat them, but the piranhas always won. We got glimpses of them when they came up to eat the crackers. We headed back and spent our final night. I woke up ready for the long trip that awaited in between me and my next adventure.

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