Travel Diary: The Peruvian Amazon -Part Four

We managed to do a bit of monkeying around before we left the jungle for good.

The rain stopped just minutes after I awoke just after 6:00 on our last day in the jungle. Heading to the porch, I continued to devour the collection of James Baldwin essays I had been reading. Just before 7:00 I walked down to the lodge to see if there might be any coffee. No one was up yet working in the kitchen, but a man was tending to the grounds raking dried leaves near the footpath.

On the other side of the courtyard, I spied a young boy wandering aimlessly. I noticed a small piece of fruit about the size of a lemon covered in a tough light green rind. I tossed it in the air like a ball to make sure it would be suitable for a game of catch. I introduced myself to the young man in my very poor Spanish and asked his name. He responded with a big smile and told me his name was Michael.

I used body language and motions to convey the idea of playi…