Sometimes All You Need

Dave came down last Friday to travel with me for two weeks. I wish I could post some pictures right now. We went to the Amazon and came back three days later stinky and muddy like you wouldn't believe. Humidity breeds funky smells. Our guide caught a caiman with his bear hands and was going to let everyone hold it until I dropped it at the same time the light went out (in my defense, I was worried I was strangling it) and pandemonium ensued. Later we swam in a piranha filled lake for all of three hysterical seconds, got lost knee deep in a swamp where anacondas are known to inhabit, listened for animals in the pitch dark, all the while adrenaline pumping through my veins. I don't think we were in danger at any point but going to the Amazon, where man's rules don't apply is like a swift kick in the rear.

Earlier, I had my head out the window of a train descending into cloud forest, the wind on my face noticeably smelling greener and wetter. Later, I was watching water like chocolate milk pound down Rio Urumbamba, roaring and leaping over boulders, crashing down and then kicking off again. Tomorrow we'll start hiking to Macchu Picchu before dawn breaks.

I am ready to travel again. Maybe it's leaving the city-office grind behind and this is the first time I've spent more than five minutes in front of a screen since Lima. Maybe it's spending a few days with a good friend wearing out jokes that were stupid to begin with. Maybe all I needed to remind me that this world is amazing, better than imaginable was a kick in the butt and some wind in my face. The excitement of travelling is back again with full force and I don't care if I have to do it alone.

Back to Lima on March 7th, one more month at MEDA and then it's on.