Monday, March 28, 2011

Halfway between Cacatachi and Rumisapa

We technically live in Rumisapa, but practically we live between it and Cacatachi.  When I step outside our front gate and turn to the left, this is what I see.  This way leads to Cacatachi.

In this picture, I'm standing in front of our house, looking toward the main gate leading into our property from the road.  You can see that our front yard is dirt only!

I took this picture standing in the road in front of our house.  You see the front gate and our house.

This road leads to Rumisapa.  I stepped out of our front gate, and pointed the camera to my right.


Tarapoto or Rumisapa?


When we moved to the jungle from Trujillo last January, we told everyone we were moving to Tarapoto, mostly because if we told them where we actually were going to live they wouldn’t have a clue where we were going.  Rumisapa (means “big rock” in the native language Quechua) is a small, sleepy jungle town located about 20 minutes from Tarapoto.
So, for those not terribly familiar with Peru, where in the heck is Tarapoto?  First off, from Trujillo, if you leave the coast and drive inland, you will cross the Andes Mountains (no small feat, some of the peaks are really high) and when you get back down nearly to sea level, you’ll be in the jungle.  There’s “high jungle” and “low jungle” and we’re right at the altitude that divides the two, so we’re either both or neither, I’m not sure which. You can drive to Tarapoto from Trujillo, which is what we did in our newly acquired used Toyota Hi-Lux pickup.  Many of the jungle towns can only be accessed by boat or air.
More later about where we live.  I have to go to Rumisapa right now and buy eggs and bread before dark.  The photo above is me on my cool Yamaha Crypton motorcycle.  It’s great for getting me around.  In the background is our garage and, further back, the stable and milk barn. Oh yes, and you can see our pickup.