Nord d'Argentina / North of Argentina

[ENGLISH FOLLOWS]
Tenia tres dies per arribar de Perú al nord d'Argentina a trobar-me amb la meva germana Maria i el meu cunyat Jordi, així que podia anar amb la calma. Vaig creuar de Perú a Chile i aquí arriba la primera sorpresa, em diuen que el pas pel desert d'Atacama al nord d'Argentina està tallat per la neu, així que la millor opció era donar la volta per Bolivia. Aquesta ruta ja l'havia fet fa 6 anys i la recordava preciosa pero molt llarga, no tenia alternativa si volia arribar a temps així que agafo un bus nocturn cap a Bolivia. Com que el bus no sortia fins la nit, vaig anar a donar una volta per la platja d'Arica i vaig conéixer una parella xilena super simpàtica, em van convidar a cerveses a la platja i després a sopar a casa seva. Ja m'hagués quedat a passar la nit perquè era l'any nou Aimara (una ètnia com els quechua).

Perfí arribo a Salta, porto 3 dies de viatge desde Lima i ja no puc més. La recompensa arriba tant bon punt baixo del bus, allà m'esperaven desde feia estona la Maria i el Jordi! Una abraçada gegant i a l'instant se'm passa el malestar dels tres dies de bus per arribar. Em fa moltíssima ilusió que compartim una part del viatge! De fet, volien venir al Gener a Cuba però la Maria es va fer molt mal quan va caure corrent i encara dura la recuperació.

Abans de venir la familia em va preguntar, què necessites? Què et fa falta? Hi vaig estar pensant i la veritat és que res, jo mateix em vaig sorprendre. És increible pensar que tot el que he necessitat durant sis mesos ho puc portar a les espatlles en una motxilla gran i una petita. Així que els hi vaig demanar el que més trobo a faltar de menjar; bon formatge, pernil i embotits. En tota llatinoamèrica no he trobat bon formatge i no serà perquè no tenen la matèria prima, però el formatge d'aquí és tipus fresc i res de manxego, blau, sec, etc. I no parlem del pernil o els embotits, en fi, com estic disfrutant amb aquest regal!

Un cop visitat Salta, decidim llogar un cotxe per recórrer el nord. Anem direcció nord passant per la Quebrada de Humahuaca, tot un espectacle de carretera, fins a la montanya de 14 colors, sembla que algú s'hagi dedicat a pintar capes de diferents colors a un conjunt de montanyes, és molt espectacular i el mirador està a 4300 metres. El dia següent anem a Salinas grandes, és com el Salar d'Uyuni en petita escala, un desert de sal on extreuen sal en petites piscines i es poden fer fotos molt xules.

Un altre dia anem cap a Cachi, un poblet a 3 hores de Salta. Pel camí ens parem cada dos per tres, ara un mirador, ara una montanya nevada, ara un grup de llames. De sobte, ens traslladem al far west entrant a un parc nacional on està ple dels típics cactus però de fons es veuen montanyes nevades. No m'imaginava que el més maco ens esperava baixant de Cachi a Cafayate per una camí de terra, allà creuem la Quebrada de las Flechas, unes montanyes rocoses que fan unes formes espectaculars degut a l'erosió de l'aigua i del vent.

Cafayate és conegut per produir bon vi i el vi a més altura de Argentina, així que aprofitem per fer una visita i una cata de vins a una de les bodegues locals. De tornada a Salta també vam fer unes quantes parades a veure formacions rocoses curioses i la garganta del diablo, una formació semicircular considerada la porta a l'inframón per una de les ètnies locals. Ha arribat el moment de canviar de zona, així que agafem un bus nocturn cap a Córdoba.

Córdoba és una gran ciutat amb molta vida. Els carrers, places i parcs són plens de gent, hi han mercats d'artesanies i vam topar amb una milonga de tango al carrer, era maquíssim veure un munt de parelles ballant tango tant bé. De moment tots els argentins que hem trobat han estat molt amables amb nosaltres, preguntant-nos si necessitem ajuda i aconsellant-nos amb tot perquè ens sentim a gust. Un exemple és quan vam anar al parlament de Córdoba a preguntar si es podia visitar, la noia de la recepció ens diu que l'home que fa les visites no hi és. De sobte ens diu que ens esperem un moment i després ens diu que la seguim, ella mateixa es disposava a ensenyar-nos el parlament. Entrava a moltes sales; la biblioteca, l'arxiu, la sala parlamentària i la gent ens explicava que feien a cada lloc.

Al voltant de Córdoba hem visitat el que jo anomenaria com pobles peculiars. Un dia vam anar a Cumbrecita i a Villa Gral. Belgrano. Són dos pobles que semblen més dels alps que d'Argentina. Aquí, es va produir una mallorcanització; pots veure cartells en alemà, productes, cervesa i construccions alemanes, fins i tot tenen un Oktoberfest.

La Maria i el Jordi volen cap a Calafate, una part de la Patagonia on hi ha el Perito Moreno, i ens retrobem a Buenos Aires tres dies més tard. Jo no hi vaig perquè els vols eren cars i, donat que ara és hivern aquí i m'han dit que no es pot fer moltes excursions ni acampar a la Patagonia, he decidit que ho deixo per un altre viatge quan sigui estiu allà. Mentrestant he anat a visitar un altre poble peculiar, Capilla del Monte. Aquest és conegut per ser un poble amb unes energies especials des d'on s'ha vist vida extraterrestre. A tot el poble hi han dibuixos d'extraterrestres, estàtues d'ovnis i llocs relacionats amb temes espirituals; tarot, reiki, meditació, etc. A la vora hi ha el cerro Uritorco, una montanya d'uns 2000 metres d'altura que era considerat un lloc sagrat per les poblacions indígenes d'allà, així que vaig decidir fer el cim. Al cim m'esperaven uns condors impressionants que volaven en cercle aprofitant les corrents d'aire calent. S'hi estava molt a gust al cim, així que em vaig quedar molta estona, fins que els pocs turistes que havien pujat la montanya ja no hi eren. Llavors s'estava totalment en silenci i els condors volaven tant baix per sobre el meu cap que fins i tot es podia sentir com tallaven l'aire.

Aquí els busos són caríssims i gairebé no hi han trens, però vaig recordar que uns argentins que vaig conèixer a Perú, em van dir que de Cordoba a Buenos Aires hi havia tren dos cops per setmana, que eren molt barats, però que s'havia de reservar amb temps perquè volaven. Vaig aconseguir un dels bitllets de tren per anar cap a Buenos Aires per trobar-me de nou amb la Maria i el Jordi.

[ENGLISH]
I had three days to reach from Peru to the north of Argentina in order to meet my sister Maria and my brother in law Jordi, so I could go with the calm. I crossed from Peru to Chile and here the surprise arrives, they informed me that the path through the Atacama desert to the north of Argentina was closed due to the snow, so the best option was going through Bolivia. I already did this way six years ago and I remember it was so beautiful but long, I didn't have other alternatives if I wanted to arrive on time so I took I night bus to Bolivia. Due to the fact that the bus was not leaving until the night, I went to walk in the beach of Arica and I met a really nice chilean couple, they invited me to take beers in the beach and afterwards to have dinner at their home. I would have partied with them at night because it was the Aimara's new year eve (an ethnics like the quechua).

Finally I reached Salta, I've been three days travelling from Lima and I'm exhausted. The reward comes as soon as I go out of the bus, there Maria and Jordi were waiting for me for a long time! A big hug and instantly I forgot the three uncomfortable days in the bus. I'm so excited for sharing a part of the trip! In fact, they wanted to come on January in Cuba, but Maria hurted herself a lot when she fell down running and she's still in rehab.

Before they came, my family asked me, what do you need? what do you miss? I was thinking about it and the truth is that I don't need anything, I was surprised. It's incredible thinking that I can carry everything I've needed during six in a big and a small backpack. So I told them the food I miss the most; good cheese, spanish ham and sausages. I haven't found good cheese in all latinamerica, although they have the milk the cheese they do is mostly fresh and there's no "manchego", blue, aged, etc. And let's not talk about the spanish ham or the sausages, well, I'm enjoying a lot with the present!

Once we visited Salta, we decided renting a car to visit the north. We go towards the north passing by the "Quebrada de Humahuaca", a beautiful road until the 14 colours mountain, which seems that someone has painted different color layers, it's really spectacular and the viewpoint is at 4300 meters. On the following day, we went to Salinas Grandes, is like Salar de Uyuni in small scale, a salt desert where they extract salt in small pools and you can do really nice photos.

Another day we went to Cachi, a town 3 hours away from Salta. On the way we stopped every now and then; in a viewpoint, a snowed mountain, a group of lamas, etc. Suddenly, we were transported into the far west, entering a national park full of the typical cactus but with snowed mountains of the background. I couldn't imagine that the most beautiful part was waiting for us on the way down from Cachi to Cafayate on the dusty road 40. There we passed by the "Quebrada de las Flechas", rocky mountains that make spectacular shapes due to the water and wind erosion.

Cafayate is well known for producing good wine, and the highest wine in Argentina, so we took the advantage of visiting a local winery and doing a wine tasting. On the way back to Salta, we also stopped many times to see curious rocky formations and the devil's throught, a semicircular formation considered the gate to the underworld for some local ethnics. It's time to change the area, so we took a night bus to Cordoba.

Cordoba is a big lively city. The streets, squares and parks are full of people, there are artisanal markets and we bumped into a milonga tango in the streed, it was amazing seeing many couples dancing tango so well. Currently, all the argentinians we met have been so kind with us, asking if we need help and giving recommendations to make us feel well. An example is when we were in the Cordoba's parliament to ask if we could visit it, the woman of the reception told us that the man who is doing the visits was not there. Suddenly she told us to wait for a moment and after that we should follow her, she was going to show us the parliament. She was entering in many rooms, library, archives, parliament room and everyone working there were explaining what they were doing.

In the suroundings of Cordoba we've visited what I would call as peculiar towns. One day we went to Cumbrecita and Villa Gral. Belgrano. These are two towns that seem more from the alps than from Argentina. It occured like a part of Mallorca; you can see german signs, products, beer and constructions, they even have an Oktoberfest.

Maria and Jordi flew to Calafate, a part of Patagonia where there's the Perito Moreno, and we will meet again in Buenos Aires three days later. I didn't go because the flights were expensive and, due to the fact that now is winter here you can't do most of the excursions or camping in the Patagonia, so I decided leaving it for another trip. Meanwhile, I visited another peculiar town, Capilla del Monte. This is known to be a town with special energies where some UFOs have been observed. In all the town there are aliens' drawings, UFOs' statues and places spiritually related; tarot, reiki, meditation, etc. Next to it, there's the Uritorco mountain, a 2000m summit considered a sacred place for the indigenous there, so I decided to climb it. On the top, some impressive condors were flying in circles taking advantage of the thermoclines. I was feeling so well in the top, so I stayed there for a long time, until the few tourists that have climbed the mountain disappeared. Then, it was totally in silence and the condors where flying so low over my head that I could hear how they were cutting the wind.

Here the buses are really expensive and there's almost no trains, but I remembered that some argentinians I met in Peru told me that there's a train two times a week from Cordoba to Buenos Aires, which is really cheap, but you had to book well in advance. I got a train ticket and I went to Buenos Aires to meet Maria i Jordi.

Tornant a la casa peruana / Going back to the peruvian home

 

[ENGLISH FOLLOWS]
Crec que ja m'han picat suficientment els mosquits així que ha arribat el moment de sortir de la selva. A la zona d'Iquitos només es pot arribar en barco pel riu o en avió, així que agafo una barca i varios busos fins arribar a Chachapoyas, si, el nom té tela. Pel camí he fet amics; la Louise d'Alemania, l'Alicia de Madrid, el Harry i el Mateo d'Anglaterra i l'Andrea de l'Esquirol (al costat de Vic). Estem tots viatjant sols i són molt bona gent així que sense buscar-ho formem grupet i visitem la zona junts.

El primer dia anem al canyó de Huancas on vam fer una caminata per anar als miradors. El segon dia anem a Kuelap, unes ruines que sovint les comparen amb Machu Picchu, la veritat és que son impressionants i el millor de tot, és que no hi ha gairebé no hi ha gent. Per arribar allà, vam gairebé estrenar el primer telefèric de Perú que funciona desde fa dos mesos. Sembla que el govern peruà està invertint fort en aquesta zona perquè sigui un nou atractiu turístic, i té tots els números que sigui així. L'últim dia vam anar a la cascada de Gocta, no tenia gaires expectatives d'aquesta i vaig alucinar. És la tercera cascada més gran del món, són dos salts d'aigua que fan en total 771 metres de caiguda, només superada pel salt de l'angel a Venezuela i una que està a Tanzania. Vam fer una caminata de 8 hores per anar als dos salts i em vaig quedar enamorat del lloc, amb quina força queia l'aigua i el paisatge que l'envoltava, ah, i de nou estavem gairebé sols tota l'estona.    

En aquest punt es separaven els nostres camins, així que jo vaig continuar amb l'Andrea cap a Tumbes, el lloc on havia viscut fa 6 anys. Vam arribar molt de nit i vam anar a menjar una hamburguesa a un lloc molt humil que hi anava sovint a la vora de la casa on vivia. La filla de la mestressa, va ficar els ulls com a plats quan em va veure i li diu a la seva mare "es Jordi". En aquell precís moment em vaig adonar que havien passat 6 anys ja que m'arrivaba a la cintura quan vaig marxar i ara era el doble d'alta.

L'endemà l'Andrea va marxar cap a l'Equador i jo vaig anar en busca del meu compadre, el Leo. Ell és el meu millor amic de Tumbes i em va fer "padrino de corte de pelo" de la seva filla Dayana. Al Perú tenen varis padrins, el que li tira l'aigua, el que paga el convit, el que li talla un metxo de cabells, etc. Un cop et fan padrí, passes a ser com de la familia i els pares de la fillola passen a ser el teu compadre i comadre. Feia dues setmanes que el Leo no em contestava al mòvil així que em vaig imaginar que li havia passat algo amb el mòvil. Vaig anar on tenia la paradeta al passeig i havien tret a tots els ambulants del passeig, en una ocasió ja m'havia dit que s'havia canviat de lloc. Vaig reconéixer al de seguretat de la casa de canvi de la vora, li vaig preguntar pel Leo i em va indicar on era la seva nova ubicació. Encara no havia posat la parada així que vaig anar a veure la familia que em llogaven l'habitació, van flipar al veure'm passar per la porta. Em van convidar a esmorzar, vam estar parlant molta estona i al tornar ja vaig trobar al Leo.

Per la tarda vam anar a buscar les motxilles i em vaig instalar a casa seva. S'han comprat una casa més gran que la que tenien abans ja que ara son familia nombrosa, han tingut un nen, el Gary, que ara té l'edat de la Dayana quan vaig marxar, algo menys de dos anys, i l'Adrián, un nen de 14 anys d'un antic matrimoni del Leo. Vaig estar tant bé a la seva casa, és un lloc molt humil però no els falta de res, s'estimen tots un munt, els nens son adorables, molt inteligents i amb personalitats molt diferents. Vaig tenir molt bona entesa amb els nens, l'Adrian volia que li expliqués tota l'estona sobre tots els animals que havia vist al viatge, amb la Dayana jugàvem a jocs de paraules i de matemàtiques i el Gary m'ensenyava tot, m'agafava de la mà i em senyalava les coses. M'han tornat a ensenyar que no es necessiten luxes per ser molt feliços.

Després d'haver visitat tots els amics i haver-me banyat a les precioses platges solitàries de la zona, me'n vaig cap a Lima. Allà m'acull la Juana, una molt bona amiga peruana amb la que ja hem compartit bons moment tant a Perú com a casa, fins i tot ha vingut a una festa familiar a Banat (la casa familiar que tenim a vora de la Seu). També quedem amb l'Ana, una altra amiga peruana amb la que vaig viatjar per Bolivia l'altra vegada i també ha vingut a Barcelona. Si es que al final, viatjar crea vincles molt intensos i et permet conéixer gent molt maca amb la que els camins futurs es tornaran a creuar si un vol.  

Ja ha arribat el moment tant esperat, me'n vaig direcció al nord d'Argentina per trobar-me amb la Maria, la meva germana, i el Jordi (bula), el meu cunyat, per viatjar junts per Argentina.

[ENGLISH]
I think I got enough mosquito bites, so it's time to go out from the jungle. In the area of Iquitos, you only can reach there by boat through the river or by plane, so I took a boat and several buses until I reached Chachapoyas. I've made some friends on the way; Louise from Germany, Alicia from Madrid, Harry and Mateo from the UK and Andrea from  Esquirol (next to Vic/Barcelona). We are all travelling alone and they are really nice people, so without willing it we all joined into a group and we visited the area together.

On the first day, we went to the Huancas canyon where we did a trekking to visit the view points. On the second day, we went to Kuelap, some ruins often compared to Machu Picchu, the truth is that they are really impressive and the best of it is that they are almost empty. To reach there, we almost were the first ones using the first cable car that has been working for only two months. It seems that the peruvian government is investing a lot in this area to become a new turistic attraction, and definately it will be. The last day, we went to the Gocta waterfall, I wasn't expecting so much about it and I really allucinated. Is the third longest waterfall in the world, they are two water falls which sum up 771 meters of fall, only beated by angel fall in Venezuela and another one in Tanzania. We did a trekking for 8 hours to go to both falls and I fell in love with the place, with the strength of the water falling and the landscape surounding it, ah, and again the fact that we were almost alone all the time.

At that point, our ways were spliting, so I continued with Andrea to Tumbes, the place I lived 6 years ago. We arrived really late at night so we went to eat a hamburguer to a really humble place that I used to go, just next to the place I was living. The daughter of the owner opened the eyes like an owl and said to her mother "is Jordi". On that precise moment, I realized that 6 years had passed because she was high as my waist when I left and now she was two times taller.

On the following day, Andrea left to Ecuador and I went to look for my "compadre", Leo. He is my best friend in Tumbes and he made me the best man of cutting the hair of his daughter Dayana. In Peru they have several best men, the one who throws the water, the one who pays the party, the one who cuts a bit of hair, etc. Once you are a best man, you become member of the family, and from that point the parents of the child are your "compadre" and "comadre". Leo didn't answer in the cell phone for the last two weeks, so I guessed something happened with the cell. I went where he used to have the mobile shop in the main promenade but they had taken out all the ambulants from that street, he explained me long time ago that he changed the place. I recognized the security man of the currency exchange place, I asked for Leo and he showed me his new location. He wasn't still there because it was really early morning, so I went to visit the family who was renting me a room. They were allucinating when they saw me entering through the door. They invited me for having breakfast, we were talking for a long time and when I came back, Leo was there already.

On the afternoon, we went to take the backpacks and I went to sleep to his house. They've bought a bigger house because now they are more members in the family. They've had a boy, Gary, who is a bit less that two years, the same age than Dayana when I left, and Adrian, a 14 years old boy of an old marriage of Leo. I was really happy at his house, is a really humble place but there's nothing missing there, they love each other so much, the children are adorable, really intelligent and with very different personalities. I got along so well with the children, Adrian wanted all the time that I explained about the different animals I had seen in the trip, with Dayana we were playing word and maths games and Gary was showing me all around, he was holding my hand and pointing to everything. They've taught me again that you don't need luxuries to be really happy in life.

After having visited all my friends, having swam in the pretty and solitary beaches of the area, I went towards Lima. There I was hosted by Juana, a really good peruvian friend with whom I've shared really good moments in Peru and at home, she has even been in a family festivity in Banat (the family house that we have next to la Seu). We also met Ana, another peruvian friend with whom I travelled in Bolivia last time and she's been in Barcelona. At the end, travelling create really intense links and it allows you knowing really nice people with whom the future paths will cross again if you want to.

The most hoped moment has arrived, I'm going to the north of Argentina to meet Maria, my sister, and Jordi (bula), my brother in law to travel together in Argentina.

Peru entre monos / Peru in between monkeys

 

[ENGLISH FOLLOWS]
Tothom que em coneix sap que soc molt fan de Perú perquè vaig estar treballant aquí durant mig any, ara fa sis anys. I després de tot aquest temps tornar-hi em fa molta il·lusió. Acabo de tornar de la selva i vaig cap a migracions de Colombia per segellar la sortida, agafo una barca fins a una illa al riu amazones que està a 5min i ja estic a Perú. Al entrar a migracions veig un gran cartell que posa que denunciïs qualsevol cas de corrupció al Perú, sembla que la cosa aquí va canviant a millor. El senyor que em posa el segell resulta que és de Tumbes, on jo vaig treballar, així que vam estar una bona estona xarrant.

Havia d'estar al barco a les 3 de la nit així que em vaig quedar a un hostal cutre a l'illa. A l'hora de sopar vaig a "donde el gordo" que m'havia recomanat el de migracions. A Perú és molt típic que t'anomenin per com ets, a que et dediques o d'on vens, així doncs si sents que criden algú com "periódico" és que aquesta persona ven diaris, el mateix per negro, chino, gringo, flacucho, gordo, keke (pastís), españa, etc. Efectivament, l'amo del local era gordo i li n'estava fotent a les birres amb uns amics seus. La seva frase va ser "hombre España, que alegria tenerle aquí, tome con nosotros" i em passa una botella gran de cervesa. Ja no recordava com anava, a Perú es beu la cervesa d'una manera especial, només hi ha una botella gran i un vas. Et passen la botella i després el got, t'emplenes el got i passes la botella al següent, et veus el got i en deixes una mica per saccejar-lo al terra o a la paret (no importa que estiguis a casa) i així deixes el got "net" per passar-lo al següent. El procés itera fins que tothom va com les greques o pots fer una bomba de fum en qualsevol moment.

Vaig alucinar amb el vaixell, era un ferri força modern, ben cuidat, que es deia Fjord1 i portava tot escrit en norueg. Resulta que era un vaixell que anava pels fiords de Noruega i ara feia la ruta Leticia-Iquitos pel riu amazones. El riu amazones em va impressionar molt, mai havia vist un riu tant ample, tot envoltat de selva. Vam passar per San Pablo, una població que vaig conéixer a travès de la película diarios de motocicleta del Che Guevara. Té un centre per leprosos, que encara existeix, regentat per monges on els leprosos estàven a un cantó de l'amazones i els treballadors a l'altre.

Tenia al Willy, un home d'Iquitos molt simpàtic a la vora amb el que vaig estar parlant bastant i al arribar a Iquitos, la seva dona i fills l'esperaven, i em van portar tots fins a l'hostal. El Willy em volia treure de festa amb els seus amics així que una hora més tard m'estava esperant a la porta de l'hostal amb la seva moto. Vaig anar amb el Willy, els seus amics i algunes de les novies a un lloc a l'aire lliure on tocaven orquestres. De nou el procediment de les rondes de cervesa, va ser una nit molt divertida.

Com ja he dit d'altres vegades, al viatge em deixo portar per les "senyals". Em vaig quedar amb ganes de fer més voluntariats amb animals i no tenia molt clar que fer a Iquitos, així que vaig conéixer una parella alemana que em van parlar de l'illa dels monos, un centre de rescat de monos. Però ells no hi havien fet voluntariat, així que vaig conéixer una parella holandesa al creuar la frontera que hi havien estat 11 dies de voluntaris i me'n van parlar molt bé. Ja ho tenia coll avall, només havia de descobrir si m'acceptàven i com arribar-hi, així que vaig coneixer a una alemana a la meva habitació de l'hostal d'Iquitos que hi havia estat un mes, ella va contactar-los i em va dir que m'esperàven l'endemà a les 8:30 a l'oficina per anar cap allà.

La "isla de los monos" és una illa a la ribera del riu amazones de 450 hectàrees on hi han passat uns 350 monos. Reben tot tipus de monos amb històries similars, animals de companyia abandonats, recuperats del mercat negre, molts son orfes, els hi han matat els pares per motius varis; menjar-se'ls, comerciar amb la seva cua, etc. Gairebé tots els monos aquí estàn en llibertat, només n'hi han tres que estàn tancats perquè són grans i atacaven a la gent i als monos petits. Hi han molts monos que no s'acosten a la casa però hi ha un grup d'uns 15 que sempre estàn a prop i són la cosa més sociable del món.

Mai m'hagués imaginat que em fliparia tant interactuar amb monos, són super intel·ligents, tenen personalitats molt diferents i marcades, energies diferents, etc. He aprés moltíssim d'ells a diari. El Pepito i la Rusa, un mono choro i una udoladora, uns dels més petits que són orfes, el primer que fan al veure'm és pujar-se'm al cap, s'agafen fort als meus cabells i d'allà no els treus, imagino que és el que passa quan no tens pares. La Emma i la Fabiola, dos mones aranya petites, també fan molta gràcia, semblen bessones encara que en realitat no són familia i van arribar per separat. Però més que això semblen siameses, si una se't tira als braços perquè l'agafis l'altra no tardarà en venir i ajuntar-se com una "garrapata". Recordo al meu pare imitant als monos, de l'època que havia viscut a Guinea Ecuatorial, i jo sempre que he vist a un mono udolar he pensat que el meu pare no els sabia imitar. Fins que se m'ha posat un mono tití al davant i ha fet exactament el mateix soroll que feia el meu pare. Són una passada, a l'illa n'hi han bastants de lliures que els sents udolar i s'animen els uns amb els altres, però n'hi ha un que sempre està pels voltants de la casa i si et poses a imitar-lo, es posa a udolar amb tu. La Blanca, una moneta chora estava malalta, no volia menjar i tenia diarrea. Creien que tenia febre però no tenien termòmetre per mirar-ho, així que vaig utilitzar el que porto per anar-li controlant la temperatura. Li van haver de pujar la medicació perquè no li baixava la febre i al cap del dia ja anava millor i poc a poc va anar menjant.

Un dia que passava amb un parell de monos al cap per vora la gàbia de la Maria, és un dels tres monos grans que estàn tancats, vaig veure que estava amb el cap entre els braços, m'acosto i feia un soroll com si estés plorant, em va impactar molt lo real que semblava. Em vaig moure a una altra part de la gàbia, va venir, va posar l'esquena tocant a la reixa i continuava somicant, així que la vaig acariciar. Acte seguit, els monos que portava al cap van baixar i posar-se a acariciar-la també a través de la reixa, era un acte molt "humà", fins que al cap d'una bona estona va parar de plorar. El dia següent em diuen que la Maria i el Sambo (l'altre mono gran que estava a la mateixa gàbia) han trencat un tros de reixa i s'han escapat, en part em vaig alegrar, encara que no volia que ataquessin als petits. Els vaig veure i estaven tota l'estona als arbres del voltant de la casa. En un moment del dia que estàvem amb els altres voluntaris al porxo envoltats de monos, la Maria va aparèixer i se'm va posar a la vora, l'acaricio i se m'estira a sobre la falda, en un moment tenia 4 monos abraçats a ella tots a sobre la meva falda, imagino que la Maria és el més pròxim a una mare que poden tenir allà. Des de llavors, la Maria cada dia ve a que l'acaricïi en algun moment o altre. Al Sambo, que sembla ser el més perillós ja l'han posat a la gàbia de nou, però els he insistit molt perquè almenys deixin a la Maria fora, ella està més contenta i els altres monos l'abracen sovint.

Sembla que 5 dies tampoc donin per tant però se'm passen un munt d'històries més pel cap que he viscut aquests dies. Trobaré molt a faltar aquest lloc, es que són tant monos!!

[ENGLISH]
Everyone who knows me, know that I'm a big fan of Peru because I was working here for half year, 6 years ago. And after all that time, it really excites me going back to Peru. I've just come back from the jungle and I'm going to colombian migrations to stamp out, I take a boat to an island in the river only 5min away and I'm already in Peru. When I entered into migrations I saw a big sign that says you have to denounce any corruption case in Peru, it seems that the things are improving here. The man that put me the stamp is from Tumbes, where I was working, so we talked for quite a long time.

I had to be in the ferry at 3 in the night so I stayed in a basic hostel in the island. At dinner time, I went "donde el gordo" (where the fat man) which was recommended by the migrations guy. In Peru is really typical that they call you depending on how you are, what's your job or where you come from. Therefore, if you hear calling someone "newspaper" means that this person sells newspapers, the same for black, chinese, gringo, thin, fat, keke (cake), spain, etc. Definately, the owner of the place was fat and was drinking beers with his friends. His sentence was "hombre España, que alegria tenerle aquí, tome con nosotros" (Hi Spain, such a joy having you here, come and drink with us) and he gave me a big bottle of beer. I didn't remember how it works, in Peru the beer is drank in a very special way, there's only one big bottle and one glass. They pass you the bottle and after the glass, you fill the glass and you pass the beer to the next one, you drink the glass and you leave a bit of beer to throw it to the floor or the wall (it doesn't matter if you are at home), this way you leave the glass "clean" for the next one. The process iterates until everyone is completely wasted or you can disappear at any time.

I was so amazed with the ferry, it was so modern, well preserved, was called Fjord1 and everything was written in norwegian. It was a ferry that used to go through the norwegian fiords and now it was doing the way from Leticia to Iquitos through the Amazones river. The river Amazones was so impressive, I had never seen such a wide river, all surounded by jungle. We passed by San Pablo, a town that I knew through the film motorbike diaries from Che Guevara. It has a center for leprosy people, which still exists, managed by nuns, where the ill people was in one side of the amazones and the workers in the other.

Willy was seated next to me, a very kind man from Iquitos who I talked quite a lot. When we arrived in Iquitos, his wife and children were waiting him and all of them took me to the hostel. Willy wanted me to go out with his friends so an hour later he was waiting in front of my hostel with his motorbike. I went with him and his friends to an outdoor place where some orquestras were playing local music. Again the beer drinking procedure, it was such a funny night.

As I said in other ocasions, in the trip I follow the "signs". I wanted to do more volunteerings with animals and I wasn't sure what to do in Iquitos, so I met a german couple that talked me about the monkeys island, a rescue center for monkeys. But they didn't volunteer there, so I met a dutch couple crossing the border that had been 11 days as volunteers there and they recommended it a lot. I already decided I wanted to go, I just needed to figure out if they would accept me and how to reach there, so I met a german girl in the dorm in Iquitos who had been there for a month, she contacted them and they told her that they would be waiting for me the day after at 8:30 in the office to go to the island.

The monkey island is an island in the side of the river Amazones, it has 450 hectars and there has been 350 monkeys. They receive all kind of monkeys with similar stories, abandoned pets, saved from the black market, many of them are orphans, they've killed the parents for several reasons; eat them, deal with them or its tail, etc. Almost all the monkeys here are free, only three of them are in a cage because they are big and were attacking the people and the baby monkeys. There's many monkeys who don't get close to the house but there's a group of 15 that are always close and they are the most social thing in the world.

I never thought I would be so amazed interacting with monkeys, they are super intelligent, they have different personalities, energies, etc. I've learned so much from them everyday. Pepito and Rusa, a baby choro and howler monkey, they are orphans. The first thing they do when they see me is climbing to my head, they take my hair really strong and you can't take them from there. I guess this is what happens when you don't have parents. Emma and Fabiola, two spider monkeys, they are so cute aswell. They seem twins, although they are not family and they came separatedly. If one of them come to your arms, the other one won't take long to come and join like a tick. I remember my father emulating the monkeys from the time he was living in Guinea Ecuatorial, and when I've always seen a monkey howling I thought that my father didn't know how to emulate them. Until a titi monkey has been in front of me and he has done the same noise that my father was doing. They are amazing, in the island there are quite many free ones that you hear them howling, but there's one around the house that if you emulate it, it will start howling with you. Blanca, a woolly monkey was ill, didn't want to eat and had diarrea. They thought she had fever but they couldn't check it, so I used mine to control her temperature. They had to increase the medication because the fever wasn't going down, but one day later she was better and was eating more.

One day, that I was passing, with a couple of monkeys in the head, next to Maria's cage, she is one of the three big monkeys that are in cages, I saw she was with the head between the arms. I went closer and she was doing a noise like she was crying, I was so shocked because the crying was so real. I moved to the other side of the cage, she came, put the back touching the fence and continued crying, so I caressed her. Suddenly, the monkeys I had in the head went down and also caressed her through the fence, it was such a "human" gest, until quite a long time that stopped crying. The following day, they told me Maria and Sambo (the other big monkey that was in the same cage) broke a piece of fence and they scaped. Somehow it made me happy, although I didn't want the babies to get hurt. I saw them and they were all the time in the trees around the house. In the afternoown, we were with the other volunteers in the porch surounded by monkeys when Maria appeared and sat next to me. I carelessed her and she laid down on my knees. In a short time I had 4 monkeys hugging her on my legs, I guess Maria is the closest to a mother that can have there. Since then, Maria everyday comes in order that I careless her. They've put Sambo back in the cage, who seems the most dangerous one, but I've insisted a lot to have Maria outside, she is happier and the other monkeys hug her all the time.

It seems that 5 days are not that much, but many other stories that I've lived these days come to my mind. I'll miss this place a lot because they are so monkeys (in spanish means cute)!!