~Peace out in the
Amazon~
So Peeps and I are in the middle of nowhere. While I write,
Peepu is sleeping by my side. A short flight and a few canoe rides this
morning, we reached a jungle lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Our room is
beautiful, the jungle sounds refreshing, and slowly, most stresses are waning.
For me, this is an opportunity to disconnect. Frankly, I don’t have a choice as
this place has no internet. After much protest, I've come to terms with it, and
have decided that I’ll spend the next few days
- Continuing to dance with nature- swim in the amazon, walk through the rainforest, potentially limit alcohol
- Relax and meditate
- Write about all the thoughts and ideas bubbling in my mind
While I will soon move on to another thought, its worth
pausing and reflecting over the last few days. Peeps and I are in Ecuador. We
planned this break fairly quickly, and it has so far turned out to be more
exotic than we had thought. I fear about going on without once thanking the
powers that be, for making this possible for Peeps and I. For sure, we work
hard. But we’re definitely fortunate that our hard work yields and allows us to
be passionate. Passion is not an option for everyone and I hope that some day
I’ll be able to use my experiences, knowledge and passion to give back and
enable some others to achieve at least a part of their dreams..
We started the journey a few days back, when we flew from
SFO to Houston. A stop over, made longer by a nasty storm, delayed our flight
to Quito. We landed in Quito at 200 am, where after the immigration facilities
and dubious looking officials, we made our way to our home for the next 3
hours- Quito Airport Inn. Quito is at 2,800 meters above sea level, again
something we learnt only after stepping out of the airport with no jacket or wrap
to cover ourselves.
The inn was about 10 minutes away, and cost $5. The
proximity didn’t mean much until a few days later when we really saw how far
Quito is from Mariscal Sucre International Airport. Quito Airport Inn cost us
$49 a night- probably a good call given how little time we spent there. When we
reached the place, all we saw was 2 dirty dogs, a very friendly young girl to
welcome us in the early morning hours and a few stripped down rooms, which had
little other than a bed sheet and cover. It did have good wifi, and after
catching up on email, our very long day ended. 4 hours later, we were back at
the airport, negotiating with LAN Ecuador on why they shouldn’t bump us off our
flight to the Galapagos- our first major stop. Some fuss later, LAN convinced
Avianca to put us on their flight and we were off to the otherworld! Between
spurts of awake time on the flight, we had a chance to stare in awe at the
Cotopaxi and the Chimborazo- the two highest volcanoes/peaks in Ecuador. The
Andes were stunning and left me with a sense of regret that I will not have the
chance to trek through these possibly in this lifetime. Soon, the terrain
changed from the volcanic Andes, to flat lands. Our plane stopped at the humid
city of Guayaquil, before flying us over the Pacific towards the otherworldy
Galapagos Islands.
~Thriving~
Now the Galapagos are behind us, and we’re hundreds of miles
East, in the Lower Napo river, close to the mouth of the Amazon.
We started our day with a beautiful walk in the forest, all
the way to a series of metal observation towers, which elevated us above the
canopy, setting the stage for some phenomenal views of the forest and bird life
within.
Its noon now. There’s something to be said about starting
the day at 5:30 am. I’ve always been a fan of rising early. Over time, it’s
started coming naturally to me. On a typical weekday, I wake up by 6, and on
weekends, no later than 800 am. Of course, to make this work, I need to be
somewat disciplined about a few things:
-
I make sure to turn in by 10 or 11 pm, so I can
clock no less than 7 hours of sleep.
-
Keeping my evening meals light has helped me
manage well with 7 hours of sleep, something that used to be very difficult
earlier.
-
I also drink much less now. This is something
around 2-3 glasses of wine a week, which is possibly too low but keeps me happy
yet energetic
-
I’ve cut down smoking to barely 2-3 cigarettes a
week, but I’m hoping to bring this down further, possibly cold turkey.
This change has benefitted me in several ways. For one, I
have a significantly more efficient work day. I get the time to prepare or pick
up a healthy breakfast, and I’m not always rushing. I also manage stress better
as the morning hours help me catch up on work better than later, especially
when all the world starts booting up. The regular sleep clock has led to better
skin for me over time, which has been for long, a pretty painful affair for me.
I can’t say that all my skin problems are gone, and some of them will probably
never go away. Finally, more often than not, the efficiency releases time to
work out. I have to better about it though, and make this a more regular part
of my life. I manage 2-3 times a week but would like to take this up to 4, or
in a good week, 5 times a week. 5 would be ambitious and tough to sustain, and
4 days, including 2 on the weekend and 2 during the week feels more reasonable.
While I’ve been writing in, I slept off for a bit. During this
time, it started to rain. While I thought
disconnecting would be tough, its actually been wonderful. In our wood room, we
can look outside to see a sea of trees. From time to time, a monkey would be
jumping from tree to tree. The sound of the forest is anything but soft. From screaming
birds, to croaking frogs, this is a beautiful break so far. Soon, we’ll head
for lunch. After tasting the dinner last night, I’m really looking forward to
seeing the fare this afternoon.
~ As close to skinny
dipping as I will get~
Last night, we went out in to the forest again. The night
walk, as they call it was scary as hell. It was pitch dark, and from time to time,
we came across giant tarantulas, snails as big as my head and many other creepy
crawlies.
Today was short, but helped me tune out even more. We
started the day with a long boat ride down the river and back. The food at
Sacha Lodge continued to satisfy my soul. In the afternoon, we had the option
of venturing out again but I held back. I let Peeps go and stayed back in the
lodge to connect with the forest alone.
I also went by the water, and considered dipping in. The
staff had informed us that its safe, but it was daunting nevertheless. While I
read my book and debated whether to dive in or not, I realized it would soon be
dark, and hence unsafe given the Caymans start owning the water after sundown.
Knowing I might never have this option again, I dove right in. That was the feeling I had been looking for-
being in the water, surrounded by the expansive and mesmerizing rainforest
around me, I felt fantastic about life!
Later at night, we went on a ride in the canoe, while it was
pitch dark. The only sounds we could hear were those of the forest, rustling
leaves, night calls by the insects and forest life. And then, we saw a Cayman-
3 meters long! She darted away from us in a few seconds, leaving us gasping in
amazement.
This has been life changing.
~Return to reality~
We got back from Quito early this morning. We had planned to
take Monday off given it’s a long flight. Lucky for us we were upgraded.
The end of a holiday never brings back a lot of excitement.
This one was special. It started out as a rushed, unplanned trip, but it took
us to some otherworldy locations, forced us to disconnect thanks to limited
wifi and immerse ourselves deeply in to nature (and each other).
Work starts tomorrow, and threatens to bring the expected
stress with it. I tried plugging in earlier today but Peeps discouraged me, as
he (rightly) pointed out that work will occupy as much we let it. I listened
and don’t regret it. We caught up on the first episode of the new season of
Masters of Sex. By 5:30, we were unpacked and settled in. I've been feeling
this beautiful sense of calm since we visited the Amazon. I don’t doubt that
this may well be a temporary effect, but I would love for it to stay with me
longer. In that spirit, I went for a 75 minutes Yoga class. Our instructor
today was GREAT. He started slow, and didn't make us go crazy with the
calisthenics right away. His approach was to focus on form and enabling mindfulness
rather than a power workout. Surprisingly, for most of the 75 minutes, I sweat
profusely, and I wasn't alone. Throughout the session though, I kept taking my
mind back to the late night canoe ride, amidst massive stretches of rain-forest,
and the most calming expanse of silence. The only sound we heard was that of
the paddle gently swishing through the water. Earlier that day, when it was
brighter, I did get a few shots. The beauty and calm a few hours later, was magnified.
There was salmon in the freezer, which I let thaw and made
dinner out of. It’s the simplest meal, which takes about 20 minutes to make. I
left the salmon fillets in a baking dish, and added a mixture of garlic, parsley
and herb-infused olive oil on it. I let it bake for 15 minutes after which I
broiled it for about 10 minutes to make it crispy. For Peeps, I added two
slices of bread, and for myself, only some Sriracha.
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