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Refugio Altiplano - Lung of the Earth

Scott Petersen, owner of the Refugio, took Lize and Michelle (from South Africa) and I by speed boat out to the Refugio.  It is approximately a 1.5 hour ride by speed boat south of Iquitos on the Amazon River.  The Refugio is actually just off the Amazon on a smaller tributary.  The river is like a big brown snake and feels a bit like the ocean or a small creek at times as it narrows and widens.  It is a very interesting area with the shores covered in various jungle vegetation or big sand bars in the dry season.  Small villages are scattered throughout the banks and can only be noticed by a small dugout canoe or a thatched roof peaking through the foliage.

Scott Petersen's brother actually lives and works in Frisco, CO - he is the ReMax realtor Dave Petersen.  Small world!  Scott is from the US, (Michigan, California, New Mexico).....a big skier who fell in love with South America when he was 17 and came down to Ecuador to teach English during his summer vacation.  He has basically been here off and on permanently for 30 years.  Must really enjoy it!

We sped into a small village, Tamshiyacu, about 20 minutes from the Refugio, to get a little gas and some bread.  It is a small village of about 3,000 that has a market and even satellite internet service.  Of course, the whole time I was at the Refugio, I never had access to the internet.  The satellite was out of service or the Internet closed (only open until 12) in Tamshiyacu and the solar electricity got hit by lightening at the Refugio, so the satellite was not operational.  Guess I wasn't supposed to communicate while "healing" at the center. 

Anyway, we sped on into the Refugio in a complete rain deluge.  I don't know how Scott was able to manuever up the river without being able to see!  Thank goodness he knows the river SO well!  He was using a sponge to wipe the windshield!  The river is full of logs and debri and is especially dangerous during this dry season.  But, we made it safely!

As we rounded a bend, we saw a small dock and a wooden stairway rising up the bank - the Refugio Altiplano.  We walked up the long stairway as the workers who came with us in the boat carried our stuff up.  The service around here has been incredible!  The labor force here is used to manual labor and is always catering to our every need and lending a helping hand.  When we got to the top of the stairs, we saw several multi-story thatched roof structures that made you feel like you just entered a Tarzan movie.  These were to be home for the next several days.  

They immediately ushered us off to the main building where we met Poncho, the Refugio's pet monkey, who was swinging by his tail and showing off for us.  He is quite the ham and was so fun to watch and play with throughout the trip.  It is amazing how much they are like humans - complete with personalities, moods and attitudes:  Some days he was playful, others shy and aloof, others onry or mad.  Quite a character.  The Refugio usually has a pet ocelot as well, but currently they don't.  While they busily started making us lunch over the open fire, we were escorted up to the 3rd floor to rest and relax in the hammocks.  The hammocks became a daily activity!  It was a great view from the 3rd floor and we could catch a breeze while watching the many birds, butterflies, bees and mosquitos.

The staff at the Refugio is fantastic - friendly, helpful and fun loving.  They worked hard since everything required manual labor - cooking over an open fire, carrying water in and dumping into huge holding tanks for the bathroom facilities, cutting trees for logs used in the buildings, washing all laundry by hand in the creek then hanging it out to dry.  To say the least, the staff is in great condition.  Most do not speak any English, so we played a lot of charades with them always willing to help us with our Spanish.

Meals were really good and very healthy.  Fruit, tea, and juice was brought to our house each morning around 7.  We could go out on our balconies and sit in our hammock while we ate and enjoyed our jungle scenery and sounds.  We then would have breakfast mid-morning that consisted of fish/chicken, rice, fried yucca or potatoes, juice, tea, coffee or sometimes an egg frittata.  Lunch was served mid-afternoon and also consisted of fish or chicken, salad of cucumbers/beets/carrots/local greens/radishes, rice, potatoes or yucca.  The food was always fresh and basically organic.  Margaret would make many trips up to the 3rd floor to bring our meals!  Makes you feel pretty pampered!

Individual houses are scattered throughout the property (1200 acres) - most very isolated from each other with the dense jungle foliage, so you have lots of privacy.  The houses are different sizes, but usually 2 stories high with boards half way up then screened in the rest of the way.  Each have thatched roofs which amazingly keep the rain out.  Each house is equipped with a bathroom complete with toilet, shower and sink which are fed by a water tank housed on a balcony on the second floor.  Of course, it was only cold water.  I am getting my fill of cold water showers, for that is the norm in Peru.  Every few days, one of the guys would come and fill up the tank (on the 2nd floor) by bringing 5 gallon buckets of water up a hill and wooden ladder from a nearby well that captures rain water.  What a process! 

The houses are furnished with simple wooden furniture all made at the Refugio.  The beds are on wooden platforms with a mattress all covered by a mosquito net.  You feel like you are in a cocoon once you are all tucked in.  Since we didn't have any electricity, everything was lit by candles - which really gave off eery shadows late in the night - or flashlight.  Very basic, yet very comfortable accommodations.  You can invest in some property here and have one of these houses built for you.  It is used by other guests and fully maintained while you are not there.  You can invest in property for about $10K and a house is about $10K.

There are also 2 tree houses on the property.  These are pretty incredible structures towering 4 stories above the jungle floor.  The houses have been carefully built so as not to damage the trees.  The views, especially sunsets, are incredible as you look out across the canopy.  So, if you really want to play Tarzan, you can do it here!  I would not want to try to climb the stairs at night or get up to go to the bathroom - that first step could be a doozie!  One of the tree houses is in a flowering tree and it was blooming while I was there - absolutely beautiful sitting among all the flowers watching the bees pollenating! 

My house was closest to the ceremony hut, but furthest from everyone else.  At night with the jungle sounds, you could convince yourself that people were walking around outside.  Of course a lot of that were the animals that came out at night as well as the falling of the 2 foot long leaves from the trees.  They really sound like footsteps as they reverberate around you.  Also, it is VERY dark in the jungle at night especially when there is NO moon.  It was best not to let the imagination run wild! 

Also on the property are several fish ponds and a botanical garden where they are growing all their medicinal plants that they use in their healing medicine.  This opens up services to a different type of guest looking for a naturalpath healing process.

There is a section of the forest that none of Scott's workers will venture in.  Supposely, if you go in, the ground begins to shake and as the story goes, it is a BIG anaconda that lives there.  They actually have seen a 30-40 foot anaconda on the property - glad it kept its distance while I was there!

The property is also home to many types of birds including huge Orioles, wrens, parrots, mccaws, and tucans; gorgeous butterflies of all types, sizes and colors; ocelots; jaguars; monkeys; squirrels; alligators; snakes; these things like a wild pig ( I forgot the name), grasshoppers (4 inch), lightening bugs (like flashlights in the night) etc.  There are 2 types of animals - those that live during the day and those that live during the night.  At dusk, you can feel the transition from one environment to the next for the sounds of the jungle and the feel of the jungle change dramatically. 

The air in the jungle is the puriest and most oxygenated of any air on earth with all the huge plants giving off oxygen.  Some people describe it that it is like breathing velvet.  Everything is breathing - breathing deeply and slowly to its own rhythm - it really feels like something is breathing you!  You can understand why the Amazon jungle is called "the LUNG of the EARTH"!

www.refugioaltiplano.org

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