September 6, 2009
Early to bed, early to rise… we certainly fit the latter case. Today we went to the Charparri Ecological Reserve, some 75 km from the city. This protected area was formed through a partnership of the Muchik Santa Catalina de Chongoyape farm community, Heinz Plenge (photographer and conservationist), various private enterprises, and the Peruvian government.
It is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, even endangered species like the spectacled bear, Sechura desert fox, white winged guan, and the Andean condor. And if you love birds, then you gotta go because there are so many bird species you need more than your ten fingers and toes to count them all.
It was named after Chaparri Hill (Cerro de Chaparri) located within its boundaries, which, as legend has it, the Moches deemed sacred, as do local shamans today.
First stop was the town of Chongoyape: through a valley where farmers grow all types of different crops. Even though the area is a desert, a group of Germans built the Tinajones Dam about forty years ago which supplies the farmers the needed irrigation waters.
We were met by our local guide, Mr. Antero, upon our arrival at Chongoyape. You must hire a local guide if you want to visit the reserve, and a percentage of the entrance fee goes to the community (25% for health and 15% for education).
We had to walk along a forest path from the village to the reserve. It took us about 45 minutes. Our guide, who has lived his entire life in this area and loves nature, would point out to us where each bird was we heard along the hike. We were visiting during the end of the dry season, a great time to go bird watching. If you come during the rainy season, it may be a bit disappointing since the trees are covered with leaves and it is hard to spot the birds, although you can hear them everywhere.
As we enter the reserve itself, we see different types of birds: woodpeckers, owls, guans, hummingbirds, and tyrants as well as other animals like foxes, deer, and bears. We also checked out a small terrarium to see area snakes and another sector set aside for bears that had been rescued from captivity and are being rehabilitated. Our guide explains to us the spectacled bear is endangered because of illegal hunting. Once killed, hunters sell the penis because it is thought to hold special sexual power. You see, during its mating season, the animal can have sex up to four times a day, each time lasting for an hour and a half. That’s stamina for you.
They are also trying to repopulate llamas in this area, but the animals had to be driven to lower elevations since pumas attack them during the dry season. All that dry grass makes perfect hiding places for the big cats, and they can sneak up on their prey unsuspecting.
We also saw some of the bungalows they rent out to visitors who want to rough it. We then had a nice picnic lunch outside the reserve’s guide station.
After leaving the reserve, we drove towards the dam and watched fisherman fish with nets and took our quota of touristy pictures.
We dropped off our guide, and Juan drove us around the town. We stopped at Valera and tried a tasty dessert called bizcochuelo, sort of like a sponge cake. Don’t try to hide this from your wife either because if she finds out you went there and didn’t bring her back some of that sponge cake, man, you’ve had it.
We came back to the hotel, totally tired, and decided to spend this afternoon resting and catching up on the blog.
