11/6 - Rio Paucartambo, Day 5

The highlight of Day 5 was the confluence of the Rio Paucartambo and Rio Urubamba. We started paddling at 8:30 and didn't stop till lunch at 1:15pm. We knew we had to be getting close but we didn't really know how close. I asked a local farmer how far at lunch and he said, 'Cerquita! 20 minutos!' (Very close!). Of course, he had never seen a kayak before, so we took this with a grain of salt. He was pretty close and 25 minutes later we were sitting in the eddy between the two rivers. Sucess! Self portrait of the crew in the eddy at the confluence of the Urubamba River and Paucartambo River:

We paddled across the river here to ask when the next water taxi or bus would be passing by to pick us up. We had expected there to be some there or something which was unrealistic since we were in the middle of nowhere. Ben, Todd and Scott walked to a small 'town' where the drunk/sleeping/crazy radio controller guy was unhelpful. It turns out that we were in good luck because the water taxis only run on Monday and Wed (it was Sun) and the road is unpassable once it starts to rain (which it had been). We got mixed messages, but bottom line, boat leaves at 5am, be there at 4:45am and you might get it.

Some local kid, Daniel, invited us to stay on his property on river right. We watched in awe as he skillfully pilotted his 20 foot long wooden canoe across the Urubamba with fewer than 3 strokes. We followed in suit and were soon camped on the right side.

Andy pumping water from the Urubamba at the confluence:
The house where we were invited to stay at the confluence:
The rocks outside where we slept at the confluence:

Daniel was very hospitable, and we invited him to dinner with us. We also fed his dad and friends. He showed me how to scale a tree and cut down plantains to eat. Its really quite easy:

1) Find tree with plantains
2) Find machete
3) Hack into trunk of tree until it falls down
4) Pick up plantains off ground

The next morning was an early one for the sunrise ferry...