San Ramon

On the advice of Pedro, the gentleman I met at a local bakery who had an encounter with a Peruvian UFO, I ventured to San Ramon this Thanksgiving. Why? I was more interested in looking at birds instead of space aliens. Actually, Pedro isn’t the only Peruvian who recommended San Ramon. Being on the eyebrow of the jungle, San Ramon gives visitors a peek of the Amazon without having to get three thousand vaccines. Only a six-hour bus ride from Lima on Peruvian time (which is actually nine hours on Type A personality time), a trip to San Ramon is worth reserving a seat on the movil bus. It’s safe, clean and just three hours behind schedule.

Part of the adventure to San Ramon is the ride. Being one of the two “major” towns in the Chanchamayo Province of the Junín Region, you’ll see snow, llamas and breathtaking landscape, including traveling up a 14,000 foot mountain riddled with hairpin curves. TIP: Bring a lot of water and pop a few of those altitude sickness pills. Make that more than a few. Half-way through the trip, everyone gets off the bus for a meal, and that’s when the altitude sickness hits you. I was as dizzy as if I had been on the Tilta-whirl ride at the carnival.

Now, for San Ramon.

It will take a couple more decades before Starbucks discovers this place. I didn’t see any gringos (or space aliens) because I ventured to San Ramon to see birds. I stayed at El Cacaotal Finca Faura located on the edge of town. I saw bird species I didn’t even know God created, all more colorful than a Petr Max painting. There are over six hundred bird species in the San Ramon area, which are more entertaining than any of the country’s four thousand varieties of potatoes. That even includes Mr. Potato Head. Of course, the only bird I was able to catch with my camera was this bird equivalent of the hairless Peruvian Orchid dog.

Since I was bumbling with my binoculars, I wasn’t able to snap photos of birds I thought only existed on the Discovery Chanel, including chestnut eared aracari or or crested oropendola, I took photos of the foliage instead, including this flower that looks like a floating candle you’d buy at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Other plants were vivid in color, from purple bananas to a chunk of moss that looks like the profile of a shar pei.

The proprietors of the hotel knew which trees in their garden attracted what birds. They recommended a few places to eat, TIP: Don’t ask what you are eating until after it’s gone down the hatch. This yummy kabob is beef heart . This dish looks like something I made in middle school home-economics class. And these banana ships came with a great sunset view of the river at Restaurant Tourista.

San Ramon has a few breathtaking hikes,. including one to the Tirol Waterfall. The hotel proprietors hooked me up with a tuk-tuk driver.

Now I’m back in drab Lima. Drab as the city is brown as if God ran out of good crayons. I hope to get back to San Ramon soon. There are more birds to see.