We took fewer pictures on our last day in Peru. By this point, I think we were worn out and ready to go home.
We woke up to what looked like an Amazonian highway, with boats everywhere. After days of exploring smaller waterways and watching for wildlife, there was plenty of human activity to watch this morning. As the Delfin II reached its mooring, we could hear church bells ringing from shore. It was Sunday morning, and while our adventure was winding down, the town was beginning another day. The Amazon also left us one last gift: a rainbow.
Then it was time to pack our bags, climb into the skiffs, and head back to dry land. Our time aboard the Delfin II had come to an end, and we were back on a bus. Our guides still had one more stop for us: Amazon Forever Biopark. They were doing wonderful work rescuing animals, but our enthusiasm for another walk through the heat was running low. We appreciated what they were doing; we were just tired. We got to see the manatees, and Charlie found another friendly dog to spend some time with. Even at the end of a long trip, there was still energy for that.
Afterward, it was back on the bus to the airport. The crew helped us with our bags, and we said our goodbyes. Over the past week, our group had become a bit of a team. Once we landed in Lima, we were still looking out for one another, helping collect bags and get everything over to the hotel.
NatHab had arranged rooms so we could repack, shower, or sleep before heading back into the terminal for our red-eye flights. We were reunited with the bags we had left behind after the Machu Picchu portion of the trip, and the girls went to clean up.
I went down to the bar and got to watch the Packers beat the Cowboys. A Cowboys fan at the bar was taking it considerably harder than I was. A little football felt like a fitting way to ease back into life at home.
Eventually, we said our goodbyes to our fellow travelers—only to discover that most of us were on the same flight to Detroit. Several of us were also flying Delta One, so a good part of our riverboat crew ended up together again, settling into our pods for some well-earned sleep on the way back to the States.
From Lima to Machu Picchu, the desert to the Amazon, we had packed a lot into these nineteen days. Now we were ready to go home.
What a trip.
