Peruvian Amazon spared from environmental destruction

The Peruvian Amazon has been spared this month from massive environmental damage, thanks to the public outcry and protests of brave Peruvians.

From the New York Times:
"Peru’s Congress on Thursday overturned two decrees by President Alan García that were aimed at opening large areas of the Peruvian Amazon to logging, dams and oil drilling but set off protests by indigenous groups this month in which dozens died.

Tomas Munita for The New York Times-- An Ashaninka indigenous woman cooked in the main road linking the central jungle to Lima.

The move appeared to ease tensions with the indigenous groups, which had continued with their protests and road blockades in parts of Peru despite Congress’s decision to suspend the decrees last month. After the vote on Thursday, however, some indigenous leaders said they would lift the scattered blockades and halt the protests.

“Today is a historic day for all indigenous people and for the nation of Peru,” said Daysi Zapata, a leader of the Peruvian Jungle Inter-Ethnic Development Association, a group representing more than 300,000 people from Peru’s indigenous groups.

The apparent end to the impasse came after at least 24 police officers and 10 civilians were killed in clashes and acts of retaliation in northern Bagua Province, some of Peru’s bloodiest political violence since a two-decade war ended in 2000.

The decrees, issued by Mr. García as part of a regulatory overhaul for a trade deal with the United States, were intended to open parts of jungle to investment and allow companies to bypass indigenous communities to attain permits for petroleum, biofuels and hydroelectric projects.

Other disputed decrees by Mr. García remain in effect, raising the prospect of new protests. Still, Mr. García acknowledged in a speech late Wednesday that his government had made a crucial mistake by not including native groups in discussions over the decrees before he issued them.

The repeal of the decrees and the apology by Mr. García open a new phase of uncertainty in Peru, where economic growth is sharply declining amid a decline in commodities prices."

Written by Simon Romero

Published on June 18, 2009

Tips on choosing your South American trek

With summer here, you're probably breaking in your new hiking boots and dreaming about where to take your next adventure. Of course, planning any international trekking adventure takes a bit of perseverance but it shouldn't be harder than the hike itself. Make it a bit easier for yourself by following these tips from Detour:

1. Make sure you have a local guide. Naturally, a trained local guide is usually your best bet for any international trek; after all, who better to explain the intricacies of Peruvian culture, history, geography, and politics. Also, if you're paying a local, it means that the revenue generated from your trek stays in the community you're visiting. Many international outfitters use guides from the US or the EU, so be sure to ask about this one.

2. Figure out what you want. This tip may seem obvious, but a lot of people sign up the most famous trek in the area without considering if it truly suits them. The first step for planning a trek is honestly assessing what you really need, be it uncrowded trails or support horses in case the kids poop out. After you suss out these details, it's much easier to sift through your trek options.

3. Find out what treks the local guides or operators prefer. Guides generally enjoy treks for the same reason travelers do: beautiful scenery, good itinerary, and trails free of human waste. While this may mean you're going off the beaten path, keep in mind that most famous sites (Machu Picchu or Torres del Paine peaks) can be visited with a quick day-trip afterwards. The easiest way to find these recommendations is by contacting a Detour specialist who can give you insights into what the local guides prefer.

4. Want a budget trip? To get a good rate on a trek, try thinking outside the box. Think about traveling during the shoulder season, which is the time between the busy and the off-season. Consider a shorter version of your ideal trek. Importantly, be flexible about your travel dates. If you want to join a group departure (one of the best ways to save money), you may have to reorganize your dates to join-up with a group.

5. . . . But don't go for a price that seems too good to be true. Once you get a sense for the price range of a specific trek, don't try to drive the price down further or purchase a trip that's half the price of the others. Treks cost money to operate well so a super-cheap operation will be cutting corners they probably shouldn't. Before booking that $100 Ausangate trek, consider how you'd feel if there wasn't enough food one day or if your porter were working for slave wages.

More tips coming soon, so keep checking back while you plan your trek.

Riots in Peru's Amazon

Rioting broke out in northern Peru on Friday after two months of fuel and transport blockades, and at least 30 indigenous protesters and 24 police officers have been killed. The indigenous tribes want to force Congress to repeal laws that encourage foreign mining in the rainforest.

According to the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8088350.stm): "The violence erupted on Friday after 2,500 Indians - many of them carrying spears and machetes - protested over government plans to drill for gas and oil in what they consider their ancestral lands."

While the situation remains serious in this region, it is not affecting other regions of Peru and tourism has not been disrupted in any way.

We'll try to follow up with more information on the issues behind this violence as we learn more.

Chevron VS Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador

60 Minutes had a great piece this past Sunday on the $27 billion dollar lawsuit facing Chevron for environmental degradation in the Amazon Basin. NPR had a radio story on this last week as well. This is the largest environmental damage suit in history, and it is being decided by a single judge in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, sometime this year.

In the 1960's Texaco started to drill for oil in one of the largest oil reserves in the America's, in Ecuador's Amazon Basin. Texaco, along with partner PetroEcuador (Ecuador's national oil company), pumped out 1.5 nillion barrels of oil from the jungle. But with each well came roads, pipelines, and pits filled with toxic oil waste. When Texaco finished drilling they abandoned the pits, causing oil to contaminate groundwater and to seep into the Amazon Basin's streams.

This region of Ecuador, the upper Amazon Basin, besides being one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, is also home to numerous indigenous tribes who rely on the clean water in the rivers and streams for drinking water, food, etc.

Chevron bought Texaco in 2001, and now they may be held responsible for the environmental mess left behind by Texaco in Ecuador. While who is responsible is at debate in the lawsuit, the environmental degradation isn't really debatable. Of course there are disagreements on how many pits there are, or the cost to clean up the mess, but no one argues there is no mess at all.

I experienced this environmental degradation first hand in 2007 when I visited the Huaorani Ecolodge, a community-based tourism project in the Amazon. The Huaorani Ecolodge was created, in part, to provide jobs and income for the Huaorani so that they don't need to take jobs with the oil companies to help destroy their homeland.

Oil was discovered on Huao territory decades ago, and today vast portions of their previous land have been cleared for wells, roads, and pipelines. On our trip, one moment we were floating down a placid, wild, river, listening to Huao origination legends as told by Moi, the Huao member who has become famous due to Joe Kane's book "Savages," and the next we rounded a bend and encountered denuded forest and rusty pipelines. On our way back to town and the airport, we stopped along the road put in by the oil companies to see some of the oil waste pits; they are, frankly, disgusting. I'm quite sure we would never allow open oil pits that seep into rivers and groundwater in the United States.

While I don't know the answer to who ultimately is at fault in a contractual or legal sense, and thus who should pay, it is quite clear that someone needs to be held accountable and must pay both to clean up the oil, and to compensate families for pollution-caused health issues and the loss of their traditional lifestyle caused by this pollution. This will be an interesting trial to watch.

FERNANDINA VOLCANO IN THE GALAPAGOS ERUPTS

"The Ecuadorian Geophysics Institute informs that La Cumbre volcano on Fernandina Island in the Galapagos has started a new eruptive process. The island-volcano - 1476 meters high- is not inhabited and located 90 Kms. to the northwest of Puerto Villamil the closest village on Isabela Island, so there is no danger for the human population.

The current eruptive process started during the night of April 10 and was reported by the park wardens and by a tour boat which was in the vicinity. Lava flows have been observed, coming from a lateral fissure located 500 meters below the crater at the southwest side of the island, close to Cape Hammond. This is a radial fissure 200 meters long and 10 meters wide that reaches up to 15 meters high. There is also a large column of smoke.

The volcano of Fernandina Island erupted five years ago, without causing major damage to the flora and fauna of the area.

Tour excursions to Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island have not been suspended; authorities of the Galapagos National Park are closely monitoring the developments to determine that it is safe to continue with them."

- from Metropolitan Touring

Inca Trail Permits Sold Out Through June 2009

Inca Trail Permits are selling quickly again this year (although a little slower than last year), and permits are now sold out through June 2009. There are still permits available for most any date at the end of the year, September to January. Check out permit availability on our Inca Trail Permits page.

July 2009

Date: Permits Remaining

11: 88
12: 24
14: 52
15: 94
16: 69
17: 137
18: 73
19: 29
20: 0
21: 175
22: 23
23: 84
24: 0
25: 161
26: 0
27: 103
28: 233
29: 230
30: 5
31: 40

August 2008

Date: Permits Remaining
1: 402
2: 304
3: 0
4: 267
5: 224
6: 369
7: 296
8: 346
9: 23
10: 35
11: 367
12: 22
13: 398
14: 223
15: 354
16: 113
17: 183
18: 11
19: 152
20: 469
21: 355
22: 402
23: 409
24: 377
25: 433
26: 414
27: 418
28: 369
29: 443
30: 417
31: 404

Heavy Rains in Ecuador Cause Landslides

From Detour Partner Metropolitan Touring:

ROAD CONDITIONS IN ECUADOR

The rainy season in Ecuador has been particularly intense this year, and the main roads that descend from the highlands to the coast have experienced landslides that affect the normal traffic between these two regions.

The road Calacalí/Los Bancos that leads to Tulipe and Mindo has been particularly affected, and works are under way to repair the road, so until March 15 tours to the area of Mindo and Tulipe have been suspended in order to guarantee the safety and well being of our guests.
Alternate programs will be provided to affected guests.

The roads in the highlands of Ecuador are fully operative, and all tours in and around Quito, Otavalo, the Avenue of the Volcanoes and south to Cuenca are operating normally.