Pucallpa and more

It is kind of funny to think of traveling from the Pacific coast of Peru, across the Andes Mountains, into the Amazon, and back as a "day trip", but yes, that is what we did one day last week.

The Ucayayli River is a major tributary of the Amazon.

Pucallpa is in the Amazon jungle along the Ucayayli River, which is a REALLY BIG RIVER! Across the river from Pucallpa in the areas that are flooded during the high water time, they plant corn. New sediment makes the soil fertile, the soil is moist because it was covered by the river not long before, and it rains frequently. The large areas covered with corn tasseled out was a sight to behold, even in the distance.  

Ucayayli River

Discharge
- average	13,500 m3/s (476,748 cu ft/s)

The average annual flow for the Columbia River at The Dalles, Oregon is approximately 190,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) (1 cfs = 448.8 gallons per minute).  

Today at Priest Rapids dam above Richland it is flowing at 206,000 cfs.

So figure it averages about 2 1/2 times the flow of the Columbia River.  Like I said—big river!

The Ucayayli River and the Maranñon River (which we crossed as we ascended up to Huacaybamba last year) join to become the Amazon River. Where they join at Nauta there is a branch of the Church with a food production (garden) project that we will probably visit next month.

We went to Pucallpa for a ceremony recognizing the church at a hospital for donations made.  We arranged to have a counselor in the stake presidency of Pucallpa represent the church and say a few words at the donation ceremony. (That way Rob wouldn't have another surprise speech to give.) Both counselors were there and Rob briefed the 1st counselor on the donation so he could give the speech at the ceremony.

The donation of medical equipment has as its objective improving the health and wellbeing of mothers and their newborns. While medical personnel are trained in usage in the medical schools, lack of funds mean there is frequently a lack of adequate equipment in the hospitals and clinics. The people with whom we interacted at the hospital, both medical personnel and civic leaders, were very gracious and appreciative for the donations given to the Hospital by the Church.

Following the hospital ceremony we went to lunch with the stake leaders. One of them then took us to his home where he and his wife invited us for a drive in the areas nearby to see some of Pucallpa before we had to catch our flight back to Lima.

Around Pucallpa

Photos:

*Rob and President Colquicocha in Pucallpa

*Outside the home of one of the stake presidency members

*River transport--for people and commerce

*A lagoon connected to the river that is a community swimming and recreation area. It is hot here and many people enjoy swimming in the river.

*With the river receding from high flows, there is now a bit of a beach in this lagoon.

*Rob standing alongside the river.

*Commercial activity along the bustling riverfront in Pucallpa

*People and goods headed up and down the river--the highway in this part of the Amazon

The river is their highway, their recreation center, an important part of their cultural heritage and identity, and is definitely the most dominant geographic feature in this area.

We went with our hosts to the riverfront which is basically a port. Commercial and passenger shipping are present. It is very busy and bustling.  People bring their produce from up and downriver to sell and to purchase for their needs. Lots of passenger boats (think canoe, but three times as wide, five times as long, with a roof to protect from the sun and to hold cargo, and an outboard motor with the propeller shaft going back diagonally from the motor at about a 30 degree angle and the prop in the water about 10-15 feet behind the stern of the boat. Really interesting to see this port.  Must be similar to how the Columbia River was before the railroad came.

Weather was beautiful and sunny (and hot and humid) though rain had been forecast. The ceremony was outdoors at the hospital grounds so we were happy for no rain. Anyway we discovered from our neighbor two days later that it had rained (a lot) since we left and much of Pucallpa was flooded, power was out, the airport was closed, and roads were closed. In other words, the Lord blessed us to be able to be there, and get back home.

Other things

Subsequent to our trip to Pucallpa, a major earthquake struck Ecuador and our department has been deeply involved in the emergency response there.  Many other things have been deferred as the immediate needs of the people affected by the quake have occupied much of the time, energy, and resources of our department. Our managers have travelled to Ecuador and are coordinating relief efforts with local civil authorities to provide assistance to those who have suffered such a profound loss. That is likely to occupy much of our time for the foreseeable future along with shepherding our other humanitarian initiatives.

We have decided that we are probably really never going to get a “normal” routine. It seems like there is always something new, and while we do kind of have a routine for an average day, there really have not been (and probably will not be while we are serving here) lots of repeats.