“Moving to Puerto Maldonado”
Alexandra Stoddard said, “When you leave a beautiful place, you carry it with you wherever you go.” Every place has their own little beautiful things that makes it really special and unforgettable. Moreover, many people have their own favorite place in their mind, and they wish they could go back someday, but the real question that those people with great memories of the place might wonder. How would it be if they went back to visit the special place again? Well, that’s how I feel every time I start thinking about the place that someday I created unique and great memories many years ago.
One day, when I was 10 years old, my father decided to send me to Puerto Maldonado, the capital city of the region of Madre de Dios, located in the southeast of Peru. He always wanted me to spend some time with his family to get to know them, since I’ve never met my father’s family. Therefore, he sent me to stay with them for a year, even though he knew that I didn’t want to leave Lima, the capital of Peru.
It was funny, because for my father it only was a “short vacation”. At first, I didn’t like the environment so much because it was all rainforest, and a hot and humid place to live, but I think that’s what it really allured me, since the kind of weather makes Puerto Maldonado a really tropical environment. Days passed by, and I started discovering new and hidden exotic places that only my family knew. When I arrived to my father’s family for the first time, they owned a small house with 4 bedrooms, one bathroom, and 15 feet next to the house, they had a little open hut. My cousins and I used to go there during the nights to tell scary stories and challenge ourselves to see who was the bravest to go back to the house by them self without running. No one could do it, and we always ended going back all of us together.
However, during the day time, it was different. Every Saturday, my uncle liked to take his children and I to a tropical area 10 minutes walking from the house, where there were huge apple trees, oak trees, and different kinds of plants and flowers around. It was not a very transient place, basically not a public place. Only my uncle, and few other members of my family knew this place. Since we were kids, we always liked the adrenaline, so we always would find the biggest oak tree and climb up and start playing a game named “las chapadas”, which is when a group of kids play first rock-paper-scissors, and whoever loses will try to catch the rest of the kids. It always was kind of dangerous and fun at the same time, since we would have to climb and jump along the branches all around. Fortunately, nobody ever got really injured, besides simple scratches and minor cuts.
Furthermore, the little open hut wasn’t only for scary stories, but to celebrate someone’s birthday or the accomplishments. My family threw a huge party for my cousin’s graduation from college. We decorated the open hut house from the inside to the outside, but that’s when I noticed that the family of my father is special and unique. We not only made our traditional food and decorated the open hut house, but we prepared a complete traditional dance where we would have to wear a costume from the amazon. Plus, almost at the end of the party we all gathered together and my cousin was given a cloth bracelet with the initials from their parents and grandparent all around.
Puerto Maldonado has different parts to visit, and enjoy a natural and tropical environment. I’ve always wanted to go to the tower named Obelisco.
It is a tourist attraction for the family. It is 154 feet high, and you can see all the city from up there. It also shows the different exhibits of the city such as logging, extraction of rubber, and chestnut extraction. We used to go there some Sunday mornings after breakfast. Especially, when all of my cousins and I would score a high grade on a test, then my aunt and uncle would take us to beautiful different places as a reward for our good performances on school. Since, we were very applied and good students in our school named “Dos de Mayo”. We were not able to go to places that would require them to spent money every time. However, my aunt and uncle and the rest of the family were very happy and proud of our development in school. Therefore, my family didn’t want us to lose the motivation that was pushing us to obtain high grades. At least that’s what they had always thought. But among all of my cousin and I, we knew that small gifts or going to tourist places wasn’t really our motivation, but becoming professional someday, and giving a better life for each member of our family.
Nevertheless, my family always came out with new ideas as a way of rewarding us, and showing us that sometime happiness doesn’t necessarily involve money. One day, they took us to this amazing hidden waterfall. It is a very secret place of my family. It was very uncomfortable and kind of dangerous path trip because in order to get to the waterfall. We had to walk on a thin path, and have your body leaning against the rock-wall, since one wrong step, and you would end in a deepest precipice. But after passing the difficult hard path, there is an unbelievable place with crystal water falling down from the rocks, and caves that you can swim under which makes it very unique from the different waterfalls that I have ever been so far in my life.
Having the opportunity to explore and get to know unknown places like those that my family showed me, makes it very special and an unforgettable place. I feel very proud that I have spent part of my life in such a beautiful place as Puerto Maldonado, where I was able to create great memories. I wish that more tourists would take the chance to visit this region, explore it and meet the right person that would take them to hidden places as my uncle used to do it with us, and see what kinds of beautiful places Puerto Maldonado has to show. If I ever would want to go back to my country, the first place to go would be the region of Madre de Dios, Puerto Maldonado.
