In a small village deep in the dark Amazon jungle of Peru, there is a 108-year-old shaman. He is tired. He feels his journey on planet Earth is over. He wants to die.
My mother left this earthly plane when she was 68. She had wanted to spend her twilight years traveling, but it was too late. She was not old, she was not tired, and unlike the tired shaman, she did not want to die.
I remember being on his first flight with him. We were going to Malta. I was 17. He was 39. He was so excited as our plane took off, his eyes wide with excitement.
It was not until two decades later that she decided to fly out of the country for the second time, having work as a nurse in an NHS mental hospital and having children at home.
He often talked about how he planned to travel the world when he retired, and recalled our first fun trip together to Malta, saying he hoped we could go on more foreign adventures when that time came.
It was time to retire, but just as he was starting to think about going abroad, cancer caught up with him and he left us within a few months.
In my mid-sixth decade, as the youngest of my four children reached adulthood, I realized how quickly life passes.
As I entered my 60s, I began to wonder if my fate would be the same as my mother’s and I, too, would die before I reached 70.
It’s natural to become more aware of your own mortality as time goes on, especially when you watch your children go from infancy to adulthood in the blink of an eye.
I had an accident last year. It could have been fatal. I was in a wheelchair for four months but I recovered. This experience gave me the kick I needed.
No more waiting for opportunities to knock on my door. No more procrastinating. It was time to take action and turn my mother’s dreams into my own reality. I was going to travel.
Being a very spiritual person, my mother must have loved Machu Picchu, so I wanted Peru to be my first stop. My eldest daughter, Ruby, was eager to accompany me: together we would embark on a journey that my mother and I had never been able to do.
Ruby attached a locket my mother left her to her mantra bead necklace. “This way, Grandma Marie can come with us,” she said. (The locket is special: When it’s opened, we can sometimes smell my mother’s perfume — but that’s another story.)
Including two nights in Lima, Peru’s vibrant capital city, a five-day cruise down the magnificent Amazon River, two nights in Urubamba (the largest town in Peru’s Sacred Valley), a steep climb up to Machu Picchu to see the citadel known as the “lost city of the Incas” (built around 1450 AD and abandoned for unknown reasons about 120 years later), and 48 hours in Cusco, the trip was exciting, breathtaking (literally in high-altitude Machu Picchu and Cusco), and unforgettable.
I had conversations with my mother in my head every day, especially when I saw or experienced something I knew she would enjoy: crocodiles, pink dolphins, monkeys, snakes, and eagles; zipping through the jungle on tiny rowboats on the Amazon River; magnificent sunsets and sunrises; the vibrant colors of flowers I hadn’t known existed; and a morning spent with the friendly residents of a tiny Amazon village.
Over a 12-day period we took eight flights, two train journeys and several long car journeys, so the journey was challenging – but I know that wouldn’t have deterred my mother. Before she got sick, she had boundless energy and would have viewed the journey as part of the experience.
Now he travels, of course, but not in the way he had hoped. In his physical absence, I feel that I am now traveling for him, on his behalf, in the way he wanted, as often as I can.
The story of the 108-year-old shaman, told to my daughter and me by the grandson of an Amazon shaman named Alex, whom we used as a guide during our cruise in Iquitos, is one of those stories that will never leave my mind.
It’s a privilege to reach that age and feel like your life is complete. It’s a tragedy to have your life cut short before you can do what you set out to do. It’s an honor to be able to live someone else’s dream. I hope my mom, wherever her soul may be, is happy that I did what I did. And I hope one day my children will live the dreams that I couldn’t.
As long as I live, I will try to visit the places my mother would love. joy of life I inherited it from him, and his spirit is with me.
Fundamentals
Original Travel (020 3582 4990; originaltravel.co.uk) organises trips to Peru from £8,000, including return international and domestic flights, private transfers, private tours and 11 nights’ accommodation (six nights bed and breakfast, one night half-board and four nights full-board at the Aria Amazon).
Jacqui Devoy’s trip was organised by Berghaus (berghaus.com); Cotswold Outdoor Clothing (cotswoldoutdoor.com); Marriott Hotel Heathrow (marriott.com); and Aqua Expeditions (aquaexpeditions.com).