Tony Mangia on photo assignment in Peru

A message to readers of The Other Paper:

I will be out of the United States for the next month photographing the beautiful countries of Peru and Bolivia.

Packing the photojournalist's essentials

And I'm sure there's the possibility of a few coca leaves being chewed (to alleviate altitude sickness) while on a seven day ascent up the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu followed by a fly-over of the mysterious Nazca Lines land formations.

Then, after getting acquainted in Iquitos of the Amazon Basin, I am considering a shaman to purge the negative energy (namely, the Yankees and Giants) from my body with that old spiritual-cleansing hallucinogen, ayahuasca.

Depending on the availability of wi-fi or Internet in the Andes, it’s doubtful I will be posting anything online but will run photos or stories if I can. So goodbye — and good riddance — social media and sports TV.

But, at least under the spell of the mind-blowing ayahuasca, I can hopefully envision the Islanders hoisting the Stanley Cup and a World Series in the Bronx.

Thanks for reading— Chau — Tony Mangia