http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Laura-Ens/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Laura Ens en-us Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:47:31 +0000 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:47:31 +0000 My month long Peru trip has now come to an end. I arrived in Toronto at around 8am on Tuesday morning to a grey sky and cold weather. My return has been bittersweet as it was sad to leave such a beautiful and diverse country but at the same time good to be home. I am definitely looking forward to not living out of a suitcase Over my time in Peru I was able to experience such amazing diversi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Waterloo/blog-392808.html After spending 5 days in the Amazon Basin which included the city of Iquitos and the Heliconia Jungle Lodge on the Amazon River all I can say is AMAZING This experience was probably one of my highlights of my Peru tripHowever we did not get off to the greatest of starts when we found out that our airline had changed our flight times which meant we would not be arriving till late afternoon in I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Amazonas/blog-392117.html Last week I had the unique opportunity to see the mysterious site the Nazca Lines. In the desert south of Lima lies the small city of Nazca. The Nazca people were actually a preIncan society that lived along the coast of Peru in the dry desert. Before going to the Nazca lines we headed to the Chauchilla Cemetary in the desert where we were able to see wellpreserved preIncan graves. So http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/blog-391939.html Happy Easter to AllI am going to have to make this entry very quick as I dont have much time. It has been a VERY busy past week as I left Cusco for Lake Titicaca and Arequipa.Kristina and I have done two long bus rides now between cities and are beginning to learn the ins and outs of the bus travelling system here which is used by tourists and locals alike in Peru. Unlike back home where you http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/blog-389787.html To sum it up the past four days have probably been the some of the most physically and mentally challenging BUT also the most rewarding days I have experinced. I have just completed trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The Inca Trail is a series of paths in the Andean Mountains that Incans would have used to travel between different cities and towns. I took the traditional four day route http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-388025.html These past three days have been a whirlwind of activity once we left Lima for Cusco. Things were going well as we boarded the plane on time and were heading out to the runway. Then all of a sudden we started to turn back to the airport in the plane and heard squealing with the breaks. All I could think of this is what I get for booking a flight with a discount airline that is one third the co http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/blog-386110.html Hola from PeruWell I have arrive in Lima to a humid hazy city. After being in Ghana then back to Canada and now to Peru in just over a month's time my body has experienced some extreme temperature changesKristina and I had an uneventful flight and arrived to Lima in good form. We were picked up at the airport by our hostal who had a sign reading Lara Ens and Crystal Parker. Well I had a Kr http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/blog-385403.html YEAH The day has finally arrived that I am flying out to Peru I will be backpacking for approximately one month all around the country with Kristina Harder. Everything has been packed and I am raring to go. For those of you that know me well it is amazing how I was able to pack everything into one travel pack and purse. I am NOT a light packer. We are flying into Lima Peru and will arrive http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Waterloo/blog-384688.html Well it definitely has been awhile since I last wrote in this blog... and much has happened since then I returned to Canada on Feb 17 and spent approximately a week in Calgary debriefing and doing school visits. The cold weather was definitely a shock to the system and it didn't help that I caught a cold on the plane ride home Before heading back to Ontario I met up with my parents and sist http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Waterloo/blog-381141.html Right now I am sitting at an internet cafe on my second last day in Ghana. I fly out tomorrow evening. I am using the fastest internet I have in all of my time spent here Once again I will reiterate how fast all this time has flown by. FIve months is nothing in the grand scheme of things. All the projects have been completed and final reports are almost finished. All that is left is a mee http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Greater-Accra/Accra/blog-373833.html I have just finished my last full week at school and will be returning to Accra next week for my last few days in Ghana. The past two weeks have gone by quite quickly as I have been finishing up school work before I leave. At this point all letters have been written the library is being used daily and the newspaper has been printed. All finished This past weekend I went to the lake for one http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Ashanti/blog-371207.html It has almost been two weeks since I have last written in my blog and to tell you the truth I have nothing really all that exciting or interesting to report at this point. Since I have returned from the break work has been taking up most of my time during the day and I have been hanging out with Alison and Betsy in my free time. At school we are in the process of finally writing our letters http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Ashanti/blog-366571.html Well I am now back in Agogo having finished my final leg of travelling during my Christmas break from school. For the last part of our travelling we headed to the Volta region in Ghana. This area of Ghana is on the other side of what is now Lake Volta the largest man made lake in all of Africa the world. Some highlights included staying at a hotel on the lake and going swimming and canoei http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Volta/blog-362668.html The past two weeks have flown by since I last updated my blog and started on the second leg of my Ghana travel adventures. In between returning from the North and travelling south to the coast I spent about four days back in Agogo regrouping laundry internet market going to the tailor by the way I found a MUCH better one and unfortunately getting sick. I had been bragging that I had spe http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Ashanti/blog-359607.html I know this is a little late... but oh well I have the internet in Africa to blameMERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEARI hope everyone had a wonderful time this holiday season. I miss you all. But I will be seeing you in the near future at the end of February when I return. Since my internet time is short I am not planning on updating on my coastal adventures which included a lot of fruit http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/blog-358540.html I have just returned from the first leg of my holidays spent in the north of Ghana. What a difference the north is from the south or central areas that I spend most of my time in. Agogo is situated in mountainous rainforest and always seems to be slightly cooler and have fewer biting insects than the rest of Ghana. No wonder it is always with a sigh of contentment that I return to my town. Or http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Northern/blog-355559.html Well the children have now moved into exam period which means my work is done until the start of the New Year. I am quite excited to begin my month long holiday and travel around Ghana. I donrsquot have too much to report on but figured I would update once more before I started to travel and am not quite sure what the internet situation will be like. Shanti has arrived in Agogo as of Saturd http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Ashanti/blog-352357.html Rabina and I have done very well in Ghana with developing friendships with our fellow teachers and locals in the community. We go out to eat and drink at restaurants have meals in each others homes attend church and community events together and sometime just plain hang out. It has been a great way to have fun and enjoy each otherrsquos company. However understandably the friendships sti http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Ashanti/blog-349299.html After my experience last week I now fully understand the meaning of suffering for ones looks. The saying ldquono pain no gainrdquo has an entirely different meaning to me. Back home in Canada I would consider myself a pretty low maintenance girl when it comes to my appearance. I have never really liked overly done look on others or myself either. I will wear a little make up make sure http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Ashanti/blog-347243.html Over the past two weeks I would say a significant part of my free time has been devoted to funerals both in attendance and preparation. More specifically I attended the funeral of the mother of one of our teachers and also the state funeral of the finance minister who was from Agogo who died in September. As you will soon learn these funeral experiences have little to nothing in common wi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Ashanti/blog-345372.html