We wake up at 5am on this Wednesday morning to get our 7am flight from Quito to the Galapagos Islands. We have already heard the best for these islands. "They are a unique place in the world" everybody is telling us!! At this point, we need a short introduction on the Galapagos and what makes them unique. The Galapagos were only created when the continents had already been separated. They arose from the sea as active volcanoes. For that reason there was no life in the very beginning, but slowly several species moved there by chance due to unusual circumstances. Many [View Full Entry]

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We have entered Ecuador! And here we go for our first extreme experience in this country (more than “Extreme Sommer”): the Volcano Avenue. The Volcano Avenue is a valley (near Quito) surrounded by several active volcanoes. There we would start our tour mountain-biking one of the highest volcanoes of the area: the Cotopaxi volcano, which reaches the very modest altitude of 5,897 m !! We would start from the refuge where snow begins and we would go down to the valley. Imagine that this mountain is so high that despite being on the equator, it has eternal snow on its top. [View Full Entry]

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Spread across a spectacular valley and surrounded by volcanic peaks, the setting of Quito is in itself striking. Then one discovers the colonial splendor of the old town and its architectural richness, the modernity mixed with the indigenous character of the place. Shoeshine boys, indigeneous women carrying impossible loads, hollering street vendors, blind accordion players, legless guitar players and beggers make you feel like you are in another planet! We arrived in Quito on the nine of October for Ade's birthday. Thanks to petit explorateur no cheap/backpackers hotel on that day but noth [View Full Entry]

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Came the time to head to our next destination: Ecuador! Its capital, Quito (no need to blush we did not know either the name of the capital before this trip ;-)) is about 50 hours away by bus from Cusco. On our way to Ecuador we stopped in Mancora, a very popular beach resort and surfing spot on the Pacific coast. Our laid-back hotel, the “Laguna Camp”, had bamboo bungalows between a lagoon and the ocean. Many colored hammocks created a great ambiance to relax and feel in harmony with nature. We did surfing in the ocean waves (even Anto!) and [View Full Entry]

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Following the intense hiking on the Inka Trail, we went for a new experience: the jungle in the Manu National Park! The Manu National Park is one of the most biodiverse areas in the planet. In our eight days trip we would reach the depths of the Amazonian jungle. The trip would include plenty of time spent in land and river transport. The secret of the beauty of Manu National Park is that it remains 100% virgin and primitive simply because it is so difficult to reach! Humans are extremely rare in the depths of the Manu jungle and in most [View Full Entry]

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On Friday, 18 September, we follow the Inka Trail! It is an ancient path that the Inkas had constructed in order to establish communication between the numerous cities of their empire. We had the chance to do THE Inka Trail: the traditional trail to Machu Picchu. The access to the traditional Inka Trail is controlled and we had to book from February in order to be included in the group of September! Especially after Machu Picchu has been declared as one of the new seven wonders, the Inka Trail has become extremely popular. Some years ago the access was free and [View Full Entry]

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Then we went around the Sacred Valley (la Valle Sagrada) which is the wider area around Cusco. It has many impressive Inka ruins and some amazing villages! Check out the pics! [View Full Entry]

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And we arrive in Cusco! The ancient capital of the Inkas and today the Gringo capital of Latin America. "Gringos" is the word they use here for North-Americans and Europeans. It is an amazing city! Great places to have breakfast, lunch, dinner. Fantastic peruvian coffee! And here is the centre for organising your trip to the trails of the Inkas or to the jungle of the Amazon! First we stayed in a small and cheap hostal in San Blas, a neighbourhood in Cusco. But we had our own bathroom, (usually) hot water to shower and 5 beds to sleep in! (because [View Full Entry]

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21 hours spent in the bus to go to Cusco out of which 19 were spent sleeping, the other two included dinner, breakfast, trying to ignore the 24 hours action movies ("TA TA TA TA TA TA TA!"). Almost all of the way between Lima and Cusco is covered by fast built "garbage cities": one-floor houses built by the residents themselves, they have electricity in the best case, and needless to speak about clean water. Complete poverty for most of the population. Half of the trip included climbing up the Andes, on roads full of sudden turns, which could barely fit [View Full Entry]

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Our first stop: Lima, the capital of Peru! A city full of contradictions: extreme poverty and dirt in the centre, but high-class suburbs for the elite, which make you forget you are in Peru. [View Full Entry]

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