Zip-lining and Hot Springs

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Wow...went to bed last night around 4am and my body just decided to wake up around 10...I´m definitely feeling it today. After I woke up I headed to the bank to get some money. The MoneyGram was not working yesterday when I went so today hopefully I can finally have some cash in my pocket and not rely on the Candians to fund my extracurricular activities! On my way to the bank I stopped at a street vendor for a little banana, about the size of your finger. I didn´t have anything less than a 10 so I got it for free...yay! Lucky for me everything was working as it should at the Banco de Nacion and I received my money...yay I´m rich!

I then proceeded to what I hear is the best breakfast in town in the Bird´s Nest section of the beach (3 restaurants in one little area)...Green Eggs and Ham! It was about 11 by now so I was given the lunch menus and told the nice girl from South Carolina that I was told I needed to have breakfast here, so she grabbed the other menu for me. I perused the options...eggs, pancakes, waffles...wow, I hit the jackpot...AND BACON!?!?!?! I haven´t seen bacon on a menu at all since I´ve been here. I ended up going with eggs, bacon, homefries, toast, and pinapple juice...very, very good. After breakfast I met up with Braeden and Raya in their room...told them I was down for a nap and to come find me around 2 when they headed to the place to meet up for the ziplining and hot springs trip.

I started my nap in the hammock near their room but ended up in my room. Around 2 Braeden came knocking. I grabbed my stuff and headed off with them. I popped into one of the minimarkets to grab water and ran into the Peruvian girl I met the night before...she was even hotter than I remember! I said hey to her and told her I would find her tonight when I got back. We made it to the Iguana, met the other girl that was doing the trip too, a chic from Holland named Charlotte...pretty cute. We all hopped in the 4x4 truck and took off down the road. About 10 minutes later we were in the middle of the desert and mountains at the zip-lining place...more of a ranch.

We signed the waivers in spanish that we couldn´t read and then hopped in another 4x4 with 2 other people that were at the place. We drove for about 5 minutes then reached the beginning of the hike up. It was VERY steep. The guide led the way followed by Charlotte, Me, Braeden, Raya then the other 2. Charlotte and I were keeping pace with the guide while the Candians slowed down a bit. Raya is a smoker, and hiking just wasn´t too pleasant on her lungs. It was a 10 minute hike that she barely made it through while she used Braeden as her Sherpa to carry her bag up the mountain...and to think they´re doing the Inca Trail at Maccu Pichu in a month!!...she has a lot of work to do.

We did the first zipline...the longest one, at a bout a minute of zip. There were 4 zips in total and we were done in about 2 hours. After the ziplining, we headed deeper into the desert (it was not a real road...more of an offroad 4x4 trail through dry river beds, past goats and sheep, etc.) for another 30 minutes until we came across the hot spring...only the 4 of us and Carlos our guide.

The water was bubbling and we were for sure it was boiling from the heat...lucky for us it was only gas bubbles being released and the temp was actually about 102, a little less than the max for a hot tub. It was really nice. The girls and I got in while Braeden hiked a mountain to get good scenic shots. An hour into it, Carlos brought us 2 bottles of red Peruvian wine and ritz crackers with a spread on it. We started eating and drinking. The crackers were good...we asked him what it was and he said pate...alright...the first time I´ve had pate and it was pretty good. Raya was hesitant in trying but she did. Charlotte and I were the ones who scarfed most of them down and Braeden finished them off when he returned from his hike. Before the sun went down, I borrowed Carlos´s huge knife and carved our four names into the wooden side of the spa next to all the other names and initials of past visitors.

Towards dusk another group of 4 people came out in their little mototaxi (locals) and brought a portable ipod and speakers with enya/massage music and incense. It was VERY peaceful and relaxing. All of a sudden they started giving each other massages by candlelight...hmm, what a great idea! Raya asked how much for a massage, they said 50 soles for 50 minutes...she was immediately down for that. I turned to Charlotte and asked if she wanted to trade massages, she was immediately down for that. I gave her a 15 min rub down and she returned the favor...her massage was really nice. How could you not pass up a massage by a beautiful girl in a hot spring under the stars? After Charlotte was done, I asked one of the women in the other group how much for a foot massage...15 soles for 20 minutes...hells yeah! I masked myself up, leaned back, got a foot rub, and drank some wine under the stars...BEAUTIFUL! After the massages were done, around 8pm, we got dressed and headed back to town.

We were dropped off at our respective hostels and planned to meet up in 10 minutes at Iguana for drinks. We had pisco sours and went to the Beef House (the place we had Surf and Turf two nights earlier) for another meal. Braeden and I shared buffalo wings which were pretty tasty and both ordered bbq bacon burgers cooked medium well. The girls ordered garlic bread and shared with us as well as a caesar salad (Charlotte) and mashed potatoes (Raya). My burger wasn´t too great bc it wasn´t cooked all the way through so nibbled around the edges. I was full from the garlic bread and wings, so half a burger filled me up.

After our dinner we headed to the surf bar for a round of mojitos. After teh surf bar we went to Woohoo for their nightly special. Tonight was the Blue Hawaiin...and tastes exactly how you think a blue hawaiin would taste. We were originally planning an early night since Charlotte and I were to be kiteboarding in the morning at 9...but we decided to head to the beach for one last round. We found a table on the beach near the bonfire and I ordered a round of specials...on me...to say thanks to the Canadians for letting me join them on this part of their journey. The drinks were not that great...it was pink with a maracuya flavor...not the greatest...but when in Rome! Braeden and I finished ours pretty quickly while the girls sipped. I invited Charlotte to dance and she obliged...we danced a little merengue and what seemed like a little waltz and cha cha. About 10 minutes later we decided to dance in the waves...a great idea on most nights, but tonight there was a huge swell coming through, so we got pretty soaked pretty quickly. We went back to the table to dry off a bit. I worked on finishing her drink while Braeden worked in finishing Raya´s. After the tide came up and put out the fire we decided to call it a night. I gave Charlotte a little kiss on the cheek and told her I´d see her in the morning for breakfast at 8. I headed back to my room and hit the hay.

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