Peru, Bolivia & Ecuador - The Final Leg

South America
September 8th 2008

Published: September 8th 2008

If you are wondering what happened to Alex and Dan´s travels due to the lack or rather non-existence of their blog, then wonder no further. Travels were recently resumed, adventures have been had, sights have been seen and tales are once again ready to be told.

Today is a good day for stories, it's cloudy and wet, and there is no surf so Alex and I are having an early lunch with lots of booze, well because what else is there to do on days like these?

We are in Ecuador by the way, Montanita. It is a village known worldwide for its perfect waves and leafy green beaches. We have been soaking up the last few drops of freedom on the beach and it is only a matter of days before we are both back to the big smoke.

This last month of travels has been one of the best for me. As some of you know I traveled back to South Africa to be with my father and my family. My father had a really bad stroke and so I wanted to be there to help. I spent most of my time on a beautiful farm

rotting and painful

this was after the 4 day Inca Trail, my socks actually got up and walked out of the room on their own, they never came back.

in the Karoo desert. It was a really good experience and one of the most special times of my life, as I got to spend some quality time with my dad and my family.

Alex and I missed each other a lot over those 2 months but we also had a good time being on our own, and having some different experiences that wouldn't have had happened if we had been together.

I met up with Alex in Cusco, Peru over a month ago, which is where she had been for a while, making good friends, going to yoga classes and partying. The next day was Alex's birthday and also the day we started the 4 day hike to Machu Pichu. There were 17 of us altogether and even a South African couple who we both got on well as with as well as two Irish guys who were great quality.

The first night of the hike we were all getting used to the high altitude and getting to know one another. Alex and I had smuggled in a bottle of wine for her birthday celebrations and we snuck off to consume it in peace together with

La Paz, Bolivia

this city is crazy, not one tree in site, just rock and mud, its no wonder the people dress so brightly.

a beautiful view of the Andes, plus having not seen each other for over 2 months we had loads of catching up to do. The second day of the trail almost killed me. It is known for its severity and goes by the name of Dead Women's Pass which is well over 3800m above sea level. I ate lots of Coco leaves which gave me quite a buzz but didn't make it much easier. Alex whizzed up the pass but she'd been at a high altitude for a while so she was used to it. The third day was much easier and by this stage we had made some good friends and were back into the hiking thing. The fourth and final day of the trail was obviously the best because this is the day we hiked into Machu Pichu, the famous ancient city of the Incas. Some of you may have done the hike before, and you'll know how great it is when you are there, with the mist rising off the forest and swirling around the city, it is quite breathtaking. Alex wanted to climb Wyna Pichu (the mountain overlooking Machu Pichu), as this was recommended to us

fishing for supper

Its not very hard to catch fish in the amazon, the moment your hook lands in the water the piranhas are on it.

by many who had done it before. I silently cursed them as I dragged my numb hynie up what seemed like a vertical pillar of a rock. Anyway, enough of Machu Pichu, it was awesome.

Next stop, we headed down to Bolivia for a taste of the Bolivian jungle. We flew from La Paz, the capital, to Rurrenbaque and landed on a dirt track for a runway and a humidity level that made everything soggy.

We drove 2 hours in a 4x4 and then transferred to a canoe for another 3 hours as we made our way deeper and deeper into the jungle. The wildlife was incredible, we saw alligators, turtles, pink Amazonian river dolphins and the largest rats in the world that were actually quite cute, weighing on average 45 kgs each and wallowing in mud pools on the banks of the river (well out of the way of the alligators!). In the canoe we also encountered a green mamba, one of the deadliest snakes in the world. It was crossing the river, this consisted of skimming along the top of the water from one bank to the other. On route, the green mamba encountered our boat,

our catch...

...and later our lunch.

just where Alex was sitting. It was about to jump on board when the guide noticed and quickly sped up the boat. It was nearly way to close for comfort but the quick thinking of the guide made everything OK! This adventure into the jungle also consisted of a full day hike where we found 2 anacondas over 3meters long and a false cobra and plenty of birds from vultures to king fishers to eagles. We watched the sun set from a tree house high up in the branches. The next day we swam with pink dolphins. The guide had assured us it was quite safe, he was adamant the alligators wouldn't come close or the piranhas wouldn't attack us (they only attack when there's blood). The next thing we know we hear him calling "Pedro, Pedro" and splashing in the water. Low and behold a 3metre alligator who he calls Pedro pops up within 4meters of where we are all swimming. He continued to assure us it was safe. Apparently the alligators don't attack when the dolphins are around but who can blame us for being a little reluctant to swim after that.

We headed back to La

Pedro the alligator

according to the guide, this little guy doesn´t bite...

Paz and whilst Alex shopped up a storm (the rugs and textiles in Bolivia are amazing), I mountain biked down the World's most dangerous road. A gravel road which descends steeply from a snowy height of over 4000meters above sea level into lush humid rain forest over a distance of 60km. A downhill extreme of absolute note!

From La Paz we set off on a 26 hour bus trip back into Peru and Alex hooked up with some of the people she'd met in Cusco. One of them, Nathalie, told us about this crazy city in the Amazon jungle called Iquitos; we decided we had to check it out.

Iquitos is the largest city in the world without road access; you can only get there by plane or boat. We went on the plane due to time constraints. The city obviously has roads but because it is so hard to get a car over there, everyone drives motor taxis. These death traps are motorcycles that have undergone surgery. They have been cut in half and the back wheel has been replaced by a 2 wheeled carriage turning the bike into a three wheel carriage. Very cheap to get

the anaconda

one of the anacondas we found, this guy wasn´t so big and keen to get away.

around on but they could very easily cost you your life! Iquitos was awesome. Alex and I both loved the jungle climate and the people were really friendly. We did a similar trip into the jungle but this time on the real Amazon River and far more wild. We went out on night walks through the jungle and saw many deadly creatures such as the black scorpion, and a type of ant about 4cms long which can kill you and, of course, the famous tarantula spider. We also canoed on a lake in a very small and wobbly dug out canoe. Alex saw a big spider crawling along in the canoe towards us and almost capsized us. The guide looked over his shoulder and explained that this lake was no joke. If we were to fall in, there were electric fish that were deadly, anacondas that were very aggressive when disturbed not to mention alligators and piranhas. All of a sudden that spider didn't seem so scary.

Another interesting fact about Iquitos is that it has a fruit that a lot of people eat which contains a female hormone. Needless to say there are many lady boys in Iquitos.

the worlds largest rat

Back in Lima after a week in the jungle and we were heading off again this time in a hired car as we were treating ourselves for the last 2 weeks.

We headed of north to the Cordilla Blanca range, the highest mountain range outside the Himalayas, for a 4 day hike. We had amazing views of snow capped mountains and glaciers the whole way along the trail. We went without a guide and thus could camp wherever we wanted. The campsites we made were the best; all of them were next to a bubbling brook or a raging river with soft comfy thick grass. The altitude on this trek was way higher than the Inca trail at approx 5000 meters above sea level, so at times it was pretty hard to catch your breath.

After the trek, we headed up north to the beaches in Peru. As the trek was in the high Andes we needed to head down to the coast to head north. The road we were told to take was the most hectic road I have ever seen and this is no exaggeration. It was a dirt track that was built into the

the worlds most dangerous road

this was one of the drops that hundreds of trucks carrying people had sucumb to.

side of a massive canyon with a thundering river at the bottom. The road had been cut into the cliff face so that in some parts it tunneled through the mountain and popped out on a narrow ledge and then bore its way back into the cliff face. The tunnels were incredible, no cement used, just black holes going into the cliffs. Boulders the size of our little car were strewn along the side of the track, where they had fallen from above. Anyhoo, we finally made it onto a proper road…..

The waves were flat and the sky was gray when we arrived in Peru's surf capital, Mancora and the thriving beach town was in fact another dusty village with too many mangy dogs and hippies trying to sell you their bangles so they could afford to sleep somewhere for the night. I think we probably could have stayed there but for the murky haze that was covering the sun. So off we set to Ecuador! We left the car at a hostel and caught a bus to the border. Once in Ecuador things got better, more sun and more greenery!

Then we got here to Montanita.

jungle tripping

this shot was taken as we were heading for our camp a few hours boat ride up the amazon.

The weather wasn't wonderful but yesterday the sun shone and the swell picked up for those who know me as a body boarder surfer I can proudly say that I am now stand up surfing. I caught my longest wave in Ecuador, thus I am converted!

Ecuador is a wonderful place with strong similarities to Africa which is probably why I love it so much. Although in contrast to Africa, it's quite expensive as the currency is the US dollar. We are staying in a little hut right on the beach with hammocks and good mattresses so for now we are very happy people.

It is not long now before we see you all again and we are both constantly talking about what it is going to be like to be back in London. The last 11 months have gone by so fast and a lot has been seen and done that will have an affect on our lives forever. This travel thing is a very good way of getting perspective on our lives and on other people's way of life too.

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