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Published: October 1st 2005
Llama line
The Macchu Picchu Llamas accepted Nicola into the herd.Paddington Bear originated from darkest Peru and was sent to London by his Aunt Lucy with a “Please look after this bear” label. Nicola, being a big Paddington fan, made sure Peru was first on the list when it came to planning our round the world trip. We only planned to spend 12 days in Peru enough time to do the Inca Trail and get to Titicaca to cross into Bolivia, but as we discovered Peru has so much to offer that the 12 days very quickly became more than 20 days.
LIMA - SCARY CITY
Our 11pm arrival in Lima was a startling contrast to our arrival in Quito, everything seemed less welcoming and a feeling that it was a perilous place permeated the polluted air. When we had booked our room, the hostel had sent us a lot of information about how dangerous the airport was and not to trust the taxi drivers. In addition, there were warnings from the British Foreign Office about bogus taxi drivers. Therefore, we had gone to great lengths to organise the hostel pick-up service from the airport. The hostel had an interesting security system for the pick-up, which entailed
Parrots Parrots Everywhere
The Macaw clay lick deep in the jungle. A real burst of colour giving us a password to get from the driver, as some of the bogus taxi drivers had taken to copying the names from other drivers’ pick-up notice boards and then trying to intercept tourists before their official driver could get to them.
On exiting the airport we found a guy holding a sign with our names on it and he gave us the password, “Nasca”. Unfortunately this was the last word to emanate from his mouth that we were able to understand as his Spanish had a thick accent we had never encountered before. With a large amount of hand gestures he managed to explain that he had to pick-up another 3 people and that his car was too small for all of us, so he was going to put us in a taxi. We were not all that happy about the situation as we still had the taxi warnings echoing in our minds but we consented and got into a taxi that looked like it was on its last legs. The notice board man gave our new driver some directions and disappeared.
The route to the hostel (Home Peru) passed through a dodgy looking industrial district and
Inca Trail - Bus for 2
Embarassingly this entire bus was just for the 2 of us. then through an area where every building was either a casino or some club or restaurant trying to be American. The night, lack of street lighting and the chaotic South American driving really gave the place a menacing demeanour. After about half an hour our taxi driver decided that he was now lost and had no idea where to go. Oh No! Fortunately, Nicola had written the address down on a piece of paper and with this additional information he was able to find the hostel.
We had moved the 2 days we had planned to spend in Lima to Ecuador so we could do our cycling trip, therefore, the next morning after a cold shower (We chose this place for its hot water) it was straight back to the airport and off to Cusco. After the previous night’s experience, we were very pleased about the decision to cut the Lima time as it seemed like a very big, dirty city with loads of smog and pollution.
CHILLING IN CUZCO
Our arrival in Cusco was poles apart from Lima, we landed at during the day, had nice views of the city as we approached the
Inca Trail - Cuisine
We ate like kings on our trek, all the food was beatifully presented. runway, and there was a very upbeat indigenous band playing at the baggage collection. The person who met us at the airport was friendly and we had a great Spanglish conversation with him on the way to the hostel.
When we arrived at the hotel (Amaru Hostel) they had interpreted our request for a double room as a room with two beds and had none of the budget rooms with a double left. It was some time since we had had a good shower so we decided to upgrade to an on suite. What a magnificent room we got; really large, wooden floors and panelling, an extra bed and a view over the whole of Cusco. For $25 it was a steal.
After what may have been a half hour hot water shower during which I even resorted to using my sandal cleaning scrubbing brush on my body to get rid of the stubborn dirt built up cycling through Ecuador we decided to look for some grub. We did not need to go far before we found what we consider the best purveyor of beverages we have encountered on our travels to date. Jack’s Café would be a
Loo with a view
Our toilet tent below the Salkantay. special place to visit in London let alone in the middle of South America, the Strawberry and Lime Frappe and Hot Chocolate we enjoyed there are without doubt the best drinks we have had at any of the places we have visited this year including the five months spent in London.
The next two days we spent acclimatising to the altitude (Cusco is 3400m above sea level), sleeping, sorting our photographs, organising our Ecuador blog and trying to come up with reasons why every meal should not be spent at Jack’s Café. Despite our obsession with Jack’s, we were able to experience the restaurant scene in Cusco, which is really cool as they have so many great locations within the city and the food is generally very good. Our problem was that having come from Quito it was quite a shock to pay about 4 times as much for a meal.
One night on exiting the hotel on one of our food finding missions we were hit by a most wondrous food aroma. Following our noses we tracked down the source: a local lady who was barbequing kebabs at the side of the road. It was one Sol
Inca Trail - Pack horses
We had 3 mules and a horse for the first part of our trek to carry our stuff. for a kebab which came with a chunk of potato on the end. They were excellent so we bought five and made that dinner.
As our Amazon experience in Ecuador had not lived up to our expectations we were interested in doing another jungle expedition. One of the things we really wanted to see was one of the parrot clay licks, where the Macaws gather to eat clay to neutralise the toxins in their diet. Each time we searched for this Tambopata in Peru kept coming up so we organised a trip to go there when we returned from the Inca trail.
The night before our Inca trail we went to the tour agency’s office for our briefing. There were a number of other people there and we assumed they were to be our fellow hikers (as we had booked a group tour) we joined them and waited for our guide. Soon a man called out our names and asked us to sit elsewhere; it turned out our group was only going to be the two of us. The main aim of the briefing was to go over the route map and let is know how far we
Plants with Altitude
Even at 5000m there is life. would walk each day and where we would stop for lunch and camp in the evening. The first half of the trip we would be using horses to carry our baggage and supplies and then once we hit the standard Inca trail route we would be met by 7 porters. This was in addition to a cook, an assistant cook and the guide indicating that we would have a staff of 10 people for just the two of us! This sounded ridiculous to us, surely the two of us did not need as much stuff as to require 10 staff (I also was now thinking how much it was going to cost us in tips) but Ramiro was adamant that we would need them all. We relented and went off to the ATM to draw more Nuevo Soles.
SALKANTAY AND INCA TRAIL TREK
The next morning we were up for our early pick-up, which turned out to be a long wait in the hostel lobby (we were a little grumpy as we could have had extra sleep in our comfortable bed). An hour and a half late a very flustered Ramiro arrived to tell us that there
View from top of Salkantay Pass
We walked past enormous glacial deposits and lakes to reach the top. It was very steep and loose underfoot. were problems with the transport. He had a taxi waiting for us in the middle of the single lane road outside our hostel and the traffic was building up. By the time we had our bags in the taxi, it sounded as if the whole of Cusco had decided to honk their hooters at us in unison. We zoomed off though the narrow streets of Cuzco to a large square where our official transport was going to meet us. It arrived a couple of minutes after us and our jaws nearly hit the floor as we had an entire big bus to transport the two of us and the guide.
On route to Mollepata (the town where we started our trek) we felt a bit sheepish every time we saw another vehicle, as in stark contrast to the with the twenty seats each in our bus, the local buses and cars were packed to the brim with people. Four bus hours later we arrived at the point where we were to begin our trek. Before starting off, we had a traditional lunch of boiled chicken and vegetables, and when we were finished all our gear was loaded onto our
The top at last!
Nicola takea a breather at the top of the Salkantay Pass (5005m). 3 mules and 1 horse.
Start of Trek
The first bit was by far the least spectacular part of the whole trek, it was very dry and the air was full of smoke, which obscured our view of the surrounding mountains. After about 3 hours hiking the scenery changed and we reached a point from where we could see the great snow-capped peaks of the area, including the Salkantay at 6270m. As the sun dropped lower in the sky only the tallest peaks were bathed in direct sunlight giving them a golden glow. Our first campsite was quite a sight to behold; 3 living tents, a cooking tent, a dining tent and a toilet tent all pitched on a shaded plateau where our pack-mules and horse were grazing. This plateau was bordered on three sides by glowing peaks of 6000m or more.
That night there was no moon and the sky extending beyond the mountains peaks surrounding us, was populated by an incredible density of stars. We were pleased that we had chosen this extended version of the Inca Trail trek as we got to experience virtual isolation in the Andean landscape, which is not possible with the
Hummingbird
Results of our Hummingbird photo contest. hustle and bustle of tourists and porters who populate the campsites on the Inca Trail.
Trekking with Ramiro was to a very strict schedule; breakfast was half an hour after the wake up call, half an hour later we would start trekking, lunch would be taken two thirds into the days trekking, tea was at 5pm and dinner at 7pm. Each morning and when we arrived at the campsites we would be given a small bowl of lukewarm water in which to wash ourselves, a tricky task. Each meal would start with tea or coffee, followed by a rapid succession of courses, normally three. My standard hot beverage was a special blend of cinnamon and clove tea, 5 to 6 cocoa leaves and if it was afternoon tea a shot of rum. I attribute my lack of altitude sickness, stomach troubles and foot blisters to this wonderful combination.
We had heard that if you chewed coca leaves with bicarbonate of soda or a piece of lime-stone it amplified the effect. As I had neither of these available, I thought that toothpaste might contain similar ingredients and also act as a coca leave catalyst. Unfortunately it did not work
but I ended up with an incredibly fresh feeling in my mouth (Once I spat the gunk out). Colgate should look into it.
The food on the hike was excellent and we got to try a wide array of Peruvian dishes such as Lomo Saltado (Strips of steak, peppers, chips, onion in a tasty sauce), Maize Morado (Pudding made from purple maize) and some minty chicken dish whose name I cannot remember. Lunch and Dinner always started with soup, although Nicola organised not to be served the soup as she does not like it (except butternut, smoked haddock chowder and French onion soup).
Day 2 - The BIG Salkantay Pass
The second day crossing the Salkantay pass at 5005m was one of the toughest and spectacular of the days. The scale of the landscape was greatly oversized and what looked like a quick scramble to a viewpoint over a large glacial deposit turned out to be half an hour of breath sapping exercise. The high altitude meant that much of the landscape was devoid of life but this did not mean that it was devoid of colour, the base rock was a reddish colour and the now-retreated glaciers
Inca Trail - Day 6
Carl at Winnay Wayna had carved lakes of different colours (green, maroon and black) out of the lower mountain slopes. Add to this the white of mountain peaks and blue of the sky. Knowing our photographic excesses, you can imagine that the camera was kept busy trying to capture this Andean rainbow.
For Nicola the 1500m ascent at altitude was quite a strain but she took it slowly and arrived at the top with a satisfied grin on her face despite the huffing and puffing. I of course was immunised by my special Inca trail tea and the coca leaves I chewed while ascending. No I was only high in terms of altitude.
On the way down the pass I convinced Ramiro to take me right up to the front of one of the glaciers. It was very different walking off the normal trail as the continual freezing and unfreezing has created a very fine sand that has a spongy feel when you walk on it. I was really enjoying walking on it until I discovered that it is also very slippery when wet and I went tumbling down one of the slopes managing to get completely covered in this moon mud.
Fortunately it had a non-stick property and by the time we reached the lunch camp it had mostly fallen off.
The only other people on our route were a pair of very funny Dutch girls. I don’t know what made them so funny but everything they said to each other caused them to burst out laughing, so I know they were funny. Even after we thought we had parted ways, we would bump into them often further down the trail and were able to recognise them by their incessant giggling before we could see their faces.
Day 3 - Trek to Inca Racay
A half hour into day three’s trek the most bizarre spectacle unfolded: first our cook came running by at break neck speed on what to us looked a pretty treacherous pass, 30 seconds later we were passed by the Dutch girls cook. They were racing, Ramiro told us, to secure the best campsite. When we arrived at our campsite at Inca Racay we were pleased to find out that our cook had won the race by a whopping 90 minutes. The best thing about this campsite, apart from the splendid views of the ruins of
Inca Trail - Day 5 (Sayaqmarka)
Carl at the well-preserved Inca town called Sayaqmarka. Inca Racay, was that it had a sink with a tap. This made the cook’s job of cleaning dishes all that much easier. As reward I shared a giant Cusquena beer with our victorious chef.
The campsite also had a river flowing just below it so we had our first non-hot water bowl wash. It was freezing but great to get the whole body clean. That afternoon was spent resting and playing with the resident puppy, called Oso (Spanish for bear). He was very cute and fluffy and was black and white, just like his illusive namesake, the Andean Spectacled Bear. There were also a couple of chickens that would clean out our dining tent after every meal.
Day 4 - Trek to Llulluchapampa
The next morning was a late wake-up (8am), however, we did not get a lie in as the Dutch girls’ guide had decided to take them along the trail to another site of ruins and woke them up early, making a huge racket behind us….
Anyway, after breakfast, we set off at a leisurely pace as the walk to our lunch and porter revendevous site, Wayllabamba, was only a 30-minute walk. Once there
Inca Trail - Day 7 - Sun Gate
We were first to reach the Sun Gate after a speedy hike. we had a couple of hours to kill waiting for the porters (who had our Inca Trail permits). We entertained ourselves by talking photos of the domestic animals that included a very grand looking turkey, a very tame lamb, some chickens and a couple of dogs (one of whom looked just like Carl’s Dog Sebaka). Eventually our porters arrived however, they were one short (he was sick or something). We found out later that evening (when we asked about the lack of hot-chocolate for tea) that one of our porters had to do 2 trips as there was too much stuff for them to carry all in a single journey. (They weigh the porters’ loads at the check-point and only let them carry 30 kg at a time.)
The walk from Wayllabamba to our campsite (Llulluchapampa, 3,850m) consisted of a lot of stairs, which took a huge toll on my knees, but just as I was beginning to fade I was given the welcome news that our campsite was only 10 minutes away. It is amazing how the fact that the end was very near gave me that final burst of energy to make it without stopping.
The
Macchu Picchu
Looking over the fantastic ruins. campsite was very pretty and our tent was in its own little enclosure of bushes that served as restaurants to many species of hummingbirds that buzzed around never stopping in one place for more than a few seconds. Carl challenged me to see if I could take a hummingbird photo. No sooner than the words had come out of his mouth, a little green hummingbird settled down to feed at the bush directly behind him. I had the wrong lens on the camera and frantically tried to get the long one on before it disappeared. I was too slow and just missed it. I was thinking that I had missed my one opportunity and that the task was impossible when the hummingbird decided to return (obviously our bush was one of the better eating establishments in the area). Victorious, I showed Carl my shots. However, on route to the bathroom, Carl discovered another hummingbird hot-spot and returned with the camera to see if he could do better (see photo).
As the light faded hummingbird photography was out so we decided to play card in the warmth of our tent. I beat Carl every single time; he could not believe
Inca Stonework
The quality of the stonework has not been equaled since the Spanish arrived. my luck!
Day 5 - Trek to Sayaqmarka
Next morning, we were very glad that we had stayed at this particular campsite as it meant we had done half the pass already and only needed to do another 350m to get to the top (instead of doing all 900m in one day). Carl feeling sorry for the porters had volunteered to carry his own big bag and still managed to cruise up to the top 20 minutes ahead of me. At the top we met some very friendly Aussies who stayed in the same campsite as us the previous night. Being by the only tourists on our trek it was nice to chat to some other people and share our travel experiences.
We were forced to wait some time on the top of the pass as Ramiro wanted the porters to pass us and give them a little time to get ahead so they had some extra time to set-up for lunch at the next camp. The downhill involved a never ending number of stone steps of irregular sizes which made the going pretty tough, we were pleased to have out trek poles to absorb some of the
Llama Poser
This llama must have had previous photographic experience and knew exactly what was required of him. shock. Lunch was at Paqaymayu, 3,500m, the largest campsite on the trail, but we did not stop long as we were keen to see the Inca ruins.
We were first on the trail after lunch and setting a good pace, so we were surprised to be passed by the guide of new-found Aussie friends’ group and shortly afterwards by a very out of breath Englishman. He had made a bet that he could beat his guide up to the ruins, there was no change he would win, but he did pretty well.
The first Inca site we visited that day was called Runkurakay and was thought to be a checkpoint or small observatory used to determine the solstices. Ramiro described in great detail how they thought the Incas used the various windows and corners of the doorways to determine the solstice. He also explained about Inca History and the Chacana (the Inca cross). The explanation of the Chacana took quite some time, we thought it may have been the topic of his thesis.
After Runkurakay we carried on to the top of the second pass (3,950m) and down to a well-preserved Inca town called Sayaqmarka. We were
Llama Wrestling
We watched for ages as these two llamas wrestled until the bigger one pulled the winning headlock move. the first people (tourists) over the pass and had the town all to ourselves for about 30 minutes (there were of course many porters ahead of us - but they skipped the town and went straight onto the campsite). The Incas only seemed to build towns and temples on prominent high areas, which required much more excavation to create building sites and terracing for agriculture. Ramiro told us the sites were chosen as they provided protection from avalanches, nothing to fall on them and so that they could watch all approach paths for enemies. The flat land in the valleys was also highly valued for agriculture so they preferred to use it for only that.
That afternoon I decided to brave a cold shower, as there was one in the ladies bathroom at our campsite. It was a VERY cold shower and gave me an intense ice-cream headache after a quick immersion, but I happily emerged much cleaner. Carl was not so lucky as the guy’s shower had been destroyed by vandals, and he had to opt for another bowl of luke-warm water provided by the porters.
Day 6 - trek to Winnay Wayna
Next morning we were
Jungle Camp
Our campsite on the Rio Pariamanu. up early to face the third pass (3,670m), on route the weather was perfectly clear and we were able to see the Salkantay. Ramiro pointed out where we had come from, it looked a good long way and I was pretty chuffed with myself. That day we passed through a tunnel that the Incas had carved out of the rocks, their stonework is really astounding and not even Ramiro could explain how they did it. The plant-life on route was incredible and there were patches of moss in the most amazing variety of colours: greens, yellows, peach, orange, red, beige, cream and white. After stopping at another Inca site (Phuyupatamarka) Ramiro took us on an alternative trail to the last camp site. This trail instead of going down 1500 stone steps, went around the top of the mountains and had offered a preview of Macchu Picchu (you would only see it on the last day if you did the conventional route). It was definitely the road less travelled, as we had to do a little bushwhacking on some of the overgrown parts of the trail. We were rewarded by a somewhat hazy view of Macchu Picchu and a toe-numbing downhill
Man Eater
Carl´s baby Caiman which passed through another Inca site (Intipata, which consisted of mostly terraces used for farming). When we arrived at our final campsite, it was roasting hot by Inca trail standards, and we decided on for a well-deserved shower before lunch. We chose to forego the 5 soles hot shower in favour of the free cold shower. No point in paying for hot water when we were not going to use it.
After lunch we declined Ramiro’s offer to take us to Winnay Wayna ruins as we were pretty worn out and thought it was still some distance away. Later however, we found out it was really close and decided to visit it after all. I am really glad we did as it was a very pretty site and which was nice to explore on our own. Though we did wish that we had come earlier when the light was better for photos.
Day 7 - Macchu Picchu
It was early to bed that night as we planned to be the first in line at the check-point to walk to Macchu Picchu. Unfortunately this early night was disrupted when the occupants of the campsite behind us decided to make
Hoatzin
Before our trip we thought these birds were very rare, so it was really exciting to see them again and again and again. a huge noise when they returned from their session at the bar. Despite our noisy neighbours we were able to rouse ourselves when our wake-up tea arrived at 3:30am. We were all packed and breakfasted by 4:00am and were first in the queue at 4:15, fifteen minutes ahead of a very big and noisy group. We had to wait until 5:30 when the gate was opened before we were allowed to pass.
As soon as he could Ramiro sent us ahead on the path while he filled in the paper work. We were determined not to let any of those noisy people behind us pass us, so we ran the first bit. There was no point getting up at 3:30 to not be first through the sun gate. Carl as usual was streaks ahead but I managed to continue at a pace I did not think I was capable of. Dawn was just breaking and there was still a cover of mist resulting in just enough light to make out the trail. Not knowing how closely we were being pursued by the noisy people behind us, we marched on at full pace disturbing a number of birds sleeping on
Jungle Transport
Our fully laden river canoe. the trail. Even the 50 giant stone steps to the Sun gate did not slow me down, and I reached the Sun Gate in under 40 minutes. Carl was there waiting, and told me that I had just missed the view of Macchu Picchu as 2 minutes earlier a huge cloud had rolled in obscuring everything. As there was now nothing to see, we carried on down the trail from the Sun Gate towards Macchu Picchu. It seemed a bit crazy to have raced all that way to see some clouds.
As we walked the clouds began to lift and the magnificent ruined city came into view. Although I had seen pictures many times before, it does not compare to the feeling of seeing this unique place for real, especially when we walked 7 days to see it. Unfairly, we thought, there were already people at the ruins who had taken the bus up from Aguas Calientes. It seemed really unfair they opened the trail at the same time as the front gate so the people hiking to Macchu Picchu could never be first there. We did however get some satisfaction from being the first Inca Trail hikers into
Logger´s Raft
The loggers go up river with supplies and a spare boat engine, chop down a whole lot of trees, build a raft (about 30m long and 2m wide) and motor it downstream. Macchu Picchu that day.
After talking to some photos of Llamas and the standard Macchu Picchu photos Ramiro took us on a tour of the city and told us more about the ruins. He had a lot to say about Hiram Bingham, the American archaeologist often credited with the discovery of Macchu Picchu, Firstly, much of what he named had to be renamed as Hiram often named things to make them more exciting than basing it on archaeological findings and tended to mix Spanish and Quechua in the names. Secondly, Hiram did not actually discover Macchu Picchu that was a local farmer whose name we can’t remember. Thirdly, Hiram discovered more than 10,000 Inca artefacts while excavating Macchu Picchu, these he took back to the United States promising to return them in two years time. They were never returned and are still at Stanford University. Interestingly not one gold artefact was catalogued, strange for a culture where gold was so important.
After his talk Ramiro left us with detailed instructions on how to find our own way back, as he had to go back to Cuzco ASAP to start another trek the next day, poor man. We were
Snow jam
A little bit of unseasonal snow on the route from Cusco to Arequipa caused us a 7 hour delay quite happy to have a little time to ourselves around the ruins but too tired to climb Wayna Picchu (the mountain in the back of all the Macchu Picchu photos). We had a little wander and climbed up to see the Llamas again. We encountered a very friendly one that posed perfectly for photos and did not mind being stroked. After the Llamas we decided to head down to Aquas Calientes for a dip in the hot baths, lunch and to wait for the train back to Cusco.
The train ride back was fairly long and luckily we were not seated next to the noisy irritating group from the early morning check-point wait, but a very nice couple from San Francisco who happened to be in the same hotel as us. We chatted for ages and this made the journey seem much faster. When we returned to our hotel we were too tired to bother with a restaurant so Carl went and got us some alpaca kebabs from one of the roadside stalls for dinner, very tasty.
THE JUNGLE AGAIN
After a laundry and admin day in Cusco with a few visits to Jack’s Café,
Monastery of Santa Catalina
We spent an afternoon exploring the colourful and peaceful citadel in Arequipa. we were off to the jungle again.
Our pick-up was arranged for 8:30 and in typical Peruvian style was half an hour late. When we finally got to the airport we found it all barricaded, it turned out that the President was arriving in Cusco for a visit. According to the man from our tour agency, he was not very popular and the airport was sealed-off to prevent people throwing tomatoes at him. Our Amazon adventure companions from Finland, Sarah and Johannes, greeted us in German as the agency had told them we were from Germany.
On the plane trip we were hoping to see stretches of pristine forest, optimistically looking out of the window, to discover our view was obscured by the smoke of burning forest. It was only just before we landed that we were able to see a large number of cleared patches in between strips of virgin forest. I couldn’t help being angry to see all the destruction.
Landing in Puerto Maldonado we were hit by a heavy humid heat that we had not experienced in a long time and by the time our bags arrived we had stripped down to our base
Vicunas
Vicunas on the way to Colca Canyon - their wool is highly prized. layers. In the jostling crowd of name-signs that greeted us on exiting the airport we spotted one which said “Nick, Carla Maas”, which we correctly assumed to be us. As soon as the guy holding the sign led us to the car park we were engulfed by a hoard of tuk-tuk drivers vying for his business. It was like being followed by a swarm of flies, they would not leave him alone and when he did not respond, they started hassling us.
Eventually through some random process John, the sign guy who turned out to be the guide, chose two tuk-tuk drivers and we were off. The whine of the tuk-tuk engines gave the impression that we were moving at a very high speed as we raced Saara and Johannes to the river port, it was really exciting (Our friend Don believes that all good adventures start with a good journey so we were pretty optimistic about this one). We were directed to a fully laden motorised canoe (with a canopy - Thank goodness!). There was a lady on the canoe who introduced herself as Doris the Cook and a driver who we only ever knew as Señor.
Traditional Dancing
Students dancing in a Village Colca Canyon. Journey Up River
After some delay while John went to go find some film and insect repellent for Saara and Johannes we set off down the Madre De Dios river. John handed out some picture cards of the mammals, birds, parrots and butterflies we could find in the area. Although the banks where we started our journey had been deforested, we quickly began notching up bird and butterfly identifications. Little did we know that the mammal card would never be called upon.
After a brief stint on the Madre De Dios, where we saw a number of people panning for gold (apparently it takes them a week to make the equivalent of $30), we turned left up the Rio Piedras. Entry into the Piedras was very tricky as the area where the two rivers met had a huge build up of dead wood and silt deposits. John sat on the front of the canoe and began polling the depth. With John signalling frantically in different directions and Señor doing his best to react to these directions we managed to run lightly aground only twice and in both cases we were able to get floating by John pushing with the
Eagle outfit
Nicola tried wearing an eagle in the Colca Canyon. big stick and Señor thrusting the motor all the way to one side.
The great thing about this set of obstacles was that almost immediately after entering the Rio Pedras we noticed a drop in the amount of human activity. We had both read David Attenborough’s autobiography in which he describes his excitement at being the first person to film the Hoatzin (see photos) so when we rounded a bend in the river and were faced with a group of about thirty Hoatzin I nearly swallowed my coca leaves in excitement. The unique thing about the Hoatzin is that its young are born with claws on their wings and can climb trees using these. As a result they are considered one of the important evolutionary links for birds. They are very attractive birds with very large feathers, so in no time at all Nicola had shot 30 pictures. With just this sighting we felt this trip had exceeded our previous jungle experience in Ecuador (turns out the Hoatzin is about the most common large bird in the area and we were to see many more).
We continued up river for some time until turning up the Rio Pariamanu,
1200m to fall
Carl looking for Condors at Cruz Condor in the Colca Canyon. from here on there was almost no sign of human activity and we had enormous trees on both sides. The sheer size of the trees only became apparent when what appeared to be a small bird perched in the top of one of the trees turned out to be a very large yellow headed vulture when viewed through binoculars. After our time in the Andes it was great to be surrounded by all this green.
Our boat was particularly slow and where the current was stronger we had to stare carefully at the bank to see that we were actually making progress. After about 5 hours on the canoe the sun began to set and we expected we would be camping soon. In reality we still had a long journey ahead and John continued navigating by torchlight. It seemed John and Señor had still not figured out a method of communication and we ran aground a few times. A few times John had to get out of the boat to push us off the sandbanks and once we were all made to rock the boat from side to side in order to help us back into the deeper water.
Colca Church
We got lots of time to photograph this church as this is where our bus broke down. In the dark we were able to pick out a number of Caiman on the riverbanks (something our other jungle trip had promised but never delivered).
After what in my opinion was way too long John decided that maybe we were not going to reach the planned campsite and we began to look for alternatives. After investigating one unsuitable spot we arrived at beach where a group of settlers had set-up camp. It was now really late so they were all in bed and probably cursing us as we arrived and caused their dogs to start barking. The dogs were those little yappy type that never stop barking so we can imagine how much the settlers enjoyed it when John and Doris set up our dinner table in the middle of their camp.
The settlers camp was fairly rudimentary, a bunch of bamboo structures with mosquito nets draped over them, but it was clear they were in for the long haul as they bicycles, huge piles of supplies, a spare motor, housing material, the dogs and a cat which meowed all through the night and drove Nicola nearly dilly.
The next morning the settlers were up at
Viscacha
These are very cute and reminded us of Mr Binks! 4am and extracted their revenge on us by making as much noise as they possibly could. Once they left we packed up camp and continued up river for another few hours before stopping on another beach for breakfast. This beach was fairly unremarkable but the surrounding jungle was alive with the sounds of parrots and other birds. While eating breakfast we saw a few toucans and quite a number of smaller parrots fly across the river. We were filled with optimism for the coming days.
We continued up river until about 1pm (11am John time) where we finally arrived at the point from which we could walk to the parrot lick. We walked through the humid jungle to the rudimentary hide that had been set up opposite the clay lick. From here we saw a group of about 30 parrotlets (that’s what the card called them) eating at the lick. They are really noisy birds and it seems that they used the clay lick as much for a meeting point as a place for eating the detoxifying clay. Our view was somewhat obscured by the vegetation, which had grown over our hide. There was no way we would be
Condor
One of the very few condors that appeared at Cruz Condor. able to take any pictures as it was, so we resolved to bring a knife with us the next time.
We set up camp on another beach and then went for a walk to a small animal clay lick where John told us we would see up to 200 peccaries. On route we stopped off at a huge tree, which had some enormous lianas on which Johannes and I had a quick swing Tarzan style. While we were swinging it began raining very hard. I ran back to the camp to get a raincoat and got a lot more drenched than I would have if I had stayed under the cover of the forest. We continued walking and John showed us a few plants and told us some facts about them. It seemed he had reached the limit of his English and began talking in Spanish, which we did our best to understand. When we reached the clay lick there was not a pig to be seen so we turned around and retraced our steps.
Caiman Hunting
That evening we played Finish card games before going looking for caiman. The important thing when catching caiman is to grab
Terraces of Colca Canyon
The whole of the valley was covered in terraces. them behind the neck so that they can not bite you, John showed us a scar from when this had not quite worked out. We cruised up river in the canoe looking for the red glow of their eyes in the torch beam. When we found some Señor took the boat into the shore and John jumped out in Wellington boots to try and catch them. The very first one we found John was able to catch easily. It scarcely measured more than 30cm in length and after everyone had had a good look at it, it was probably terrified it half to death. We set off in search of something a little larger, however, it seems that as they get larger they also get smarter and John could not catch anything bigger. We did however get some really good sightings of some medium sized ones just before they disappeared under water. Eventually after two hours of near misses John gave up and we returned to camp.
Parrots, Parrots, Parrots
The next morning we were up early to go to the parrot clay lick again. It seems that the different parrot species take it in turns to visit the
El Misti - Arequipa
Not only Cape Town has a cool mountain. clay lick and this was the turn of the Mealy and Blue Headed Parrots. There were large numbers of these parrots in the trees above the lick but they were not brave enough to go down to the lick. As the parrots were still in the trees and John was not in the hide at the time I decided it was a good opportunity to clear a viewing spot. While Nicola kept watch I began hacking away at the overgrowth. Before I had cleared a good viewing point John entered and I quickly hid the knife. As the view was still not good enough I suggested to John that maybe we should clear some of the vegetation and miraculously produced my Leatherman for him to use. He agreed and cleared even more vegetation. We should have probably have asked him in the first place but earlier we had had the impression he did not want to do it and there was no way we were going to take no for an answer.
The parrots were still not venturing down to the lick so John suggested we go have breakfast and return when the Macaws were likely to be there.
Uros Island Greeting
Arriving at the floating islands While eating breakfast we saw the odd macaw fly across the river so when we returned we were not surprised to see about seven already perched in the trees above the clay lick. Over the next while more and more macaws arrived until we estimated there were about 50 parrots. The sight of the macaws arriving was in my mind the single coolest thing I have seen since the back of a walrus. When all you have seen is green forest and blue sky for two days the vibrant red of the macaws underbelly was a dazzling sight. As our viewing gap in the undergrowth of the hide was still quite small, we were never able to get a clear shot of them coming in to land.
Although the macaws are really big birds they are still fairly timid and it takes a lot of courage for them to descend to the clay lick. This is a very gradual process with one brave bird descending a few branches at a time before a regrouping process involving a lot of squawking. Eventually a brave parrot reached the clay lick and began consuming clay; 30 seconds later he was joined by
Uros Tapestries
Buying our so called unique floating island souvenirs. another a little less brave, then another, then another two. Eventually a critical mass was reached and the rest of the birds decided it was safe and descended for their detoxification.
It was a sight of superb colour accompanied by the deafening sound of parrot squawking and camera shutters. In approximately 30 minutes Nicola took more than 100 parrot photos. There seems to be nothing she likes better than the sound of the camera motor drive. While I was having a turn with the camera I decided to have a quick look though the binoculars at what they were doing. As if sensing this moment of weakness, in one movement and in perfect flying formation all the parrots left. The colour was burned into my retina as I groped for the camera to try and capture the photo opportunity of the post walrus era. Every in the group turned to look at me to see if I had captured it, I sheepishly pointed to the binoculars, I had missed it. Since then every time I see a picture of a parrot I kick myself.
Journey Down-River
The parrots did not return so we went back to camp and
Heron Attack
Moments before being pecked by a heron. packed up before heading back down river. The rain of the previous day had cleared all the smoke so we had a perfect blue sky as we journeyed down river. We were heading with the current so John told us we would only need about four hours to reach that night’s campsite. On route we stopped at an oxbow lake to fish for piranhas. We used some hand lines with meat and chicken off-cuts as bait. The moment you throw your bait into the water you can feel action at the other end, we kept tugging to set the hook but they were really difficult to hook, I think they are only taking small bites. In the blistering heat we tried our best until we had fed the piranhas all the bait and only John had managed to catch one piranha. He had quite a ritual around removing the hook and again could show a scar from when he had made a mistake with the process.
After the piranha fishing we stopped for lunch in a beautiful spot near a really large tree with yellow leaves and a few smaller trees with purple leaves before continuing down river. On
Nicola of Amanzani
We were dresssed in the Traditional clothes of our hosts while staying on Amanzani in Lake Titicaca. route we saw a few of the hardwood loggers and their makeshift rafts. Their system is to head up river with supplies and a boat engine to an unlogged area, they then chop down a whole lot of trees and cut the wood into large planks, once they have enough planks they build a raft (about 30m long and 2m wide) attach the engine at the back and sail it to the sawmills at Puerto Maldonado.
As we progressed downriver the amount of smoke rapidly built up and we could see a number of fires in the distance. It took less than a day for them to turn a completely clear blue sky into a grey one. One had to wonder how much forest was being destroyed everyday.
Near Shipwreck
As usual with John’s estimates he was way off, so when the sun set we again resorted to navigating by torchlight. The big difference this time was that we were going downstream (so we were much faster) in the dark and we were heading to the confluence of the Piedras and Madre de Dios which had been by far the trickiest part of the journey up. John was
Amanzani Fiesta
Dancing with our host family. struggling to pole us away from danger while holding a torch so we gave him Nicola’s head torch. While he was putting it on we drifted close to some really big logs in the river. Señor reacted instinctively and swung the motor full left with full throttle overcooking things somewhat. At the highest speed of our entire journey we smashed into some really large tree stumps and the canoe launched into the air. We came down with a loud boom and water suddenly appeared in the bottom of the boat. Terror was evident in everyone’s eyes. All the men and Doris jumped into the water and tried moving the boat to safety. The current had moved us off the big logs but we were now very firmly beached in a shallow area. In shock John and Señor were shouting opposing instructions to us in very rapid Spanish which we could not understand and I had to shout at them to calm down and tell us clearly what they wanted us to do. Getting very wet and with a lot of effort we gradually managed to shift the canoe back into the deep water.
There was no further build up
Fire Dance - Amanzani
When it got too hot inside a huge Conga-line snaked outside to dance round the fire. of water so I assume the water came from a temporary separation of the canoes planks. We had no further major mishaps during the remaining hour-long journey to that night’s campsite but just in case we packed everything valuable into waterproof bags.
Tent goes AWOL
That night’s campsite was an enormous beach next to another parrot lick, which John told us was frequented by three smaller parrot species. After the day’s ordeals we were really tired so we set up camp quickly had dinner and went to bed. As if we had no endured enough trauma that night, a wayward wasp decided to sting Nicola on the finger. It was a
painful experience and try as she could to keep back the tears, they streamed down her cheeks. Thankfully an antihistamine from Saara and holding the finger tight stopped the swelling from spreading too far.
During the night the wind picked up until it was blowing a gale and the tent was shaking violently under the force. One of our tent pegs came out and the tent material began flapping noisily so I got up to sort it out. While I was pushing in the peg I noticed
Carl and Reina
Our host mother on Amanzani. Doris’s tent slowly heading off towards the river. In the rush to set up camp they had not put any pegs in it and when Doris had gout up to go to the toilet this left no weight inside her tent to keep it in place. I shouted to Nicola that under no circumstances was she to leave our tent and went to catch Doris’s tent.
The wind was really strong so I could do little but hold it in place until she returned. Even with the two of us it was a strain so she woke Señor and John to come and help us. With great effort we managed to get the tent back into place and put Doris back inside to hold it down. When I returned to our tent I was filled with the strangest mixed emotion, anger at the sheer incompetence of these peoples and extreme joy that I should be able to experience such an exciting day.
The next morning when I told Johannes about our tent adventure the previous night, he told me he had had a similar experience. While he was brushing his teeth Doris had emerged from her tent to
Hammerhead from Galapagos
We forgot to put this picture on our last blog. make breakfast and the wind had again taken her tent and he had had to run after it to catch it.
Seeing parrots on the parrot lick was unlikely due to the extremely strong wind. Additionally a hawk decided to settle directly above the parrot clay lick and the parrots who had braved the wind decided to settle in a distant tree until things looked safer.
Brazil Nuts
Johannes and Saara had one day less to their trip so we headed off to Puerto Maldonado to drop them off. While John took them to the airport we remained in the boat and watched the local fishermen cleaning their catch. It was astounding to see the size of the fish they had caught, a number of them must have weighed more than 10kg. After a while I decided to go for a walk, where I found a huge pile of Brazil nut shells. I LOVE Brazil nuts so I returned to the Canoe to ask Doris where I could buy some. She had difficulty explaining so went together to go find some. We found a large shop with a sign advertising castañas for sale. We went to the door and saw enormous bags containing probably 100kg of nuts each. Doris spoke to the proprietor about buying some but he told us he could only sell them in these large quantities. She flashed a winning smile and he decided to give us a small quantity for free and filled a bag with nuts which took us more than a week to finish. Mmmm mmm mmm Tasty!!
Sandoval Lake
When John returned we headed off down river towards Sandoval Lake, this was to be the first time we would be entering the official National Park. The weather had turned for the worse so against all expectations we were now freezing cold in the jungle. Doris and John were so cold they put sleeping bags over their heads leaving everything to Señor. Unfortunately Señor did not know where we were going so when Doris finally emerged from the sleeping bag she had to ask him to head back upriver to where we were meant to dock for the entrance to the park.
On arriving at the entrance to Sandoval it was clear that we were now back on the gringo trail as we saw a large number of tourists. After a 5km walk along a cleared path we reached the camp next to the lake where we would be staying. There were domestic animals everywhere and the locals had cleared a number of tracts in forest and were growing crops. It was hardly my idea of how one operates a national park.
After a delay to allow the wind to subside John took us on a canoe voyage around the lake. We were hoping to see the giant otters that are known to inhabit the lake but this trip it seemed was destined to be strictly about birds. The number of types of birds around the lake was quite astounding and we saw at least 30 different types. When we began heading back the wind picked up and John began to struggle to make headway. I had been dying to paddle the canoe the whole journey so I seized the opportunity and paddled us back to the village.
Two disgusting meals later we hiked back to the canoe and on route were shocked to see that parts of the pristine jungle we had walked though on our way to the lake had been burnt since the previous day.
When John took us to the airport we were very surprised to bump into Johannes and Saara. It turned out that due to bad weather in Cusco they had been forced to stay the night in Puerto Maldonado. It seemed that the likelihood our flight taking off was also doubtful, so we were very pleased when on time we were called to board the flight.
STUCK IN THE SNOW
Back in Cusco we had enough time for a visit to Jack’s Café before picking up our bags and heading off to catch a 10 hour overnight bus ride to Arequipa. The bus journey had an amusing aspect - onboard bingo! Nicola and I did our best to understand the numbers being announced but we did not win. About 7 hours into our journey our bus came to a halt and didn’t move for some time. When the sun rose we saw that we were in a completely white world with snow covering everything. There were huge numbers of busses and trucks backed up in both directions. Despite the cold outside, the temperature inside began to rise until we were all gasping for breath, as the aircon would not work when the bus engine was not running. We tried getting the hostess to open a skylight but she was not all that keen on the idea but we did manage to persuade her to open the main door for 2 minutes.
After a six-hour delay we finally started moving again but the traffic build up meant that progress was really slow. Even in these circumstances the lack of cooperation on the South American roads was evident and it took ages for our bus to find a way through. Amazingly when we arrived in Arequipa 8 hours later than expected, the hotel representative sent to meet us was still there waiting for us, such dedication.
AREQUIPA AND THE COLCA CANYON
It was a miracle our hotel reservation had worked out as I had booked over the phone in Spanish. It had been a very difficult conversation as we have clearly come to rely on a number of visual signals when communicating in Spanish (obviously not possible on the phone - No we do not have a video phone). The most difficult part was when she asked me to spell my name and email address and I realised I had not yet learnt how to say the alphabet!
The journey had really worn us out so we spent the next two days catching up on sleep, eating superb streak with a really cool oregano based sauce and organising a trip to the Colca Canyon.
Our tour group to Colca consisted of 27 people and more than half of them were from Peru (we were the only people with English as a first language). The tour guide’s dual commentary gave us a great opportunity to expand our Spanish vocabulary. As part of the authentic tourist experience our tour guide handed out coca leaves for everyone to try, when she reached me I showed her a huge shopping bag full (I had inherited these from Johannes) the sign of a veteran chewer. She was very impressed.
On route to Colca we saw large herds of llamas, alpacas and some wild Vicunas (a small tan coloured camelid) as well as superb views of the surrounding mountains, some exceeding 6000m. As we entered from the top of the Colca Valley we had a bird’s eye view of the extremely detailed landscape. Most of the land in the bottom of the valley has been terraced and each terrace is a different shade of brown, green or yellow and on both sides are enormous snow capped mountains. With views like this one should be on a bike with a camera not with 30 other people on a bus behind a glass window.
We arrived in the town, Chivay, and were taken to the guides “favourite” over priced tourist restaurant (where she got her meal for free and probably a lot more) before going on a walk to see some fake pre-Inca ruins. After the fake ruins we went to the local hot springs where we soaked our weary bodies in the “healing” waters.
The next day we were up early for the trip into the Canyon to Cruz Condor (Condor Cross) where the Condors come to catch thermals to carry them up out of the canyon. On route we stopped at a village to watch some local dancing and see some churches and Nicola had a picture taken with an eagle. Half way to Cruz Condor our bus came to a quick stop and then reversed some distance back to the previous village, it turned we had a problem that was causing the back wheels to jam. Condor watching is a time critical exercise so our guide set about trying to flag down other tourist busses to hitch a ride to Cruz Condor.
After a bumpy journey standing in the main aisle of another tourist bus that had kindly given us a lift, we reached a point just before the cross where our newly inherited guide suggested we get out and take a walk to see the canyon as the condors had not yet arrived. She assured us we would get a good view of the condors, as the conditions were so perfect that day. There is some dispute but as of 28 August 2005 the Colca canyon is considered the deepest in the world, more than 3000m at its deepest point. Looking around at the majestic scenery I was already framing my photographs in anticipation of the giant bird’s arrival. While walking towards the cross we saw a number of cute little creatures called Vizcachas (see photo) and some adolescent condors low down in the valley. Nicola obviously loved the Vizcachas and had to be torn away as they were little reminders Mr Binks (our old rabbit, who now happily resides with Leonie and Cord).
Our walk took us to the cross and when we arrived the condors had still not made their appearance although a number of eagles, kestrels and hawks were making use of the perfect flying conditions. Our new guide was determined that we should see them so she allowed us an extra hour at the cross but they still did not arrive and we were force to head back to Chivay. On route we saw two condors and the bus driver stopped the bus so that we could photograph them. One was reasonably close but disappointingly it was nothing like the close-up experiences that had been described to us by other travellers.
When we returned to Chivay we met up with our original tour guide and she told us that our bus had been fixed and we would be leaving on schedule. All went well until about half-way back to Arequipa we stopped for a toilet stop and the bus driver discovered we were leaking oil at a prodigious rate. Our tour guide got all the Peruvians in the group onto another tourist bus and then told us foreigners that she was going to the nearest town to buy oil for the driver and we would have to wait for her to return. Her plan was to get a lift to the public bus stop 7km away where she would ask them to come and fetch us to take us back to Arequipa.
There were a few sheep and a baby alpaca at the toilet stop so we amused ourselves by feeding them coca leaves which they seemed to REALLY like. One sheep became a little bit obsessive for its Coca hit and began following Nicola around, nuzzling her and jumping on her to get more leaves. The only way to get it to leave her alone was to put huge handfuls of coca leaves on the ground for it to eat although this was only a temporary solution.
During the Colca trip we found that each time there was a queue we invariably found ourselves near the back. Queue jumping among this group was an art and even though we had discussed this and tried consciously not to loose our positions, we were just not rude and pushy enough. So when another tourist bus pulled into the toilet stop and everyone dashed forward to try grab a spot on board, we didn’t even bother as it was clear there was not going to be enough space for all of us. Instead I saw a Japanese looking gentleman trying to take a picture of himself in front of El Misti, the 5800m Volcano right next to Arequipa, and went over to offer to take the photo. He gratefully accepted and began speaking English to me and I told him about our predicament. It turned out he was not a tourist but a local businessman and it just so happened that he was heading to Arequipa in his Land cruiser and had three spaces free if we wanted them. We offered the extra space to a Japanese guy we had got on well with and jumped in. As we pulled off comfortable in our leather seats and I looked back at the other people clamouring for spaces on the tourist buses I could not help smiling a little superior smile.
Back in Arequipa we had some more excellent steak and the next morning we caught an early bus to Puno on Lake Titicaca. For a change the journey was uneventful and we arrived on time.
TITICACA
In Puno we organised a two day trip to visit the Peruvian islands of Lake Titicaca. The trip started with our crew, who’s combined age could not have exceeded 25, struggling to start the motor, an ominous sign. Eventually they got us going and we putted along towards the floating Uros Islands.
Uros Floating Islands
The Uros Islands are floating islands constructed by thick layers of Tortura Reeds. Apart from using the reeds to build the islands the inhabitants use them for food, building boats, building houses and weaving baskets. The women of Uros are enormous, although much shorter than Europeans, I doubt any of them weighed less than 100kg, you need a lot of Tortura to support these mamas.
All the women were busy weaving tapestries which our guide assured us were unique to these islands so we bought two contrasting ones (subsequently we saw identical tapestries in both Cocacabana and La Paz in Bolivia and were not very happy about being lied to by our guide). This purchase resulted in a cash-flow problem for the rest of the Titicaca tour.
The islanders eat a lot of the local bird life and feed them so that they become semi-domesticated and can be easily caught. This meant that we were able to get really close to some Puno Ibises and I even managed to get pecked by a Heron.
Amanzani
After the more touristy and cash rich members of our tour group had taken a reed boat ride, we headed off to the island of Amanzani where we would be staying the night with a local family. On arrival at Amanzani we were greeted by another group of large ladies dressed in splendid embroidered outfits. We disembarked and waited to be introduced to our surrogate mamas. We noticed one of the ladies was both larger and had embroidery better than all the others and were quite excited when we were assigned to her.
Her name was Reina (Queen) and she took us to her house, which was near to the harbour. We were given our own room, however the family treated it as a communal area and we continually had small children coming into our room to stare at us. There we were served a lunch of small dried fish and a mixture of different types of potatoes (Peru has more than 2000). The dried fish still had their heads on (Nicola could not eat them). One type of potato looked like an oversized maggot and tasted terrible (called Oka). There was no way that we could eat the maggot potatoes so Nicola and I wrapped her fish heads and our combined potatoes in some toilet paper and hid them in our pockets. We disposed of these later while touring the island.
After lunch Reina decided it would be a good idea to try and sell us some of her knitting work: hats, gloves, scarves and socks, which we could not buy due to our cash-flow problems.
Later on our island tour our guide, Andreas, gave us a detailed explanation of the energies present on the island and its temples. The crux of his talk was that Amanzani was the centre of the world being connected through geometry to The Pyramids of Giza, Macchu Picchu, Uluru, Tikal and a number of other of the ancient world sites. He told us that if we did some special breathing exercises in the centre of Pachamama Temple on Amanzani we would find that 10 days later we would find that our bodies were completely recharged and we would feel several years younger. With this in mind we marched up to temple to find that access to the centre was blocked off by a big wooden door. Unable to be rejuvenated we had to make do with a pretty spectacular sunset over the lake before the cold forced us down to go find our families.
It was tricky finding our family as all the people wear the same clothing with only slight variations in the embroidery. We thought we would easily recognise Reina’s greater size but she had sent here husband to fetch us so it took quite some time for us to be reunited.
Back at La Casa De La Reina we decided to close our door to prevent further intrusions by the children and started learning our Spanish words for the day. No sooner had we begun than someone barged into our room, without knocking, and introduced himself as Alberto brother of Reina. We did not really want to speak to Alberto and thankfully after a couple of minutes uncomfortable silence he appeared to get the message and left. Unfortunately this was not the case and a couple of minutes later he returned with some panpipes which he proceeded to play very badly for some time. We tried ignoring him but he kept it up for a full 15 minutes and then to our absolute disgust took off his cap and pointed it to us. He expected us to pay him for the torture! Carl very quickly explained that, even if we had any money, we had not asked for the music and did not want it and therefore would not pay. After a long and awkward silence he finally left.
Dinner was soup again, but to our relief there were no little dried fish for main course. Instead we had a huge portion of these very stodgy deep fried cakes called Fritos, with no vegetables. We then understood why the women were so large. This meal seemed also to be the catalyst for 7 days of bloated stomach feeling for Carl, which would just not go away.
Fiesta on Amzani
After dinner it was time for the Fiesta. We were dressed up in traditional clothes and sent up the hill to the main village hall for a dance. The women’s clothing was very pretty; I obviously had Reina’s clothes, which Carl had decided were definitely the best embroidered in the entire village. I wore the full skirts and embroidered blouse and scarf over my own clothing as it was freezing outside and the clothing was quite smelly. Obviously there was not a lot of washing being done on the island both of person and of clothes. Our companion for the evening was Reina’s sister. She escorted us up to the fiesta and taught me the basic dance moves while Carl took photos. Next dance I made sure that I got my bouncing husband as a partner as I much preferred dancing with him. The band was really good and the man who played the panpipes was 1000 times better than Alberto. After a break for Coca Cola and beer, Carl joined a dance that became a huge conga line, which snaked outside to a huge bonfire. Outside was much cooler so we spent the rest of the fiesta there talking to some of the other people in our group.
Later in our reed-lined sleeping quarters I carefully laid out my bed bug sheet under my sleeping bag to prevent any unwanted visitors of the bedbug type and climbed into my sleeping bag (I was not going to risk the unwashed sheets of a 1,000 tourists). Despite the altitude induced dry mouth, I slept pretty well. We were up early so we would be packed and ready before breakfast. Of course there was the obligatory visit from the children as soon as we opened the door, they were hoping for a propina (tip) that we had neglected to give the day before and were certainly not giving them that day.
Back in the harbour we were reunited with our fellow tourists who had had none of the begging, selling or busking experiences that we had been subjected to. It was a unique experience and although I am glad we did it, I would rather not repeat it.
Taquile
After a 1.5 hour journey to Taquile we were greeted on arrival by a ferocious pig that charged us, narrowly missing Carl, and hit one of our fellow travellers on the leg with a dirty snotty nose. This left a huge slimy mark on her trousers and Carl could not stop laughing at her predicament and almost wishing it was him who got pig butted as it would make such a great story.
Taquile was a much quieter island and the people like to keep to themselves. There is a lot of symbolism in the clothing the people wear; women in dark clothes are married, those in the light are single, a red hat meant the wearer is married, a white and red hat meant the wearer is single, Depending on how a red hat was worn you could also determine, whether the wearer was engaged (pointing backwards), widowed (left) or just plain single (right).
Our cash shortage meant that we could not afford to eat at the touristy restaurant with the rest of our group so we bought some undercooked alpaca kebabs from a roadside stall. After lunch we had to climb down 580 stairs to the harbour for the long journey home.
Forty minutes outside Puno, as we were entering the Tortura beds, our boat ran out of petrol. As soon as the boat lost power it lost all directional stability and we slowly spun into the reeds. It took a lot of effort from the crew to pole us back into the main path. Fortunately another boat was not to far behind and we were able to get enough fuel to make it to the floating islands where we bought enough fuel to take us home.
The whole day in the full sun had worn us down so we decided to take a tricycle (pedal powered rickshaw) back to the hotel. At first it was fairly flat and we were making good progress but as soon as it got a little steeper the chain came off and the tricycle man had to push. While he struggled we were passed by some of the o
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Chris and Carrie
non-member comment
Hey guys! how are your travels goin? are you home? what where are you? It is chris and carrie here from canada...we met you guys on the titicaca trip and the highlight of the lack of gas was funny....happy holidays and we are reading your travels...