Blogs from Ancash, Peru, South America - page 17

So I´m here. Here being the town of Huaraz in the Northern Andes, which is bed partners with the Cordillera Blanca home to the tallest tropical mountain in the world. The people here are warm and relaxed, and I´m figuring out fast that I won´t have any issues immersing myself in the language here. The town itself isn´t the most aesthetically pleasing due to a series of earthquakes and avalanches that have more or less wiped it clean not too long ago. The mountains here are amazing and reminiscent of home, except much drier and higher. Huaraz is at 3091m but elevation quickly rises from here and the tallest peaks are well over 6000m. So that explains the breathless part. The rest of the title is related to the fact that my pack is floating somewhere ... read more

De nieuwe vrijwilliger, Sabine is gearriveerd. Dus nu zitten we met z´n drieeen in het vrijwilligershuis erg gezellig! En omdat Sabine op zondag door Ine zou worden rondgeleid, kozen Marleen, Ramona en ik ervoor om na ons weekend-avontuurtje paardrijden om te gaan Raften! Dus wij de volgende ochtend met twee volle rugzakken, schone kleren, zonnebrand en lunch op pad naar het trekkingsbureau van Paulino. Even later komt onze taxi aanrijden, beladen met de spullen voor het raften. Wij stappen in de taxi en beginnen onze rit naar Yungay! Halverwege stopt onze taxi naast twee mannen en wij met z´n drieeen maar wenken dat we door wilde rijden. Maar nee, de twee mannen staptte in en wij nog steeds maar denken dat er twee mannen met ons meegingen rijden. Wat bleek was het onze gids met een ... read more

Peru, Peru, Peru .... South America is unquestionably the land of superlatives. It appears that around evey metaphorical corner is the world´s highest lake, volcano, deepest canyon, wonder of the world etc. Mick met me at the airport in Lima at the start of September and from the momement I landed I was delighted to be here. Even fog-ridden Lima entranced me. The colours, the sounds and the feel of Lima was different to anything I have ever seen, but at the same time, unlike India, it felt comforting and homely. The latin American beat coming from every shop, the laid back attitudes of the people, old battered cars and brightly painted buildings made me want to never leave. Cusco We flew to Lima from Cusco two days later, firstly having discovered that we had been ... read more

We are now back pedalling in Peru after two weeks with our good friends Elie and Mathieu and a long side trip back to France. I´ve got a lot of catching up with the blog to do so here is my first effort describing our time with Elie and Mathieu and our journey to Cayenne. Last time I wrote the blog (quite a long time ago!) we were awaiting the imminent arrival of our friends. Well, they met us as planned in Arequipa and we had a fantastic two weeks together in Southern Peru. Our first trip after a day in Arequipa was to the Canon del Colca which is the second deepest canon in the world. It’s a very picturesque area with small typical villages with stone houses and dusty streets in the cultivated but ... read more

Hellllllloooo! Well I just finished up my volunteering position at The Way Inn Lodge in Huaraz. It was an incredible month, but I am excited to get back on the road and do some traveling. During my month stay I worked mostly with Natalie and the Manager Pete (a kiwi (New Zealander)) along with two Peruvians. Rosa, the cleaning lady, and Ilario the cook. We all got along very well. Most of our days were spent waking up at about 7 am to enjoy the amazing mornings that the place had to offer. The mountains surrounding the lodge are indescribeable. They just tower over the area and they call your name every day to climb them. During my stay I only climbed 1 of the two mountains named Churupita, but it was to a height above ... read more