Blogs from Peru, South America - page 1158

20 October Hi Folks, No photos today - just blurb!! Day started with Wawa Wasi. Everyone was there again with the exception of Alberto. No sign of him all this week. Was strange today as the WW was run by a friend of Julia´s whilst she was cooking out back. Didn´t ask any questions - thought it best not to!! Today we made a mobile of butterflies. I had a huge sheet of cardboard and drew eight butterflies on it. Cut them out and the kids coloured them in (which they love). Once finished, I bent the wings back (to give the impression that they were flying) and strung them at all different lengths from a coat hanger to make a mobile. The kids thought it was great. Giovani and Elias did their usual today and ... read more

Cuzco has been our home for two weeks now, through thick and thin. It is a muy fantastico place. The colonial/Incan hybrid architecture is truly staggering, and the setting is epic. The Incans were marvellous stonemasons, especially considering that they worked with nothing more than what is essentially iron ore. Using such dubious tools, they produced stone walls with no gaps or mortar - each stone is fitted perfectly. Their walls posses a chaotic beauty because all the stones are of an irregular shape and size, with some having as many as 22 sides. And then the Spanish came and killed everyone and tore down the palaces to make their Cathedrals… which are pretty nice themselves if you like that sort of thing (they're really nice, actually, and inside there is lots of gold and gory ... read more

Arequipa - Colca Valley 18-21 Oct versiunea romana la sfarsit ¡Hola! (comme le H ne se prononce pas je l´avais oublié la dernière fois) Pour changer un peu on va commencer cette fois-ci avec la version française(en plus nous avons retrouvés les accents). Nous sommes arrivés aujourd'hui a Puño, après 3 jours passés aux alentours de la ville d'Arequipa. On remonte le temps ... Arequipa(750 000 hab., 2300 m altitude) est situé près de la magnifique Valée de Colca et du deuxième plus grand canion du monde - Canion del Colca(3191 m). Temperatures : 30 - 32 dans la journée,7 - 8 le soir,la nuit ça caille. Au canion on gardait nos vestes à cause du vent froid mais le soleil brule et on ne s'aperçoit pas. Creme de protection, lunettes de soleil et chapeau obligatoires. ... read more

We´ve had a few meetings with volunteer associations and ity turns out that it would be better heading for the rain forest as soon as possible in order to avoid most of the rainy season (and the mosquitos that come with it...). So we´ve planned to leave for Pucallpa (a town in the rain forest) next week. In the meantime we should go to Nazca to see the famous Nazca lines. "Only" 7 hours of bus trip away from Lima! ... read more

Day 1 We were picked up and loaded on a bus where we met the rest of the group trekking with us. All seemed very nice. There were the Canadians, 4 Germans, 2 Dutch, 5 Puerto-ricans and a guy from Uragauy ( who got very excited when he found out we were Australian because of the world cup play off and we have to play them next month) We stopped in a town to get some supplies ie water, walking poles, before we started our walk. then we began we first had to pass a check-point. This is because they have a set number (500) of people allowed on the trail at any time. You usually need to register in advance and give your passport details. We had done this a couple of months ago. However ... read more