The Life I Love

Ushuaia

2010-03-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

From Puerto Williams we bought a boat ticket to Ushuaia Argentina. That 'boat' ticket consited of a 1.5 hour car ride and a 15 minute raft ride across the Beagle Channel to Argentina. We waited for customs to arrive on the Chilean side for atleast 40 minutes, crossed the Beagle Channel at dusk (thankfully I had taken dramamine) a rocky ride to say the least. Arrived in Argentina, stamped in and walked to a hostel. We stayed in Ushuaia for too long for doing nothing. Our days consisted of walking around town, cooking dinner and drinking wine. We decided against taking days of buses north and bought a ticket to fly to Mendoza.
We grabbed beers with Dusty that final night to say our farewells before departing on separate journeys.

Puerto Williams and the Dientes Trek

2010-03-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

Puerto William declares itself as the Southernmost town in the world. Thus, Josh sent his first postcard for the trip to his Mom from here. It's a sleepy little town of modest means. Directly across from the boat docks we walked into a comfortable self-service hostel. We stayed 2 nights, bought groceries and headed out for the trek.

We thought those first couple days of Torres Del Paine was rough, that was child's play. Yes the sky looked dark before we began the hike, but we weren't about to sit around in Puerto Williams for weeks awaiting the perfect day. Up in the mountains within 20 minutes we would experience warm sunshine, fierce winds strong enough to knock me down, hail, snow, rain, sleet and some serious Elisha tears.

The trail was evident at times marked by rock piles and this wacked French Trailmarking system of red and blue lines. Other times the trail dissapeared and we were left to skirt the side of an eroding mountain with 70 mile/hour winds. Dangerous, scary, not fun When we arrived at a valley that would allow for tent set up we decided to stop and camp. Shortly after we shed our packs a Spanish guy we had met on the boat of misery and who had started a couple hours before us on the trail came running along saying that a gal up the trail a ways had a broken leg. He was running back to get help. Josh prepared a first aid kit in his day pack and quickly set off to see if he could be of any help. Dusty and I continued setting up our tents and made some extra yummy mac & cheese while nearly freezing our fingers off. We got into each of our tents after the food was finished and tried to get warm. Most of my clothes had gotten wet from the sleet, at times I feared that I might in fact freeze to death, but overall had more worry inside me about Josh. I warmed up eventually, but Joshua never came home that night. I kept saying to myself that he must have stayed with the hurt gal, but I was still horribly terrified.

The next morning I called to Dusty, reporting Josh's absence. We readied our day packs to set out and find him. Just as we were lacing up our boots he called over the mountain to me. I don't know if I've ever heard a more beautiful sound. What relief.

Josh gave us the low down, it was a Dutch couple. The gal indeed had a fracture, swollen but not open. He said that had he not been there, the boyfriend of the injured girl wouldn't have had a chance at setting up their tent in the wind. Without the tent they surely would have acquired frostbite at the least of their worries. Thank goodness Josh ventured that way, he truly saved lives that night.

We packed up and headed out, hoping to make another contact with rescue services once we exited the park. Just as we walked into town we saw a Chilean helicopter circling into the mountains. We stopped by the ranger's station to confirm that the helicopter we saw was the fallen gal's relief. Thankfully yes, but let it be said that it took over 24 hours from the time of the incident for her to receive aid. Not acceptable in my opinion, but thankfully she was helped anyhow.

We hung around a couple more days in Puerto Williams while Josh debated if he would or would not attempt the Dientes Trek again. In the end he decided against it. Says he's saving something for him and Dusty to come back to.

Boat to Puerto Williams

2010-02-25T14:08:00.000-08:00

We were expecting something nicer to say the least. We bought the cheapest tickets for the Navimag ride to Puerto Natales and were pleasantly surpised at the comfortable common areas, rooms cleanliness of the ship and delicious food provided. This boat was a rude awakening. For over a day and a half we had a seat smaller than standard airplane seats. The seats were covered with a vinyl that was dirty and cracked. Within the cracks lived mountains of crumbs. The woolly blankets provided surely weren't, at least 20 black hairs decorated mine. Sleeping was difficult. An old woman behind us that resembled an overweight pig more than she did a person took up two seats and snored loud enough for everyone to listen all night and even at times during the day.
As far as the food served goes, if you like butter & bologna sandwiches for breakfast and spaghetti noodles with beans for lunch then it's your kind of ship.
And for the scenery- the reason we just HAD to take this overpriced ride. We saw a 3 foot blue area that was supposedly the back of a whale once. And may I mention nearly the entire journey it rained or was extremely cold on the top standing deck (the only place to view the water from). So to sum it up, no I did not care for that ride, and I'm sure not happy we payed over $300 to do it.

Punta Arenas

2010-02-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

After getting back from the trail we had showers and some tasty pizza and microbrew beers at a local pizza joint in Puerto Natales. We bought tickets to Punta Arenas for the next morning. In Punta Arenas the boys decided that they just had to take another boat further south the the town of Puerto Williams. The boat only left certain days, so we ended up killing a lot of time in Punta Arenas. Fortunately we had a clean room with wi-fi and cable TV. I've gotten to just love "The Big Bang Theory" when we get a chance to watch it.

The main event in Punta Arenas is going to see the enormous Magellanic Penguin Colony. Unfortunately we bought the tickets to Isla Magdalena for a rainy day. The penguins didn't seem to mind the rain any though, they were just as active: waddling, diving, fishing and making a surprisingly loud honk. We spent an hour on the island just watching, photographing and video taping these awkward little creatures. I do have to admit that the air was not that fresh. There was a strongly unpleasant stench of penguin poo I suppose. The excursion was worth the money though, we saw more penguins than I'd ever thought I'd see in my lifetime.

Torres Del Paine- days 3-9

2010-02-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

When we woke the third morning the sun was lightly poking out. Unsure how to handle a beautiful day we layered in all our usual gear and packed up. Shortly after climbing the first leg of the W we had to strip down a few layers. The sun kept shining, what a beautiful day. Michael brought a very positive addition to our group by always having chocolate during the dreary parts of the hike. We didn't even need the chocolate on day three. The guys took more pictures the first 20 minutes of our hike than they had the previous two days.

The next few days while Michael was with us we saw most of the major sights, with omission of glacier grey. We spent a night at the horns campsite where mice got into Dusty and Mike's food bags. We saw a cute little owl- probably waiting for those mice that came later in the night. The guys hiked up the French Valley while I read by the raging river. We cooked pasta with red sauce or rice with tuna every night, but usually bought a bottle of wine from the refugio for after-wards. On Michael's last night we splurged on supper at the refugio, a nice change from the usual.

Sadly the next morning, he left on the boat and then back to Puerto Natales as his plane departed the following day. He left us a lovely chocolate bar in my pack though, always the sneakily generous friend. Thank you Michael!

Dusty headed off early with a French gal we had met to hike to the Glacier Gray campsite. After we said our goodbye to Mike we too set off that way. The hike was nice with some beautiful flowers in the valley and condor sightings. Glacier Gray was neat, but of course took a second seat compared to Perito Moreno in Calafate, Argentina. We spent one night at Glacier Gray then headed back to the camp where we departed from Michael.

At this point the plan was to take the boat back to Puerto Natales, However plans changed and Josh and Dusty really wanted to re-hike the W. I pitched a bit of a fit, but got over it and went along with the hike. Day nine we were planning again on hiking up to the towers to see the classic postcard picture, however again it was raining. We hopped on the 2pm bus to Puerto Natales later that night.

Torres Del Paine- first two days of misery

2010-02-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

Let me be the first to admit that the hike didn't start of as splendidly as planned. It was drizzling outside during our final breakfast at Nancy's Place in Puerto Natales. We were hoping it'd pass over by the time we reached the park. The first day the plan was to hike up to a view point to see the infamous Torres or Towers. We continued with our plan until halfway when we made it to a refugio for lunch.

It took us about 2 hours to get the chill out of our bones from the sideways rain and then we stayed and played cards and drank tea for another hour hoping the rain would pass. Never did it pass. Making decisions were tough for our group of four (Joshua, Dustin, Michael and I). Before leaving the refugio we decided to buck it up and head up to the viewpoint where our reserved campsite awaited, also the one next to the refugio here was flooded. While putting on boots and nearly every layer we owned outside the refugio Michael asked a few passerby's what the weather was like up higher. They shook their heads with disgust and said not to bother, it was snowing!

Okay trekking up was out, now we had to decide between staying in the swampy camp to our right or heading back down. 10 minutes passed and somehow we came to the decision to descend. We made it 300 meters when doubt crept in. The boys weren't sure again, should we descend, only to hike upward for 5 hours before light in the morning in order to catch sunrise at the towers? Well long story short, we went down and found camp where we started.

The next day the weather was much the same. We were ambitious and had intentions to go ahead and complete the circuit. We donned our large packs and decided to skip the mirador for now, as the weather would not permit viewing anyhow and began the first leg of the mighty circuit. Boy was this day hell. Muddy paths, tromping through mud rivers at times it seemed. Winds fierce and never halting, rain so strong it whipped through the 'waterproof' raingear. I broke down to Josh saying, I just do not want to do this, I have absolutely no desire to trudge through a living hell on my vacation. He snapped at this point, he was having no swaying from the plan two days in a row. I kept on going, after slipping so many times in the mud, I was afraid I'd break a leg on the trail alone if I turned back. Michael, ever positive, tried to cheer me with some wisdom about 'it's all perspective' and how good life is. I told him, that I'd rather be dead at this point.

At lunch we sat and talked. Josh changed his mind and announced that maybe we should head back. Before that Dusty gave the option of him and I heading back, while the power horses kept on. With our running noses freezing and the wind howling in our ears we all decided to head back to our original campsite. We thought that at least in the time Michael was here we should see some sites, and the W as opposed to the circuit would provide those grander viewpoints. With new energy we got back up and trudged through the mud with a little less disgust this time.

After two days of carrying our full packs for day hikes we decided the next day we might try to camp in a new location, change things up a bit. At the same time we were getting quite used to the comforts of this main lodge. Warm heater, flushing toilets, beer, wine, soda. Without that heater to dry our socks and semi-dry our boots the experience would have been infinitely tougher. Of course I was already strongly considering taking the bus back to Puerto Natales and hanging out while the boys completed this unfriendly adventure. I decided to tough it out, knowing I'd just be disappointed in myself if I gave up now.

Puerto Natales, Michael Arrives

2010-02-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

We crossed back into the Chile the day our dear friend Michael was to arrive all the way from the States. I met Michael while he was in his final year of residency at the children's hospital. For this vacation he only had a week to work with, we were sure he wouldn't fly to the end of the world to meet up with us. We were wrong, this crazy doc flew into Punta Arenas to hike Torres Del Paine with us.
We met him coming off the bus in Puerto Natales, got him checked into Nancy's Place, our hostel, and went for a bite to eat at the local Baguales Brewery. He hadn't slept much, but wasn't going to miss a beat. We signed up for the all day tour of Torres Del Paine for the following day to get an overview of the park before embarking on the big hike.
The tour was fun. We stopped at the entrawling cave of the Milodon. According to the tour guide the Milodon was a prehistoric relative to the armadillo with fish bones, might have gotten something lost in translation there. After that exciting viewing, we headed to the park, after a quick pitstop at an overpriced touristy cafe of course. The park was beautiful that day, the sun shone brilliantly. Michael set up his tripod and took some good photos, Josh took some great ones with our camera as well. Of course, he wants a bigger and better camera even more now though...thanks Mike. We saw the Torres, the Horns, Salto Grande(waterfall), and an Iceberg maybe a shadow of Glacier Gray. The wind was ferocious and scary. Even scarier was the fact that we were starting the 9 day loop of the circuit the next day...with winds that fierce, how?...that was just the beginning.

Chalten

2010-02-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

After tasting a piece of patagonia with lovely perito moreno we were ready to get hiking. The next day we hopped on a bus toward the quaint mountain town of Chalten.
Nestled within a valley of snow covered peaks, Chalten is an outdoors enthusiast's paradise. All of the trails can be reached by foot a short walk from town. The trails were marked amazingly well. Coming from Peru where mule routes were your best shot at a decent trail, the well groomed trails and clear signs were a welcomed surpise in Argentina. The first day we arrived Dusty and Josh went on a nice hike, I headed to an internet cafe to get my final nursing CEU's caught up before renewing my license. After I finished nursing work I went for a small 5k hike up to a viewpoint. It was lovely and remarkably safe with rangers nearby. The next morning we were planning on getting an early start on a nice hike that would lead us to a lovely viewpoint of Mount Fitz Roy. Rain was pouring down all through the morning and with the heavy hike of Torres Del Paine ahead which nearly guaranteed a few bad rainy days, we decided to sit this rainy one out. We waited till mid morning when the rain let up and hiked up a ways. We didn't see much in the way of mountains. However, the walk was nice and we did see a beautiful pair of woodpeckers. We left Chalten a bit disapointed that we didn't have more time to get deeper into the mountains. But as Josh always says, "have to leave something for next time."

Perito Moreno

2010-02-03T19:31:00.000-08:00

We stayed in the town of Calafate for two night in order to see Perito Moreno, one of the worlds last growing glaciers. Hostals/hotels were painfully overpriced, but we bit the bullet and payed it for the glacier.
Upon entering Parque Nacional Los Glaciares we were amazed by the beauty. This was for me what I imagine Patagonia to be, pristine lakes, snow capped mountains, forest of green, fresh air all around. The ride to the glacier was lovely, windy mountain paths making you want to get out and hike.
The bus eventually dropped us off in a spot and directed us toward a trail that would lead to a viewpoint of the glacier. Our first look of the glacier filled us with awe. Massive, so blue, incredible! Nicely kept walkways made of metal lead you to various viewpoints of 3 different sides of the Glacier. Constantly you can hear the glacier creaking and groaning. Every few minutes you hear the thunderous sound of a chunk caving off. All eyes scan the glacier for the area in hopes of seeing the ice sheets plummet meters before crashing into the icy water.
The experience was amazing. Josh and I agreed, probably the best single experience of the trip thus far. Josh took over 230 pictures and I video taped over an hour of glacier footage- which turns out to be quite boring upon review, shocking. If you're going to Argentina I recommend Perito Moreno for it's enormous presence and awesome beauty- simply awe inspiring.

Arrival in Puerto Natales

2010-02-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Puerto Natales on a Monday night and headed to Nancy's Place where Josh had made a reservation. That night and the following day we wandered around the scruffy town of Natales. A few overpriced outdoors sporting good shops lined the main drag along with another handful of regular restaurants. As far as we can tell the Chilean diet consist of hot dogs in Santiago and a large plate of fries topped with egg, beef, hot dog and tomato everywhere else. Of course every restaurant advertised fish, but not one had a fish to serve up. We did run into a nicely casual microbrewery that served up some mean pork tacos.
Knowing that our friend, Michael would be arriving in a week we had time to kill. The next day we took an 8 hour ride across the border to Calafate, Argentina.

Navimag to Puerto Natales

2010-01-29T18:34:00.000-08:00

From Chiloe Josh, Dusty and I took a bus back off the island of Chiloe to Puerto Montt. Before leaving Santiago an employee of Casa Roja, the hostel we had stayed at helped us arrange the Navimag boat ride from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. We chose to take the ship rather than bus because it traveled through the various fjords that make up the west coast of Chilean Patagonia. We heard also that there was the possibility of sighting whales.
The ride was delayed a bit due to bad weather that caused it to arrive late into Puerto Montt. We finally were able to board the boat at about 11pm. We all hurried on with our huge bags excited for the adventure ahead of us. Dusty, Josh and I hauled our luggage up the steps and were pleasantly surprised with the sleeping situation of the dorm rooms. Each room contained 4 beds with a locker and a reading lamp. The three of us shared one small dorm with a Chilean fellow that was on his 3rd or 4th pass on the Navimag.
We headed up to the top deck just before midnight to toast the trip off with some boxed wine in our camping squishy cups. On the top deck there was a bar with a decent sized lounge room and 3 or 4 card tables. The bathrooms even smelled clean in the place. Everything was looking good.
We were on the boat for a total of 4 days and 3 nights. We ate 3 very good meals each day and slept well every night, including naps. Day one the weather was lovely and the scenery increased in beauty as we pushed on further south. We heard that the section of the trip in which we head into open water can be very rough. Thus I stocked up on seasickness medication prior to the trip. 2 am on the second night we broke into those open waters. Josh and Dusty slept soundly, snoring included but the rocking woke me. I took a pill and headed to the door to check out the action. From my bed I could hear the waves crashing up on the deck, from the window on the door I verified that waves were definitely crashing aboard. We swayed from side to side for awhile, and then I fell into a Dramamine sleep. By the time everyone arose for breakfast the sea had settled down. Dusty was disappointed at the lack of swaying, the rest of us were relieved.
During a nap I missed the back of a whale, the boys saw. Josh was kind enough to say that I didn't miss much. We saw a few dolphins and some happy sea-lions playing in the water as well.
Other that that, the ride was fairly uneventful, very relaxing- probably the closest we'll ever come to a cruz.

Chiloe

2010-01-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

From Santiago we took a night bus south to Puerto Montt. From there we immediately got on a bus to the town of Castro, the capital of the island of Chiloe. We found a little place to stay, a bit overpriced for the lack of space and cleanliness. Dusty, Josh's buddy from college (the first years) has rejoined us for Patagonia. The three of us went to a schoperia- place that sells draft beer, and had hotdogs and beer for lunch in celebration of entering patagonia.
The island is famous for it's houses on stilts- palafitos, pictured here. We didn't actually see quite as many as I was expecting, but they still looked neat. The next couple of days we spent taking mini-buses around the island looking at the wooden churches.

Back to Santiago

2010-01-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

We took a night bus back to Santiago with the girls. We had one more night booked at Casa Roja before Katie and Abby were to fly back to Grand Rapids. We spent the day hanging by the pool. Abby developed a bad case of bed-bugs so called it an early night while Katie, Josh and I toasted off the night with some nice Chilean wine. Our last day, Katie and I went shopping for a few things in the city and later, Abby Josh and I got some hot dogs for dinner. Josh loves the completo- hotdog smothered in avocado. Josh and I departed for the bus station and shortly thereafter the girls got a cab to the airport. It was awesome to have some friends to share the vacation with.

Punto Chorros

2010-01-18T18:16:00.000-08:00

From the tourist office in La Serena we were given the number of a company that would provide transfers to Punto Choros. Punto Choros is a beach located 1.5 hours from La Serena where a small colony of Humboldt penguins reside. Josh made the phone call and arranged the transfer for the four of us.
We were picked up in the morning and made it to Punto Choros by early afternoon. We checked into a lovely Cabana (Amarilis Cabanas) owned by a charming Chilean couple. Shortly thereafter we headed to the dock to check on Penguin tours. We were able to get on a tour quickly. We ordered shrimp and cheese empanadas for lunch, bought some bottled water and boarded the boat.
The tour lasted about four hours. We saw a variety of birds native to the area before arriving to the island. Curious dolphins jumped along side the boat. We visited two islands, Isla Damas and Isla Choros. We didn't see a huge number of penguins but the 20 or so that we saw were on the first island that was restricted from landing on. An enormous colony of Sea Lions was the highlight of the trip for me. They played in the water together, slipping off the rock and jumping back up. The shear number of them was astounding.
After the tour we made some pasta, taught the girls cribbage and shared some wine in the cabana. The next two days we spent relaxing on the beach, playing cards in the cabana and eating tasty cheese & seafood empanadas. Josh, Katie and I rented kayaks for a few hours on one sunny morning. Katie and I were a bit nervous to try sea-kayaking, but it went well and we had a great time.

La Serena

2010-01-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

We headed north 7 hours to the city of La Serena. For some reason our reservation at Maria's Casa was forgotten so we had an adventure finding a spot to sleep. The owner of Maria's Casa was overly helpful and did in the end find us a place to stay. We went through a few streets and checked about 5 diff locations that were all booked due to summer travelers. Finally we arrived at an accepting location. We were all a bit unsure about this place as there wasn't a sign on the door, in fact the door was actually just a cut out in the brown wooden wall. Surprisingly enough behind the door was a very sweet woman with an equally sweet pooch named Freida. We settled into two separate rooms, Josh and I in one, Katie and Abby in the other.
Time for some eats and maybe a couple drinks...
We found this bar, I think it was empty, maybe a couple of guys in the back when we arrived, but we had to problem making it a happening place. Abby's favorite-margaritas were 2 for 1. We put back a few and a few more, had a great time taking pics and singing along to the 80's music video's. Katie and I were sure we could handle a few more and make our way back to the brown door. Thank you Josh and Abby for pulling us out!
Unfortunately the walk home had a few stumbles. Katie's flip-flops were not helping with the moving sidewalk. On one particular corner the road claimed some pieces of two of Katie's pearly whites.
We made it back. However, as reported by Abby, Katie did not have a restful night. At one point she fell out of bed and suffered from a probable concussion.
Ugg...sorry Katie.
Yet Katie was resilient. She made some phone calls and squared away a dentist appointment upon her return and was back to enjoying the vacation.

Valparaiso and Vina del Mar

2010-01-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

After a night in Santiago we caught an afternoon bus 2 hours away to Chile's largest Port city of Valparaiso. Immediately we all loved the quirky and artsy vibe of Valpo. We walked checked into Hostel Caracoal and took a walk about town, stopping at a nice seafood diner for lunch. The rest of our time in valpo was just spent walking up and down the impossibly steep hills taking photos and enjoying the colorful buildings, tiled lampposts, and funky graffiti.
We spent 3 nights in Valpo, on one of these days Abby, Katie and I took the bus just 15/20 minutes to beach town of Vina del Mar. We enjoyed the afternoon laying on the sand. The water was icy cold, and the wind was a bit brisk for a beach day. But the girls coming from snow, soaked up the sun. I think we all got a little red that afternoon.
The next day Abby took the opportunity to catch more rays in Vina while Katie, Josh and I toured Valpo a bit more. We rode up the hill in the mechanical lift system on tracks that they call the 'ascensor'. Katie led our camera to some interesting graffiti, afterwords we ended the night at the tasty El Mastadon restaurant.

Esperando mis amigas

2010-01-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

For the 24 hour bus ride from Iquique to Santiago we splurged on the supreme bus with seats that extended completely flat like a bed. The ride went suprisingly quickly, I slept through most of it. We arrived in Santiago the night before my friends from work, Abby and Katie were to arrive.
We made reservations at Casa Roja, a beautifully restored mansion in the area of Satiago called Bario Brasil. I immediately loved the place. The building seemed enormous with ceilings looming at least 20feet high. Out back there was plenty of space to relax including an enticing pool for the warm days.
The next morning we rushed off to the airport to get the girls. Their flight was delayed a bit, so we wasted time drinking coffee and people watching for a couple hours before their arrival. Awaiting them I was literally sweating with excitement. Thankfully they made it safely and we caught the next bus back to to central Santiago.
Their first day of vacation we relaxed around the pool. Katie and I put back a liter of beer while Abby tried at a nap. She joined us later to have at a bottle of nice Chilean white wine. Needless to say we stumbled out of the pool a bit tipsy. Katie was attacked by the ruthless step into the shower and came out with a rough looking scrape. If only she knew that it was only the beginning of her battles against the ground.
We headed out to dinner that night a few blocks from the hostal near a cute plaza. Katie asked along a friendly guy from Chicago that she had been chatting it up with. After dinner we wandered down to the plaza to find couples dancing quite elegantly to latin beats. Josh and guy from Chicago, Andy, headed off to find some wine while we watched the show. The dancing kept on into the night as we shared the bottles of Chilean red wine.
After the music ended we headed back to the hostal, but weren't quite ready to say goodnight. We sat at a patio table in the back to play a round of cards with a little Heineken night cap. It was a good first day.

Out of Peru!

2010-01-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

The second of week of January we finally crossed the border into Chile and out of Peru. We had spent over 1.5 months in Peru and were ready for some fresh faces.

We landed in Iquique, a coastal town in northern Chile's Atacama Desert. I immediately was in love. The first public bathroom I went into had not only a toilet seat but toilet paper and handsoap as well. I couldn't believe my eyes when I could buy diet coke= coca light almost everywhere! And guess what, the Chileans didn't bat an eye if you handed them a 10,000 peso, the equivalent of $20. If you handed that large of a bill to anyone in Peru they'd 1.) glare 2.) ask for a smaller bill 3.) Declare that they have no change and refuse to sell you whatever you were buying. 4.) Run down the street to get change. We never figured out where all the change went in that country.

Besides the conveniences of a modernized country, Iquique stood alone as a nice place to lose time in. The beach didn't have the white sand or clear waters of the carribean, but hot just the same with plenty of beach bunnies in the afternoon. We spent a few hours each day soaking up the sun and taking quick dips in the icy water to cool down.

We ventured over toward the dock and to see the older part of town. The old town's building are colorful, constructed of wood with high ceilings and wooden verandas. The street has a feel of an old mining town perhaps seen out west, maybe Colorado. Not far from the town is the port. We headed over one afternoon to check out the dock. We were pleasantly surprised by a harem of sea lions. The animals were adorable and huge! On occasion visitors would approach the lions a bit too closely and the sea lions would bark and jump toward the tourists to declare their territory. What a highlight it was to see those creatures one afternoon out of the blue!

a week in Arequipa

2010-01-05T15:26:00.000-08:00

We signed up for a week of Spanish at Rocio Language Institute just a few blocks away from the hospedaje of good value and friendliness that we were staying at. Josh and I enrolled in separate private classes, as his spanish is wonderful and mine is just above horrible. The classes were good, but saying this from 3 weeks later...I forget quickly without studying properly. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to fit studying into a day down here!

When outside of class we spent the rest of our time walking around the city or doing our homework in a nice little coffee shop. We toured a lovely monastery on one day and the Cathedral in town on another. We found the city quite relaxing, easygoing, but maybe a touch to dry to cultivate a nice flower garden.

2010-01-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

We spent New Years in Arequipa, Peru. This has to be my favorite city in Peru. I believe it is the second biggest, next to the capital, Lima. The city has beautiful architecture, many of the buildings being made out of a type of white volcanic rock found in the area.
To welcome in the new year people decorated their homes and businesses in yellow; yellow balloons, yellow streamers, bouquets of yellow flowers sold at the stores. Everyone sported their yellow hat, sweater or flower lei for the nights events as well.
When the clock struck midnight fireworks sparked from every direction. Pretty colors in the sky, loud firecrackers down the street, the town was awake and excited. We stayed in a hospedaje with a very kind family. They handed Josh an'd I a cup of champagne and layed a yellow flowered lei around our necks. After toasting to a 'Feliz ano' the grandmother brought out a smoking bowl of fragrant incense. Then she tossed perfume water throughout the house, letting us have a toss for good luck in the new year as well.
We felt welcomed that night. Even with such a limited Spanish vocab we all understood that everyone wanted a happy new year, we celebrated it hopefully and joyfully together.

Colca Canyon, Peru

2009-12-29T11:52:00.000-08:00

We set off to do a 3 day hike down about and up Colca Canyon. The canyon is thought to be the second deepest Canyon in the world, the deepest being nearby.

We woke at 2:30 a.m that morning to catch an early bus. After 5 hours on the bus we got off at Cruz del Condor, a viewing location for the majestic bird. The spot was touristy. Women selling trinkets and overpriced drinks decorated the site, while the condors were few. We spotted only a single condor from a far distance., it could have been mistaken for a crow.

From Cruz del Condor we began our hike, walking down a dirt road to the final condor look-out point. From here we got a closer view of the condor's beauty. We searched for the trail that would lead us to the small town of Tepay, but do to the lack of trail markings we somehow missed the trail and continued on to the spot that we were initally planning on ending, the town of Cabanaconde. That intial walk was 14km. We ate lunch with a German couple in Cabanaconde then decided to head down the 1000 meters to the bottom of the canyon. The hike down was long and taxing. The trail is dry and dusty, it rarely rains in this region. We took 3 or 4 hours to get down and both of us had shaky legs for the last bit. Downhill's are always a bit scary for me, especially while trekking on the edge over loose rocks.

Finally we reached the first town at the bottom, called the Oasis. The oasis was a surprising patch of green within the arid canyon. A few palm trees along with a couple different straw-hut sleeping options populated the canyon floor. Each of the hostel companies also had a appetizing blue pool to offer. We asked for our reserved hut and quickly found out that it was just the basics. A straw hut, dusty dirt floor, raised bed, no electricity, but quite a few fines growing in.
As Josh likes to say, "they spared no expenses."

Even though the temperature was cool and dropping changed into our swimsuits, well boxer shorts for Josh and hopped in the pool. The pool was cold and the bottom slimy, but we were glad to wash some dust off. We quickly dried and dressed, then bought a beer to share in reward. We debated going further through the canyon the next day, but chose against it over that beer. Everything that is brought down into the canyon is done so on the back of a mule. Prices are high, the dust is thick and the spiders in that hut and lack of hygiene in the entire area is less than pleasant. (I much prefer camping in a tent and peeing in the woods than sleeping in a bed with dirty sheets and using an equally yucky toilet.)

That night I had a terrible throbbing migraine, probably dehydration. We missed our 2 am ipod alarms, finally pulled out of bed at around 9. I inquired about our promised free breakfast after we packed up. We got the coffee we were craving and then a richly fried something, a bit heavy for the hike we had ahead.

We ascended the canyon in remarkable time for us (me!) considering the long hike we did the previous day and that we were doing it during the hottest moments of the day. We made it up 1000 meters in 4 hours, only passed by caravans of donkeys.

Once atop we found a nice hotel on the first street we walked down. We spend the night in Cabanaconda, needing a shower and a rest before the 6 hour ride back to Arequipa. We found a little place for lunch, which unfortunately for Josh turned out to be raw chicken. While the cook was preparing our food her baby started to cry. She handed her daughter over to us while she cooked to keep her tears astray, that redeemed her lack of cooking abilities in my eyes!

Pueblo Paron

2009-12-24T15:18:00.000-08:00

Because we were unable to do the Santa Cruz trek, we thought we´d trek to Laguna de Paron. The town of Pueblo Paron consists of a tiny church, maybe 4 buildings and a cement soccer field. By taxi it took us about 45minutes of switchbacks up the mountain to reach the pueblo.

Our two Lonely Planet Guide´s, one for trekking and the other deticated to Peru had differing estimates of the time the hike would take. One estimated 4 hours, the other 6. Before departing, Josh asked the taxi driver what time the final collectivo headed down the mountain for Caraz. He gave us an answer of 2:30, over the rest of the day we heard a variety of answers, but none later than 2:30. Thus we knew that if we didn´t want to spend Christmas Eve on the cement soccer field, we better be back to Paron by that time.

We hiked up, and up. Nature is gorgeous in this area of Peru. Lush green mountains, topped with sheer rock and snowy peaks. Eucalyptus trees grow throughout the valley offering a fresh, invigorating scent. White water rushed furiously along side of the trail. The air is pure, untainted by the few cars that travel all the way to the Laguna.

After a little over 3 hours of hiking up, we decided it was best to turn around in hopes of catching the collectivo back to Caraz. I feel bad, knowing that Josh wanted to see the Laguna even more than I, wishing I wasn´t so slow, holding him back. Anyhow, we conquered the downhill with speed and made it to Pueblo Paron at a little past noon. We lay in the grass aside the road hoping for the 1pm colective that a hiker had assured us would come. At 1:40 we started to consider walking down from that point. At 2 the collectivo in all it´s glory arrived.

The collectivo- an elongated Aerostar van with semi functioning slide-door and essential rack on top. We were the first 2 in the van, foolishly thinking we would be the only customers for the downhill. After every hairpin turn or before a group of riders would pile in, each with their 40lb sack of vegetables to load atop. Before we made it half-way down the mountain we had 23 people packed into this 14 passenger van. Soon enough we had 25 passengers inside, 5 on the roof. Let there be no question that this was not a conversion van or even a standard width van by U.S. standards. Nor do the people dress lightly for the ride. Each woman sports pants, atleast one large petticoat followed by a few select skirts, shirts, sweaters and of course a nice wide-brimmed decorative hat, not to forget they each sling a blanket holding something the size of a goat over their back.

A gal we met while hiking in Venezuela said that the best part of Peru is ¨the dress of the Andean women.¨ In my mind, she was just about right. The most amazing thing of Peru is the Andean Women. In every aspect they are lovely. Always with a smile they greet, always courteous. Their dress is bright, conservatively sweet and captivating. And their stregnth is hard to believe. Ladies older than my grandmothers lugging huge crates of chickens, gourds, children 3/4 thier own size. Windburnt cheeks and calloused hands do not keep these ladies from smiling, and I hope happiness.

Caraz

2009-12-22T16:13:00.000-08:00

Currently we are in Caraz, a smaller town 1.5 hours from Huaraz with easy access to the Cordillera Blanca mountains. Our plan from this town was to do the Santa Cruz trek over 4 days. We bought a good map and have a detailed description of the hike, and felt comfortable doing it without a guide. We hit the local market bought 10 oranges, bananas for breakfast, loaf of bread, jam, pasta, sauce, tuna fish, oatmeal, gas for the stove, matches and enough water to get going. We packed our bags with the necesities-tent, stove, 2 sets of clothes, cold weather and rain proof gear, headlamps, sleeping bags, mats. Everything was ready to go. Then Josh asked ¨Where are my shoes¨ ........
¨oh no, ahh...I saw them under the bed at the last hotel in Cajamarca. I thought about saying something, but it was early in the morning, before nine and we didn´t have to leave until that night at 9...I thought you surely would have looked when you packed. ugg.¨

Thus we did not do the Santa Cruz Trek. The next day we headed to Huaraz and bought Josh his 3rd pair of shoes for the trip.

Josh's works...

2009-12-19T20:22:00.000-08:00

Please Check out Josh's blog, as he gives a much more thorough (and less negative) account of our journeys. Also his picture website is great!

http://blogs.bootsnall.com/wyewurk
http://drinkinginflipflops.shutterfly.com

Road to Cajamarca

2009-12-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

Josh wanted to travel from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca for the lovely mountain views. For me the twisty dirt roads up and down the Andeas are a motion-sick girls worst nightmare. I´ve become hooked on Dramamine, it takes care of the nasea splendidly as well as puts me to sleep for the entirety of most rides. Honestly, I don´t mind sleeping through the bus rides, they´re quite monotonous otherwise. Anyhow, for part of this ride I was awake.

First off, the bus drivers race down these mountains like a bat outa hell. Second, of course all the roads are dirt and are extremely uneaven. Third, the road is only wide enough for one car and Peru has never seen a gaurdrail. We fortunately got to sit in the front seat, and see all of the action. It was indeed a fortunate seat as the lady in the back vomitted all through the trip.

The ride was terrifying, flying around mountain edges, the driver laying on the horn...hoping to God that we didn´t smash into another car and tumble over the 100ft cliff. There were a couple close calls, when another car appeared around a corner and our driver (seemingly unexperienced) slammed on his breaks vearing toward the edge, with less than a 2 foot buffer from the canyon below. I wished I were sleeping, or atleast had some ativan.

We got to stop at one point at one of the moutain towns, no more than 2 mudbrick buildings and a few tents selling fruits. I used the toilet here and was pleasantly surprised that it was infact an actual toilet, no seat of course and they did charge a fee. Even so, this was a grand improvement over the last roadside toilet, which consisted of a green shack thick with flys and a hole to urinate in or around.

In the end the bus made it safely to Cajamarca and we found a tiny hotel room with a reasonable rate to stay in. We had some wonderful pizza that evening...but I must say I prefer mozzerella to the white cheese of South America when it comes to pizza.

Chachapoyas, almost Kuelap

2009-12-14T17:44:00.000-08:00

After a long night bus ride we made it to a town called Chachapoyas (people of the clouds.) I was expecting a lovely town amid the mountains, Chacha wasn't quite that. The point of coming to this town was to see Kuelap, said to be one of the most impressive ruins 2nd only to Macchu Picchu. Obviously this leg of the journey is lead by Joshua, as my interest in rocks and ruins has rapidly depreciated the more I see them. (Incan's are rocking in their graves...I'm sorry, I've tried).

Right after the bus ride and a little breakfast, Josh took off to see some graves. I passed seeing the opportunity for a nap on a bed instead of a bus seat. Fortunately he's very generous in picture taking, so even I never missed a beat. Later that night we got a local dinner and went to bed for an early morning rise to see Kuelap.

Shortly after checking into a less expensive hotel room (the rank smell and clogged sink weren't worth the big bucks) we headed down to where the mini combi buses were supposedly located to get a ride toward the ruins. Either we missed the early combi, or they weren't running that day, after waiting on a corner for some time a guy offered to take us in a taxi. We waited around another 20minutes or so until the taxi was full then headed off to Tingo.

We were dropped off in Tingo, a town consisting of 2 building made of mud bricks. We bought some peanuts from a man vending out of his house and asked directions for the trail toward Kuelap. We were given some confusing instructions that changed according to who you asked. Finally we asked a police officer, he pointed and mumbled something, then mentioned that the guys across the road with the cement truck were headed up to the next town, Maria. The officer walked over to the two young guys running the truck and asked if we could hitch a ride. The guys said that the two of them were up front, and there wasn't room. The officer asked if we could ride on top of the truck or in the back. (Something you would hide from police at home). Sure enough there was room on top of the sacks of cement. The ride took about 3 hours uphill. Shaded by a tarp and atop nice soft bags and a dirty cushion that the boys through down for me, I fell asleep to the chug chugging of the cement truck.

Finally to the town of Maria, after a 3 hour taxi ride and similarly lengthed cement truck commute, we only had a 10km hike uphill to go. All to see rocks with my dear husband, uggh I wanted to scream. The walk was long and as we kept on, we noticed that there weren't too many passing cars. We saw one van crammed full of tourists on their way down, and one equally packed on their way up. We started to think that the prospects of getting home from this tiny town were looking slim. We hadn't seen a car in the town, nothing but a couple scraggly horses. Finally at the top we found a van that Josh begged to take us back when they were leaving. Unfortunately, the van's passengers were heading down from the ruins at about that time. We chose to forgo seeing the ruins of Kuelap that we had traveled all this way to see, in order to secure a ride back.

Huanchaco

2009-12-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

On the coast north of Trujillo lies a small fishing village and summer time surfers playground of a town called Huanchaco. Josh and I stayed in a fantastic hostel, Naylamp. The room and bedding were clean, towels and soap were provided and wi-fi reached our room! We were on the second floor and had a lovely ocean view along with cable TV! Not only was the room a class above the hostels we had been staying in in Lima and Cusco, but the price was much lower.

Beyond the hostel walls, the beach was quite nice itself. The sand is a color of gray and the water a pleasant blue. It's no carribean, but hearing about the snowstorms that all of my family and friends are enduring, we have to room to complain! The first day we soaked up the sun. The next couple days we visited the local market and ate some fresh ceviche and watched some good cable tv, as the sun chose not to show it's face.

One thing that makes Huanchaco unique is the reed boat that are still made and used by the local fishermen. A picture of them is shown here.

Lima bean

2009-12-08T14:55:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months of travel Josh and I have come to the conclusion that big city's are not for us. The little city's/towns are much sweeter. Between the pollution of Bogota, the potential crime in Quito, the craze of Cusco...we'd just rather spend our time on the beach, or in a laid back town. Even so, for a big city Lima isn't that bad.

Gloria, a dairy production company had a display of various cows all over the city. For me, those were a little more interesting than the usual statues we feel obligated to photograph. The cow featured here was found in the artsy park overlooking the ocean called Parque de Amor.

Lima is a great place for food lovers. It's nice to get away from the standard rice, fish and bean meal...you can find anything to quench your appetite in this capital city.

Family Arrives

2009-12-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

Josh's parents, being the courageous adventure seeking people that they are flew down to Peru to meet us for a short vacation. They flew into Peru on Thanksgiving, but we started our trek toward Macchu Picchu the Friday after, we planned to meet up at the ruins. Fortunately we found them right at the gate, as planned. How great it was to see family, after 3 months it was so exciting and strange to see familiar faces in such an un-familiar place.

We spent that early morning venturing around Macchu Picchu and sharing travel experiences. I came down with the stomach bug that Josh had had the day before and had to make a break for it out of the ruins early. I rested while they enjoyed each others company around Aguas Callientes. They ate at a lovely French restarant called India Feliz. Gloria wasn't feeling up to eating that night either, so the next day we enjoyed a lovely lunch there as well.

We spent the next two days trotting about Cusco. We visited an old Incan fortress sitting on the mountainside above the city called Saqsaywayman. Gloria and I shopped for Christmas Presents while Josh and David played cribbage over Peruvian Beers. We ate at some lovely places. The picture above was taken at an upscale place titled Chi-Cha. And of course every time we walked down the street we were flooded by vendors, and I think we all began to lose patience.

Josh's parents are serious travelers, when they vacation they squeeze in all the sights in a limited amount of time. The day they left Cusco they flew down to Puno to see lake Titicaca, then somehow made it back to Lima and to Nazca in the same amount of time that Josh and I simply traveled to Nazca.

In Nazca we met up again, shared a late night drink when they got in and said goodnight till' morning when we would fly over the Nazca Lines. The next morning for breakfast Josh and I shared a bag full of fruit, bought off the street for about a dollar. Then we caught a cab to the hotel where Gloria and David were staying. From there we were picked up by their arranged transport van and headed to the Nazca airport. The Nazca Lines are various shapes made in the desert sand by moving dark sand away from light colored sand, is my understanding. They were created before the Incan Empire. We hopped into a tiny 5 seat airplane to view the lines. Our pilot was very courteous in making sure that everyone was able to see every etch in the sand. He whipped the plane from side to side, one wing strait up to the sky the other diving toward the sand. I was fortunate enough to sit beside the captain in the front seat. If I did not look at the design in the sand (do to extreme nausea) , he would be sure to tap me until I saw every last image. With the exception of Iron Man David we all left the plane sicker than dogs...whatever that phrase means.

After a lunch back at the hotel and a long bus ride back to Lima, we had to say some sad 'see you later's' to the parents. They had to get back, get ready for Christmas and of course have a big-mac. We'll miss you guys, but are so glad you were able to come down and share some of Peru with us!

Inca Trail

2009-11-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

We hiked the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu with Llama Path on a 4 day 3 night trip. This hike was the most luxury hike I probably will ever take part in. For the 13 hikers there were 19 porters and a cook along with a guide and an assistant guide. We would not have saved money by taking our own tent, so the porters carried a llama path tent and set it up for us. By the time we arrived to our campsite the tent was ready to go each evening. Also warm water, soap and individual hand towels were provided before every meal to clean up with. They served us hot tea in the morning inside of our tents. Literally they carried a kitchen table and chairs that they set up for each meal for us to eat from. Dinner and lunch were always 3 coarse meals- a professionally done appetizer, followed by a mouth watering soup, topped off with more food than would feed an army sized entree. We were pampered, and it was nice!
The Inca trail is very busy, thus urinating or otherwise outside of the ´peruvian´squat toilets is prohibited. This made for one of the big negatives for the trail. These peruvian toilets are porcelin bowls flush with the baño floor. Usually they don´t flush and most often the room didn´t have a trash can. You can´t put toilet paper in the toilet so dirty toilet paper would pile up in the corner...gross. As you can imagine the squat pots got pretty nasty. Girls don´t have aim, lot´s of people get diahrea and the smell is enough to blind you.
The hike was challenging due to the elevation changes, however the trail was not too tough comparing it to our last hike in Venezuela. The second day we had to reach our highest elevations and unfortunately Joshua came down with a stomach bug. He couldn´t eat and could barely keep down water, but somehow he pushed through and made it to camp. Well done Josh!
The fourth morning we awoke before the sunrise, ate a very rich cake for breakast-not a good choice llama path, then scrambled to get our bags ready to head to Macchu Picchu. The previos night we had camped on a somewhat narrow ledge, all of the tents in a line. After going to the bathroom I was heading back toward my bag and I fell off the 10foot ledge. Physically I only had a few bruises and scrapes but emotionally I was quite hurt. After the fall I stood up and appologized to the porters as I had landed on a bag of trash. I asked for a towel to wipe off and no one could help me. I just stood there appologizing and Josh yelled, ¨Get up here¨ I was pissed and hurt! Why didn´t any one care that I had fallen 10 feet onto my back on a pile of trash?! Josh and Llama path definetely got a talking to for their seemingly uncaring reactions!
I carried my bad attitude along with a bruised wrist and but the final 3 hours to Macchu Picchu. The old Incan city was impressive. I have a hard time getting excited about rocks, even if they are so nicely cut and placed, but it was still nice to see. We started on a tour with our guide and left at about 10am to meet Josh´s parents.
Sometime in that early morning I was starting to feel a little sick. About midday I had to separate from Josh and his parents and head toward the exit. Uggh, here I got trapped in this huge maze of rocks. Frustrated, overheated and sick to the stomach I got sick over a pile of rocks, hidden by another pile. I made it to the bathroom before I got sick again.
The twisty-turny bus ride down to Aquas Callientes didn´t help my uneasy stomach, I spent the rest of the day in the hotel room, while Josh and his parents explored Aquas.

Cusco

2009-11-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry that this update has taken so long...I've been hesitant to write it because I feel only negative things toward Cusco, but am perplexed when looking back at our lovely pictures and I just can't understand how I couldn't like the city...here it is:

Cusco, Peru is a beautiful city, full of Incan architecture and beautiful Spanish cathedrals as well. Plaza de Armas is tended very carefully full of lush green grass and lovely flowers. Narrow cobblestone streets take you to numerous restraunts and shops. Whatever you need, you can probably buy in in Cusco.

The thing that made it miserable for me was the constantly badgering touts. From sun up till' into the night they try their hardest to sell you anything they can. They are relentless! Once told 'no', they continue on with 'why not my friend' and offer varios other things you have no interest in. They sell everything from massages, manicures, 'maybe alpaca' hats, scarves and whatever else you might not want. The vending never ends. We had to sneak into the hostal at times to escape the noise and hoards of people.

You might be reading this thinking how coarse and mean of me to think these things. Peruvians overall are very poor, this is their only way of making money. It's true have become hardened to these unfortunate circumstances. But I challenge you to spend a week amidst the chaos and not feel similarly!

Needless to say the town is beautiful, but a horrible tourist trap. And you can buy all of the authentic 'baby' alpaca clothing you want, and then the 'maybe' alpaca stuff for much less.

Fat kid

2009-11-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention a vital detail that occured in Loja, Ecuador: A few blocks from the bus station in Quito, maybe 15 minutes after take off the bus pulled over to pick up large blue barrels covered with a blanket and rope of mystery substance destined for Loja. We were too lucky to find out that this mystery substance was indeed pounds and pounds of Lard. How did we find out you ask? Well, upon arrival at 6am in Loja after yet another restless ride on the night bus my formerly green pack now had a thick white frosted shell.

Josh and I would sometimes joke that my bag always ended up looking like a fat kid after I pack it. For some reason I can never get those bulges in line. Now the pack looks and smells the part.

Loja-Piura-Lima

2009-11-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

Bus. Bus. Bus.
From Quito we caught a supposedly 12-14 hour bus ride that actually took 16 hours to Loja, Ecuador. The city is known for it´s musicians, so we thought we´d check it out. We popped into a nice cheap hotel, only 10$ a night and slept until after 1 in the afternoon. Josh of course didn´t want to miss out on seeing any sights, so we walked up and down the town to catch every park and church within the city limits. Heaven forbid a statue go bye without it´s picture on our camera! We also checked out the Loja Zoo and reluctantly were unable to free any of the thristy sad looking inmates. One half hairless Andean Speckled bear still tears at my heart. We heard no musicians, but Josh claims some guys were carrying guitars.

1pm the next day we caught the border-crossing bus to Piura, Peru. Another longer than expected bus, but tolerably 8 or 9 hours. From Piura we found a helpful taxi driver that took us to a bus terminal that had night buses to Lima.

Peru´s bus system is a bit more difficult to use as there is not a central terminal, thus you have to buz up and down little streets and down allies to find the bus you want. Fortunately we´ve had some helpful taxi drivers direct us in the right direction, sure they expect a little extra money but they deserve it for the help.

At half past 10 pm the bus left from Piura to Lima. This was to be a 16hour bus, so we grabbed a quick chicken and rice dinner from a local street vendor before hopping on the bus. The bus was long and cramped. The seats in this one were NOT made for tall or (I like to say big-boned) persons. Anyway at about 9 am they stopped for breakfast in a big wharehouse on the side of the road in what seemed to be a barren desert. We were looking for a nice cup of coffee and something small for breakfast. Unfortunately this hot spot didn´t have coffee today, only chicken soup and a full course chicken dinner if that´s what you´re hungry for at 9am. We went with the chicken soup and 2 bottles of water. Low and behold I was the lucky girl of the day getting 3 chicken feet in my soup. Three! Moral of the story- when there isn´t coffee don´t bother ordering breakfast.

Finally we arrived in Lima at about 2pm yesterday, another helpful taxi driver carted us to 3 different bus terminals where we finally found a bus that would take us to Cuzco the next day. Some of the other companies are not currently running buses because the Peruvian people between Lima and Cuzco have shut down the road as a way to protest the government.

This morning the receptionist at our hotel alerted us that our bus company had called and our bus to Cuzco was cancelled...sure enough the road that the other buses wouldn´t sell us a ticket to, was in fact closed down today. However, we are taking a bus yet this afternoon to Ariquipe, 16 hours from Lima and another 14 hours from Cuzco. It will be a longer route around, but hopefully it will get us there. We are signed up to hike the Inca Trail on the 27th of this month, we need to pay the rest of the deposit by the 25th. Also taking some time in Cuzco is essential to help us get acclimated. Hopefully we´ll be there in a day or two...I guess we´ll see.

Quito

2009-11-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

We didn't have much Ecuador, but hope to come back someday. There is some good hiking that we'd like to do and of course it would be quite wonderful to visit the Galapagos Islands. Josh and I are planning to venture back someday, so keeping this in mind we were able to push through, heading south to Peru.

We seemed to agree that Quito was a bit nicer of a city than Bogota in our opinion. Perhaps it was simply that they used a trolly system running on electricity, cutting down on exhaust fumes.

There were also quite a few more travelers which was kind of fun. At the same time, each traveler had a story to instill fear in us about the surrounding city. Everyone said that Quito was incredibly unsafe with stories of gunshots and robberies occuring daily. We never felt unsafe but the stories that we were told over diner everynight stuck in my mind and hindered me from being able to relax and fully enjoy the city. Hopefully next time in Quito I won´t feel so limited by fear.

Chocolate cake and a Coctail

2009-11-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

We spent an extra day in Salento as it was my birthday and we found some good looking chocolate cake at Jesus's Cafe the day before. The sky´s downpoured rain that afternoon, so it was good that we weren't awaiting a bus on the streetside anyway. The cake was lovely, they also had a tasty strawberry daquiri that went very well with it.

Dusty, Josh´s good buddy ended up showing up to Salento the night before my birthday. He gave me a small clutch with a pattern on it made by the Kuna indians. That was another nice surpise to end a good day.

After a final cup of coffee at Jesus´s Cafe we headed to the bus station in Armenia. We arrived at the bus station later than we had hoped, the curvy ride...causing quite a bit of nasea took longer than expected. There was only 1 seat available for the bus that we were hoping to catch to the border town between Colombia and Ecuador. Thus we went with the next best option and bought a ticket to Pasto, a town 2 hours or so north of the border. The time was 6pm, We waited 8 or 9 hours for the bus to Pasto to arrive, which sadly happened to be running 3 hours late...uggh.

Eventually we caught the bus to Pasto, followed by a mini bus another couple hours to Ipiales, then finally a taxi across the border. Another taxi took us to the next most immediate town in Ecuador where we literally ran onto a moving bus bound for Quito. We arrived in Quito after midnight and thankfully caught an honest cab driver who took us safely to The Secret Garden Hostel for a reasonable fee. We made it into bed and crashed.

Salento, Colombia

2009-11-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

Thank heavens! A fresh breath of air in Salento. Fed up with the pollution and noise of Bogota, Salento was an oasis in our travels.

In every direction lush green hills span as far as the eye can see. Coffee plants and banana trees pepper the hills. The air is fresh and refreshing to the body and sole. The elevation is high, climbing the hills take your breath away like I said, everywhere you go there is another hill. You need the coffee just to get you through a day around town.

The second day we took a hike to see the Wax Palms in the Valle de Cocora a short jeep ride away from the town of Salento. The jeep ride itself, should not be underestimated. Josh and I were apparantly not pushy enough so ended up standing on the back of the jeep hanging on for our lives! Up and down hills on dirt road the jeep drove, my arms ached and a few blisters popped up on my hands by the time we arrived at the valley. The hike took about 5 hours consisting of many river crossings and quite a lot of climbing, not to mention lots of mud. But like every hike, even though I curse it in the beginning it's quite gratifying to finish. The cloud forest around the palms was quite beautiful as well. We were able to hike with a French guy and a German couple. It was a good day. Best of all, we got a seat for the jeep ride back.

Bogota still.

2009-11-05T06:41:00.000-08:00

After 6 days, Bogota had lost it's thrill for me. The weather was still pleasant and cool, but the combination of a gray overcast sky and smoggy air had started to wear on me. The city is big, lots of traffic, lots of exhaust, lots of noise.

After a long day of traversing the town my eyes would burn from the air, contacts were a bad idea amid air thick with pollution. Also, the hostel had started to lose it's cool at this point as well. The guests seemed to be staying up later, being noisier and smoking more. Josh and I found ourselves waking up after little sleep in a smoke filled room, sometimes the frosted flakes weren't even out...It was time to leave.

From here we head south to coffee county.

Bogota

2009-11-02T06:37:00.000-08:00

We made it into Bogota, Colombia after dark. Cranky Crock, the hostel we were hoping to stay in was booked, but graciously the receptionist directed us to another small hostel around the block. We were expecting the place to be a dump, but were pleasantly surprised and ended up staying in that location for a week. They had free breakfast and a clean bathroom, no reason to leave!

The first night in after finding a spot to sleep we hit up a lovely Italian restaurant in the old town district, just a couple blocks from our hostel. The eatery had a glowing fireplace in the corner and interesting elves painted on the walls...it seemed fitting for Halloween Night. We enjoyed some fancy pasta plates and shortly after headed back to the hostel for some sleep.

To comment on Halloween in Colombia, surprisingly enough it is quite celebrated there. The city was filled with little one dressed as the usual princesses, farm animals, what have you...hand in hand with their parents parading around in search of treats.

Leticia

2009-10-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

After getting off of the River Boat up the Amazon we got a taxi to Leticia, Colombia. This is a small town in the Amazon Basin that a lot of jungle trip take off from. We spent only one night here and
caught a flight to Bogota the next day.

We stayed in Mahatu Jungle Hostel, in an upstairs cabana similar to the cabanas that we stayed in during our honeymoon in Nicaragua. The stay was cheap and the owner friendly.

Staying in Leticia only one night, we didn't expect to see jungle wildlife. However we were pleasantly surprised to see some jungle animals that had turned into city inhabitants. Huge flocks of parrots lived in the city trees. You could here them from blocks away, there bright green color was quite beautiful as well. Also there was a small rodent that scurried about the hostel yard, called a Black Agouti (Dasyprocta fuliginosa) a smaller version of the capybara. He was cool to see!

The day in Leticia was hot and humid but the night was quite pleasant in the cabana. In the morning I found keeping cookies in my bag proved to be a horrible idea. Ants infested my daybag, books, journal. I couldn't get rid of them all, some flew to Bogota with us. The worst part is that these hungry ants ate right through some of my undergarments, leaving a string-cheese look. I truly did find ants in my underpants at lunch that day!

Up the Amazon

2009-10-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

We bought a ticket to take a large river boat up the Amazon river for 6.5 days from Manaus to Tabatinga. The boat was very large, it could fit up to 400 people if I remember correctly. The river being the main highway in the amazon was used for transportation of most of their goods. On the lower level of the boat was anything you could want- massive amounts of soda and beer, mattresses, plastic chairs even a pickup truck. At times the boat would stop for 5 or 6 hours to unload what seemed to be an infinite amount of supplies.

Riding this large boat up the center of such a wide river didn't prove to be the jungle experience that you expect when you hear 'amazon'. However, we did sleep in hammocks every night and shower with river water. On a couple of lucky occasions we saw river dolphins, some of which were pink!

There wasn't a lot more happening on the boat besides the occasional stop and unload. We ate the same rice, beans, spagetti and meat for every meal. I got pretty sick for 2 days, which wasn't made any easier with the frequently disgustingly dirty bathrooms. Other than that I was able to read a lot and lay in a hammock.

Manaus, Brazil

2009-10-23T03:46:00.000-07:00

After the Roriama trek we took a day to start recovering then catched a taxi to cross the border to Brazil. We ended up taking a taxi all the way to the next town in Brazil, Boa Vista because it was cheaper and faster than a bus. Gas in Venezuela is subsidised by the government, something like 1 cent for a liter! This is truly a terrible thing because it encourages lots of driving of monsterous gas hogs, old U.S. cars...unnecessary pollution.

From Boa Vista we eventually caught a night bus to Manaus, Brazil. Got ourselves into an Australian run Hostel and set out to get boat tickets for Tabatinga. We were able to choose between leaving on the boat either the next day or 5 days away. Feeling the thick heat of the city on our backs helped us quickly decide to leave the next day. The town did look interesting enough to stay a few days, but the heat was oppressive.

We purchased our boat tickets, then hammocks and ropes without much hassle. We picked up some snacks from the grocery store and some fruit from the street vendors. We were hoping to take an avocato, but they are as big as 3 at home, and without refridgeration we knew it would go to waste.

The following morning after a fitful nights sleep in the sticky heat we walked the half mile to the boat docks. taking a small boat to the deeper water where our large boat was parked we hopped on and found a decent location for our 3 hammocks. Behind our hammocks we tied our bags together. We smiled at the portuguese speaking neighbors and settled into our hammocks and wait for take off.

Roraima

2009-10-15T05:06:00.000-07:00

After finishing Angel Falls we hopped on a night bus headed south to Santa Elena, Venezuela. The bus ride stunk horribly of urine. It was nothing short of naseating. I went to the bathroom at one point and understood the smell in a new way, I'll spare you the details.

Once arriving in Santa Elena we got a room and headed to the Brazilian Consulate to get our Brazilian Visa (another thing we probably should have done before we left) At the Consulate they did a fairly impressive job of instilling fear in us of the local police. They said the police would hassle us and take our money if we didn't carry our passports with us at all times. One woman also encouraged us not to take the Amazon, as lots of foreigners get killed there all of the time. We ignored her advice completely.

After that was taken care of we arranged a hiking trip. Around this area there are unique table-like mountains called Tepuy or Tepui's. They have isolated ecosystems with a large variety of carnivorous plants. National park laws only allow people to hike with a guide up these mountains so we arranged a standard 6 day trek with Kamadac, a tour company with good prices across from our hostel.

After a good nights rest the next day we set off to hike Roraima.
DAY 1. Not bad, 12km from the town of Para Tepui to Rio Tek. The bugs here were the real enemy's. The people call these tiny man eaters puri puri's. They have no respect for bug spray so to fend them off you have to where long pants and shirts in the sweltering heat.
DAY 2. A little harder. More uphill this day, 10km or so hiking to the base of the Tepui. Bugs weren't so bad, tired nervous for day 3.
DAY 3. HARD. A very steep hike up the side of the tepui. Thick jungle, loose rocks, aching thighs and gluteus. I wasn't sure that I could make it, by divine miracle I did.
DAY 4. okay. We trekked around the top of the Tepui to take a closer look and the ecosystem up here. We saw tiny black frogs, crystals and tiny carnivorous plants. The top of the tepui was not as lush as I was expecting, it looked like what I expect the moon to look like. Uneven black granite in every direction. Honestly this day I just wanted to stay in the tent and sleep and am annoyed we had to walk around to see the 2 plants, frog and crystal we didn't have to walk that far to see.
DAY 5. HARDEST This day we trekked all of the way down from the top of the tepui to the spot we camped our first night. The downhill was scary and so tough on the legs. I was terrified that we would slide down the side of the Tepui the entire day, the rocks were loose and wet from the rain. My legs would not stop shaking and hurt more than I can ever remember. My ankles were swollen and painful. I took as much Ibuprofen and Excedrin as medically safe...some how we made it with only a few scrapes and 2 swollen ankles.
DAY 6. Lasting Pain. finished of with a 12 km hike to the beginning. A wonderfully rewarding feeling to be done, but good heavens did I hurt...and I hurt for 2 weeks after.

end lesson-get in better shape...but you can do anything you put your mind to.

Angel Falls

2009-10-12T04:15:00.000-07:00

From Cuidad Bolivar, Venezuela we were able to arrange a tour to Angel Falls. The tour lasted 3 days. We arrived at the airport early and left our big bags with the tour company. The plane we took into Canaima national park was the tiniest plane I have ever seen, 5 passengers and the pilot. I sat in the front seat next to the pilot. Somehow before takeoff Josh's seatbelt got locked out the little door. We prayed and said our last i love you's just incase. An air vent was next my ear letting the air in so the plane was very loud, but otherthan that we had a fairly smooth ride. Exhillarating.

When we arrived at the drop off point in cainaima we were quicky ushered toward the river boats to head toward the falls. The boats looked like long thin dug out logs with a regular speed boat motor attached. We were told that since it is no longer the rainy season the river would be very low and points and we would need to jump off and push. To see the falls we had to travel upriver for 5 hours! After that trip we did not soon forget how hard those wooden benches were. Anyway the river was low in spots and there were rapids that would have to classify about 3 or so. The guides started shouted at the men to jump out and push when we got stuck. On one terrifying occasion the guys jumped out and not a secound later Dusty lost his footing and slipped. One of the ladies and the end of the boat caught his shirt and was trying to help but actually ended up nearly drowning him by holding him down. He broke away from her unhelpful help and floated downstream. He was able to stop in a calmer pool a little ways down. We picked him up with greatest casualty being the loss of his favorite Tigers Cap.

Eventually we made it to the camping sight for the night, across the river from the falls. Angel Falls was impressive, not having the ammount of water that it does in the rainy season it's tale was a mist before it hit the pool at the bottom. We slept in hammocks beneath necessary mosquito nets. Sleep was sound but too short, the next morning the guide woke us up at 4 am to start hiking to a viewpoint closer to the falls. The hike was shockingly strenuous. The jungle around the falls is very thick and the path toward the falls was a tangle of roots. After 3 hours we made it to a closer viewpoint. The view was impressive, but I would recommend hiking boots.

After ariving back our slave driving guide hurried us through breakfast then ushered us back to the boats. This time the ride was much more enjoyable, except for our bruised butt cheeks. Going downstream it took maybe 3 hours, the rest of the day our slave driver disappeared and i relaxed my blistered feet in a hammock at the basecamp near some other impressive waterfalls.

Day 3 we checked out these glorious waterfalls near our basecamp. We walked right under some and on the top of the ridge where they fell from, wet and slippery at times the loud crashing of the falls was worth the short hike. A quick plane ride back, and that ties up the Angel Falls adventure.

Excitement for the Falls!

2009-10-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

We have some big adventures planned here in the very near future. Tomorrow we´re taking a plane to Canima and the following day a boat & hike combination to Angel Falls, the worlds highest waterfall! We get to camp directly across from the falls that night!
The downside is the jungle mosquitos are terrible. I´ve seen 3 people today so far point and stare at my legs full of chickenpox like marks from these blasted bugs. I feel like a lepar walking around here, not immune to these bugs like the natives. Hopefully we´ll all end up malaria free and with great memories...it will well be worth enduring a little time as the venezuelan eyesore;)

Beach

2009-10-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

Josh and I split from Dusty for a couple days as he wanted to go to Caracas and we wanted to hit another beach before heading down the Angel Falls. We headed to Puerta La Cruz and then took a 45min. bus to a small fishing town called Santa Fe. We stayed in a Posada directly on the beach overlooking a small bay part of Mochima National Park. Despite the plethora of trash strewn about the beach and decorating the water the landscape was breathtaking. The water ranged from light aqua blue to a deep emerald green. Mountains covered in desert grass and cacti arose from the edges of the water. Pelicans flooded the beaches, somewhat like seaguls but more magical to a Midwesterner!

On the third day we took a boat trip to a smaller island that we had heard was more tranquil and beautiful than the beach we were staying on. On the boat trip over we encountered schools of dolphins! So many of them altogether, jumping in that crescent moon shape that I remeber flipper doing. It was beautiful and amazing, quite a suprise!
Before arriving to the island we snorkeled of the side of a different mountain-island. The coral was beautiful, colors of blue, purples, pinks, reds and shades of white. We then ran into a school of minnows, they were making a wall and the other wall was a school of larger fish. I felt like Ariel, the little mermade, or nemo. The larger fish would lunge toward the minnows, then hundreds of minnows would simultaneously turn away. We were right in the middle of the action. Perhaps the minnows were using us as a shield. Eitherway it was quite amazing, I felt like I was filming for the Discovery Channel- the life of fish series.
Once arriving at the Island beach we quickly decided that it was indeed the most beautiful beach we´ve been to. Crystal clear water, soft white sand, mountains jutting out of the water on either side of the beach...gorgeous.
We took a sunset tour on the boat back to our posada and again saw schools of dolphins circling up sardines for dinner! I am such a lucky girl!

Pictures!

2009-10-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

Coro, Venezuela

Taganga, Colombia Totuma, Colombia Market, Colombia

Tayrona Nat´l Park, Colombia

Playa Blanca, Colombia

Week 3...a new outlook 9-28

2009-09-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

This morning Josh and Dusty left on a short hiking trip until tomorrow evening. Thus I am on my own in Merida for the first time since we´ve begun this adventure. It feels great to be pushed into being courageous. I´ve walked about town, purchased 4 different cups of coffee at different times. The coffee comes in 1-3 oz cups(plastic shot glasses) almost always with sugar and often with milk. Fed up with fried food for a while, I bought a few healthy groceries. I also enrolled in a week of Spanish lessons, it will be 18 hours starting at 4pm today and ending Friday. Hopefully I´ll learn some basics to be a bit less dependant upon Josh, and feel more comfortable.

When I was walking around town this morning I realized that I am having a very nice time. Being more courageous and trying out my meager Spanish skills has helped tremendously. Being my own leader is something I need to do more often. For the past 3 weeks I´ve been following Josh around like a lost puppy. Today stepping out and chosing what to do on my own felt amazing. I guess Josh and I will have to try to share the lead of this adventure a bit more.

Well, off to la classe de espanol.
hasta luego

Tayrona, Colombia's most popular national park

2009-09-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Tayrona National Park. The first day into the park was quite a hike, they took our rum at the entry also and gave us a phony reciept and said we would be able to redeem the liquor upon our departure...3 days later they had no idea what we were talking about. Back to the hike in, SO HARD...It kicked my butt and I wasn't quite about it, sorry Josh and Dusty.

Tyrona is very much jungle and then beautiful beach. Exotic plants, flowers, lizards and crabs, very different than we see in Michigan. We ended up staying in what looks like a sweet tree house high up on a rocky ledge overlooking the sea. (pictures coming soon) We slept in hammocks very close to each other and near other travelers. After a goodnights sleep I was able to enjoy the awesome beach, we had a lovely day and ended up staying 2 more nights.

The 2nd night we went through the most horrible and awesome thunder storm I've experienced. Being the highest point on the beach I was terrified of the wooden house being struck by lightening and starting on fire. Josh and Dusty and the British travelers up there were just loving the storm though, and I was a bit...but fear and homesickness were overpowering the excitement of the storm for me. Long story short, the storm settled at 1 am or so and we were able to fall sleep in our wet hammocks and semi wet clothes shortly thereafter.

Thank goodness we got our yellow fever shots, I am covered in mosquito bite welts the size of nickles, almost quarters. Besides that my mood is better, I will keep on with this crazy traveling.

Attack of the Flying Ants

2009-09-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago when I mentioned that I was eaten by bugs at night I was not mistaken. Last night at about 2 am I woke up just fed up with the bug bites. I rifled through my pack to pull out the silk sleeping bag liner that I thought would serve as a layer between me and the bed bugs. After a little while of that and still more creepy crawlies I pulled out the head lamp to see what was getting me. Flying Ants were jumping all over the sheets and pillow, floor, ceiling and walls. Sleeping beauty, Josh finally woke up from his slumber to help squash some of the ants. We probably killed over 200, it´s 3 am. All I can think about is how I will tolerate being back in the states working without josh. I tell him I am not cut out for this jungle life like him, showing him all the bites I have up and down my arms and legs...he has not a single bite to show.
The ants were attracted to the light, like all other bugs. (we´re not really sure if they are ants, but they do fly and they look sort of like ants). Our hostel has open windows with bars over them and openings in the cement at the ceiling. None of the places here use actual windows unless they have air condition, which apparently is rare. Anyway, a light has been left on all night right outside of one of these opening in the cement near the ceiling of our room. That is where we believe the bugs entered. So tonight we´ll put up the mosquito net again, like Josh ended up doing in the middle of last night and we´ll ask if they could shut off that light outside our windows as well. Hopefully less bug bites tonight.
I´m still thinking about getting a flight back to the US though, these sweaty days, dirty bathrooms, bug filled nights, frequent diarrhea and stomach pain leaves something fierce to be desired...

taganga

2009-09-15T10:32:00.001-07:00

We've moved to taganga, a beach town that is about a 5 hour bus ride from cartagena. The temperature is more pleasant here, it seems a bit cooler with the ocean breeze. It's still much too hot to sleep with a sheet on and i haven't stopped sweating yet.

We're staying in the Bayview Hostel. the owner is, to my knowlege colombian, but speakes english and writes much of the hostel information in english, catering to tourists....i don't mind at this point...the more english the merrier. The hostel is brightly painted, cleaner and more open than the others we've stayed in. I do like it better, although i still feel like bed bugs were eating me last night.

There must be a donkey just past the wall. it smells like manure and made lots of he-hawing noises throughout the night and morning. Again, i don't mind this, the more animals the merrier. Speaking of animals, we've been fortunate to run across some beautiful, low flee dogs. At the beach over the weekend there was a momma beagle with three adorable beagle puppies. What a delight! Yesterday when Josh and Dusty were checking out dive shops we got to meet a beautiful Weimaraner, a sweet young German Shepard and another dog similar looking to a Ridgeback I think. It's nice to see dogs that are taken care of down here, i feel free to play with them unlike some o the flee covered stray dogs.

I miss home, but am having a decent time. I will be much happier when we get to the mountains. I am sick of being so sweaty and even more being covered with bug bites.

Arrival in Catagena

2009-09-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Just got into Cartagena a couple hours ago. We got to a hostel, 15$ a night including fan, with some nice Spanish Colonial style tiled floors. We´re happy with it, we´ll see if we´re able to sleep in the heat with the fan tonight. It´s 95 F, but doesn´t feel quite that bad.

It´s great to be here. I was so nervous, but this is similar to nicaragua and mexico, places I´ve experienced and enjoyed before. I love the feel- the street food, the fresh fruit, the old buildings, the heat...it´s so different from home which makes it so fun.

Well, Josh and I just checked in to call home since that is taken care, time to continue seeing the city.

Detroit to Cartagena

2009-09-07T00:08:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, here we go. I'm nervous and can not really explain why.

We're staying at our friend's Derek and Jen's house in Westland, 20 minutes from the airport. Despite their futon being more comfy than the airmattress that we've endured for 3 weeks I just can not sleep.

Yesterday was a sad day, saying goodbyes. My friends and family will be greatly missed as well as our sweet dog. I hope I am able to adjust to the change well.

I guess I'm nervous that I'm not quite sure what to expect. Will I feel lonely? Will I be able to relax and enjoy myself? Will I feel lost? Will I feel safe?

Hopefully it will be so fun, liberating and relaxing that I will have no choice but to love traveling.

Crossing finger, and saying prayers!

A few favorite pictures, no particular order

2009-07-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

Honeymoon in Nicaragua

Joshua reading to Tristan at Christmas time
Gloria & I ...so happy to be her daughter-in-law
Tembo shying away from some kisses

2009-07-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Today I broke the news of leaving to my boss. Just under eight weeks away from our flight date, it was heavy on my mind. She wasn't excited to hear the news in the least, but she was kind and honest. When I told her how I felt badly for leaving, she encouraged me not to; Instead to enjoy the adventure. She then told me about how her daughter had visited Peru a while back and went to these floating islands. Turning to her computer she pulled up Google and found some pictures of these man made islands in lake Titicaca. If it were not for the nervousness I had going into the conversation I would have laughed quite loud at the strange situation. Gotta love DVP.

2009-06-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

2009-06-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

This is an online journal to share with friends and family about my life now shared with my loving husband Joshua and princess dog, Tembo. Our adventure has just begun!