Holy Sharks!

We changed islands yesterday from Isla Santa Cruz to Isla Cristobal. This town is a bit smaller but WAY more sea lions hanging out. They greet you on the stairs right when you get off the boat. This morning we saw one sleeping on a park bench! Ahhh! And we saw another sleeping on a doormat. There are a few beaches here in town pretty much sea lion hang out zone. They are so dang cute I can hardly stand it. They remind me of puppies the way they play with each other.

Today we went on a snorkel trip to four different spots around the island and got to play with the pups (fitting name) which are the baby sea lions. One little guy was picking up a piece of coral or rock and tossing it around then doing flips around it, picking it up again (with its mouth) and spitting it out. It looked like a puppy playing with a new toy. I´m pretty sure everyone in our group had never been swimming or snorkeling before, EVER. I have never been kicked and smacked so many times in my life! Or maybe they were just in a hurry to see the wild life and would take out anyone in their path. I didn´t know there was such thing as ¨snorkel etiquette¨ but now I know there is... and these peeps didn´t have it. My favorite spot today was called Leon Dormido (also Kicker Rock) which means Sleeping Lion in english because the locals think the big rock in the middle of the ocean looks like a (whatdoyaknow) sleeping lion. We swam with tons and tons of black tip galapagos reef sharks. They came a little too close for comfort and made me nervous. We also saw more sea turtles. I told the girl next to me that there was a turtle just below her in a calm collected voice and she SHOUTED ¨SEA TURTLE EVERYONE SEA TURTLE OH MY GOD!!!¨ Then everyone raced over kicking each other along the way to see the first of many many sea turtles. Wow. We also got crazy close to some eagle rays. The snorkeling was incredible! We kept our snorkel gear for one more day since there are some great spots close to town that we can hike to tomorrow. I wish I could slow down time, this is one of those places you just want to hit the pause button on the ¨life remote.¨

Diving at Cousins

Diving was everything I hoped it would be AND MORE!!! I hate to say it but the measly old octopus that I saw yesterday (that I was sooo excited about) WAS BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER by todays experience! Our entire boat was speechless today on the way home. It was that good. REALLY!

It took a while to get to our dive site. We drove 45 minutes to get to the other side of the island then took a boat for 1 hour and 45 minutes to Isla San Salvador (aka James Island... all the islands have about three names). Three of the eight divers got sea sick but recovered quickly after the first dive. We did a quick ¨refresher¨ which consisted of jumping in the water, going down to the bottom only 10 meters or so, filling our masks with water and clearing them, taking out the regulator and puting it back in, and swiming up. All in all it took about 5 minutes! Ahhh! Mind you that this was my FIRST DIVE after my open water certification I did last year in Thailand. So I was nervous. Everyone else had over 100 dives. I was the rookie! The dive site was called Cousins. Right off the bat my fin broke. So I switched fins with the dive master and it was really big on me. I almost lost it a few times. That stressed me out a little. Then we was two white tip reef sharks IMMEDIATELY and that took quite a bit of my air. Soon to follow was a school of golden rays and eagles rays (probably 30 all together)! AMAZING. Before I knew it... I WAS OUT OF AIR!!! I must have been breathing like a mad woman because everyone else was only at half tank. Rookie. So I had to share oxygen with the dive master for the remainder of the dive. Never in my life did I think I would actually run out of air and have to use another regulator... especially not on my first dive EVER! I have to admit it was nice because he was able to point out all the wild life. We saw loads of sea turtles, chinese lobsters, starfish bigger than your head, some ugly sea snake, a stone or scorpion fish, a school of baracuda (over 100), two sea horses, sea lions, trumpet fish, fur seals, penguins, sharks, and sting rays. Just to name a few. AND about 50 dolphins followed us in the middle of the ocean playing in the waves so close I could reach out and touch them. Oh yeah and I spotted some blue footed boobies but that was above water. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! What a successful dive! I don´t think it could possibly get any better! Usually they see hammerhead sharks at Cousins, but I was more than satisfied with our sightings. WOW! Cousins was sooo good today that instead of diving at a different spot for our second dive we went back for more! I might have to go again at a different island! I wish Prati was able to see all of this with me. He did snorkel in Tortuga Bay and saw an eagle ray. We was excited about it! I thought that was cute.

Galapagos

The Galapagos is soooo incredible! We rented snorkel stuff today and went to a few different spots. Guess what I saw... an OCTOPUS! That was my first time seeing such a creature. It was only two feet away from me. The first snorkel spot we took a water taxi then hiked to was called Las Grietas which was just a large water filled crevice in the rocks... half salt water half fresh water. Great hike, very cool spot, but not alot going on below the surface. Then we walked down to the Darwin Center to see Lonesome George, the 90 year old huge land turtle. On the way back we stumbled upon a cool tiny white sand beach covered in black volcanic rock where all the black iguanas were laying out. That was where the octopus sighting was! The current was whipping so we left to go chill by the green lagoon just down the street. (We are on our way there right now) But Prati had to check on the Manchester United game so we stopped by the computers. Oh! And I signed up for an all day scuba diving session tomorrow. I will be going up north to another island called Isla San Salvador. I read that San Salvador is the island that Darwin spent a majority of his time in the Galapogos on. The first (of two) scuba destination is called Cousins. I won't even tell you all the marine life the dive master said I will see tomorrow. I will save that for the next entry. I'm soooo nervous, yet excited. Prati isn't certified so I'm venturing off into the sea all by myself! Til' next time...

Dream come true

Ready or not Galapagos... here I am! I am here! I am really really here! Coming to the Galapagos has been a life long dream of mine and I made it! You can not wipe the smile off my face right now. I could be robbed right and would still be smiling because I am here.

After a not so long debate about how long we want to spend in the Galapagos we decided to spend pretty much the rest of our time in South America IN the Galapagos. I am a little bummed that I wont be able to visit the jungle in Ecuador or some really cool beach we heard about called Canoa, but WE HAVE ELEVEN DAYS IN THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS! Aaaahhh! I cant believe it that seems like eternity! I guess I will have to come back to Ecuador another time.

We flew into Baltra from Guayaquil this morning. Took a bus to the ferry dock, took a quick ferry ride, took a longer bus into Puerto Ayora and that is where we are now. Its a little more pricey here than we are used to but its okay. We walked about 45 minutes to Tortuga Bay and swam around at Tortuga beach. It is a sea turtle nesting beach! If I was a sea turtle I would nest here too! The birds are rediculously friendly, you could probably pick them up if you wanted to. They dont have any predators here so I guess they arent afraid of humans. We didnt bring snorkel gear with us but some snorkelers said they saw some yellowish sting rays that seem to be popular around here and they saw a shark! A safe one. Along with lots of other fish and fun stuff to look at. We are probably going to go back there in the morning (with snorkel gear) since its a great place to jog to. Not to mention there were huge pelicans flying all around us and OH YEAH we saw about a dozen BLACK iguanas. Prati thought they were dead because they were not moving when we walked right by them and not to mention they looked like they were burned in a fire. But those are the land lizards we keep hearing about. The sand at this beach did not feel like sand. It was more like walking through flour or powdered sugar. I have never felt sand like this in my life! We are about go eat some chocolate cake at a place called Chocolate Galapagos (how original) but it is calling my name. I can hear it... gotta run!

Horseback ride to Los Pilares

Mancora has stolen a little piece of my heart. We have been here three nights and four days and it doesn´t feel like it´s enough. Last night we switched hotels since we were in the heart of party land... come to find out you can´t escape party land. They blast music until 6am (sometimes right on through the next day) and all the hotels are made with nothing more than bamboo walls. I became one with the techno music (all night). Last night was open mic night near Laguna Camp. At one point I woke up under the mosquito net at 3am to a mosquito buzzing in my ear and Prati reading with his headlamp on (once again... at 3am). He said ¨this band is pretty good, I feel like I´m front row.¨ Couldn´t sleep but I still love this place. I am closer to the equator than I have ever been which means I am closer to the sun which means more sunscreen for Peyton! I must have applied 13 times yesterday (at least) and still got too much sun.

This is what we did...
Yesterday we went with a guide (Ursula) into the Dry Forest with two other Danish couples. The ride out there alone in the back of an old pickup sitting on pillows was worth the $50! We crossed rivers went over bumps and small jumps... it was enough to give Evil Knievil a rush. I have decided (and this is a broad generality, but true to the past 6 countries I have visited) people drive like maniacs in foreign countries! Especially taxi drivers. You know it´s bad when you see old ladies get into taxis and do the shoulder should forehead chest Catholic cross. Now I don´t blame them... I was doing the same thing yesterday in the back of the old pick up sitting on a pillow and holding on to the cooler. When we arrived to the village where the horseback riding began I was already windblown and battered. Ha! All the boys of the group got small mules that looked about 10 years old and the girls got stunning young large stallions. I thought that was sooooo funny. It looked like a parent trying to ride their childs tricycle! (I´m laughing right now just picturing all the boys!!!) It was Prati´s first time on horseback so they gave him the nicest and mellowest (aka oldest) ¨horse.¨ Oh that´s funny!
Anyway, we rode horseback for about an hour in the ¨dry forest.¨ I had never heard of such a thing before but it´s quite beautiful.


Side note... Prati and I like to play the ¨where in the world are we¨ game where you close your eyes (try to forget where you are at the moment) and open your eyes and guess what part of the world you are in. I thought I was in Africa. Except it wasn´t flat like I picture Africa´s landscape. But the trees had Africa writen all over them! You know what I´m talking about... the ¨umbrella¨ trees is what I call them. The tops are flat almost like a bonsai tree... but large. I love those trees. Throw in some large white crane-looking birds and you would think you were in Africa too.

We rode to an oasis. Really! The spot we hung out at for a few hours had a waterfall and two cliff jumping spots. The water was clear and the fish nibbled on your toes. Ursula made us a fresh vegetarian lunch. Priceless. We waited for some clouds to roll in and the breeze to pick up so the ride back wouldn´t be so hot. The horses get so excited to go home they all gallop... EVEN PRATI´S old mule! Back in the pickup... we rode out to the Los Pilares mud bath where we covered our bodies in some hot mud. It wasn´t anything more than a brown bubbly hole in the ground but my skin feels amazing! We took pictures with painted mustaches and unibrows. After the tour ended we showered up and went all out at El Tuno for dinner. When in Rome! (or Peru) Prati ordered a delicous almond encrusted tuna and my TNT chocolate dessert was unforgettable. Three glasses of wine later, we called it a night. But not for long... thank you open mic night!

Trujillo

Yesterday we took a collectivo into Trujillo so we could book our overnight bus to Mancora. After that was finished we had ALL DAY TO BURN! I´m talking ALL day! We were in Trujillo with our new friend Jason around 11am and our bus didn´t leave until midnight (actually left close to 2am but anyway). Sooo we walked around Trujillo for a while, grabbed some food and coffee, and decided to got out to the Chan Chan ruins which was the largest adobe colony in the world (800 year old adobe). I don´t really know the story about Chan Chan we probably should have paid the $5 for a guide and learned a little somethin´. That´s what google is for eh? After Chan Chan we said goodbye to Jason and got a taxi to A MALL!!! Wwooooo hooo! A true out door mall with real stuff in it. I didn´t buy anything but it was exciting to just be there. Prati REALLY wanted KFC so we decided we would have an "America" day. We went to the movies too, saw Angels and Demons. Then had Papa Johns pizza for dinner. That was our America day. After all that junk food (popcorn and candy at the movies too) Prati was sweating while we were playing cards. I think the American food caught up to him at papa johns!

Mancora... getting close to Ecuador

Yay! A beach with some sun! The freckles are officially OUT! (don´t worry I´m wearing sunscreen) The last beach town was fooooggy, but this one has plenty of sun to go around. So much that Prati sunburned his legs. We are now in Mancora and only a few hours away from the Ecuador border. This reminds me of what Costa Rica was many many years ago. There are some great waves here for beginner surfers. We might try that out tomorrow. Today we found our own quiet place on the beach... tossed around a tennis ball for hours, chased sand crabs (that is quite possibly one of my favorite passtimes), and played in the waves. Another great day. We are staying at a hotel right on the ocean. We had to trade in our room with huge sliding glass doors that overlooked the ocean for a crummy room with no view because the cool room didn´t lock. Safety first! Mom would be so proud. After hearing about an armed robbery that happened last night on the beach I personally don´t want to take any risks. Could be rumors, buuut....?

We are about to go find a restaurant with ceviche which will not be difficult to find. Ceviche is everywhere and we have been holding out until we were actually on the ocean so it will be fresh. There is a rediculous amount of fun stuff to do here. Horseback riding on the beach, surfing, mud baths not far from here, some hiking to a dry forest, and waterfalls. I´ll let you know what we can fit into these three days. I have to run, this mosquito bite on my foot is driving me crazy! Ciao!

One night in Huanchaco beach

I finally made it to the beach! We are in a small fishing/surf town outside of Trujillo. It´s a sleepy town which is exactly what I needed after the stomach issues. Our overnight bus was incredible. We splurged since I was feeling ill and Prat has a pinched nerve in his neck, we took the first class Cruz del Sur bus with huge leather seats that lean way back. It was niiiice! We met a guy named Jason (36 year old elementary teacher) who we shared a taxi from Trujillo to Huanchaco. He is staying at our hotel also and has been traveling for a year.

I took a 3 hour nap listening to the waves crashing right outside our hotel. After the siesta we walked WAAAY down the beach and back. It is foggy/misty/moist feeling but when you look down the beach and can´t see where it will take you it´s kinda spooky but misterious in a whimsical way. It reminds me of a Danielel Steel book cover. I took a picture of a fisherman in his undies where it´s all misty around and you can´t really see where the beach ends and the sky begins... great photo! We walked for hours. The fog finally burned off close to sunset time and the sun peeked through for about an hour just in time to light the sky on fire. It was perfect! Couples dotted the beach and lined the sea walls for as far as you could see.

So today we are going to Trujillo to try and jump on a bus to Mancora. Mancora is supposed to be a gorgeous sunny beach year round. It´s close to the Ecuador border. Today is the half way mark of the trip! It´s true... time flies when you´re having fun.

Outdoor market in Pisac

What a fuuuun day! We went to a little town in the Sacred Valley called Pisac mostly known for its big outdoor Sunday Market. We bought gifts, tried all kinds of different Peruvian fruit such as grenadilla (see above), ate vegetarian chile rellenos, corn on the cob, veggie empanadas, home made popcicles, etc. It only took 45 minutes to get there from Cuzco on the local bus. We were the only non-Peruvians on the bus. Every public bus ride we take there are people trying to sell odd products. This time a guy was selling face moisturizer and then some digestion suppliments. We were in Pisac for most of the day. I had the best time! I had been very careful about which foods to eat in Peru since EVERY person I have talked to said they got sick in Peru. I had even been brushing my teeth with bottled water. Well... I let it all hang out at the sunday market. I didn´t even care! I said ¨at least if I get sick I know where it happened...¨ And whatdoyaknow I GOT SOOOO SICK last night! I´m pretty sure I got food poisoning. I have never had it before but it was B.R.U.T.A.L. Mom´s know best! When I told my mom last night (before I got sick when we were talking on Skype) that I tried all kinds of awesome local fruits and strange foods she said ¨Peeeeyyttooon you are going to get sick.¨ Well... she was right! Dang foreign food! The weird thing is that prati didn´t get it and he ate everything I did! The only thing that I had that he didn´t have that I did was an orange juice! WHO KNOWS. I still feel a little funky but I have managed to keep down a sprite, immodium, oj, and a piece of bread. I haven´t puked since 6am so I´m doing better. I´m about to be on a bus for 10 hours, so wish me luck!!!

Jungle Trek

Get ready this is going to be a long one.

I left off in Cuzco. We booked our four day jungle trek slash downhill biking expedition and we were going to be leaving the next morning at 7am. They were true to their word and they had a driver come pick us up at our hotel early in the morning and dropped us off next to a van down town that had 9 bikes strapped to the roof. I saw the bikes and a few people with backpacks sitting on the curb... ¨I think we´re in the right spot.¨ The nine bikes were for myself, Prati, two 19 year old girls from England, one Canadian girl and her Australian boyfriend, two Peruvian men celebrating Santiago´s 50th birthday, and our Peruvian guide named Abigail. We were all there packed into this little van... with had no idea what adventure was coming and how close we would all become in four short days.

Day one

The ride out through the Sacred Valley to our downhill biking destination was so wild I had to take a motion sickness pill! Going up, down, around, and sitting in the back of the bus with little window view was a personal recipe for what I like to call ¨throwing up in a van.¨ Sweet Poncho (Peruvian man) could sense my nausea and gave me a handfull of coca leave to chew on. Must be a Peruvian trick because it worked! Or maybe it took my mind off the windy road and made me focus on not swallowing the coca leaves. We started the downhill part on the actual road which was a little sketchy because there were buses and cars on the road and no one follows the "stay on the right side of the road" rules. The views were astonishing! I'm glad we started on the road because I was able to look around and not concentrate on the bike path. Karis took a digger at the beginning and broke her handlebars. Then she took digger number two in a huge puddle below a waterfall. Poor girl! Nothing too crazy about the biking portion except that is was absolutely gorgeous... waterfalls, jungle, mountains, sunny, windy! I think the name of the little town was Santa Maria that we spent the night in. Santa Maria had the largest avocados I have ever seen... cantelope size! I bought three for 50 cents! We played soccer with all the little kids at 5:00. Girls vs. boys and we tied. At dinner the crew all got to know each other pretty well. The two peruvians didn't speak much english but with many sound effects and hand motions we all got along just fine! Except that when they asked me what I did for a work in the states I said "deseno interior." Come to find out "interior" in spanish means panties. So I have been telling everyone for the last two weeks that I work in "panty design" instead of interior design. Could be worse I guess. I think I passed out at 8:30 that night.

Day two

Our first trekking day started at 7:30am. We hiked for about 8 or 9 hours. This trek was no joke! We hiked for a portion of the Inca Trail and stopped at a teeny weeny village for lunch break. When we stopped we were absolutely ATTACKED by "sand flies." These little beasts are a light brown orange-y color and when they bite or sting you can't feel it. They seem harmless... at first. The bite mark is hardly noticable but leaves a tiny spot of blood. Tiny. And it doesn't itch. THEN two days later it turns into a hard huge red welt that itches and makes you want to go nuts. That's what attacked us on the first hiking day. I got about 30 bites and Prat got at least 90. Come to find out they only like foreign blood! Anyway, the trek was awesome and my clothes were soaked. We stopped at some hot springs for a few hours. They were the best hot springs I have ever been to. We were there past sunset so we had to take a minibus the the next town, Santa Teresa. We had dinner, mojitos, cuba libres, and pisco sours which soon lead us to the discotech. At midnight we started the celebration for Santiago's (aka Tago) 50th birthday. The dancing here is way different than in the states. Even the boys can move their hips. I was trying to teach Prati some salsa moves and how to move his hips. He made some progress, but it was pretty funny!

Day three

The second trek day. We trekked from Santa Teresa to Aguas Calientes along the train tracks and then some. Aguas Calientes is the town at the base of the Machu Picchu mountain. It's 99% tourists, but a real gem of a town. The word Aguas Calientes means hot water in spanish and we definitely did NOT get that at our hostel. But the cold shower was perfect after our hike up the Putucusi mountain. We cheated. We hiked up this mountain and saw Machu Picchu from afar the day before we were supposed to. This area is UNREAL!!!

Day four

Machu Picchu day!!! I brought three shirts for four days of trekking (dummy) and all three shirts were still soaking wet with sweat. So I had to put on an old shirt for the final day and I might have to throw that shirt away. We woke up at 4am to start the climb. We were within the first 50 people at the gates. Gates opened at 6am just in time for sunrise. This was probably one of the most beautiful places I have EVER seen! If heaven doesn't look like this I don't know why people would want to go. I'm kidding, but really, this IS beauty! Aaaah the views! The Inca's really know how to choose a home. I don't even know how to describe it but if you get a chance to come here I would HIGHLY recommend it! We hiked around all day then took the train back to Cuzco that evening. This was such a highlight and the friends we made will be friends for ever. I will never forget these four days! I don't even care if my sand fly bite marks scar...

Smells

There have been two instances already on this trip when I smelled something that completely brought me back to a specific place in my life and it´s almost as if I was there again. The first time was when I smelled my old Gucci perfume (that sounds funny and so not like me but anyway...) that I only wore when I lived in St. John five years ago. I smelled that smell and it was the craziest feeling in the world. I couldn´t stop smelling it!!! It struck a spot in my brain that made me feel like I was in St. John again (walking by the ocean in a lightweight dress with palm trees blowing and Reggae music in the background with a beer in one hand and mosquito spray in the other) BUT I was in the airport. That was the first wild smelly incident.

The second time was when I walked into our hotel in Arequipa and it smelled EXACTLY like my old middle school friend´s house (Anarupa Nanda). I haven´t been to her house in 15 years and we just recently reconnected via facebook, but I´m telling you... I walked in the room and it hit me like a ton of bricks, I WAS IN ANU´S HOUSE again. Weird, I know.

This whole smelling story has a point. I am sitting here at this computer trying to sort through the MASSIVE amount of awesome information I want to share with you guys from the last four days and all I can think about is how bad I smell. Seriously, I didn´t know I could possibly smell this bad. Maybe it´s someone else. No, it´s definitely me. I think from now on when I smell the smell of dirty socks and really bad body odor it won´t be so bad because it will take me back to my four day jungle trek to Machupicchu!!! So bring on the BO, I want to remember this place FOREVER!!!!

More awesome stories of the jungle trek to come!!!

Going to machu picchu... bless you

Yesterday we took a tour bus from Puno (Lake Titicaca) to Cuzco and made a bunch of stops along the way. We stopped at a museum, a gorgeous mountainous overlook, more huge ruins, a church, and an alpaca and guinea petting zoo. I finally got to take a picture with an alpaca. Loads of pictures actually. One little guy tried nibbling on my jacket and another guy had dreads. They have THE most adorable faces. They eat alpaca here and they eat guinea pig too.

9 hours later, we are in Cuzco. (I hope all the moms out there had a fabulous mother's day)

Today we had a biiiig day! We shopped around MANY different tour agencies to find the perfect Machu Picchu trip that suits our desires. It's hard to decide... how many nights? Camping, hostels, or both? Hiking, biking, or both? How much do we want to spend? What is included in the price? Do we want to stay in the sacred valley after the trail? Well, we figured it all out and we leave tomorrow morning at 7:30am. I won't be able to write (obviously) for a few days while we are on the trail. We opted for the Inca Jungle Trail. The first day we bus it out to some crazy city then downhill bike for four hours. Day two is a trek through the jungle and visit hot springs and waterfalls. Day three more hiking and cross the Urbamba (something like that) river in a funky cable car. Day four wake up suuuper early (3am I think) and hike UP to Machu Picchu so we can be there when the gates open at 6am for sunrise. It's going to be incredible! I actually have butterflies about it! So far we have 10 people in our group but I'm not sure if that will change. We are going in one hour to meet the guide. I'll write when I get back! Eeeek

Cuzco is a lovely city. We are staying in the San Blas area that overlooks the city. It has narrow cobblestone roads that haven't changed for centuries. It's cozy, yet a little chilly. We might stay here a few nights when we get back from the trek.

Miss you all!

Some things I have noticed

1. The homeless Peruvian dogs look both ways before they cross the street! I cannot tell you how many dogs I worry about because they are carrying bags of trash around or they look like they want to fight me for no reason, but I mostly worry about them getting hit by cars. But they DONT! Every time I see a dog go into the street he/she looks both ways before going out there. I am even nervous to cross the street! It´s amazing! They also always walk on sidewalks...
2. All women have long hair. I haven´t seen ONE woman with short hair.
3. What I like to call the ¨snack shacks¨ have the SAME exact food. They have candy bars, cheese, bread, cokes, crackers, oranges, water, and chips. That´s it!
4. No one speaks english to me. It must be my rediculously bronze skin that makes me blend in here!
5. You have to pay to use the restroom and if you don´t you better bring your own tp

I´ll just write 5 for now... I will add more later

Lake Titcaca

I´m hanging out in this internet cafe in Puno that I had to climb 3 flights of stairs to get to and I am breathing heavily and slightly light headed. I think we are somewhere between 12 to 14000 feet! My head feels funny! Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world (if I´m not mistaken). We are about to set sail, well, take a slow boat to some islands. I´ll write more about that next time.

Sangalle (The Oasis)

I left off at the Chivay bus station...

So we run in guns blazin´and there was not 6 oclock am bus! The guys who collects 10 cents to use the restroom was there already! There was one guy there serving coffee so we played cards and drank cafe y mate de coca. Prati tried his first coca leaf tea. He said it wasn´t too exciting but it was the Peruvian thing to do. The bus finally left at 730 and three hours later we arrived in Cabanconde. Not without a hassle though. Two guys at two different points on the trip boarded the bus for 20 minutes and tried to sell these ¨tourism tickets.¨ I had read about this in my travel book that you DONT have to buy these even though they tell you that you do. I think they were $15 each and they get you into 8 various travel hot spots along the canyon. We didn´t want to go to any of those spot so we didn´t want to purchase the tickets. The first guy took ¨no¨ for an answer but the second guy... wooo wee he was a tough one. He was soooo mad when we said no that he threatened to call the police and said I HAD to buy the ticket. I kept persistantly saying ¨no gracias¨and he TOOK MY PICTURE on his phone and said he was going to report me and that I couldn´t stay in Cabanaconde! That I wasn´t welcome there! I said ¨ok¨and when we got off the bus we walked away into a store to buy some water and he gave us one more plea. ¨Señora por favor.¨ After thrity minutes or so I think he realized we weren´t the dummies that he thought we were. All we knew about Cabanaconde was that there was a ¨short hike¨down to the bottom of the canyon that takes you to a Sangalle (oasis). Since we didn´t have jackets or sleeping bags we thought we would hike down two hours and back up four hours and then get a hotel in Cabanaconde. The hike down was slippery (Prati fell four times:), toe nail jamming, and knee crunching, BUT sooo worth the knee pain! We passed three crosses and couldn´t help but think if it was possible that people died hiking out of this canyon. Maybe lack of water? Slip and fall? Did we have enough water? Was there food at the oasis? We had only had a banana and some crackers before the hike. At the bottom of the canyon we finally came to the Oasis! There were four pools, a restaurant, waterfalls, fruit trees, flowers, and huts made of bamboo to sleep in with lots of blankets. Paradise! We quickly decided to spend the night! I felt a little bit like the tourists on the movie ¨The Beach¨who find a map and try to go to paradise. These guys created this mini paradise and I couldn´t help but feel like I was intruding. It only cost $3 per person to sleep there, but I highly doubt the sheets had ever been washed and I had to brush the fleas off the bed before falling asleep.

We woke up at 530am and were on the trail by 6. Multiple people told us that it would take four hours to hike up and MAYBE three if you were super fast. I´m not gonna lie I just wanted to get it over with. We decided if we limited our water/rest breaks that we could knock it out in three hours. The altitude and my backpack were working together like partners in crime trying desperately to suck my breath from my lungs and the cold air snuck in and helped out as an accomplice. I was having a difficult time breathing for sure. Not to mention my calves felt detatched from the bone from the previous days hike. We stopped for a quick break after 45 mins, then again after 40 mins, and once again after 35mins. Then ba BAM we were there in TWO hours!!! I felt like I could have done it again! I couldn´t believe my eyes when we saw the town at 8am. YESSS!

45 minutes later were were back on the bus passed out headed to Arequipa for one more night in the White City.

Ask and you shall receive

Sorry it´s been a while... we spent a few days in the Canyon and there was not internet there.

Just as I was somewhat complaining about the fact that I had not seen ONE alpaca (llama) in this country when they are supposedly all over the place... I saw a million on the way to the canyon. Herds and herds of them. When we got to our hotel in Chivay there was actually a pet alpaca living in the courtyard! Ask and you shall receive. I found out that there was once 36 breeds of alpacas in Peru and certain breeds are now domesticated. The white fluffy ones are domesticated and the orange little guys are still wild. At least that´s what the lady at the museum told us.

Chivay was the first village you can stay at on the south side of the canyon. This area is basically a series of villages and farmland set in the walls a huge-mongous canyon. BEAUTIFUL!!! It must be corn season because everywhere I looked there were kids, donkeys, and old women hauling corn back to their village. The women in these villages are decked out in the most extravagant clothing (while working in the crops). Sequins, bright colors, patterns, decorative hats, long dresses! My first thought was that we just missed a performance or maybe it there was a big festival that day. Nope, just their daily getup. I read that the women don´t like there picture taken because they believe the camera is an ¨eye that steals your soul¨... soooo I had to sneak a few photos while they weren´t looking but you HAVE to see these outfits!

We hiked about an hour or so down to some local hot springs (aguas calientes). On the way a little girl (probably 4 years old) popped out of nowhere and ran across the street to us. Scared the bejesus out of me! It was a very poor attempt to rob us... maybe even her first try. We didn´t have any valuables on us so I really didn´t mind that she was all over my pockets. They learn at a very young age! The springs were awesome, probably the only thing going on in Chivay. After about 45 minutes, the hot springs stole all my energy and sent me home. I went to bed around 9 that night and frrrrooooze! Who knew it would be so cold? When 5:30 rolled around and it was time to get up I jumped out of bed and was ready to go catch the 6:00 bus. We run to the bus station and NO ONE was there! The bus didn´t leave until 7am. Dang!

To be continued...

Going condor sighting

The bus stop in Arequipa is more like the New York City stock exchange. Everyone at the ticket counters leans over waving tickets, shouting, trying to get you to buy your bus ticket with them. It´s loud and quite exhilirating! I always get nervous before I get to a bus station because you never know what you are going to get. Some are outside, crowded, sketchy. While others are nice, quiet, and have airconditioning. Ya never know. This one is WILD. We are about to go to Chivay which is a city close to the Canyon De Colca. Should take about 3 hours which really means 4 maybe 5 hours in Peruvian time. Canyon de colca is twice as deep as our grand canyon and the home to a large condor family!!! Should be fuuuun! We are going to hike down into the canyon to spend the night.

Last night we went to THE coolest pizza restaurant I have ever been to. Uhhh. Not only was the wine flowing and the pizza delicious... it had the best ambiance. The inside was gray rock with writing all over the walls and arched ceilings, felt like a dungeon. The first piece of grafiti I noticed was the Burning Man symbol that said ¨BM06¨below it. That was my first year at burning man and there is was writen on the wall. It JUMPED OUT at me. Anyway, back to the ambiance... there were three basket looking chandeliers that looked morocan of sorts. It was a small low lit room with a wood buring pizza oven in the back corner. All of the tables were old thick wooden tables with benches instead of chairs, with colorful placemats lining the tables. I want to go back when we get back to Arequipa. We drank way too much wine and woke up this morning with purple lips.

We also went to a museum yesterday called Le Museo de Santuarios which houses a 500 year old body that was found in 1995 on the top of a snow-capped volcano in the surrounding area. They have found 12 of these bodies in Peru over the years and they are all in pretty good condition for being 500 years old... thank you ice. Anyway that was interesting and informative and creeepy at the same time. Ok, gotta catch the bus!!! Ciao

No hijackings

I don´t have a ton to report on but I wanted to let everyone know that we made it to Arequipa on the sleepless overnight bus! Phew. I sat next to a little boy who threw up all night so hopefully it was just motion sickness and not the FLU! All I can say is that I am happy to have a bed tonight. Arequipa so far is fast paced yet beautiful! They call it La Ciudad de Blanco, The White City, because all the buildings are made of off-white volcanic rock called Sillar. Sillar looks similar to how I picture the surface of the moon. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru (second to Lima) with a snow-capped active volcano towering behind the city. So now it´s time to get off the computer and go explore. Prati and I are exhausted so first things first we need some coffee in our system. We are headed to a little roof top cafe to enjoy the view and gulp some caffeine.

Dune Surfing

Well the good news about sand boarding is that you don´t even need to stand up! For the first three pitches I went flat on my tummy and held on for dear life. It´s all fun and games until you get sand in your mouth and crunch on it for the next few days. As much as i wanted to scream doing the ¨belly down face first¨ method I quickly learned my lesson to keep my mouth closed! Another thrill of the dune experience was the dune buggy ride! It was similar to a roller coaster in that after we got out of the dune buggy I thought I might vom. So much fun! We met two nice girls on our dune buggy (8 person passengers) from North Carolina who have been traveling for three months. We are taking an overnight bus to arequipa tonight and we LUCKED OUT by grabbing the last two seats on the bus! I did read that some of the overnight buses get hijacked so wish us luck on this overnight adventure! Who knew buses can be hijacked???

Overall we are already loving it here! It is always tough to get used to the hustle and bustle of traveling, lack of excellent communication, unsanitary showers, bugs, and uncomfortable beds. However I have adjusted quickly, only two days! Arequipa is supposed to be beautiful and we are definitely going to check out and hike around Canyon de Colca. It is twice as deep as our Grand Canyon and we will be looking through binocculars trying to spot the infamous condors! I read that Peru actually encompasses 84 of the 101 ecosystems of our planet! It is very diverse for such a small mass of land. My parents gave me a NICE photographers camera for Christmas and I have already put it to use. Two days... two hundred photos.... UH OH! I will have LOADS of photos to share with you all when I get back to the States!

First time in Southern Hemisphere

Well we made it! Two days later (40 hours of travel)... we were not expecting for the adventure to start in the airport. It was kindof a mess getting to Lima but hopefully this isn´t a foreshadow of the next 6 weeks in Peru and Ecuador.

Here´s what happened...
Basically I thought Prati and I were on the same flight from Dallas to Miami but I was on the 1230 flight and he departed at 330. Ooops. Completely my fault. Needless to say I missed my flight in Dallas. Prati and i didn´t want to separate because we didn´t want to be on different flights into lima. That would have been a nightmare. I could picture my email titled ¨lost in lima!¨ So he missed his flight too to stay with me and we got on a 625 flight hoping and praying that we would still make our connection in miami. We did. The miami flight was delayed until 1am and even then didn´t leave until 2. Lima´s airport closed due to massive fog so we temporarily landed in Ecuador to get gas and deboarded the plane to stretch our legs. Other passengers for different flights were rioting in the airport and my only complaint was not having a change of undies or a toothbrush. We kept our calm though... at least we had each other and plenty of literature to read. I slept most of the time. It didn´t help that I had a gang member sitting next to me. (On the first flight I sat next to a 21 year old missionary... quite the opposite of my new gang friend or should I say homie) Finally we landed in Lima at noon. My debit card isn´t working but luckily Prati´s is so we were able to get SOME cash out. I can´t get to a bank until Monday to figure out what is wrong. It will all work out though. We were attacked by the taxi hounds in the airport but since this isn´t our first rodeo we knew to escape the airport madness and find a taxi by ourselves. We took a taxi (Juan the driver was wonderful... his new nickname is Juanderful) to a bus station called Cruz del sur which is one of the first class busses with airconditioning, tv, and snacks. After 40 hours in an airport and airplane we were totally fine with splurging on a nice bus ride. My booty still hurts from sitting so much :) We bussed it to Ica then got another taxi to Huacachina which is where were are today! Huacachina is a tiny little oasis (literally) town that is famous for its ¨dune surfing.¨ We are in the desert right now surrounded by sand dunes. All of the hotels surround this lagoon that supposedly has healing powers. I touched the water today for good luck but our pool at the hotel is much more inviting and less sulfur-like smelling. Earlier this morning we hiked up to the surrounding dunes to see the view and get a little workout. At 4 oclock today we are going dune buggy-ing to the top of a huge dune then we strap on a sand board which is really just plywood with some velcro. I have been wanting to try this forever!!! I will let you know how it goes. Wish us luck! So far Peru is one of the more difficult places I have traveled. No english speakers, which is good for me to brush up on my spanish while looking like a total idiot at the same time. Everyone laughs at us but it´s all fun and games and I´m not being sensitive to it:) No one in this town has change and all we have is large bills. If you want to buy breakfast you might as well eat as much as possible and buy a bunch of bottled waters because they hardly have change for 50 soles which is less than $20. Needless to say I will be on the internet for a LONG TIME! $20 worth of internet might take a while. We are going to spend one more night in Huacachina and then take a bus to Arequipa tomorrow.