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Nick

Bonito... Or Why I Need An Underwater Camera

Next up was Bonito.  Bonito is a small town next to some of the best snorkling around.  There is crystal clear water like near the Mayan Riveria, but 10% of the people.  On the first day we went to Rio do Plata, which is 3km of river that you snorkel downstream on over a couple hours.  There were tons of fish that weren´t scared of us and it may have been the highlite of my trip so far.

Not my photo but this is what it looks like.


The water was warm because of hot springs along the length of the stream.  If you ever have the chance to come here, make a point to come here.  It´s beyond words!!

The day after we had a nice day at a regional park and hung by the river.  Next up is Iguassu Falls!

Pantanal

It´s been a while since I posted!  After our night train from Santa Cruz, we arrived at the Brazillian border.  The border opened at 8:00AM and we expected about two hours to cross.  Well it actually took 7 hours to cross!  There was the first line to leave Bolivia.  For a country that was very easy to enter, they sure wanted a lot of information on us to leave.  That took about 3 hours, then we walked to the Brazillian entry.  There was a small line and it looked like it would only be 30 mins or so, judging by the people in front of us.  Two entry agents turned into one slow agent, and the line got slower and slower.  After 90 mins or so the first person in our group of 10 finally made it to the agent.  At that time a Brazillian woman was having issues re-entering Brazil.  She had walked past the leaving Brazil line and was getting flack from the agent for not getting the leaving Bolivia stamp.  The problem was that he was devoting his full attention to arguing with her and our line stopped for at least 30 mins more.  She finally left the building and just walked into Brazil anyways.  Oh well, we had to expect things like this and we have been pretty lucky overall in terms of travel luck.

Our group pulled up to the Pantanal Lodge after a few more hours of driving.  This lodge was similar to our Amazon lodge with a central dining hall and instead of bungalos, we stayed in a dormitory with hammocks for beds.  The next morning was a drive along the road near the lodge.  In the Amazon, we saw a few cayman (alligator family) along the river.  On our drive we saw literally hundreds of cayman!  At every clearing there were dozens of them basking in the sun.  The Pantanal is the world´s largest wetland so I figure there are millions of them around.  We also saw a family of capyburas, some macaws and finally we saw toucans!  It was very tough to get a photo of them because they are skiddish, but I finally got a blurry pic from far away.  It´s on my camera so I´ll add it later in whatever method I figure on doing.

After our drive we did some piranha fishing.  In the Amazon we fed them from boats and noise was the key to capturing them.  We used a piece of fish for bait and cast the line (no reel) in a method that splashed the bait noisily then did a little mooching.  If you make noise it doesn´t take long to get a nibble but hooking them was tougher.  Over an hour or so I caught one piranha and one redfish.

That night we had a bonfire and some caiprinhas.  This is the Brazil national drink and is very tasty.  Other guests in the lodge were a french brass band and they put on a concert for us by firelight.  Definitely a highlite of the trip!

The next day we had a horse ride in the area and I think also a hike.  Come to think of it I probably have my activities all mixed up but it doesn´t matter.  We also did a horse ride and a hike.  Another bonfire, without the french brass band, plus more caiprinhas too!  The next day we drove to Bonito, for some incredible snorkling!

What would YOU do...

...with 13 hours on a bus? I'm curious who's reading this so add a comment! 

I'll let you know in about 14 hours, if we survive the boredom. 

(Random photo of a monkey from lunch. Because I can.)

Potosi and Beyond

After a brief stay in Potosi (which confirms my suspicion that I'm definitely claustrophobic in small spaces!!) we were off to Sucre, the "justice capital" of Bolivia. 

Bolivia is a...hard place to be traveling. The altitude is punishingly high, making walking up a simple flight of stairs a workout. It's notoriously hilly, and rather undiscovered by tourists so the accommodations are basic (and hot water is scarce at times). Simple things like crossing the road become a nerve wracking challenge, as cars totally disregard pedestrians (even going so far as to hit you if they think the crowd is not moving fast enough, as I found out) 

Pulling into Sucre felt like a breath of fresh air. The architecture changed from squat, brick depressing looking buildings studded with unfinished rebar, into beautiful plazas and squares straight out of Europe. I knew I was going to like it there when we spotted this on the first night. 

(It's not the greatest photo, but that would be a pair of zebras helping to direct traffic. Apparently they used to have issues between pedestrians and cars so instead of leaving the pedestrians to become speed bumps, they installed traffic guards dressed like dancing zebras to keep the peace. It was awesome!!)

Sucre was all kinds of lovely. As the altitude dropped, the weather warmed. So much so that much of our winter gear got packed away, optimistically looking forward to continued warming the closer we got to Brazil. The hotel in Sucre checked most of the boxes for essentials...a large hot shower, a half decent breakfast, and laundry! (It lost points for having crappy wifi and sludgy instant coffee for breakfast. 

But it was the only city to throw is a parade on our first day! 

We splurged and decided to go horseback riding for a day, so I got to spend 4 a day with my new buddy Arturo 

All too soon, our time in Sucre was up and it was off for a night to Santa Cruz, Bolivia's fastest growing city, close to the Brazilian border. There we met our final guide for the trip, Filipe. The next day we boarded a 17 hour train ride bound for the Bolivian/Brazilian border. (The border was a drag by the way...something that should have taken 2 hours maximum ended up taking 7 hours, exhausting and frustrating everyone.) When we finally arrived at our next destination, the Pantanal, we were very ready for hammocks and some sleep! 

Danger in the Salt Flats!

We narrowly escaped disaster in the Salt Flats! 

But we all ran as fast as we could...

Only to be confronted by another monster in the other direction! 

Thankfully we made an escape when the dino went for a nap.

The End!

Uyuni and the Salt Flats

Hello, we've been slacking on our blog posts lately. From La Paz we took a night bus to Uyuni. Uyuni is a small town of about 10000 people in the middle of nowhere.  We got in about 8 AM, took a nap in the hotel for a few hours then got in our 4X4's.  We had two Landcruiser type vehicles for our group and the first stop was the train graveyard.

We have way more photos to come, but it's this great graveyard for old steam trains just on the outside of town. You can climb all over them and do whatever you want!

No I did not construct a swing in my time there. 

After that we started our drive south. The Salar de Uyuni is the world's flattest surface with less than a metre's difference in elevation across the whole flats. It is so flat and stable that satellites calibrate their altitude with earth using its surface.  We reached them after a bit and it's what you'd expect: blinding white sand and, at this time of year, severe clear blue sky. It reminded me a lot of driving on the big lake in Yellowknife, but without any snow drifts or clear ice patches, just endless white. I wish I took a phone picture of the surface, but the surface is very solid with a hexagon pattern due to moisture and nighttime cooking. If you smashed the heel of your boot on an edge of the hexagon a few times, you may break through to a small pool a few inches below the surface. 

The famous Dakkar Race takes place in South America every other year now and a highlight is passing the salt flats.  We stopped at a monument made of salt to the race then moved on to the middle of the flats. This is the place where you can do the bizarre perspective shots because of the lack of background. Again since all the photos are on other cameras, I can't show you anything!!  We played around with perspectives using a T-Rex toy, Pringles can and a Godzilla toy. Our lack of imagination got the best of us at the end, but hopefully we got some decent pics from the stark setting.

Our first night was at a small hotel made of salt. It was in a small village at the edge of the flats. The hotel was fairly cold and the sleeping was in common rooms with no heat.

We made a friend at that hotel, a baby vaycuña.

Day 2 started with a trip to a small island in the flats. Half the year there is less than a metre of water on the flats so this island is... well isolated.

This was one of my favourite parts of the excursion as there were giant cactus littering the island.  We hiked around for an hour or so then set off for our next hotel. We left the salt flats and continued on rough dirt tracks to our next hotel.

Our next hotel was beside a lake with flamingos at the foot of a dormant volcano. Again we were the only guests and enjoyed playing cards in the dining hall before bed. Again it was dorm-style with all 5 men in one room and for some reason, the 4 women split 2 rooms!  I can't explain the logic here. 

The next day it was -15C and we set off in our 4x4. Of course there was no heat in the truck, but we had a tiger-print blanket to keep us in the back seat warm. The thermometer hit -17 as we made our way to a mushroom-shaped rock then to Laguna Colorada (Red Lake).

The red lake was another highlight.  After a couple hours of driving, we arrived at the lake.  The lake had 100s of flamingos of four different varieties.  Even though it was below minus 15, the edges of the lake were liquid because many small hot springs beside the lake kept the outsides warm.  The flamingos weren't great fliers at the high altitude, so they skimmed along the surface and made large steps on the water's surface.

After the lake we went to a small village for lunch.  Both of the days we had lunch at a small hotel in a village, but our drivers prepared the meal using food we had brought with us.  The hotels were basically like an indoor picnic.

We also visited some geysers and then returned to Uyuni for a night with pizza for dinner.

The next day we took a 4 hour bus to Potosi.  Potosi has a silver mine that was once the world's largest.  We toured a monastary and the short underground mine shafts and spent the rest of the day walking around the city's downtown.  After Potosi we drove to Sucre, which is out of the high altitude!

Where Have We Been Lately pt 2: What I Don't Remember About Puno to La Paz

The trip to visit 3 of the islands on Lake Titicaca, and the homestay in Luquina Chico was amazing...

Not just because of our awesome new wardrobes and sweet sweet new dance moves. (The video sucks...best to ask Nick for a live demonstration sometime) Getting to see a tiny slice of how they live and experience their unique culture is the whole reason I travel. 

Though I could have done without the violent stomach bug I picked up from our lunch of boiled potatoes and fried cheese. (fun fact: Peruvians subsist entirely on carbs and Alpaca!) 

Shortly after returning to Puno I was down for the count. Nick was my hero, fetching water and electrolytes, Tylenol for my fever and gravel for my protesting stomach. He even helped repack my bag when I had no strength, and carried both packs through 10 of the most hellish hours of travel I've ever had. Whatever God I pissed off really paid me back by stacking the day with 10 hours of bus-walk-border crossing-bus-different bus - boat- bus, all while I tried desperately to hold down water, turning green at any mention of food of any kind. 

Apparently the scenery between Puno and La Paz is mountainous and beautiful? It certainly was hilly and windy, which really didn't help my condition. We were on a lot of busses I remember. And for some reason we all got off the bus and onto a small ferry that smelled harshly of marine gas? (Again, not helping my stomach) then a succession of more busses and windy roads, getting progressively more bumpy and erratic. I nearly cried with relief when we finally pulled up down the block from our hotel, losing my sweater on the bus but keeping my lunch. I immediately crawled into bed and didn't move. To add extra insult to the journey, Nick ended up coming down with a stomach bug of his own once we arrived, so we barely moved for 24 hours. Until this morning, the only photo I had of La Paz was this...

...the...less than stunning view from our room. The rest of today was a bit more exciting (seeing as we can both finally keep lunch down) as we explored the city before we board the 12 hour night bus tonight to Uyuni. Wish us luck! 

Where have we been lately!!? Pt 1

Just a quick update on our last few days. I wrote so many postcards that I forgot to do a blog post!

5 nights ago we arrived in Puno, which is the largest Peruvian city on Lake Titicaca.  The lake doesn't look like much from Puno because it's in a large bay and the bay is filled with an algae bloom.  Puno is about 120000 people and has a neat pedestrian street in the city centre where all the tourism is concentrated.  We spent the night there and at the local market. The night after we were staying with a family in a village along the lake, so we bought gifts for our family. This isn't a gift like a cake for desert and a bottle of wine, we bought staples that they can't get in their village such as onions, carrots, cooking oil etc. plus we bought some healthy snacks and toys for any kids that were in our family.

The next day we took a boat to the floating islands of Uros.  People have been living on these islands made of reeds for over 600 years and they still authentically live there (not for tourist's spectacle). They anchored their islands next to an underwater canyon that funnels fish into it so they have ample fishing opportunities. Surprisingly, the main fish is rainbow trout, seeded from Canada many years ago.

Next up was Taquille Island, which was a couple hour boat ride away. This island is a couple kilometres across, with large hills and a climate like the Okanagan. There are no vehicles on the island and all the citizens dress like 16th century Spaniards. We had a nice lunch with an incredible view of the Lake (clear and not algae covered here) and the Andes on the east side of the lake.

Next was a boat ride to a small village on a peninsula about 40 mins away. We played soccer with local kids and lost 6-5. Then after we saw a local dance and then we had to perform the local dance in full dress

We weren't laughed off the island so I guess we did okay.  Next was meeting our local family and dinner. Our new mama was a nice woman who had 3 kids, 2 in university and one age 14. There was a huge language barrier so after a nice dinner and sharing pictures of Indie we were off to bed super early.  We had our own room with two single beds and a bathroom.

The next day we had breakfast and helped with chores such as taking the sheep to pasture and then we harvested some quinoa. To harvest quinoa we took the dried stalks and beat them with a stick over a tarp. That shook some of the small grains out. This was very tough work and took a toll on our backs as we were doing all this on the ground.

After lunch we said 'see you later' to our new mama and headed back to Puno. After we got to our hotel Jody started feeling very sick.  There were 3 others in our tour who were sick too.

I had dinner with our smaller group at a show restaurant. They had a local band and dancers.  The band was a mix of panflutes and Jethro Tull

It was more entertaining than it looks!

Part 2 I'll talk about our voyage the next day.

Bolivia Next

We are taking the bus all day from Puno to La Paz. I'll post about our island hopping from the road.

A Small Piece of Amazon

The morning after we finished Inca Trail, we were off for our jungle stay at the G Adventure Lodge. We flew about 40 mins northeast of Cusco, then by bus for an hour and then another two and a half hours upstream to get to the lodge. The boat was fibreglass and held about 20 passengers. We stopped frequently when we saw unique wildlife. On the first boat ride alone we saw a cayman, many monkeys, macaws, turtles, vultures, and a capybara.

The lodge is nice, with a central building, and about 20 two-bedroom bungalows. The rooms had a private bathroom and the central porch had a table and chairs plus the all-important hammock.  The only electricity is from a generator to the central building from 5-10PM. The rooms had candles instead of lights.

After the first dinner, we saw a presentation in the theatre and went on a nighttime bug walk. We say many plants and spiders.  After it was off to the bar to meet some fellow guests. The majority of the other guests were from Edmonton and Okotoks.

The next morning was our trip to the oxbow lake. We took the boat upstream for 15 minutes or so to the trailhead. On the boat ride was saw a family of capyburas eating clay on the riverbank. Their grass diet filled with tannins is toxic so they need to eat clay to neutralize their stomachs. The world's largest rodent is an excellent swimmer and can stay underwater for 5 minutes.

Our Peruvian trail expertise now includes Amazonian mud.  Even though it's the 'dry' season, it still rains a lot and the trails were mostly mud. Luckily we used the lodge gumboots for the 2 hour trail hike. We saw many more plants and even a couple tarantulas (sorry no pics on my phone).  Our guide used a twig with a small leaf on the end plus some spit to coax the spiders out of their holes. They were easily the size of my hand, but I didn't bother putting my hand next to it for comparison.

Once we reached the lake we boarded a large canoe and paddled around looking for cayman, giant river otters, and anacondas. We saw none of them but saw this prehistoric bird. Sorry I forget the name and the picture is on my camera. I know real helpful right?

On the other side of the lake we took a short walk to see a couple fine examples of Amazon tree life. Again a forget the names, but one was a parasitic tree that wrapped around an established tree and slowly strangled it and then it grows in the old trees place once the old tree dies. They often have hollow trunks for the lower part and I was able to crawl inside the tree to have a look around.

Another thing with the Amazon basin is that all of the nutrient soil is in the top 50cm and is made up of decaying biomass. Under that is infertile clay.  When farmers clear a section of rainforest they quickly use up the nutrients, and with no new decaying plants, they only get a few growing seasons out of the soil. Next up is cattle grazing for a little bit. But with the nutrients gone and the canopy missing to protect the surface from the equatorial sun, it becomes a desert after 10 years or so and the Amazon ecosystem is gone for generations in that area. And that's saying nothing of the destruction of animal habitats and loss of unique biodiversity!

I bring up the shallow soil because all tree roots grow outwards from just above the surface and twist their way along the jungle floor. The next big tree we saw was 400 years old and had roots spreading everywhere!  It would've taken about 30 people to hold hands and encircle the tree.

We also saw a tree that walks!  A walking palm can move 25cm in a year as new roots that are above the surface grow further along and drag the palm towards precious light.  Light for plants is very precious. Trees will grow straight up and only when they reach the canopy above and sunlight will they branch out to take their piece of the hot sun.

After returning to the rowboat, we fed some piranhas.  It's not quite like the movies, but we threw crackers in the water and dozens of them would instantly eat them. It was quite a sight to see. Not like a feeding frenzy, but the crackers were gone quickly.

We spent the afternoon after chillaxing and went on a cayman-hunting boat ride at night.  Thanks to our guide Hugo, we saw a small white cayman. It was about 6 feet long (part of the alligator family) and still a youth. They can grow to about 18 feet long.  We also saw a very rare dwarf cayman. It was only about 3 feet long but had crazy reptilian skin with lots of spikes and dark scales.

The next day it was a boat ride to Porto Maldonado to fly back to Cusco. We had an excellent lunch at Cafe Morena and a not-so excellent dinner at Papachos (but great company with friends from the tour).  I highly recommend Cusco as a place to visit and once you get over the possible altitude sickness (11000' above sea level) you will be rewarded with a fine city!

We are currently on an 8-hour bus ride to Puno where we will spend a few days on the Peru side of Lake Titicaca and will do a home-stay on a floating island with a family that actually lives that way. We will test out our soccer and enjoy the last few days in this amazing country!

This is part of the Andean Plain, and would not be out of place in Alberta or the interior of BC. The camera doesn't show that we are at 13000' above sea level.

Inca Trail Day 2, 3 and 4: or, What I Imagine Childbirth to be Like

Oh boy...this is going to be a long post...

With all the reading I had done ahead of the trip, they all warn that day 2 is the hardest. There's 1400m of elevation gained over 6 hours of steep grueling uphill climbs and ancient stone staircases that never seem to end, followed by 2 hours of equally steep  and far more treacherous downhill. Day 3 is always described as 'beautiful' or 'incredible', with "no real elevation challenges" which I translated into being a fairly easy day. (HA!) Day 4 almost isn't ever mentioned as it's when you finally get your payoff for all the hard work you've put in. Put together it sounds intimidating but beautiful and I figured how bad can it really be? We had studied the elevation tables and knew it would be the toughest hike we'd ever done, but it still looked like something we could conquer, so I felt ready to take it on.

We started day 2 at camp 1...a quiet hillside camp where we were the only ones around. There was running water and a real flush toilet (western style, which we would soon realize was a huge luxury) and though tired from a lack of real sleep, we were eager to get day 2 over with. 

(See? This is what happens when you don't sleep...you go a little loopy)

Day 2 started out with a steep uphill switchback, snaking it's way past the last of the little farming villages along the trail. (And making for some interesting donkey-dodging to stay out of their way) Soon dirt path have way to rockier gravel, then eventually the dreaded steps. For miles on end the steps stretched, a seemingly never-ending stair master. After watching the porters for a bit I soon realized the was often one point on the steps that was slightly lower than the rest of the stones, sometimes forcing you to snake back and forth across the roughly 4 foot wide path. 

 The terrain is so steep and unforgiving that they don't arrange lunch for you...there's just nowhere flat to set it up.  The ultimate goal for the day is to make it over dead woman's pass (so named because from the other side it apparently looks like a woman lying down? I couldn't see it and I was far too exhausted to spend much time trying to decipher it.) To say the pass was a challenge is a massive understatement!!!! It got so steep and monotonous towards the top that I had to force myself to take 50 steps, then I could stop for a break. It literally went on for hours like that. Between the physical exertion and the high altitude (4215 m), every step was work. But there's no going backwards, so I had no choice but to keep going. I don't have a photo to show you of me actually making it to the top, I was honestly too drained to lift my arms at that point, but here's a look at how Nick felt when we finally made it down to camp 2. 

It started to rain just as we made it to camp 2, so there was just enough time for a quick baby wipe bath and a change into clean dry clothes, then it was tea time, with crackers, popcorn, and 2 hours of playing cards with the rest of our group before dinner and time for bed. 

After another night of not much sleep (too sore and cold to sleep well, despite the 4 layers I had on) we broke camp at 6:30am, heartened at least by the fact that the hardest day was over and it was all beautiful downhills from there...

Only it wasn't.

Day 3 is definitely the most beautiful of the days, that's for sure. There's a stretch of an hour or two where you hug the edge of a cliff face as you weave through what's known as the cloud forest. (Basically a treetop view of the jungle. My lack of a proper description really doesn't do it justice.)  The other 10 hours of hiking are largely spent trying not to fall off steep, narrow steps, often perched over a sheer cliff face (just for added challenge) If not for the rented hiking poles, I'm positive I would have died multiple times over. As physically stressful as day 2 was, day 3 was equally mentally challenging. 

When we first started our tour in Lima, our main guide informed us that there had been a recent landslide at campsite 3, so everyone was being ordered off the trail at the last checkpoint to the town of Agua Calientes, to be bussed up to Machu Picchu in the morning with the rest of the tourists.

That's Agua Calientes wayyy down below. We would have had to hike out at this point of the original plan.

Shortly after starting our actual trek, our trail guide informed us that we would now be camping at the last checkpoint before the landslide, but it meant hitting the trail at 2am on day 4 and passing through some particularly treacherous and steep terrain in order to make it for sunrise to the sun gate. But then by some miracle one of our porters was able to pull strings and find out that there was one small campsite unaffected at camp 3, meaning only a 2 hour hike on the final day, in terrain much less dangerous to do in the dark. 

The porters woke us at 4am, without our spoiled luxury of a cup of hot coca leaf tea in bed. (All the kitchen gear having been packed the night before in preparation for a quick early exit in the morning.) After descending so many stairs the day before, it was nice to start the day at a lower (and warmer) altitude, so after an hour in line waiting for our final checkpoint to open, we were off! 

(No photo here...it was nearly pitch black) 

The "2 hours of flat and downhill" that we were told to expect was more like "2+ hours of uphill and broken, jagged rocks that had to be carefully picked over". It was an interesting hike though, as many people were hiking in closer lines than the rest of the trail. There are 200 hikers that start the trail every day (and 300 support staff) so by the end you get familliar with some of the people you've hiked with. (or passed, or been passed by...repeatedly) Everyone's pretty festive and excited to finally get to the prize that we'd been spending so much energy to see. Even the Gringo Killer (52 extremely steep, narrow steps going up) wasn't going to wreck our mood!

And then you're there...the sun gate!

I'm delirious with exhaustion and relief!

Only it's another 45 minutes of even more jagged, broken stones before you can actually get to the real Machu Picchu site. But when you get there, the pain and exhaustion fade away, replaced by the excitement of seeing such an iconic relic in real life. (Kind of how I imagine childbirth to be like? And also deserving of a quick celebration beer too?) 

All and all, it was grueling, painful, exhausting and awe inspiring. I don't feel the need to do it again any time soon, but I'm very very glad to have done it! Especially with this goofball beside me! 

Off To The Jungle

Sorry for the lack of updates. Inca Trail was very tough, but very rewarding. We are off to the Peruvian Amazon for a couple nights. Updates when we get back.

Inca Trail Day 1

We started our hike and quickly learned about the term "Andean Flat."  It is essentially a trail with lots of ups and downs but net elevation change of zero.

Our lunch was impressive. In a tent, we were served hot soup with garlic bread and trout ceviche. We were all stuffed afterwards!

The trail on day 1 doubles as a road to a small town and we pass locals with horses or donkeys. All are friendly and are quick to offer a friendly ¡hola!

We have porters, a guide, and a chef, which are compulsory. We saw them at the started with us today, they ran off in front, met us with a fully assembled lunch tent and latrine tent. They disassembled and ran off to the first camp!

We must be a fast group because just over an hour later (all uphill) we arrived at our camp. It's a small site with terraces above a small village.  Our tents were set up when we got here and tea was served at 5.

Day 8 - Cocoa Leaves

We are on the bus up to Chivay and the Colca Valley. Arrequipa is about 6000 feet above sea level where we started today. Our road trip today takes us up over 15000 feet at the pass and takes 5 hours for 150km.   We tried cocoa leaves today which contains caffeine and battles altitude sickness. To take you take 10 leaves, rip the stems off and wrap it like a cigarette in a small piece of ash stone. The stone is baked from quinoa and has a slight sweet taste. It serves as a sweetener and a catalyst for the leaves. You then place on one side of your teeth and chew to crush the stone.

The leaves themselves are bitter and most people found it bitter. I think due to my like of bitter, hoppy bears I've. l built  up a tolerance to bitter tastes and found it slightly sweet with a slight chocolate taste. So you chew it for a while and swallow the juices for about 25 mins. I didn't mind it and felt numb on whatever side it was on.

Out of the three weird things I've eaten today and yesterday (frog smoothie, a whole guinea pig and this), I vastly prefer the leaves!

Things I've learned in Arequipa

- the overnight bus is mean for people at least a foot shorter than either of us. 

- it's a really bad idea to store your sunscreen in the lid of your backpack. Really bad. 

- "dried aborted llama fetus" is not a sentence I ever expected to say (nor take a photo of!)

- 500 year old frozen preserved mummies of Incan sacrifices are the stuff of nightmares. 

- 21 soles for a 6 pack of beer (tall boys!) is a pretty good deal! (Comes out to about $8)

- enjoying those beers from our private rooftop hut overlooking the city is a pretty great way to end the day! 

Nazca Lines

Today we got up early and drove out into the desert to a small airfield so we could take small 5-person planes to view the nasca lines from above. It wasn't for anyone with a queesy stomach! Most of my photos are on my big camera, but here's proof we were there! 

Currently in: Nazca, Peru

Happy about: tonight we take a night bus to Arequipa and we finally escape the Atacama desert after over a week here. I'm very much looking forward to somewhere much cooler! 

Day 6 - Pisco and Oasis

We started the morning in Paracas, a small resort town about five hours south of Lima. First thing we took a boat tour to the Ballesteras Islands which is a microclimate where two ocean currents meet. These 3 rocky islands were filled with 10's of thousands of birds, including the Humboldt penguin, blue footed bookie and many other varieties. 

Next up was a Pisco winery where they make wine and pisco (like a brandy). Many piscos were consumed and purchased for later!

Afterwards we went to an oasis in the desert. Some people went 4X4ing on the dunes, but we took it easy since we have 3 days of it coming up in Bolivia.

Afterwards we took a 2.5 hour bus ride to Nasca for our flight over the lines tomorrow. The land is changing from the edge of a desert near the ocean to large dry hills, a lot like near Palm Springs. Valleys are irrigated and fertile. However many people live in metal shacks or simple cinder block homes wth plain exteriors.

Part of grape press at the pisco winery

Day 4

Yesterday was a tough day. 

The day started out well enough. We got up early enough and made it downtown. We managed to find an interesting old church with catacomb tours and even made some friends! We ran into a bit of trouble trying to find lunch, but it was a $30 mistake we won't make again so lesson learned. 

After leaving downtown we decided to stop into the hostel for a moment before going out, where we had an urgent message from my parents. Within minutes of responding to them they sent us a video chat to say my dog of 10 years had passed away. Otherwise healthy, it looks like he caught pneumonia over the weekend, and pugs are notoriously bad with breathing difficulties. They took him to my vet, who recommended he be rushed to the animal hospital immediately. The vets there were waiting for him and took him in immediately but there wasn't much they could do besides making him comfortable. When I first got him I accepted this as a possibility, its just never easy when it's actually time to say goodbye (especially not being there to say goodbye in person). He was so important to me, such a huge part of my life, it's hard to imagine not seeing him when I get back. 

One of the last photos I took of him before we left. 

But the show goes on right? 

Today we took a 10km walk to go eat lunch at a fantastic vegetarian restaurant that we found in the bohemian district. Then we headed back to the hostel, moved the bags to the hotel, then tested a bit before doing another 4k walk along the waterfront again. (We bought fitbits just before we left, they're definitely putting them to good use!) 

Tonight we meet our tour group and get started on the official structured part of the vacation! Time for more adventure! 

Currently in: Lima, day 4. 

Last photo on my phone:  Playing crib in the hostel last night, thanks to our great travel crib board from Jordan and Crista!

Day 3 Downtown

We are getting better with taxis and negotiating prices.  We took a taxi to central Lima this morning. It happened to be a Yaris like I drive. I told the driver that I drive one too, "you must push it a lot," he remarked.

We walked around Central Lima for the morning and early afternoon. There were lots of administrative buildings and the usual tourist traps. I bought some postcards that would originally cost 30 Sols but got him down to 5 (around $2.00). We visited the Church of St Francis and the catacombs below. Below were tens of thousands of femur bones and many skulls too. Oddly enough that made us hungry.

The last few days we have had very nice but expensive lunches. We were looking for a simple meal. But a vegetarian meal is tough to find with fixed menus at lunch.    We got talking to this Bolivian dude what took us to a restaurant. We sat down and lots of Spanish was said. Luckily we knew this was some sort of scam so we said No Almuerzo a bunch so they never made us lunch. Our drinks ended up costing 60 Sols which was a total ripoff. We argued a bunch then left, off in search of food and stuff. 

We caught a sweet cab back to Miraflores (same Daewoo below).

Nice lunch/dinner at Cafe Cafe. Our total food and drinks was less than the scam restaurant downtown!

Tomorrow we move to the start hotel of our tour. The tour starts tomorrow but we leave Lima Sunday for the coast.