Flight of the Condors....

Having arrived in Arequipa we first put all our clothes into the hotel Laundry, not the best decision when one hour later we decided to book into a two day trek in the Colca Canyon. Another purchase of clothes was necessary to ensure we were equipped for another high altitude trek.

The Colca Canyon is world famous for its condor population. Every morning as the sun comes up they ride the thermals out of the canyon and go in search for food. This gives humans an amazing sight as the condors fly past as close as 10 metres from the canyon edge. We got up at 3am so we could be at Cruz Del Condor the best viewing spot in the canyon. The condors were fantastic but the cynic in me couldn`t help but feel that it wasn`t entirely natural!

We then proceeded to trek for 7 hours from the canyon edge down to an Oasis at the bottom. This gave me my first opportunity to try Coca leaves, a local remedy to cure hunger, thirst, exhaustion and pretty much anything else! With a Coca inspired spring in our steps we managed to drag ourselves into a mini Eden with palm trees, swimming pools and a very welcome beer. Seeing as though there was no electricity we were quickly to bed once the sun had gone down.

A 5am start to climb the Canyon was not appreciated but making it up the majority of the way before the sun came up was necessary. It took us just under 3 hours, a bit depressing to get overtaken regularly by all the children on their way to school. The rest of the day was spent visiting the local thermal springs although I have to admit I appreciated the all you can eat buffet more!

Our training for The Inca trail is going well, high altitude trekking is now becoming easier as we get wise to the necessary preparations, early to bed and no booze! The Colca Canyon was a beautiful place and we both really enjoyed it.

Muggings: zero South Americas: I can`t count that high!

Doing Lines in South America...

So our first few days in Peru were a little less than welcoming. We made it over the border without any hassles... but arrived into Piura a little too late to catch the overnight bus to Lima so had to spend the night there. The next day we wandered around a town that has only 4 streets while we waited for our bus. The local museum seemed like a good way to kill time so we managed to get ourselves a one hour guided tour entirely in Spanish... I still don't think our guide had any idea we couldn't understand a thing she was saying! Anyway, we got onto our first night bus (equipped with fully reclining seats) and 18 hours later we were in Lima. Now the original plan was to skip Lima, change buses and continuing heading south... that plan got ditched the minute we realized that our bags hadn't caught the same bus to Lima and were actually still in Piura. I can't speak Spanish, but I'm pretty sure the dirty look I gave to bus operators could be easily translated! So since we had to spend the night, we decided to do it right and headed straight for the beach at Miraflores, one of the swankier neighbourhoods in town. A quick stop at the equivalent of the dollar/pound store for tshirts and pants, and a few pisco sours later, everything seemed to be back on track.

The following day we headed down south to Huacachina, a small oasis in the middle of the desert. The day after arriving we decided to go out for some dune-buggying and to test our skills at sandboarding. Needless to say we both made it down the dunes at rocket speed, throwing in a few twists and turns, and absolutely without any spills. (I think I'm still picking the sand out of my ears!)

After Huacachina, we headed off to Nasca to see the Nasca lines, ancient drawings in the sand. There best seen by air, so we took a 30 minute flight in a very small and bumpy plane. The lines were extremely impressive, however, the true highlight might have been the pilot blaring "Dangerzone" over the speakers as we were taking off!

Next stop was Arequipa to see the Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world...

A whale of a time!

So our few days in Puerto Lopez were brilliant fun, after sleeping through an earthquake, we spent our first day on a trip to the Isla de la Plata which is a poor mans Galapagos. We left harbour for a spot of whale watching. Sure enough after 20 minutes we came across a mother humpback and her calf calmly swimming along. After a couple of minutes of watching this beautiful sight two males came and started courting the female. This involved the males showing the female how powerful they were by flying out of the water at serious speed and crashing down next to the boat. The whales were about 15meters long at least so it was quite unnerving when they were crashing down next to our flimsy boat!
It was with out a doubt one of the greatest things we have ever seen. Maura even got a couple of good snaps (including a great one of the back of my head - sharp hair cut)

Isla De la Plata was very interesting, rich in bird life, we saw hundreds of blue footed boobies, albatrosses and red breasted frigate birds, we also managed to spot a turtle or two. There were also tons of manta rays swimming around the island. After a small lunch we did a spot of snorkelling off our boat which was great with good views of angel fish and other colourful fishes.

The next day we hired bikes and spent the morning exploring Machalilla National Park (and fixing said bikes) including some beautiful beaches and look out points. Both of us then proceeded to get a case of the South Americas and were bed ridden for the next while!

It was then gently off to the city of Cuenca, a quaint town in the south of Equador. With colonial buildings and interesting churches it was a relaxing change from the beach. Two days there was plenty as it only took us two hours to walk every street! Cold water showers and a rock hard bed were not appreciated by our fair weather traveller (me!)

Next stop Pisco in Peru once we have completed our 20 hours of bus rides. It should be a good one!

Tally: Muggings: Zero (but one hooters hat lost) "South Americas": two

The adventure continues but first my take on buses!

So far our experience of buses has been mixed to say the least - there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to what goes on with the transport network. We decided to be different from what the guidebook suggested which was interesting to say the least. Our first journey was delayed as it became apparent that they hadn't completed the road we were meant to be travelling on - an enjoyable six hours was spent as they literally lifted rocks and dirt from in front of our bus!
Two tired and weary passengers then arrived at queveda to get on our next bus, fortunately they had a mechanic on board as the bus proceeded to break down every 20 minutes, never a good time especially when one of us had a bad case of "the south americas" .

Last night we decided to cross the border confident that we would arrive in the border town of Piura (Peru) to be able to get a night bus to Lima - we are still here, stuck as the Peruvians have never heard of such a thing as a timetable. They only go when there is sufficient demand and apparently two Gringos was not enough to interest them last night!

Week 1

So we´re off to a great start.. Had a couple very nice days in Quito wandering around the Old Town and taking a cable car up to one of the mountains overlooking the city and generally just trying to acclimatise to the altitude. We headed down south of Quito to a small city called Latacunga on Friday which we used as our base for a couple of day trips to Cotopaxi and Lake Quilatoa.

Cotopaxi is one of Equador´s most impressive volcanos and reaches about 6,100 meters high. Our trip started on Saturday with a drive through the national park, at which point Cotopaxi was totally covered in clouds... but by the time we parked the car and got our gear the clouds had lifted and the views were fantastic. The hike up to the climbers refuge was shall we say, less than fantastic. Walking up 300 meters at 4,500 meter altitiude is tougher than it sounds! Tim practically sprinted it of course knowing that lunch was waiting for him at the top! After eating, Tim and I continued up the mountain to reach 5,000 meters and where the glacier began. The view alone made the complete lack of oxygen and dizzy spells all worthwhile! Then it was down the hill to a very pretty lake and a bit of a hike before heading home.

The next day it was off to Lake Qiulotoa which is a massive volcanic lake about 3,500 meters high and surrounded by mountains - the sight of it was breathtaking. Tim and I had hired a guide for the day in order to drive us there and take us on a hike through the mountain paths that run along the edge of the lake. Apprently he wasn´t as keen as we were and dumped us with a local 10 year old boy who had the unfortunate task of trekking with us for 5 hours. Luckily for us he was really friendly and equally up for a sit down and a couple of sweets every 20 minutes or so! Although the trek was great fun... I´m now starting to have a few doubts about how well we´ll fare on the Inca Trail which is supposed to last 5 days, yikes! The drive to Quilotoa, through the Andean highlands, is considered one of the highlights of Ecuador.

Yesterday it was off to the coast which meant two bus journeys each about 6 or so hours long... mostly on winding dirt mountain roads. The first bus was delayed at some point in the mountains as apparently they were still building the road in front of us. And the second bus broke down about every half hour! But we made it to Manta, a fishing town on the coast, where we had a very interesting breakfast of fried fish eggs and bananas this morning.

Got on another bus after breakfast and are now in a small beachtown called Puerto Lopez. Tomorrow it´s off whale watching off of Isla la Puerta, and then to see more wildlife in Manchalilla National Park. But for the rest of the afternoon, I think it might be hammocks and cervesas for us!

Passport

The passport still hasn't arrived and we are getting very nervous - this trip could be very short and sweet!