From the Galapagos we flew to Guayaquil. All I can remember was trying to get pizza and getting lasagne, and running from 3 rather scary girls who were animatedly arguing about who got the f**k me first... clearly Ecuadorian girls have little dignity and by the looks of it a growing collection of STIs.
We are currently in Cusco, south easten Peru, and it has taken us 54 coxis breaking, cramp inducing hours where my mind has wandered in enough circles to make me permanently dizzy. After seeing pale yellow liquid dripping from the walls and ceiling of the toliet on the first bus my bladder has now stretched to twice its normal capacity in a strong resolve to never enter the `shower of shite` cubicle.
En route to Cusco we stopped for 3 days in the Cordillera Blanca; a mountain range like the Alps but on steroids. The first day we took in the breath taking views whilst precariously balanced on two trembling horses. Unfortunately Seesaw (couldn`t remember his real name but it sounds something Peruvianily similar) was no Shadowfax but even so he still left me walking like I`d had a testicular taution. The next day we hired mountain bikes and at set of a 6 in the morning to take on Hurascuran, Peru`s highest mountain. In the snow you`re not supposed to wear shorts so naturally after 2 mintues I could have had a baby with an affinity for chewing, bite my fingers and not feel a thing. With my fingers in this state I had as much precision changing Kirst`s flat tire as a blind man pointing towards where his guide dog had run off to. Foolishly we sped past some cows, one of which kicked out and started running parallel to our bikes. Watching the lumbering cow and not the road unsurprisingly I hit a rock, twisted the handlebars and came to a sudden stop by embedding the crackshaft into my calf muscle. Life could have been worse, as was the case for Kirst, who swerved to miss me and toppled head long into the ground. Bummer! Apprently the cow was going to kill her so I guess we were lucky that she got away with ripped trousers, a bit of blood loss and the subsequent `one to tell the grandkids about` sized bruise. Biking the rest of the way it felt like we were inside a tumble drier and by the end I was shaken enough to be declared broken.
On a slightly less active day enforced by the cancellation of our planned ice climbing we caught some rays (ie. slight burnt ourselves) and tried to do some running. However, at 3500m its like taking a bottle of shaken coke and breathing in the pure CO2 given off from the bubbles and my lungs collapsed... as did I to the amusment of the traditonally dressed Peruvian women. Not really wanting to leave we caught the night bus to Cusco.
We booked ourselves onto a 3 day rafting expedtion on the Apurimac River; a 50km canyon section with the sun on our backs and condors catching the thermals above us. At times the rafting was like putting your head in a washing machine until you couldn`t breath and then being spun so fast you didn`t know up from down. The grade 4 and 5 rapids almost compared to the Mighty Zambezi and given the oars for some of the small rapids naturally we immediately smashed into the only rock, but the company of half of Isreal made the whole experience so relaxed. In the evening in complete serenity we lounged in hammocks, swam with the guides, drank and in an annual ritual to mother earth chewed the leaves that Columbians make into cocaine. Finally at the end of the trip we soared from the bridge swing and plummeted into the river from nearly 20 metres up that puts Devils Bridge to shame. BOOM!
Tomorrow we are starting a 4 day Inca jungle trek that finishes at the infamous Machu Picchu, before starting to make our way back to Lima and ultimately home.
Friday, 12 August 2011
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
South America: Stage 3 - BANOS and THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
The first day we got to Banos, less than 5 minutes after we arrived Kirst was already tugging my sleeve leading us towards the nearest massage parlour. After the 8000 calorie-a-day climbs I guess we deserevd some relaxation. However my toes curled in agony, muscles set like concrete for 25 minutes where I seriously contemplated over powering the tiny massouse to stop her from pulling every muscle fibre and twangging it like a guitar string. Twingy foot syndrome was paramount...but apparently Kirst enjoyed herself. To the hot springs for some real relaxing - except like a thoushand squirming eels the pool was 95% Ecuadorians, 4% water and 1% bemused (and feeling very white) English. Humph!
The next day we hired mountain bikes to ride the ´Ruta de las Cascadas´ which turned into extreme showering as we stood beneath Palion del Diablo waterfall. This was the unstoppable force and unfortunately we were the very moveable objects. It was like having the majority of Lake Windermere refreshingly funelled into our faces. Later we stumbled upon yet another Jorge, an eccentric man who a few days previously had fallen off a cliff and feeling reckless ourselves we decided to try puenting (Ecuadorian bungee jumping). You need more balls than a Chinese ping pong tournament to throw yourself from the 150ft high bridge, and when the harness catches you, said balls become more thna a little tender. I am fairly sure that my internal organs fused together during this process forming a reddish gloop with the texture of a liquified jelly fish...still no problem eating dinner though!
On returning to Quito we quickly visited the Mitad del Mundo (centre of the world) so we could touristically be bisected by the Equator. Then following the big Charles D we headed to the Galapagos Islands, with the expense big enough to blow our wallets into smaller particles than found in the Large Hadron Collider.
We spent 5 days cruising the archipeligo on a 45ft catamaran living the life of royalty under the burning sun and snorkelling with an abundance of marine life in the turquoise sea. Our blood pressure increased as we swam with white tip reef sharks, mouths filled with water from smiling at the group of penguins darting past and we encountered complete serenity with 8 awe-inspiring eagle rays. But by far the most fun was had with the high on sugar sea lions who tugged on your flippers and appeared 2 inches from your nose show boating upside down. Our guide Edwin showed us (with more enthusiasm than I thought possible from one person) the fascinating volcanic formations, ridiculously tame birdlife and the GIANT tortoises. These magnificent creatures live their life at a speed which can be comfortably overtaken by the 7cm per year movement of the Galapagos Islands themselves - or they have smoked enough marijuana to last for 150 years.
We were joined on our boat by:
- Sagi and Goldman ( 2 wannabe Maverick Israeli fighter pilots)
- Zac (American medical student with flopsy enough hair to match Zac Efron)
- Sylvina (Swiss student who forgot her Tissot watch and missed her flight)
- Patrick (the only person I know to have escaped from Lichenstein)
- Antonio (Spaniard who gets his kicks from impersonating sea lions!)
If any of you read this then thank you for making our time on board so enjoyable. I think I would rather papershred my own fingers than spend a week on board a boat with a bunch on morons. so we were very lucky to have such great companions and guide. On our last day it was Kirst´s 18th birthday, so naturally we were travelling and she received only one very practical present (hair bobbles)...thanks Mum!!!
After one night in Guayaquil we are now going to head to Peru in search of Paddington Bear.
The next day we hired mountain bikes to ride the ´Ruta de las Cascadas´ which turned into extreme showering as we stood beneath Palion del Diablo waterfall. This was the unstoppable force and unfortunately we were the very moveable objects. It was like having the majority of Lake Windermere refreshingly funelled into our faces. Later we stumbled upon yet another Jorge, an eccentric man who a few days previously had fallen off a cliff and feeling reckless ourselves we decided to try puenting (Ecuadorian bungee jumping). You need more balls than a Chinese ping pong tournament to throw yourself from the 150ft high bridge, and when the harness catches you, said balls become more thna a little tender. I am fairly sure that my internal organs fused together during this process forming a reddish gloop with the texture of a liquified jelly fish...still no problem eating dinner though!
On returning to Quito we quickly visited the Mitad del Mundo (centre of the world) so we could touristically be bisected by the Equator. Then following the big Charles D we headed to the Galapagos Islands, with the expense big enough to blow our wallets into smaller particles than found in the Large Hadron Collider.
We spent 5 days cruising the archipeligo on a 45ft catamaran living the life of royalty under the burning sun and snorkelling with an abundance of marine life in the turquoise sea. Our blood pressure increased as we swam with white tip reef sharks, mouths filled with water from smiling at the group of penguins darting past and we encountered complete serenity with 8 awe-inspiring eagle rays. But by far the most fun was had with the high on sugar sea lions who tugged on your flippers and appeared 2 inches from your nose show boating upside down. Our guide Edwin showed us (with more enthusiasm than I thought possible from one person) the fascinating volcanic formations, ridiculously tame birdlife and the GIANT tortoises. These magnificent creatures live their life at a speed which can be comfortably overtaken by the 7cm per year movement of the Galapagos Islands themselves - or they have smoked enough marijuana to last for 150 years.
We were joined on our boat by:
- Sagi and Goldman ( 2 wannabe Maverick Israeli fighter pilots)
- Zac (American medical student with flopsy enough hair to match Zac Efron)
- Sylvina (Swiss student who forgot her Tissot watch and missed her flight)
- Patrick (the only person I know to have escaped from Lichenstein)
- Antonio (Spaniard who gets his kicks from impersonating sea lions!)
If any of you read this then thank you for making our time on board so enjoyable. I think I would rather papershred my own fingers than spend a week on board a boat with a bunch on morons. so we were very lucky to have such great companions and guide. On our last day it was Kirst´s 18th birthday, so naturally we were travelling and she received only one very practical present (hair bobbles)...thanks Mum!!!
After one night in Guayaquil we are now going to head to Peru in search of Paddington Bear.
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