Sky High

After surviving the sandboarding, I decided to punish my body further my taking a flight over the Nazca lines. These lines were built by an ancient civilisation primarily as an astrological calendar. However as they are only visible from the air they are also thought to be an appeasement to the Gods, as only the gods can see them. I boarded a small aircraft along with 4 others and took off. Due to some wierd geological phenemenon there is a band of warm air that rests just aboves the lines. This has protected the lines for the last thousand years but it also makes for some horrendous turbulence. I lasted a whole 5 minutes before my stomach needed to be released. Fortunately I was still able to see the lines which are just amazing. The one above is the monkey whilst this is the spaceman. (Its really a farmer but spaceman is more popular with conspiracy theorists). After Nazcs we left the desert for Arequipa, the white city, a truely beautiful city. From here we arranged a trip out to the Colca Canyon. This canyon was thought to be the deepest in the world until another canyon was found a short distance away that is 50 metres deeper. The landscape around the canyon is stunning but the main reason people visit this spot is beacuse it is one of the few places in the world so you watch condors in the wild. At the moment it is nesting season so there are not many condors about but I was fortunate to see a couple soaring high. These are magnificent creatures and until you see them you really cannot comprehend how huge they are. Their wingspan is close to 2 metres. Returing from the Canyon we climbed to an altitude of 4900m, believe me it is really cold at that height. Luckily I did not seem to be suffering as much as the others with shortness of breath but the nosebleeds began to get annoying. That altitude is further than we go on the inca trail so touch wood I should be allright. Speaking of the Inca trail I will be setting off tomorrow on Wednesday the 29th. I´m off now to get a good nights sleep. Wish me luck...

Queen of the Desert

Headed into Lima the capital of Peru where yet again we managed to arrive on election day - wonder if we will be able to enter any town in South America that isn´t in the middle of an elction campaign? After a couple of days sightseeing we left the comforts of the big city and headed off into the desert. The east coast of Peru is one rather large desrt with reportedly the worlds biggest sand dunes. Foolishly? we decided to take advantage of these rather large dunes. We strapped ourselves into dune buggies (10 at a time) and were driven off into the desert. The buggies did not go slowly, and the dunes are not tiny. This was no normal car journey it was more like a roller coaster ride, we were going up steep sides and down what seemed like vertical drops. My stomach seemed to land in my mouth on a number of occassions but the buggying was only a warm up for what was to come next. On the back of the buggies were sand boards - these looked just like snowboards but tinier. At the top of the dune, the board was balanced whilst you tried to lie down on it - head first on your stomach - keeping all your limbs on the board (you try keeping all you limbs on a board only 30cm wide!). Then you were pushed down the dune. What an adrenaline rush! You are inches from the ground picking up speed, on a steep incline with absolutely no control over where you are going. After my initial fear subsided, it was great fun. After 4 runs on different dunes (each one getting progressively bigger and steeper) the sun had almost set - I didn´t think we would have time for another go. How wrong I was. We were taken to the top of a dune that was so steep, you were scared to look over the edge. This dune was around 100 metres tall. As you peered over the edge you couldn´t actually see the slope as it curved under the ridge. The idea of going over this dune was petrifying. I was almost last in line and could hear the screams from the others as they went over. The chap in front of me came off his board and I could hear shouts of "Is he ok", "Oh thank god - he has got up" This does not too anything for confidence levels - let me tell you! Then I was pushed over. To slow down you are supposed to lower your feet in the sand behind you as a brake. I started picking up alot of speed, I knew I was going way too fast and desperately tried to brake. Nothing happened - I kept getting faster and faster. I hit a bump and my sunglasses flew off and still I was getting faster. By this point I knew if I came off I could do myself serious injury so I was clinging on with all my strength. As the slope hit the flat I hit alot of bumps and was bounced about on the board. I knew it was painful but I was too busy concentrating to care. Finally my board began to slow and I could hear whoops of delight and alot of cheering. I had managed to get my board alot further than any of the others and was going by far the fastest. I was later told I was going around 65 kph. My group actually thought I had gone at that speed on purpose - do they think I am that mad? The next day I was covered head to toe in very purple bruises but at least my pain had not been in vain - I had been given the title of Queen of the Desert!

Baths and beaches

Survived the jungle and arrived very weary into Banos. Upon arrival into the hotel I was given a face mask and a leaflet explaining the different emergency sirens the town has. The Volcano that overlooks the town has been rumbling and smoking for the past week and if the wind changed direction we were all to wear our masks or risk choking on the fumes. Not the usual welcome gift you get in most hotels! Luckily for us though there was no erruption so we were free to explore this delightful town. Banos is famous for its naturally occuring thermal baths (that volcano again). I went along. The hot pool is certainly that. It was scaldingly hot - the temperature being in the very high 40's. The cold pool was icy cold. I only lasted half an hour and had to go home - these baths are not for the faint hearted. Alas Banos was my last stop in Ecuador - a country I have absolutely loved.
I crossed the border into Peru. The first thing you notice about Peru is the climate - northern Peru is a desert. I was not expecting that. We travelled to the western coast of Peru to spend a couple of very relaxing days at the beach at Punta Sal. The tents made their first (but certainly not their last) showing on this beach. I managed to spend three days doing nothing more taxing than playing cards and reading. Life is hard! There is only so much doing nothing you can do, so before boredom set in, the group moved further down the coast to another beach resort of Huanchaco. This town is still very much a fishing village and the locals still make individual reed boats out of tortuga reads which are left out on the beach to dry. I stress these really are boats and not giant pixie boats as someone on the truck believes! It is from our base here that I got to see the first ancient sites in Peru. The site of the Chan Chan ruins is spectacular. It is literally a mud brick city. We explored one of the palaces - it is so different from any of the other ancient civilisations I have seen so far. After the Chan Chan ruins we also looked around the temple of the moon, which is a site that belonged to the Moche - they predated the incas by about a thousand years and the murals on the side of the temple are still brightly coloured. Its been a while since I saw any ruins and these were impressive sites which have wetted my appetite before I reach Cusco and Machu Pichu. Only 2 weeks to go - so I suppose I should stop sitting about on beaches and go do something slightly more active...

Into the Jungle ...

After meeting up with my new group and brand new truck in Quito we headed north to the market town of Otavalo. This town is famous throughout South America for the huge market it holds every Saturday and for the quality of the items you can buy there. After a little bit of shopping (I´m sure my poncho will come in very handy when I get to the Andes) we loaded up and headed east towards the Amazon Jungle. We stopped at Tena a town considered to be a gateway into the Amazon and it was from here that I decided to be very brave and brave the rapids again. After my disaterous outing in Guatemala - things surely could only get better? This time I went white water rafting down the Rio Napa, a tributory of the Amazon. Needless to say I was slightly nervous at first. The first few rapids we went through my heart was in my mouth but as I got used to it I slowly began to enjoy myself. In fact my the end of the day I was confident enough to join in stunt rafting. As you can see from the pic, the aim was to get the raft vertical and stable for as long as possible without toppling over or tipping backwards. Our raft was by far the best at this and we even managed to stay dry. By the end of the day, I was exhausted but I hadn´t fallen in once and was feeling incredibly proud of myself.
From Tena we went further into the jungle to stay for 3 nights at the Shangrila lodge. The view from my room is the one you see above - it was breathtaking. It would have been a lovely place to relax and wind down after the excitement of the rafting - but no such luck. We went hiking into the jungle and explored a series of caves. At one point we were scrambling up rocks and cliffs - having to walk up sheer faces with our legs on one side of an abyss and our hands on another. (Not easy when you are as short as me)! Crawling through other points where it was too narrow to do anything other than lie on your stomach. It was incredibly physically demanding - or so I thought until I started the following day´s activities. This was another full day climbing through the jungle but this time we had to climb up 4 waterfalls as well. The first couple were tiny but the third was huge and fast flowing but with the aid of a good rope I made it - alas the top of this waterfall only brought me to the bottom of another. My the time I reached the top I was dripping wet - not to worry I dried out on the following 2 hour hike up and down the steepest hillsides I have ever seen. Climbing through the jungle is not easy, tree roots and mounds of wet leaves try to trip you up at every opportunity. By the end of these few days my body did not know what had hit it! Luckily my next stop is the spa town of Banos, famous for it hot springs. I´ve also heard they do a pretty good massage ...

Galapogas Islands - Wow!

After my gruelling spanish lessons were over I took myself off for afew days rest and relaxation in the Galapogas Islands. These islands are approximately 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. They are famed for their wildlife, in fact it is when Charles Darwin came to the islands he noted 14 different species of finch that had adapted to suit the very different climates of each island. These observations were the basis of the Origin of the Species. The Galapagos Islands are now a world heritage site. As the animals of these islands have not been hunted by man by over a hundred years, they do not see people as a threat and you can get incredibly close to them. I travelled to the southern islands onboard the catamoran Galapagos Vision - the same one in the photo. I saw many a blue footed boobie (these are the national symbol of the Galapogas) as well as red and grey footed boobies. I saw albatrosses with their young not to mention hundreds of sea lions. Sea lions are perculiar creatures they sound like a multitude of other animals. One minute they are barking like a dog, then they baa and bleat like sheep and goats. They are also very nosy, one sea lion tried to make off with my snorkelling equipment at one point.
When swimming they would come up to you and try to touch you before you had the chance to touch them. They were similar to children playing tag! As well as a wide variety of birds I also encountered a vide variety of iguanas close up. As it was mating season for some of them, they had turn bright turquoise and red colours. Of course the Galapogas are famed for their giant tortoises and I did go and visit Lonesome George, the only survivor of his particular species of tortoise. As well as George I saw lots of other tortoises some running in the wild (yes they can run and they go surprisingly fast). These creatures are huge and have to be seen to be believed. I would recommend the Galapogas to anyone who enjoys wildlife, the sights you see and the fact you can get so close to the animals is amazing. Pesky mockingbirds wouldn´t stop landing on my boots and legs when I was sitting down, trying to get to my bottle of water. Oh yes, there were wild flamingoes there too. Alas I couldn´t go to the more northern islands were the good diving sites are, as I simply did not have the time. Swimming with the sharks and penguins will have to wait till next time. Back to Quito now to meet the group I will be travelling around South America with.