Saturday, July 10, 2010

10th July 2010, Chiclayo, Peru

Hi blog fans, yes we’re still alive we’ve just had so much fun in the month we’ve not had time to update the blog. After the last post we headed up the Miraflores locks on the pacific side of the Panama Canal. Originally it looked a little disappointing, a lot smaller than I was expecting. We killed a couple of hours n the visitor centre waiting for the first big boats of the day to pass through, during which I crashed a ship into the side of the canal on a simulator program. Eventually a nearly Panamax ship approached and the canal burst into activity with the mules (small trains which pull the boats through the canal) starting to buzz around. It was really impressive to see the huge container ship squeezing through the narrow locks, with only a metre of clearance on either side. The next day we headed back to the canal but this time to take the inter-oceanic train. It was quite expensive but very luxurious and came complete with sexy young conductors. From the train we saw the whole length of the canal and quite a bit of rainforest, we were let out on the Atlantic side at the city of Colon, which was a bit of a dump so we took the bus straight back to Panama City.
The next day we headed back to the Atlantic coast, this time to get on a boat headed for the San Blas islands before taking us to Colombia. It was a fairly laid back affair, we cruised from island to island enjoying swimming and snorkeling in clear turquoise waters and lazing on golden sands. We saw some dolphins swimming around the boat and I even spotted an eagle ray on an early morning swim. The only minus point was that the boat was a bit cramped for six people and especially so for those over 150 cm high. Eventually we landed at Cartagena on the coast of Colombia where after we dropped off our passports in the local supermarket we headed off to the old town to find a hotel.
Despite being sacked by pirates a couple of times over the years Cartagena is a beautiful city with an old town covered in old colonial buildings. We spent the first day wandering around after finding a fantastic and cheap juice bar at the local market, which we continued to frequent during our time there. I got my first cut-throat razor shave at a local barbers so I looked a little less like a bum, we spent some time admiring some great knockers and we walked round the old walls of the city.
After a couples of days in Cartagena we took a plane to Bogota, we arrived in the city pretty late and ended up looking for a hotel in the dark, which is never fun, but especially not in Bogota. Eventually we found a place near the university in the cobbled streets of the old town. It was maybe because it was Friday night but the streets and squares around our hotel were alive with students playing guitars, trying to chat-up girls and smoking “herbal” cigarettes, which made for a nice atmosphere as we got rid of our rucksacks and went out to explore. The following day after a lay-in we headed for the Botero museum, an artist known for his love of making things look fat, especially women, check out the fat Mona Lisa on the pictures. Afterwards we took a walking tour of the city’s old building and the presidential palace where Ulrike had her picture taken with the guards. Next day we did the gold museum, a huge collection of all the gold the Spanish didn’t manage to get their hands on and melt down. There were some fantastic pieces (especially considering the tools that were used to make them) and a lot to learn about Inca culture, such as went on “spirit journeys” by taking hallucinogenic drugs to help find cures for illnesses and find out what the gods wanted. They’re called drug addicts today but back then they were the people you went to for advice or medical help. After another couple of days bumming around Bogota and riding the funicular train to the top of the surrounding mountains we took a bus out to see the famous slat cathedral, part of a still working rock salt mine which has been converted into a church. As well a touring the many grandly sculptured caverns we got to try our hands at mining rock salt, which was fun but if I had a day job I wouldn’t be giving it up.
After a night bus we arrived in San Agustina where we spent the day checking out the ancient stone figures and the archeological park. These figures (some up to several metres high) were made before the Incas took over the area and buried to stop them being destroyed, but archeologists still can’t figure out how they were made with the tools available to them at the time. There was also evidence of trade with Egyptian and Indian cultures which would be impossible with current historical understanding. We also got an interesting offer from our guide at the park, for 100 USD per person he would take us to a coca plantation, we would be shown the process of turning the plant into hard drugs and also receive a 1 gram sample, needless to say we declined. Next on the road was the small town of Ipiales on the border with Ecuador. The highlight of our short stay was the local market where I dined on hog-roast for breakfast sitting opposite said hog.
After a fairly uneventful and remarkably easy border crossing into Ecuador we arrived at Otavalo a small market town near the border. We spent the day checking out the market which was mostly touristy stuff (where Ulrike bought a poncho and I bought a Panama hat), but we did manage to find the hog-roast section, again. After filling myself up on swine we caught a bus for the capital. Most of our time spent in Quito was trying to sort things out for our onward journey to the Galapagos islands and the rainforest, which was much more difficult than it should have been due to the banks not letting us get our hands on our money, but we managed to sort it out eventually and even had time to squeeze in a couple of football games and a full English breakfast.
After sorting everything out in Quito and picking up Mama Wäser we got up early and began our truly amazing journey to the Galapagos Islands. We’d heard before going that the animals were really tame and that they have no fear of people but until you’re actually there and a sea lion is swimming around you it’s hard to believe. Our first animal spotting was at the pier after getting off the plane, waiting to be taken out to our boat. What at first looked to be sleeping dogs covering the pier turned out, on closer inspection, to be sea lions, just lazing all over the place without a care n the world (they’re a bit like pests to the locals as they sleep in the middle of paths, on beaches and even on boats). After getting in the boat and being amazed at the luxury we were going to spend the next four days in we landed back on the mainland of San Cristobel and took a short walk along the beach to a sea lion colony. Along the way we saw a few birds and iguanas hiding the bushes, which again didn’t seem to notice our presence. After about 15 minutes we got to the beach, which was covered in sleeping sea lions. After taking some photos we noticed a couple of sea lions swimming just of the beach so Ulrike and I donned our wetsuits and headed into the water to see if they were as tame in the water as they were on land. The water was pretty freezing and the visibility not great but after a couple of minutes we found a sea lion underwater, or rather he found us. Instead of running away or not being bothered by us it seemed as if he actually wanted to play, swimming round us, doing rolls in front of us and swimming towards us on his back and then veering of at the last second. It was great fun, especially after one of his friends joined in. On land they didn’t look very elegant but once in the water they were able to were incredible, with just a flick of their flippers they would speed off like a torpedo rushing through the water. They didn’t seem to get bored by us either, it was more us getting cold and wanted to get out that put a stop to play time.
Over night we sailed to the island of Espanola, in the morning we landed to walk a walk around the island. At the landing we were again met by a group of playful sea lions but we didn’t have our wetsuits unfortunately. The landing was also covered in marine iguanas (the ones that swim) taking in the sun, we had to step over quite a few of them on the way to the start of the footpath, some occasionally squirted salt water at us when we got to close, but again for most of them it was as if we weren’t there. At the start of the path we spotted some boobies (we blue-footed type unfortunately), some just standing around b and some partaking in their mating ritual, which involved showing off ones blue feet, whistling, sticking up ones feathers and passing a twig to a potential mate. They were very funny birds and I can now say with getting in trouble that “I love boobies”. As we continued we saw lots of lava lizards before we got to the albatross colony, they again weren’t concerned with us and we either sitting on their eggs or dueling with their beaks (their mating ritual). We also saw some flying with their huge 2 metre wingspan. As we walked round we saw lots more of the same and a couple of new things but we were still in awe at how unbothered the animals were by us, it’s difficult to explain but I would defiantly recommend everyone to visit the islands at least once in their lifetime. After lunch and a siesta were went out snorkeling in the hope of seeing hammerhead sharks, unfortunately they were also having a siesta so we didn’t get the chance, but we did get the opportunity to swim with the sea lions again. This time they were big groups of them. As we pulled up they were sticking their heads out of the water to see what was happening, no doubt getting very excited about playtime. The visibility in the water was really good this time so we could really watch them properly. When they’re not sleeping on the beach the young ones just love to play around, chasing each other, swimming up to tourists and at one point I even saw them playing tag using a poor starfish. Afterwards we landed at a beach with beautiful white sands and you guessed it, more sea lions, not that we were becoming bored of them. We spent some time taking in the sun laying next to them and watching as they cuddled up together and at how the babies looked for their mothers after coming in from a swim.
The next day we headed for Floreana where after a bit of bird spotting we were in water again, this time snorkeling around a reef and through huge schools of colourful fish, however we missed the sharks again. After drying of we visited post office bay and dropped off a couple of post cards. The system there remains from the days when whaling ships used to visit the islands. Basically they were sometimes at sea for years at a time and wanted to get letters home, they would drop them off in a barrel. Any passing ship would then check in the barrel and if they were headed to where a letter was address they would take it and then hand delivery it to the recipient. The same system is in operation now but instead of whaling ships it’s tourists in airplanes. We also had a game of football with the guys on the boat in which we took a thrashing but I’m not going to write about that. Before bed we also got chance for another landing where we saw some rays and a baby sea turtle trying to hide from the hungry circling birds.
On the last day of our tour we landed on North Seymour where we saw lots more boobies and the frigate bird (see pictures) which has a huge red sack on it’s neck that it inflates to attract female frigate birds, some of them even forget to deflate them when they fly which looks very strange. Afterwards we were dropped off on the mainland (Santa Cruz) where we watched the England-Germany game in which we also took a thrashing and I also don’t want to write about. After finding a hotel we visited the Charles Darwin Research Centre where they keep breeding colonies of giant tortoises and normal size iguanas. Despite the name I was still impressed by the actual size of the tortoises, one of which included lonesome George, 90 years old and the last of his species, he looked very sad (there is a 1000 USD reward out if any one finds a mate for him so keep your eyes peeled).
The next day we went out scuba diving where we got the chance to properly swim underwater with the sea lions, which were again in a very playful mood. We also saw some sea turtles, eagle rays, white tip sharks and lots of fish. On the land but unfortunately not in the water we also spotted the Galapagos penguin. Our last day on the island was spent decompressing, shopping and exploring, all after a significant lay-in.
After a couple of minutes spent back in Quito we took a bus eastwards towards Tena, after another bus the next morning and a quick canoe ride we arrived in the rain forest to Yachana lodge where we would spend the next five days. During the time there we did lots of trekking in the rain forest where we also saw loads of wildlife including some noisy night monkeys and a huge tarantula. Along the walks the guide would tell us stories and show us what the forest can provide, as long as you know what you’re looking for, he showed us all the fruits you can eat (or not), the materials they use for things like building and basket weaving, all the medicinal plants and even the frogs which they use to extract poison (after sweating them over a fire). We also took part in some cultural activities to learn more and the way people live in the rain forest, we took part in a cleansing ceremony where we had our aura’s cleansed by a guy who blew tobacco smoke over us and ruffled some plants around us. We also got a go at hunting (well only a papaya and a banana tree stump) with a blow gun and spear. After a couple of trial efforts Ulrike and I both mastered it and were ready go tracking some moving pray. We also visited the local market, where a Ecuadorian Bruce Lee was doing stunts and the local school which is run by the lodge to educate children from the rain forest (a very worthy cause), we also managed to watch some of the German annihilation of Argentina, which I’m sure England would’ve done if Germany hadn’t cheated their way past us. We also got a cooking class where we learned some local techniques and got to try a local delicacy, big fun grubs (see pics), having been pre warned I’d built myself up to trying a raw one, but after seeing how big they actually were and how they pulsatingly moved around I lost my appetite, although after they’d been roast over the barbecue they tasted pretty good, a bit like bacon. The last day there, after a trek through the rain forest (when it really rained) we spent the afternoon making chocolate and weaving baskets, all very therapeutic, although out chocolate didn’t taste very good. I have to mention Yolanda the resident parrot as well, Ulrike managed to befriend her but most of the time she was completely crazy and when not baffling on would chase the staff and attack their feet.
After another long bus ride out of the rain forest we arrived in the Andean city of Riobamba, we wanted to take a train up the famous Devil’s Nose a section of railway which goes through the Andes up and down some very big mountains. However they were repairing the tracks so we only got chance to do part of the route, it was still very impressive winding our way through the mountains, but we’re going to have to go back in a couple of years if we want to do the full route.
So anyway we are now in Peru in the city of Chiclayo slowly making our way down to Lima and Machu Picchu. We’ll try to update the blog a bit more regularly from now on.