Trekking in the Andes

Huaraz... a cruel reminder how affected I am by altitude. The first month and a half of my trip was spent on the altiplano, at an elevation of 2500m and above. After a month on the beach, I had lost all affinity for altitude. I arrived in Huaraz at 7:00am at 3000+m elevation from the beach wearing sandals and a tank top. Cold! I booked a four day trek for the following morning and spent the day trying to acclimatize. Not eating much, sleeping, enjoying a dull throb in my head, and panting at the top of every staircase. We left for the trek at 6am the following morning, and after a 4 hour drive up tiny twisting mountain roads, clearing the way of rocks from a recent land slide, we began the hike. The first day was pretty easy, we hiked for about 5 hours and arrived at the campsite around 4pm. Then we waited in the rain for the donkeys to arrive with the tents and food. That was one of the most uncomfortable hours Ive spent in a while, and that post hike chill was hard to shake. The first night was cold. Very very cold. During the hikes I was feeling fine, great, even. However at camp when the endorphins had worn off the altitude hit and I felt terrible. I didnt have more than a cup of tea for dinner either of the nights, and spent the majority of the time curled up in my tent.

The beginning of the second day we all lined up to have our waterbottles filled. When we asked where the water was the guide replied that they had thrown it out, since no one had asked last night to have water boiled for drinking. What!! So we set off, with no water (some people still had a teeny bit left from the first day), for a 7 hour hike. After hiking the morning on three stolen sips of water from a friends water bottle, I gave in and filled my camelback with stream water. I still didnt drink much of it, because when choosing between dehydration and the possibility of giardia from something weird in the water, I chose dehydration. However, the afternoon of the second day was the highest point on the trek, a pass at 4750m. It was completely foggy up there, and snowing. Another girl and I were struggling pretty hard with the altitude, so we summited (slowly) together. I felt REALLY bad the second night, still being non-aclimatized to the altitude on top of the pretty severe dehydration. There was one girl who had signed up to do the four day trek in three days, combining the last two easy days into one 8 hour hike. After the first two days in camp, over half the group decided to do the three day trek, myself included. After two nights of altitude sickness, I wanted nothing else than to get off the mountain. We set off at 630am the next morning (I made sure to ask for water this time) at a brisk pace. I hiked with a kiwi friend named Gina, and for the most part we were in the lead of the group. We finished the 8 hour hike in 6 hours, enjoying the absolutely beautiful weather we had the last day (nice switch from the mist and snow). The pizza and pisco sours (and hot showers!!) that we rewarded ourselves with that night hit the spot like nothing can, unless youve just spent a few days in the sticks, camping in the rain.

In exchange for the day spent not trekking, the company threw in some "free" rock climbing for Gina and I. The first two walls were very easy, so by the time that we got to the third wall (which was very not as easy), I was definitely feeling it in my arms, and my legs from the hiking. It was good fun, though. They caught me cheating in the picture, using the clip on the wall as a foothold. I was just resting, though, I swear!

Now Im in Lima, hanging out here until I fly to BA, Argentina tomorrow. So far as I know, this will be the last time Im in Peru this trip...but the way this trip has been going, I wont be too surprised if at some point in the next few months I find myself back in Lima.

De las playas a las Sierras

The next stop on my southbound beach tour was Huanchaco, a small suburb of the city Trujillo. It was really quiet there (I can´t count the times I heard the word "tranquilo" during my stay), with all the Southern Hemispherians back in school after their summer break (what happened to all the Australians!!). I made a friend on the bus from Máncora to Trujillo, a french boy who spoke spanish and a little english (but refused to speak to me in english, since I couldn´t speak to him in french). We hung out for time I spent in Huanchaco, and it was a great opportunity to practice my spanish.

There wasn´t much to do in Huanchaco except hang out on the beach, surf (which I didn´t do, the water there was cooolld!), and see the nearby pre-incan ruins from the Moche and Chimu civilizations. The first, Chan Chan, was declared by UNESCO to be the world´s largest city built entirely from mud brick. The Chimu people inhabited it from A.D. 800 to 1400, when it was conquered by the Incas. The other site, el Huaca de la Luna, was a bit more interesting. The Chimu culture evolved from the Moches, who flourished in AD 100 to 600. The Moches had this temple, Huaca de la Luna, and every hundred years they would completely fill the whole thing in with mud bricks so that the old temple was now just like a blank foundation and build another temple on top of it. Turns out that they never got too creative with their temples, each new one looked pretty much like the old one, so the archaelogists have stopped excavating down because in order to see the first temple (which probably looks a lot like the third, which looks a lot like the fourth...) they would need to destroy the top 5 temples to see it.

Now, I´m in Huaraz, back in the mountains. It was a pretty rough shock getting off the bus this morning coming from the tropical beach weather to 3000some meters altitude. Tomorrow I start a trek in the cordierras blancas, home to 33 peaks over 5500m altitude, the highest mountain in Peru, and Alpamayo, a mountain that UNESCO declared the most beautiful mountain in the world (who are they to make these claims?).

Pacific Paradise

Since the time that I dropped my parents off at the airport, I have been on a mission to find a beach. Not too dificult, less than 4 hours away from Guayaquil I found myself in a teeny town called Montañita. Montañita was...interesting. There was a main street that was completely tourist focused. The rest of the town was nothing. Montañita is one of those places that people go to and get stuck for months at a time, they just can´t leave. Which probably explains the hoards of gringos with dreads wearing Ecuador bracelets, selling hemp bracelets, and playing Bob Marley. It was a little much, so after a short two night stay, I headed south to Peru.

I ended up in Peru´s version of Montañita, a little town called Máncora on the very northern coast. However, the people here seem to be a little more genuine about the fact that they were at a beach resort and not a hippie commune. The hostel I checked into was a budget version of an all inclusive resort. The beachfront property had a pool, bar, and restaurant, all for less than $8 a night. Not bad.

This morning I went fishing with a local fisherman. The old wooden boat and 25hp motor looked like they had seen their fair share of hurricanes, but it did the job. The fisherman was quite a resourceful dude, his anchor was a big rock that he tied a rope around (and then a rope to that rope, and a rope to that rope), which doubled as a sea anchor if he reeled in the ropes a little. We used actual fishing poles for about 15 minutes, then switched to a wooden block that had fishing line wrapped around it and a hook tied to the end. He obviously wasn´t expecting any 3 foot tuna. We didn´t catch much...about 6 little 4-6" fish between the two of us. Apparantly "the currents [were] just all wrong".

Now I´m off again, heading south along the coast toward Lima. I have to catch a flight out of there on the 26th. Looks like I´ve got some time on my hands...

Ecuador and the Galápagos

Well, it´s been a while, but I have a good excuse. I´ve spent the last two weeks babysitting--I mean traveling with my parents (just kidding, guys). After my harrowing journey into Quito, I picked them up from the airport on February 22nd. We only had a day and a half in Quito before flying out to the Galápagos, so we went the 22km outside the city to the site of the equator, of which there are two of them (who knew?). One of them is the government owned monument (that big imposing one with the ball on the top), and the other "real" one is about 400m away in a private museum. Supposedly GPS coordinates place the equator there. The official monument was in a compound of gift shops and restaurants, and since we went on Carnaval, it was a free for all of kids (and adults) spraying shaving cream and water. This time, no one was spared. The private museum had a collection of somewhat hokey experiments to play with (balancing an egg on a nail, watching the coriolus effect change the direction a sink of water would drain, among others, none of which seemed particularly legit). However, it was undeniably fun to hop from one side to the other at both equators.

We left from Quito on the 24th for the Galápagos islands and our 8 day cruise. It was amazing. Everyone who comes back from Galápagos has stories of how you can walk right up to the animals, who are unafraid and friendly. I decided to test this theory. The first thing I did while waiting on the pier to be brought to the ship was to go introduce myself to a sea lion who was lounging on the dock. I boldly walked up to him, began to squat down to chat, and then screamed and made a quick retreat as he started to charge me, barking loudly. Sea lions are comically awkward on land, but this guy somehow made that waddle intimidating. Starting out well.

The boat was beautiful. It was a 16 passenger (we had 12) motorized catamaran, and they meant business when they labeled it "luxury". We were on it´s second voyage in Galápagan waters, and although a few kinks had yet to be ironed out, it was still amazing. The food was a work of art (literally, the guide said the chef spent more time making animal sculptures out of fruits and veggies than making meals), and the jacuzzi and sun deck on top were a nice touch (and a great place to watch a sunset). Our days started at 6am with the omnipresent soft easy listening music and a wake up call, followed by breakfast at 630, ready to disembark around 730. We would then have a shore excursion (guided walking tour on one of the islands for animal watching or landscape viewing) or dingy ride along the rougher coasts for bird spotting. We would then usually return to the boat around 1030 or 11 for a snack and time to rest and shower before lunch at 1230. Back on land (usually a different island by this point) or snorkeling at 230, back onboard for another snack and sunset at 530, dinner around 7, hang out until going to sleep. And then all over again. There was quite a bit of eating going on... This continued for 8 glorious days of surreal landscapes and even more surreal animal encounters (there were times that we literally had to wade through iguanas and politely ask the giant tortoises to stop blocking the path).


After the cruise, we flew into Guayaquil, Ecuador. The cruise included two nights in a 5 star hotel on mainland, the first of which we took in Guayaquil. It was a little different than the type of traveling I had been doing...but certainly not an unwelcome change. We headed out the next day for Baños, and for my parent´s first South American bus journey. Eight hours later we arrived to a downpour in Baños. The three of us crammed in a taxi with a British couple who were standing nearby and were dropped off at the hostel. The next day we did a half day white water rafting trip that took us into the jungle. Next up: canyoning, which is a fancy name for repelling down waterfalls. That was a lot of fun, highlighted by the fact that at one point (okay maybe more than once) I slipped and was suspended upside down face first with water pounding my face. Never a dull moment. We then visited the namesake of the town, the natural hot springs that were just a few blocks from our hostel.


After Baños, we headed down to Cuenca, Ecuador´s third largest town, and arguably one of the most quaint and beautiful. It was here that Dad found that you can order gin by the glass as opposed to by the shot, and that you really do get a glass full of gin. God bless Ecuador. A day of exploring the city and we were back on the bus the next morning for Guayaquil, a day before my parent´s departure. Time flies when you´re on a whirlwind tour.

Now? I´m on a beach in a sleepy little town called Montañita with more surf board rental shops than residents, I´m pretty sure. I´m going to relax, for a little... Drink some salt water and maybe see if I can learn how to conquer a wave. It´s hard work being on vacation!


Most of the Galápagos pictures on here were taken by Jon (who´s hanging out with me and our sea lion pal in the picture below). He caught some awesome shots.

More marine iguanas than you can shake a stick at.

Giant tortoise

The Galápagos penguin

Blue footed booby, doing the Blue footed Booby Dance

Land Iguana