Arequipa and Condors

Condor at Colca Canyon,
originally uploaded by Hol Riz.

Arequipa is known as the white city and is overshadowed by volcano El Misti. We immediately felt a good vibe about the city and managed to secure a great hotel in the middle of the town along with some of the guys we went sand boarding with.

We spent a couple of lazy days washing our pants and socks. We visited the local Ice mummy museum and saw the frozen body of an Inca sacrifice found ontop of the local mountains. The body was 1500 years old and perfectly preserved...Yuk! We also visited a monastery that took up a whole city block. An oasis of peace in the city.

On the third day we took a bus at 2am to meet a tour group leaving for the Colca Canyon (Worlds deepest canyon and home of the mighty condor). The bus went over 4500M and we have never been so cold in our lives. Thoroughly underdressed we huddled together for warmth for 3 painful hours. The next day when we got to the canyon though it was worth it as we got got great views and an upclose encounter with a flock of condors, whose wing spans measure up to 3M! Wow! Check out the photos!

Next we are heading to Cuzco the capital of the Incas (3500M).

Luv Holland and Becky

Desert Storm

Sand Boarding and Dune Buggy Tour,
originally uploaded by Hol Riz.

After travelling for 12 hours by bus. We arrived in Piura Northern Peru and still feeling ill we decided to have chicken (neck) soup...BAD MOVE!! Ontop of her flu poor Becky got savage food poisoning! We got straight on the next bus for 3 hours to Chiclayo before it kicked in but spent the next two days holed up in a hotel room there. At least we had cable TV to watch the footie!

Way over schedule, we blew the budget and flew from Chiclayo to Lima (smelly armpit of a city) and then after watching England beat T&T 2:0 in the bus station. We got a bus down to Ica and then a taxi to Huacachina, a small oasis in the desert surrounded by sand mountains. We stayed in a cool hostel and went on a dune buggy/Sand boarding tour! Cooool! Our driver was crazy and we flew up and down the sand dunes at rollercoaster speeds! Then we stopped to sandboard down big dunes before setting off for more high adrenaline, stomach wrenching sand buggy action! The last dune was a mountain and we went down on the boards on our stomachs...Yikes! Amazing fun.

Next we went to Nazca to do an air flight over the famous lines. The flight was cool and it was great to see the lines though they were smaller than we imagined. Big tick in the tourist box. The woman behind us was sick which wasn´t suprising as the tiny plane was banking left and right with vigorous regularity. Becky was clutching her sick nag but managed to hold her stomach!

Next we set off on the night bus for Arequipa (The white city). And what a bus it was. Bigger than business class plane seats! We slept all the way...

Luv Holland and Becky

Valley of longevity

Horse Riding in Southern Equador,
originally uploaded by Hol Riz.

Our last stop in Equador was Vilcabamba in the "Valley of longevity". The valley itself is set in beautiful green rolling hills, has a great atmosphere and was a great place to chill out before the long journey south into Peru. We spent a few days hanging around playing pool with a bunch of Irish guys and getting stinking colds into the bargain!

On our last day we took some crazy horses high into the mountains surrounding the valley. The paths we went along were steep and narrow and the horses insisted on galloping at the most hair raising moments along the edge of sheer cliffs and steep drops. We eventually came to a beautiful waterfall before setting off back to the valley. The scenery was absolutely amazing and all in all an absolutely amazing horse ride. A Swiss guy who was with us had a fall when his saddle slid off his horse! Luckily it was on the road at the end and not on one of the narrow mountain passes!

We tried to leave Equador on the night bus from Loja the nearest big town but we felt so ill, with our colds turned flu, that we threw away our bus tickets and checked in to the nearest travel hotel and slept until we felt able to travel again! The next morning we felt well enough to travel and set out on the long journey into Peru...

Luv Holland and Becky

Amazon Antics

Amazon Rainforest,
originally uploaded by Hol Riz.

Leaving the cool weather of the high mountains behind we descended into the Amazon Jungle, heading for a two day tour into the jungle. We stayed at an amazing lodge perched on a cliff rizing vertically 100m above the Jungle. The view was absolutely stunning and the trees stretched endlessly in all directions with a mighty river below us and a deafening cacophony of jungle noises to soothe us to sleep. On our first morning we were taken walking through the virgin rainforest. This was an absolutely amazing place to experience as we walked through a long thin chasm far below the jungle canopy. The sun shined through the canopy high above and drops of water fell sparkling onto our heads. At times the path narrowed to gaps so small we had to squeeze through and as we got deeper and deeper into the jungle the bats started to fly out of holes in the rock. We even climbed up a waterfall. Holland kept muttering ¨This is where snakes came from!¨ Our guide was a local Qechua tribesman who taught us all about the different medicinal uses for the plants and fed us live ants which tasted of lemon and a giant beetle which tasted of avocado ¨Yum!¨ In the afternoon, we went tubing down the river. A relaxing float down stream in an inflated tyre tube.

The next day we walked three hours through secondary forest to visit a local tribe. We went into one of the huts and saw their catch of the day (Giant Rainforest Rat/Guinea Pig) and played with their baby pet Coati! We also drank some local fermented Yucca plant stuff that they kept in a big barrel. Hmmm YUK! puts hairs on your chest though. Amazing to see how people live such simple lives.

On Monday we went white water rafting on a fast Grade 4 rapids. What an amazing day! We drove way up into the jungle. When we arrived we hiked down a dirt track to get to the river then did a hair-raising cliff jump to get the adrenaline going for the day! Becky almost didn´t jump but there was only one way down once you´d climbed through a hole in a cave roof up a waterfall. Once we set out down the river in the rafts we didn´t see one sign of civilisation all day as we rafted 35KM through virgin jungle, sometimes in and sometimes out of the rafts! Wow what rapids! We had to paddle hard to break through standing walls of water! Amazing fun. We met a couple of cool guys and our raft tried to board the other raft of Americans and sink their tour guide. At some points we jumped out of the rafts and surfed the rapids in our lifejackets.

We spent a full night travelling to reach the coast and a surfer town called Montañita. The town was cool and made completely of bamboo, but the beach was dirty and it was the wrong season for the coast but we still managed to have a few good nights out before moving on southwards to our last stop in Ecuador the valley of longevity Villacabamba...

Baños

DSCN2774,
originally uploaded by Hol Riz.

2 hours on the local buses got us to the gringo Spa town of Baños. The buses and roads here are loads better than in Costa Rica and the seats are much better than National Express! The best thing about the buses though is that they stop every mile or so and a new food seller gets on with fresh produce (Fish or chicken Kebabs (25p), Satsumas, (25p for 10), ice creams, crisps chocolate, drinks, nuts, cakes and even chicken or sausage and chips) More and better food than your local corner store!

We stayed in a beautiful hotel in Baños and the cheapest so far at only 3.75 a night each! Wide windows opened onto a private view of the garden and avocado trees.

Our first night we visited the hot volcanic springs. The pools range from lobster boiling to arctic freezing but overall a most revitalising experience! We met new friends from Ireland and others from England and also met a couple who we climbed Cotopaxi with. We arranged to meet everyone in the local bar for a pool playing evening which went swimmingly. Two local cocktails were enough to keep us going all night!

The next morning we hired good mountain bikes for the day and set off down and down and down the valley (knowing we could get a bus back up later!) After zooming down the hill for a while we came to a tunnel through the mountain. Becky donned her head torch and bravely zoomed through at full speed. After the tunnel we stopped and everyone said god wasnt it dark in there (Theyd only forgotten to take off their sunglasses!).

We arrived at the first waterfall of the day and got a cable car across the canyon which went directly above the waterfall so you could see straight down. The view was stunning and we hiked down the valley and crossed back across an Indiana Jones style bridge! Getting back on our bikes we continued our downhill zoom(just the kind of biking we like). At the next town there was the biggest waterfall we have ever seen. We parked our bikes at the top, had lunch and set of down into the canyon. Wow! What a waterfall! Blimey! Check out the photos! When we got back to the top our bikes had been chained up by the owner of the restaurant who was disgruntled that we hadnt brought anything from him but after buying a water and a coke we were released and cursing his name we payed some guy with a truck $1.5o each to take us back to Baños. Overall though the best day in Equador so far...

Out on the town that night Becky, tired from the bike ride, went back to the hotel whilst Holland continued on the Tequila cocktails with a load of English guys. After a wild nights partying in the local gringo joint he managed to lose his best fleece jacket and the all important Spanish phrasebook! Doh! The next day was absolutely tipping down with rain and Holland spent the day moping with a hangover and lamenting his losses.

We left Baños under a bit of a cloud after giving up on our lost property. As our bus descended towards Tena the temperature rose and rose as we descended from the Andes to the jungle plain below. The scenery started to change and our mood lightened as we felt the excitement at entering the fringes of the Amazon Jungle, the lungs of the planet! The jungle covers an area the size of Australia and we are setting out on a tour for the next few days at a jungle lodge! Looks amazing at first sights, stay tuned for an update soon!

Holland and Becky

Cotopaxi - The highest active volcano in the world

DSCN2760,
originally uploaded by Hol Riz.

After a couple of days in northern Equador we headed south of the capital towards Cotopaxi, thought to be the highest active volcano in the world. When we arrived the volcano was covered in clouds and we could only see a small part of its snowy peak. That was actually the most we saw of the peak for our entire visit! We stayed in a dull town nearby called Latacunga where we based ourselves for our visit to the volcano. We set off in the morning in the rain and drove up to 4000 metres on the side of the volcano before setting out on foot. At that altitude the air is so thin that every step upwards takes extreme effort and you have to stop every five paces or so to catch your breath. The rain didnt stop but the walk was still amazing as we climbed to 4500m up an old lava flow. The rocks were all red and it looked like a martian landscape! Overall a cool trip and amazing scenery but shame it wasnt sunny so we could see the full splendour of the snowy peak! Check out the photos coming soon. I will include a photo as it would have looked on a sunny day...