Tambopata to Lima
By · CommentsWe were up early, yet again. We quickly dressed and walked down to the boat by 5AM. It was dark, and clouds had engulfed the jungle and the river. However, we were finally heading home (only a day and a half to go).
We started down the river in the cold, misty morning. About half an hour from the lodge, the engine broke down. As one boatman took apart the engine trying to see what was wrong, the other pulled out an oar to adjust our coarse floating downriver through the branches and rocks that littered the river (luckily we weren’t trying to do this in dry season). After about 20 minutes of trying different things, the motor finally sputtered into operation. Thankfully, we had left early. We all sat there drowsy and quiet in the morning mist as the motor chugged in the background.
After about 10 minutes of powering down the river, Sheri gave out a high pitched scream. She jumped up and rushed to the aft of the boat. A large spider had started climbing over the railing next to the seat in front of her; the long legs were creeping over the edge. Leon quickly jumped up and swatted it with his shoe, finally getting it to fall into the river. Afterwards, he said it was a BrazilianWandering Spider (very poisonous); Sheri thought she saw something coming across the water while the motor was being fixed. We were all awake now :)
At 7AM we finally made it to the mouth of the Heath River (where it merged with Rio Madre De Dios). We forced the boat up a small stream, and one of the boatmen jumped off and tied it off to some shrubs. He took the paperwork up to a Peruvian border station at Puerto Paldo, since we were now permanently in Peru (as opposed to balancing on the Peruvian/Bolivian border as the Heath River is defined). We went ahead and had our pre-packed breakfast (pancakes, fruit, hard-boiled eggs). After waiting for 10 minutes, the paperwork was resolved, and we were ready to go. However, the motor wouldn’t start again. It was another 10 minutes of tinkering with the motor and priming in more gasoline, before the motor finally churned to life. We backed out into the river and were on our way upriver on the Rio Madre De Dios back to Puerto Maldonado.
The clouds cleared a little, but the river was mainly empty of other watercraft. We made our way back to Puerto Maldonado without incident. It was about 80 miles over five hours. The boatman wedged our boat amongst all of the other boats. We disembarked and gave a tip to the boatmen who seemed suprised about getting anything. We hopped into a Inka Natura tourist van and went back to their business compound. We used the restroom, washed up, and collected our remaining bags. Back in the tourist van, and off to the airport we went. It was amazing seeing all of the motorcycles in Puerto Maldonado–the main mode of transportation. Men, women, kids were all traveling around on motorcycles; it was amazing to see. After about ten minutes, we made it to airport. We quickly checked in, said goodbye to Leon and tipped him, and went to the waiting area for our plane.
We waited for an hour at the airport and finally our LAN flight was available. We boarded and were off, rising above the jungle. The LAN flight was wonderful as always–good leg room although all they give you for snacks is hard candy (no other food, no drinks). We landed in Cusco, and we were back again. We wondered around the airport looking for some lunch while waiting for our next flight to Lima. After two hours, we boarded our flight to Lima.
We landed in Lima at 4 in the afternoon. It was warm, and we had already been traveling for 12 hours. We cleaned up and changed our clothes in the restroom at the airport, and then we checked our bags into baggage storage. We went searching for a taxi. The guidebook said that taxi prices were VERY flexible in Lima, and that it was a requirement to haggle. The 40 sol fair went to 30 and finally to 25. However, the driver who was assigned to us was hoping for a better fare, and after sitting in the taxi for 2 minutes and not going, we got out and made our way back through the lines of taxis. A taxi passing asked if we needed a ride, and we said yes and negotiated for 20 sol to the Plaza de Armas. We got in and off we went.
Our taxi driver wanted to practice his English, and he attempted to describe the sites in the sprawling city of Lima. All of sudden he pulls into a gas station and tells us to get out. We noticed that his hatchback area had a big tank, and we ultimately learned that it was a propane powered car. The majority of cars in Lima seemed to be propane-powered (unlike the rest of taxis we had seen in Peru which were standard gasoline). He refilled his propane, and then he continued on to Plaza de Armas. Lima looked like an interesting city, with many interesting plazas and architecture–one square was completely surrounded by blue buildings… it was stunning. Definitely the rush hour traffic in the Peruvian capital was worst we had seen. As we got closer to the Plaza de Armas the roads were under construction and traffic was being re-routed. Finally, we just told him to let us out, and we would walk the rest of the way to the plaza. The plaza had an impressive fountain in the center, and it was ringed by old architecture. The sun was setting, and numerous people were snapping photos of the reddish sky.
After walking through the pedestrian shopping area, we found another taxi and headed to Miraflores for dinner. It was another circuitous journey across the city in heavy traffic as we closed in on the touristy Miraflores district. The Parque Central was bustling with people, a lot of them snacking on the multitude of food carts sprinkled through the park. We wondered around and found the restaurant which didn’t open until 7:30 (and might never open; at 6:30PM, the antique shutters and doors closed to the world). We decided to wait and see if it would ever open, so we found a cafe nearby where Sheri had a pisco sour and Larry had a mate de coca (as usual). As we waited, we noticed that people were lining up outside the restaurant; we finished our drinks and joined them.
At 7:30, Astrid y Gastón opened. The restaurant is run by Gastón Acurio, a celebrity chef that Sheri had heard of who also had opened a restaurant in San Francisco that she wanted to try. We were going to have dinner in the bar since we didn’t have reservations, however, the hostess gave us the option to sit at a table as long as we were done by 9:30. So… we took her up on the offer. We were seated, and watched as the numerous waiters watched us and waited on our needs. They brought some wonderful breads which we rapidly ate after not having a real meal all day. Sheri had a suckling pig rib and chicken entree that was good; Larry had seared tuna with sweet potatoes three ways which was wonderful. For dessert, we had a lemon tart and classic bonuelos. We finished, paid and went in search of a taxi. Our driver took us past the coastline on the way back to the airport which had a lot less traffic, and the sea air was a nice change. Ultimately, we decided we wished we had spent a day or two in Lima (to hell with the crime warnings), and enjoyed the restaurants, atmosphere, and beaches to be found there.
We got back to the airport, collected our bags from storage, checked-in to our flight, and went through security. We did some final purchases, trying to get rid of the last of our Peruvian money. We were going to buy water for the plane, but the merchant warned us that Delta would confiscate our bottled water, even though we were in a secure zone… damn them! So… we finally made our way to the flight (where they did search our bags for liquids), boarded our plane for our midnight departure back to the US. By noon tomorrow we would finally land in San Francisco–our vacation was over, however, we were both ready to be home.
Tambopata, Day Two
By · CommentsWe got up at 5AM again today. We headed down to the dock motored down the Heath River. After about 15 minutes, we got out of the boat and started hiking down the path with Leon. After getting lost yesterday, it didn’t seem like the best idea, but the path was well-worn.
After walking about 20 minutes, we exited on the edge of a lake. There was a row boat filled with water that Leon proceeded to bail out. We got in, and he slowly paddled us along the river. We saw small caiman poking their eyes and snouts barely above the water. Leon paddled us along the quiet lake in the early morning as the sun rose.
We saw swarming pools of tadpoles stirring up the water. It was teaming with life which surrounded our boat. There were large birds, we asked Leon what kind of birds they were. They were “Big Birds”. We laughed to ourselves.
On the far side of the lake, we saw some howler monkeys whose screeches filled the quiet morning. We toured the lake and finally were back where we started. We exited the rowboat and hiked back to the Heath River. Our boat met us, and back we went to the lodge.
We had lunch.
Late in the afternoon, Leon met us in the huts for our trip to the Pampas. The wind was blowing and Leon wondered if we would have to cancel our trip because of the dangers of trees falling on us, but no such luck. We finally got to the edge of the Pampas after an hour of hiking, and the trail became a path of water and mud. Because Sheri’s boots were so short (only calf-length), she couldn’t walk through the middle of the puddles, so Leon slowly traipsed through the weeds along the edge of the path. It was slow going, but we finally made it to the big tree where they had a lookout platform with a wooden stairway built up to it. The sun was low in the sky, and we just wanted to get back to the lodge, so we took a few pictures and said we were ready to go (before Leon had a chance to relate how they were trying to save the Pampas). We picked our way back through the mud, and finally re-entered the jungle. The light was waning and we were soon ensconced in darkness. Leon took the lead, Sheri behind (trying to ignore the pitch black surroundings, focusing only on the flashlights), and Larry following. It was a fast march back to lodge ignoring the surroundings and darkness that enveloped us.
We finally made it back to the lodge. We left our muddy boots outside our hut, and went inside for a warm shower. We had dinner, more people were arriving, and then we went back to rest. We packed up for our early morning departure to head back to civilization tomorrow!
Tambopata, Day One
By · CommentsWe were up early to leave for the bird blind at 5:30AM. We woke up and shined our flashlights through our mosquito nets onto the floor to make sure there were no ants or spiders or scorpions awaiting an inadvertent misstep. It was still dark outside while we dressed, but the day was already starting to brighten. We met Leon and the others at the boat. We motored upriver 20 minutes to an anchored, floating bird blind. It was a big one-room cabin floating on the water with windows open towards the bank 50 feet away across the water. Leon (our guide), Sheri and I were dropped off, and the boat headed back to the lodge.
It was silent until 6:30AM, when the birds started arriving. It got very noisy as there were at least 100 birds in the trees above the far banks. It was very busy as the birds moved from tree to tree. Suddenly, the macaws were startled and they flew away. There were still parrots and parakeets that slowly descended lower and lower in the trees. Finally, the birds landed in the clay, and started eating the dirt–the clay has some mineral they don’t normally get in their diet. At 7:30, the birds were startled and they all flew away. Now there were NO birds in the bank across from the bird blind (and we weren’t going to leave until 8:30 or 9AM); silence permeated the jungle in stark contrast to what we had heard before. We could hear birds upriver and downriver, but we were stranded in our little room.
We unpacked a breakfast that the lodge had pre-made for us. The cold pancakes with a hint of orange were really good. There were also hard boiled eggs, fruit, tea, and sandwiches. Bees started showing up attracted by the food. After sitting in relative silence for half an hour the macaws came back at 8AM. They were vibrant reds and blues and yellows against the green canopy of the jungle. Finally, they also alighted on the clay riverbank. It was an amazing sight as they intermixed with more parrots and parakeets feeding on the clay. As we watched, we also saw a Laughing Falcon, a toucan, and numerous other types of birds.
Finally at 8:45 the boat came back. It took us five minutes downstream where we would have a morning hike back to the lodge. We headed off on the path. Leon took us off-trail to stalk some wild pigs and monkeys. We saw a large wild boar with big tusks cross the pass far ahead of us. We were doubtful as Leon told us to set down our packs as we stalked them, “they’re agressive, and it’s better in case we need to run away from them”. Leon had a machete, and we had cameras. Something was wrong with this picture. We got closer to the boars, and they ran away scared–too bad :)
We passed by a leaf covered with small red bugs. We asked Leon what kind of bugs they were. He answered, “They are B-U-G-S… Bugs.” Sheri and I looked at each other and almost broke out laughing. Well… that’s really useful. We realized yet again that we were on a Disneyland ride, Leon’s English was good as long as he stayed on script, but don’t ask any questions or you’ll probably get no response to your question :)
Ultimately, after looking for some monkeys, we realized that we were lost–LOST IN THE JUNGLE. We had been off the trail for a while, and Leon was needing to constantly use the machete to keep forward progress. We had to balance beam our way across two logs to cross two separate streams. We we came to a third stream (without a log nearby), and after Leon tried to cut down a tree to make another bridge, he gave up and headed in a new direction. We kept changing direction, trying to find a real path or at least the river, but had no success. After an hour of searching, in the mud and occasional rain, we finally made it to a trail. After starting in one direction, he then turned us around as he realized the right direction. At noon we finally made it back to the lodge; our 2 hour trip took more than 3 hours. We were exhausted. We showered and rested before lunch.
We had lunch in the lodge, and there were only three of us there to eat. It was beef in an Asian style sauce with fried sweet potatoes. It was very good after our tiring morning hike. We let Leon pick what our next activity was going to be–going to a small town in the afternoon. We went back and relaxed in our cabana.
At 3:30, Leon came by to take us to the village. A light drizzle was happening, and we had hoped that he was going to cancel the afternoon outing. We dressed and rushed down to the boat. It was an hour downriver to the small village. We exited the boat and immediately 10 kids met us (we were the novelty for the day). We climbed a long set of stairs up the embankment to the community. The village was merely about twenty buildings surrounding a big field, a big soccer field. Leon toured us around telling us about the 200 people that lived here. The community looked like it was mainly comprised of kids, and he confirmed that having big families was very common. We visited the school where the children were taught Spanish, Esau (local language) and some English. We saw an animal jawbone in the mud as we wondered around the community. The tourists were a big attraction for the day. It was interesting to see more solar panels (for their lights and radios) in yet another part of the country; it’s amazing how many solar panels we saw in our Peruvian travels. They showed us some handmade jewelry, mainly made out of seeds and pigs teeth. We bought a necklace and then left.
It was dark on our return trip. The boatmen shone lights on the banks as we passed. We saw the glowing eyes of several caiman lurking in the murky waters. Fishing bats erratically flew past our boat. We saw two tapirs swimming at the river’s edge, and then they rushed out of the water and into the brush. We continued to see more families of copibaris (the world’s largest rodent); there are lots at the end of the rainy season, not so many after the jaguar and anaconda have their way during the dry season. Leon said he saw an ocelot, but no one else saw it, as he stopped the boat and scanned the bank with his flashlight.
We got back to the lodge, and it was still only the two of us. We had a chicken and potatoes for dinner. We then headed to bed early, since we would be getting up early again tomorrow for a lake tour–leaving at 5AM :(
Arequipa to Tombopata
By · CommentsWe got up early and checked out of the nice hotel. The hotel packed us sandwiches which we took with us to the airport.
We took the taxi, and headed to the airport (easy commute in the early morning).
We were stopped at the guard shack at the airport and then headed to check-in.
We paid the airport tax and headed to the plane. We finally got an unobstructed view of the volcanoes that surround Arequipa that were next to the airport runway.
We headed off in the early morning and flew back to Cusco. We waited at the airport for an hour and a half. We tried the cheese sandwiches that the hotel had made us, however, they weren’t good, so we grabbed some snacks at a coffee shop. We paid yet another airport departure tax and headed out on the plane to Puerto Maldonado.
We laneded in Puerto Maldonado, and when we got off the plane, we were immediately hit with the humidity of the Amazon. We were finally at sea level, but not it was hot and sticky.
We were met at the airport and taken by bus to the check-in area. We met our guide, Leon, who explained the town as we were taken to the compound. The streets were filled with motorcycles, it seemed like everyone was on a motorcycle (a lot without helmets).
We got to the compound. We dropped off half our luggage, and then picked out wader boots. Sheri’s were kids size (barely going to the half of her calf), while Larry’s went to his knees. We grabbed some water and headed back to the van. It was quick ride to the boat. We met the driver and the assistant, and pushed off from the dock.
We headed down the Rio Madre De Dios. The clouds were looming in the sky as we headed down the wide river. We saw a lot of birds, but it quickly became monotonous, with even few boats on the river. Leon brought out our lunch. Sheri’s was vegetarian (and grilled veggie wrap), while Larry had a Chifa (Peruvian Chinese food) of a wrap with meet and vegetables in an asian sauce. It was tasty.
We finally got to Bolivia. Our boatman quickly switched the flag so that we were flying under the Bolivian flag–less problems I guess. The Bolivian Border Check-point was a small hut on the riverbank. They grabbed our passports and checked us into Bolivia.
We then started heading up the Heath River which is the border between the two two countries. Immediately we saw a large white cayman basking on the bank. We headed up the Heath River. We saw several families of capybara, the world’s largest rodent. They looked like sheep sized guinea pigs.
We finally arrived at the Heath River Lodge. There were about 15 huts spread along the lodge area. We went to our hut, which was two beds covered by the required mosquito netting. We took a shower, and finally had continuous hot water (after many showers of lukewarm water) due to the huts personal hot water heater.
We went to dinner and met several other people who had been at the lodge several days already (and were leaving tomorrow). They talked about almost stepping on a poisonous snake, and we started wondering about our stay in the jungle. We sat with Leon, and an empty place setting for Jay (who was already in Miami). Dinner was good, but we were ready for bed. We took our flashlights and headed back to our hut.
Arequipa, Day Two
By · CommentsNow that both Edith and Jay had departed back to the US, Sheri and Larry decided to sleep in. We had done all of the major Arequipa touristy things the previous day, so we decided that this would be a day of lounging–eating, shopping, blogging :). We had breakfast at the rooftop restaurant, and it was only us and one other couple from San Deigo at the hotel. Then we did some internet blogging, and caught up on our e-mail.
For lunch we headed by taxi to Tradición Arequipeña. It was another beautiful day, and the view of the volcanoes was wonderful. The restaurant had just opened and a kids part was going on in one section. The day was getting warm, so we decided to sit inside. As an appetizer, we had a Corn and Andean Cheese–the cooked corn was fresh and much less starchy than we had tried previously. For a main course, Sheri again had stuffed peppers and scalloped potatoes; Larry had another Palta de Rellena (stuffed avocado with chicken) and Papas Fritas. The restaurant slowly filled up with locals, and they were doing a soundcheck for music which sounded like it was a great place to spend the afternoon. However, we wanted to see a little more of the city and do some shopping.
We gabbed a taxi and headed back to Plaza de Armas. We passed through the bustling market area, seeing another portion of the city. We did some final shopping (since Arequipa is known for its shopping). After a while, we decided to grab a dessert. We looked for a while and finally found Crepismo, a creperie related to ZigZag (where we had had a wonderful dinner previously in Arequipa). It was a two story cafe with a great atmosphere. We grabbed a comfy couch upstairs in the loft area, and ordered our snack. The aroma of the crepes being made was wonderful. Sheri had a chocolate crepe, and Larry had a crepe of butter, cinnamon and sugar. They were fabulous. We relaxed for a while, and soaked in the atmosphere. Before we left, Larry went to the rooftop and took some photos overlooking the Monastery and city itself.
We got some money and walked back to the hotel. We spent a little more time on the hotel laptop, and finally were caught up with the blogging up to that point in the trip. We were heading to the Amazon tomorrow, so we repacked our bags to focus on what we needed for the jungle (only 1 duffel and our daypacks). We paid our hotel bill, since we would be leaving early for a 6:45AM flight. Larry realized that he had left the ATM card at the machine when he got money previously; Sheri quickly canceled it online before someone could use it as a credit card.
We decided to have a light meal in Arequipa, and we grabbed a taxi to go back to Crepismo. Normally we don’t go back to the same restaurant again, but we didn’t want to risk a bad meal. A lot of locals were enjoying Saturday night there–a table of older ladies seemed to be the community matrons as a lot of people came up and talked to them and wished them well. Sheri ordered a salad of lettuce, egg, avocado and tomato; while Larry had the Marinera sandwich (warm bread, tuna, tomato, and capers)–both were wonderful. Dessert was vanilla ice cream and a raspberry crepe. Yet another great meal. We sat in the window and watched people go by on the Saturday night. Double decker buses passed by with the 2nd floor filled with kids dressed up (and screaming and making noise) for the Quincineros celebration for some girl (as her father sat in silence amongst all the teenagers).
We walked back to the Plaza de Armas square, and it was bustling for people out for a walk for the temperate evening. We had a last look around at the European square. We saw one ambulance come for a car that had been in an accident which was really amazing since the never seemed to be any general right-of-way defined. Whoever got to an intersection first wins; and there were very few traffic lights. There were lots of sudden stops as some taxi or bus would take the right of way. Surprisingly there were few accidents or even dented cards. We did see one deadlock scenario where a large four-way intersection was gridlocked with cars unable to move, unable to yield. Luckily we were able to skate around it in our taxi.
We headed back to the hotel. We felt safe in the neighborhood, seeing numerous cops walking their beat. However, we had been stopped two separate times in the last few days (once by an old woman and once by an old man) and warned to be careful and watch for thieves. But we always felt safe. We reached Hotel Arequipal, and we did our final preparations for our early morning flight to the Amazon jungle.
Arequipa, Day One
By · CommentsI started our first full day in Arequipa by sleeping in a bit, still trying to recover. Jay and Larry had breakfast together, and I snuck upstairs for some bread and fruit before breakfast ended. We ended up hanging around the hotel for part of the morning – Jay had a family emergency and it was starting to sound like he was going to need to go home early. He finally made the decision to fly home and changed his Delta flight, then we hurried in to town to the LAN office to change his two LAN flights into one going to Lima.
The LAN office was very helpful, much easier than trying to make the changes over the phone. We made sure to go to a LAN office with actual LAN agents, not a travel agent. The change was easy and Larry and I got checked in.
Next on our to-do list was to see a bit more of Arequipa before Jay left. We wanted to see Juanita, the mummy of a 14-year old girl that was sacrificed to quell volcanic activity. I thought I knew where the museum was, so we went to the pre-Andean Museum and paid admission. The museum is situated in a colonial house near the main square with parquet floors and stained glass french doors upstairs. There are ten rooms filled with artifacts – weavings, pottery, weapons, headresses. The weavings are 500 years old, excavated in the 50s, and are still colorful and very much intact.
It turns out that I had the museum wrong (I should not be allowed to make decisions while sick), and Juanita wasn’t at the museum. We figured this out as we entered the last room. Juanita is actually located at the museum of the Catholic University, just down the street, but when we went there we found out she was at the laboratory being cleaned. Oh well.
We had a quick lunch of sandwiches (Larry had a chicken burger) at a little cafe called La Covacha, then went back to the hotel so Jay could get packed up for his flight. After that, we had a little over an hour left, so we took a taxi to the Santa Catalina de Siena Monastery. The Monastery was founded in 1579 and is like a small village behind thick stone walls, with streets and cells where the nuns lived. More than 200 nuns lived there, but now only about 30 live there. In 1972, it opened to the public, but the nuns that live there now remain cloistered and separated from the tourists.
The Monastery has six streets, a square, a cemetery, an art gallery and 80 housing units. Most of the housing units include a place to sleep, a small sitting area, and a small kitchen with a clay oven. Some have small patios as well. We only had a short amount of time there, so we didn’t use a guide, but given the time it’s probably worth it to hire a guide.
We hurried back to the hotel via taxi, and Jay left for the airport. Larry and I napped for the rest of the afternoon, then went out for dinner to Ary Quepay, located in an interesting neighborhood on the outskirts of town. It’s a family-owned, casual restaurant that was pretty empty for a Friday night. We split another palta rellena (stuffed avocado is becoming our favorite thing to eat here), and I had adobo (pork stew) and Larry had the grilled pork shoulder (chancho de plancha, I think). It ended up being a very porky dinner, both were not bad but not great either.
After dinner we wandered about the neighborhood a bit, then caught a cab back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
Colca Canyon to Arequipa
By · CommentsWe got up early, because we wanted one last look at the condors this morning. It had rained overnight, but the sky was only party cloudy. We met for breakfast at 6:45 at the hotel restaurant, but they weren’t ready for us. We finally brought out bread, juice, coffee and matte de coca. We finished and went down to check out. Kuntar Wassi only took cash, but they had almost no change. Ultimately, the payment took almost all of our available money. We loaded our bags into the tourist van and rushed off to Cruz de Condor at 7:20. On the way we saw a young condor already winging its way along the canyon rim.
We got to Cruz de Condor at 7:45 and quickly staked out a great spot (after scoping out the area the day before). There weren’t many tourists yet, and we got good spots overlooking the canyon. Immediately we started seeing condors. It was amazing, as they glided by, and circled in the updrafts gathering height. It was incredible to see their wingspan as they passed by us. As we waited between condor appearances, we saw a chinchilla, as well as falcons and hawks. A condor even landed near us, and spread its wings, while the tourists snapped numerous photos. At 9:30 there were no more condors, but lots of tourists–we decided to leave. Edith and Jay did some final shopping, and we headed back to the van. We continued to Chivay along the wet and potholed road. Colca Canyon looked lush after last night’s rains.
We decided not to stop for lunch in Chivay since it was only 10:45 and our driver said it was only 3 hours to Arequipa. He rushed past the entrance and headed back to the big city. We were no longer site-seeing, but zooming through the mountains back to the hotel. We saw the chinchilla family (that we had missed coming in) as they rushed for cover as we sped by. We saw blanketed peaks that had been clear days before. We saw more vicunas, alpacas and llamas grazing in the grasslands. It was amazing how quickly we went from snowy mountains to the arid plateaus. Evos brought us back to Casa Arequipa without incident. We said goodbye, tipped him, and wished him the best.
Jay, Sheri and Larry checked back in to the hotel, then we all went for lunch at Sol de Mayo. Edith’s flight wasn’t for a while, so we had time for lunch. The restaurant was crowded in its open courtayard, and it was nosiy with the late lunch crowd. Larry had the chicarron de chancho (fried pork) which was good. Sheri and Edith had a stuffed pepper with scalloped potatoes. Jay had ceviche which took forever to arrive. We split some water and a pitcher of Chica Morada, blue corn, juice which was tasty. We did a little more shopping and got churros from a street cart. Edith tried to take a photo of the cart, but the lady didn’t want her photo taken. We went back to the hotel. Sheri decided she needed a nap after the rough and fast drive from Cabanaconde. Larry and Jay accompanied Edith to the airport in a taxi, and then they went back to the hotel. Edith headed to her flight back to Lima, and ultimately back to the United States–we were going to miss her.
After relaxing for a while, we went out to El Vineda for dinner. It was a little touristy, and it had a VERY loud Andean band playing music soon after we arrived. We switched to another table just to be able to have a conversation. Larry had the stuffed avocado which was good. Jay had ostrich meat on skewers. Sheri had a stuffed pepper and scallops. After dinner, we walked around the square and finally went back to the hotel. We crashed for the night after a long and busy day.
Colca Canyon
By · CommentsWe were up early to meet with our driver for a ride to Cruz del Condor, the lookout point for the Andean Condors. We got to the lookout just after 8am, and as we walked up to a spot to view the condors, one glided right past us. The condors are huge and lazily ride the thermals in the mornings to gain altitude. The older ones are marked with white on their wings which make them easier to photograph.
We sat for two hours, changing spots a couple of times to catch a better view. We saw a number of them, exciting every time. With the scenic backdrop, it was a really neat thing to see.
We went back to the hotel and decided to have lunch in town – not much to choose from, so we just picked a spot. We ordered, and then the people working there started to leave… to go to the nearby grocery. Edith had ordered pasta, and they came back from the grocery and said they didn’t have it. Jay’s cheese sandwich came out, then we waited… then my soup came out, and finally Larry’s chicken. We continued to wait for my chicken sandwich, which finally arrived. Edith ate it since I couldn’t even finish my chicken noodle soup.
We had a reservation for a horseback ride at 2, but it turned out to be more of a horseback walk, with three of us on horses and the non-English speaking guide walking along. So we decided I would hang out with Edith for the afternoon, and Larry and Jay would go on horseback with the guide (on horseback).
Edith and I walked through town and figured out how to get to the arch that marks the entry to Cabanaconde. I suggested we walk a little more, because I had remembered a sign pointing to the San Miguel lookout just ahead. We set out for the lookout, and Edith found donkeys by the side of the road to photograph.
We made it to the point, about a 45-minute walk from town. We were glad we went there – it was a gorgeous view of the canyon, and we saw more condors coming back home. We hung out there a while before going back for dinner.
Dinner was at the hotel again (lesson learned), but I had decided to take my “noche” pill before dinner, on an empty stomach. I’d been on Peruvian cold medicines, some for day and some for night, for the past week. We got to dinner and Edith and I ordered an avocado salad, which caused trouble because it wasn’t on the menu, but she had seen someone the night before eating it. I declared that I felt high. Our hot chocolate was delivered, and I remember having some of that plus my avocado salad (which turned out to be a sliced avocado with some sliced tomato on the side), and then I think I remember Larry delivering me to bed before dinner was over. Bad idea to have the noche pill before eating.
Arequipa to Colca Canyon
By · CommentsAfter warm showers at Casa Arequipa, we met for breakfast at our rooftop restaurant. They served bread, juice, fruit, coffee, tea, and scrambled eggs. Larry, Sheri and Jay put part of the the luggage in storage, taking only necessary stuff to Colca Canyon (since we would be back in a few days, and Edith would be heading back to the US after visiting Colca Canyon).
Our driver/guide, Evos, arrived at 8AM. Our bags were loaded on the tourist van, and off we went. We retraced part of our Puno-to-Arequipa route. We left Arequipa behind, with the snowcapped mountains overlooking the city. Our guide spoke only Spanish, so Larry moved to the front seat to translate. Evos knew all of the mountains, flora and fauna. We passed through the Camelid Preserve, where there were 6000 alpaca, vicuna and llamas.
We had a rest break at Pata Wasai (High Place), where there were bathrooms and matte de coca. The canyon walls looked like an Arizona landscape. There was even a sheep roaming around the reststop wanting to be petted. We got back in the van, and saw flamingoes in small ponds, and more camelids. We paused at Mirador de Volcanos/Mirador de Andes at 15500 feet, the highest point of our trip. Snow covered the rocks around. Apachetas (stacked pyramids of rocks) littered the landscape; there were stacked as offerings to the mountains. Evos stopped the van near a family of chinchillas, but they hid away. After leaving the super high altitude, we descended to Chivay, the entrance to Colca Canyon.
We paid the Colca Canyon Entrance fee, but decided not to stop for lunch in Chivay. So… our driver drove on. He pointed out the mountains and the cities we saw in the distance. We stopped at Yanque which had a pretty church and a nice square (although it was empty; no dancers like all of the stock photos). We continued along the canyon rim, looking down at the farmland below). We passed through a long, dusty tunnel.
We saw our first condor, drifting high in the sky. However, we moved on and finally reached the town of Cabanaconde. The main square had a condor statue in it, the main reason to bring people to the area. We checked in to our hotel, Kuntur Wassi. It was rustic but comfortable. Sheri was exhausted and decided she needed to nap. Edit, Jay and Larry went to lunch at the hotel restaurant (one of the best places to eat in town). Larry and Jay had the trout, while Edith had chicken and fried potatoes. The hotel provided us Pisco Sours as a welcome, which were strong at altitude. We went back tot he rooms, and after resting up Larry, Jay and Edith went out to see the condors returning in the afternoon. We wondered through the city in the general direction pointed out by the hotel staff, and finally found our way to the appropriate point (after almost being misdirected by a young kid trying to trick us). We staked out our point on an outcropping, and saw 3 condors over the next hour.
We went back to town and looked for a place for dinner, but didn’t see anywhere appetizing. Ultimately, we went back to the hotel and rested before dinner. Larry, Edith and Jay met for a light dinner, while Sheri continued to sleep. We met in the hotel restaurant and set near the wood burning oven to keep warm in the chilly evening. We split fried potatoes, cheese soup, and vegetables. A loud, large french group arrived at another table disturbing the quiet evening. For dessert, we split 2 tres leches cakes and a warm brownie–all of which were very tasty. We went to bed early, since we were going to be up early to see the condors tomorrow.
Puno to Arequipa
By · Comments… also known as The Horrible Bus Day.
We arrived at the bus station early, after getting breakfast and a stop in at Rico Pan to get sandwiches and snacks for the ride. The bus was scheduled to leave at 10am and arrive at 3 in Arequipa, nonstop. We waited and 10am came and went, and finally boarded the bus around 10:15. We were seated in the upper level in the front four seats. It was warm, and we finally left the station at 10:30am.
We traveled for about an hour, until we arrived in Juliaca, where we pulled into the Sur Oriente bus station to pick up… not passengers, but vendors selling all sorts of things to eat. They roamed the bus calling out whatever they were selling and making exchanges with other passengers. The bus went around the block as the vendors sold, then stopped and they got off. Did I mention it was warm? No air conditioning on the bus.
We continued on, and it got downright hot on the bus. We closed the curtains on the windows and tried to just sleep the day away. I fought congestion and claustrophobia. The bus kept stalling going uphill. We went over at least one high pass. It was hot. The one bright spot was our sandwiches from Rico Pan, which were delicious.
We finally pulled in to Arequipa at 5pm and couldn’t get of the bus fast enough. We decided to just get a cab to our hotel since it seemed kind of far…. except all the cabs were tiny. We finally had to exit the bus station and found a larger cab on the street, but the cab driver didn’t know exactly where our hotel was. After a detour, we finally found Casa Arequipa, a cute little pink bed and breakfast situated in a nice neighborhood. The rooms are really nice, and we had high fives all around – good beds and hot showers were ahead. Every room is different, and the ones on the top floor seem a little better, especially the ones not facing the street (Andean Room, Sillar Room).
We got settled in and then found out the place we wanted to go for dinner was lunch only, so we picked another spot and set out on foot towards the historic center to find our restaurant. Arequipa is a colonial city, and most of the buildings are made with sillar, a white, porous volcanic stone. The square feels European, and overall the city feels less Peruvian than Cusco.
We wandered around a bit, then had dinner at Zig Zag – good beef, ostrich and alpaca. Jay had a little of all three. The alpaca was good, much more tender than what we had in Cusco.
We came back to the hotel and re-packed yet again for our trip to Colca Canyon the next day.