Christmas in Colca Canyon

So remember when I wrote that the trek to Lake Churrup was the craziest hike we've ever done...scratch that...Colca Canyon takes the cake.

We hopped on a bus on Christmas Eve at 1am to head for the town of Cabanaconde which is at the top of the deepest part of the canyon. We arrived at about 7am on Christmas morning, met up with our guide, grabbed a quick breakfast, dropped off our big backpacks, and we were off.

Turns out Colca Canyon IS actually the DEEPEST canyon in the world averaging 3400 meters deep. We hiked down for about 4 hours until we reached a bridge over the river in the bottom of the canyon.

On the hike down we were really lucky to see about six different condors. Apparently, it's really unusual to see them as late in the day AND as close as we did. A couple of them flew by us at about only 10 meters away. We were stoked because a lot of people come to the canyon just to catch a glimpse of these condors and only see a small dot in the distance or nothing at all.

Once we reached the bottom, we had our Christmas dinner at a small indigenous home. Get this, people actually live down in the bottom of the canyon AND the only way to get in and out is to hike...no cars, no dirtbikes. Anyway, as I was saying we had our Christmas dinner of alpaca at the bottom of the canyon. Yes, I said ALPACA! Turns out, not only is it delicious, but our guide informed us that alpaca meat is a very healty alternative to beef because it's less fatty.

After we ate, we hiked up and down the side of the canyon for another 3 hours taking in GORGEOUS views until we finally reached our camp for the night. Both of us were wondering why we were so exhausted, but when our guide told us that we had hike 16 km it seemed to make a bit more sense.

Once we settled in and ate dinner our guide filled us in on the plan for the next day's climb out of the canyon. We were to wake up at 3am and begin the 4 hour climb back to Cabanaconde. It turns out it's best to start before the sun rises because the heat of the day is too strong to complete the climb.

After dinner we retired to our bamboo framed hut and taco-like foam mattress. After three consecutive night bus rides and 16 km of hiking, a crappy mattress never felt so good.

At 3am we were up and at 'em. Hiking in the dark was a much welcomed break from the heat of the previous day. Switchback after switchback we slowly climbed up the canyon. We were climbing under a full moon so we didn't even need to use our head torches. Watching the night slowly fade into day was absolutely breathtaking. The view definitely took our minds off of the difficulty of the climb.

Three and a half hours later, we made it to the top and four hours later, we arrived back into town. Get this, in 4 kilometers of walking we climbed 2000 meters (2km) of altitude. When we got to the top our guide told us that he was impressed because most people don't make the climb up. I guess the majority of tourists climb down the canyon and then ride a mule back up...what's the sense of accomplishment in that?

After hiking down, around, and up the canyon for a total of 20 kilometers in 24 hours, we were pretty proud of ourselves. We couldn't have thought of a better way to spend Christmas away from home.

¡Feliz Navidad!

Happy Christmas Everybody!

We got all dressed up and took a special Christmas photo for your Christmas Eve enjoyment. I realize it's not as good as a visit from Santa, but it's the best we could do :)

Right now, we're in Arequipa, Peru (our last stop before heading to Machu Pichu). This very special Christmas photo was taken today in the Plaza de Armas. Arequipa is a high desert city that sits at about 2300 meters above sea level. It's very hot in the day and, at this very moment, we're discovering how cold it can be when the sun goes down.

We've decided to celebrate Christmas with and two day trek into Colca Canyon...the second deepest canyon in the world (no big deal). We leave tonight at 12:30 for ANOTHER overnight bus to Chivay.

P.S. I realize we've been a bit lax on the blog posts, but I'm working on a bunch of drafts (Galapagos, Nazca Lines, etc.) so stay tuned...

The Nazca Lines

On our way from Lima to Cuzco, we decided to stop in Nazca and check out the mysterious Nazca Lines. The were created in the Peruvian desert by the ancient Nazca people, but nobody knows their purpose. Sure, there are plenty of theories ranging from celestial maps, to an airfield for alien spacecraft, to lines simply used for indicating the presence of ground water...but nothing has been proven.

That fact that nobody knows the lines' purpose is interesting, but actually going up and staring down at these huge geoglyphs (the animal figures) and geometric lines was pretty amazing!

We took a flight in a small four-seater plane in order to get the best view of some of these figures. Both of us were pretty excited to be up in the sky in such a small aircraft because neither of us had been in a Cessna before. Before the flight we were even starting to make plans to get our pilot licences when we get home. My plans changed about halfway through the flight...here's why:

The flight takes only about one half hour and the pilot takes you over thirteen different figures and various lines. In order to get a REALLY good look at the geoglyphs, the pilot puts the small plane into a steep, toilet flushing-type spin...first a few times to the left, and then, another few times to the right.

While checking out the first few figures I thought it was the GREATEST thing! Then, at about figure number four my stomach took a turn for the worst. I was no longer able to stare down at the whirling figures below us. I had to keep my eyes on the horizon...and even that wasn't doing much good.

I broke out into the cold sweat that happens just before you vomit and, luckily, the pilot turned around and noticed I wasn't doing so hot. He opened the window for a couple minutes and the fresh air seemed to help a bit. Between the fresh air and yoga breathing I was able to keep the chunks down, but a half hour flight never seemed so long.

If you check out the pictures in the photo album, you can see a nice shot of me fresh off of the plane and sitting in a wooden chair...I've never looked so GREEN!

Trekking Lake Churrup

Remember when I wrote about the crazy hike we did in Cajas National Park? Scratch that...we did the craziest hike up-to-date in Huaraz yesterday.

The city of Huaraz, Peru sits the in a mountain range called the Cordillera Blanca. There are over 50 snowcapped peaks of 5700 meters or higher and this area is famous for its beautiful, but challenging trekking.

We didn't have enough time or the right equipment to do a multiple day trek so we decided to do a day hike up to Lake Churrup for the day. We hired a guide through our hostel because we had read that there were some dangerous parts to this trail. Given our inexperience with hiking in the mounitains we thought it best to have an experienced guide.

Lake Churrup sits at an elevation of 4500 meters which is about 14,763 feet...pretty high. We started from a little bit above Huaraz which sits at 3091 meters . We figured we should be able to handle the altitude because we hadn't had any problems in the area around Quito which was similar altitude. Note for later in the story - we didn't take into account that we had been at sea level for about a month and had only arrived in Huaraz two days earlier.

The day started out great! The sun was shining (which doesn't happen often this time of year...it's the wet season in the mountains) and our guide, Coqi (there's no "U" after the "Q", it's a different language), seemed like a really nice guy.

We caught a mini bus to an indiginous area about a half hour outside of town and started walking on a dirt road. Both Brandon and I were a little bummed because we had pictured something a little more challenging than walking uphill on a road. Our wishes would soon be answered...

After about two hours on the road we reached the trail that lead up to Lake Churrup. We stopped for a quick snack and made friends with a local dog who accompanied us all the way to the lake.

At first, the trail was rocky and mostly uphill. Our hearts were beating hard, but we were able to handle the incline as long as we kept a slow, steady pace. After about and hour of climbing we started to feel the effects of the altitude in a serious way. Both of us had headaches and Brandon's legs began to get really heavy. We couldn't have been in abnormally bad shape because even the dog was winded and looked a bit tired. We would stop to drink a bit of water and catch our breath every now and again which helped immensely.

About an hour after that is when the trail got really gnarly...well, the trail actually disappeared. At this point, Coqi informed us that we basically had to scale the rocks beside the waterfall in order to make it up to the lake. To complicate the situation, mother nature decided to add in a dash of rain. Needless to say, at this point, we could see the value in hiring a guide. At least there would be somebody there to get us help when we fell off of the side of a 60 meter waterfall.

So we started up the side of this waterfall and, impressively, the dog came with us. We were basically rock climbing (using all fours) without safety gear to get to this lake. At one point, the dog even got to a point where she couldn't get out of and our guide had to assist her up the mountain.

Luckily, we made it to the top of the waterfall and were able to get a glimpse of the lake before the skies really opened up on us. The view was fantastic!..but our headaches persisted so we decided to start back down only after about 20 minutes at the top.

The way down the waterfall was more sketchy than the climb because you were staring at how far you would fall if you miss-stepped or slipped. Once we cleared the waterfall, the hike down was a much welcomed break to the cardiovascular system, but the constant downhill was a bit hard on the knees and legs.

When we finally returned to the road to catch the mini bus back to town, we had hiked 18 kilometers, and climbed about 1 kilometer of altitude in about 8 hours walking. By the time we got to the mini bus we were walking like we had arthritis. Coqi made us feel better when he told us that Lake Churrup was the most difficult day hike in the area and we had actually done it in pretty good time.

After gorging ourselves with pizza and water we caught the overnight bus to Lima...we've never slept so soundly on a bus.

We're in Peru...Here's a Map

Check Out These Boobies

After two weeks of killing time on the Ecuadoran coast it was finally time to head to the Galapagos Islands. My two biggest concerns before the cruise (which, by-the-way, is NOT cheap by any standard and non-refundable) were catching dengue fever or getting food poisoning. Luckily, I was able to steer clear of dengue. Bad news was that I came down with a solid case of food poisoning the night before we were supposed to catch our flight to the Galapagos.

After a sleepless night I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to make it to the airport. Thanks to Brandon and the pharmacy system down here I was able to feel well enough to stand up and take a taxi to the airport. The pharmacies down here are great! You just tell the pharmacist your symptoms and they give you what you need. You don't need a prescription from a doctor and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Well, we made our flight, the meds kicked in, and I made it to the islands feeling much better. From the airport we were bussed to the dock where our yacht awaited us...the 89 foot "Guantanamera". Including us, there were 16 passengers. Due to the fact that touring the Galapagos is not cheap, the majority of yachts seemed to contain retirees. We were lucky to have a relatively young crowd on our boat (20's - 30's). There were people from Ireland, France, Spain, Australia, Canada, and Holland.

Well, where do I even start with trying to describe the Galapagos Islands? Basically, they are a chain of volcanic islands (many still active) that sit on and around the equatorial line. Because of their position on the globe, there are three different ocean currents that pass through the islands. The combination of the ocean currents and the isolation of the islands led to the development of unique wildlife...many species are found nowhere else in the world. The Galapagos Islands are probably best known for their role in the development of the Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Needless to say, Brandon and I were SUPER excited to get onto some islands, check out the animals, and take some killer pictures.

Funny story...

The first day a half was great! We were able to get some great shots of sea lions, different types of iguanas, and birds. Then, the fateful wet landing on the afternoon of the second day. Like the few previous landings, this seemed just as simple. The dingy pulls up to the beach and everyone hops out in ankle-deep water.

Brandon was the first to get off and being the gentleman he is, he gave me his hand to assist me off of the boat. Turns out, I'm not as sure-footed on boats as I'd like to believe. Those of you who were with us at Buccaneer Weekend in Catalina would probably agree.

Well, I had my new, kick-ass digital camera (remember my old one was stolen in Costa Rica last year) in its case, securely attached to my belt so that it wouldn't fall in the water...what better place to put it?

I took one step onto the tube of the dingy and was fine. I decided to push my luck with a second step on the wet dingy tube rather than stepping off of the boat and...whoosh...my foot slipped out from under me and I found myself totally soaking wet in ankle deep water. Of course, I was laughing about the scene until Brandon pointed out that I had the camera on my side that was completely soaked.

I had hope that the camera would be fine because it had been in the case and BARELY any water had touched it. Turns out technology is pretty sensitive...the camera turned on for a split second, but that was it. It was like watching a dying person take their last gasping breath. We spent the next 6 days walking around like outcasts without a camera in the Galapagos.

BUT, not all was lost! The animals and scenery were unforgettable. You could walk up to ANY animal on the islands and they wouldn't flinch. I've never been a huge aficionado of birds, but there were some great species out there. We saw blue footed boobies, red footed boobies, Nazca boobies, frigate birds, finches, flamingos, and huge albatross. As for land roamers, we were able to see 200 kg tortoises and huge land iguanas.

We were able to do the best snorkeling either of us had ever done in our lives. We swam with penguins and sea turtles, played with sea lions, hovered over manta rays and eagle rays, and saw tons of beautiful fish...even the fish wouldn't swim away from you. But I'd say the highlight of our snorkeling outtings was running into hammer head sharks.

I've seen lots of reef sharks while snorkeling or scuba diving, but hammer heads are another story. They're BIG and they're FAST!! I'll admit is was a bit freaky because in my previous experiences with sharks they were usually just relaxing and cruising along the bottom. With hammer heads it was quite an experience.

I was actually really lucky to get a good look at three who swam be me at about a distance of 6 feet. Brandon was right next to me, but was looking the other way and missed the up-close view. By the time I could get his attention, they had almost disappeared into the blue...that's how fast they move. It was AMAZING, but I'll admit that being in the water with an animal that big and that fast is a little intimidating.

Other than our camera casualty (which we replaced in Lima), we had a wonderful experience in the Galapagos. Hopefully, we can get some people we met on the boat to share their pictures with us. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience (I'm not just saying that because it was expensive) and would recommend stopping by if you're ever in the area :)

Ruta del Sol

After spending about 1 month in the Andes, Brandon and I decided it would be a good idea to get our pale selves back into the sun before we headed off to the Galapagos Islands. We didn't want to be nursing sunburns instead of enjoying the wildlife.

Long story short, we found ourselves on the "Ruta del Sol" on the coast of Ecuador. Turns out, the "Ruta del Sol", or route of the sun, in english, isn't so sunny until the middle of December when the rainy season ends. We were there just before the sunny season was supposed to start.

After a suicide bus ride from the jungle (about 24 hours on 2 buses) we plopped down in the north, in a tourist town called Atacames. While it wasn't exactly our speed (a bit full on with touts and loud, tacky beach bars lining the beach), we did enjoy being back by the ocean for the first time since we left home.

From there, we headed down to a town on a small island called Muisne. We have been using an old guide book so not everything we encounter is what we expect from our reading. Muisne was one of these incidents. As far as our book was concerned, "Muisne has a long, wide, usually empty beach backed by a few sandy little hotels and simple restaurants." Sounds charming, right?

When we arrived we figured out exactly WHY the beach tends to be empty. Muisne was one of the sketchiest places we have found ourselves. We had a hunch that there was something fishy about this town when we pulled up, but we decided to give it a chance. Sometimes first impressions of a place can be totally off.

From the very first minute we stepped foot off of the bus we were bait for the crack addicts and hustlers that run this town. We ended up paying WAY too much for the 30 second boat ride from the dock to the island because the asshole told us he would take us around to the front of the island where the hostels were. Turns out that's impossible because there's nowhere to dock on the other side of the island and there's some substantial surf which makes it impossible for a beach landing. But of course they guy doesn't fess up to this until we're halfway across the channel and we've already agreed to a price.

After our pleasant little boat experience, we start the 1 mile walk to the other side of the island where we could find one of the "sandy little hotels." While walking we were lucky enough to run into "Cracky Crackerson" as I'd like to call this guy. He had dreadlocks, smelled like he hadn't been introduced to the concept of a shower, was missing a number of teeth, and had a permanent tan from sleeping outside.

Brandon was nice enough to respond to the guy's "Buenas dias" and then we found we were blessed with "Cracky's" company for the remainder of the walk to the other side of the island. Long after we stopped responding to his questions and attempts at pointing us in the direction of a "good" hotel he informed me that it was only appropriate that I give him a tip for his services (for what...following us around with a foul odor?). I just ignored "Cracky" and we headed down the beach (which really was deserted) to find a place to stay. The place looked like it used to be a popular tourist hangout, but had fallen off the map and hadn't been touched for years.

Brandon and I checked out one hostel and decided to get the heck out of dodge. This place was a hole. We hopped on a ferry back to the mainland (paid the appropriate rate) and caught a bus south. Three buses, a night in a fishing town called Perdernales, and a day and a half later, we ended up in a cool surf town called Canoa.

From the get-go, Canoa had a much more mellow, welcoming vibe. Get this, in our first walk around Canoa we ran into an American who lives in Ecuador. When we told him we had just come from Muisne his reaction was, "You shouldn't have been there in the first place!" Apparantly, our feeling that the town was sketch was spot on. Turns out robbing and mugging of tourists happen regularly AND tourists have been murdered there in recent years.

After confirming that our suspicions of Muisne were right we headed for a place to stay. While looking around, we ran into a friendly, loud American named Annie. She pointed us in the direction of a clean, mellow place to stay with plenty of hammocks...AND the price was right.

After we settled in, we ended up chatting with Annie for quite some time. She was quite a character! Get this, she's been cycling around the world for 20 years. She rides a mountain bike and camps in order to make her money go as far as possible. She hails from Miami, Florida where she varnishes boats and crews for boat deliveries from time to time. As you can guess, she and Brandon had plenty to talk about.

Like us, she works for a few months and then takes off for an extended amount of time. She's been all over and has tons of great stories from her travels.

One thing I've always been curious about is what travelers did for money before banks were automated and ATM's were worldwide. I asked her what she used to do for money before the invention of the ATM. Turns out, she would carry all of her money (thousands of dollars) in the soles of her shoes. I thought this was an ingenious idea, but turns out some theives knew about this tricky little hiding place and she had had her shoes stolen once.

We ended up hanging with Annie for a few days and when we decided to leave the sun FINALLY made an appearance on the Ecuadoran coast.

As we meandered down to the south the sun would come and go and we were able to enjoy a few days in Puerto Lopez and the backpacker town of Montañita. Then, finally, it was time for us to get to Guayaquil to catch our plane to the Galapagos.