May 2008

We made to Nazca to view the incredible lines. We booked a small 3 seater light aircraft to fly over the lines. You go up at about 300 feet so you get a very good view of these ancient lines. The pilot also liked to tip the plane on it´s side to get a beter view. We were told that a lot of people didn´t hold on to their lunch during the flights.

The lines them selves are a real spectacle. Massive triangles dug into the ground looking just like runways and massive images of animals that could only really be seen from about 300 feet. Dogs, monkeys, birds and even a astronaught all etched into the desert ground.

Sue and I made it without revealing our breakfast to the pilot, although Sue did admit that she had a funny five minutes half way through the flight. We only spent the one night in Nasca and then made our way into high altitude. The first stop being Arequipa. At a mere 2500 metres, surrounded by mountains and on the foot of a active volcano Arequipa is something to behold. We didn´t have time to see the second deepest canyon in the word, the first being just next door and only 100 metres deeper, so we went wight water rafting. Neither of us had done this before but were very excited at the prospect. The guide said that we would be running 1 to 4 graded rapids. 5 being the highest and 6 being unrunnable. He also told us that if you run a grade 6 rapid and come out alive then it goes down to a 5!

The experience was very exciting and a lot more dangerous than we first thought. We were on the raft with three americans. You really have to work hard to get down rapids, paddling hard when the guide shouts you orders and diving from one side of the raft to the other to avoid flipping the raft. We were told that there was only one place that it was likely we would flip but it hadn´t happened to anyone for about 4 months....Guess what. We flipped the raft. We came careering into what looked like a smallish boulder sending the nose of the boat up and to it´s side. I held on for as long as possible and watched the American, who was up front with me, fall in followed by me on top of him. Sue and the other two swiftly followed into the freezing, rocky, mountain rapids. I saw the American kick free just as the raft fell back on top of me trapping me between a rock and it´s hull for what seemed like a eternity. It was only a matter of seconds before I was free but the a headline “four tragically die in Peruvian rapids” did flash through my mind . The fun wasn´t over yet. We were still in the rapids. The river swept us on. Sue, managing to find most of the rocks and boulders, in the river bounced down to calmer waters where we were rescued by another raft and the safety kayaker. I got off lightly regarding hitting rocks on the way down but Sue was covered in bruises the next day.

We still had more river to run and we completed it bruised and drenched. It was still very fun and I would like to do it again but without the near drowning.

We arrived in Peru via a couple of bus journies to the boarder town with Brazil, only to find that there were no buses into Peru from here (or so the taxi driver and his mates told us). So we ended up getting into his taxi and after 5 hours driving on roads that were being built as we drove on them and a boat crossing, we ended up in Puerto Maldonado, a smallish town in the Peruvian Amazon. The route we chose to cross from Brazil into Peru, is not an obvious one and not one that we´ve met anyone else who´s tried.

From here we flew to Lima, where we were surprised to find that it´s cold and have had to get used to the feel of socks and boots after 2 months of flip flops. In Lima our hotel was a converted old colonial house and was like staying in a mansion, with marble statues and elaborate decorations along the corridors. Our room wasn´t so grand - probably the servant quarters.

Didn´t get to see much in Lima as the Presidents of all the South American countries were in town and when the streets surrounding their offices weren´t closed preventing us from getting anywhere, they were visiting the local museums and sights and so they were closed. We did get to see round the catacombes beneath one of the churches, where the archaeologists who excavated them have arranged them in strange circle shapes, with the skulls in the middle??

From Lima we got the bus to Pisco, where we were served hot coffee on board by the poor hostess who had to carry them down the isle while the bus continued to bounce along the bumpy roads. In Pisco we took a boat trip to a nearby island and saw Penguins - the first time we´ve seen penguins in the wild and very exciting. There were lots of other birds too, including boobies (tee hee) and seals and we were advised to wear hats to protect ourselves from the white bombs they were dropping. Dan got hit twice! We saw bottlenosed dolphins on the way back, who came right out of the water to have a look at us. They also make Pisco (a white grape brandy) round here, which we treated ourselves to a bottle of and goes quite well with sprite.

One of the most popular drinks here is Inca cola, which is Perus take on cola, but bright yellow!

From Pisco we took another bus to Huacachina, a small desert oasis town where we´ve been sand boarding. We took a dune buggy (driver included) which raced up and down the dunes and was far from the sedate drive we were expecting to our sand boarding site. Dan got the hang of it quite quickly and managed quite a steep slope until he stacked it right at the end and got a face full of sand. I stuck to the safer belly and bottom strategies, which was a lot of fun. Some of the most fun we´ve had!

This afternoon we get a bus to Nazca, where wé plan to fly over the Nazca lines.

We´ve hired a camper van to spend our three weeks in New Zealand in and are hoping the heater works as it´ll be winter there.

(Please note it takes ages to downlad photos on this blog so we will be adding more photos to enrties on after we have posted them)

From Manaus we ventured into the jungle overnight. We reached our jungle camp by a 3 hour bus journey then motor boat. The camp was made entirely from wood, no electricity and employs only local people. As it's the rainy season there was only us and 1 German traveller staying there. This meant that we had the luxury of our own guide. During rainy season the water level is 7-8 meters higher than in the dry season. This means that the trees are either underwater or just their tops are out. We took a canoe through the canopy of the flooded forest, which in some places so dense that our boat only just made it through. We saw cappuchin monkeys and caimen, but this was nothing to the excitement of Antonio, our guide, to the grey squirrel we saw! On the way back from the forest, it rained jungle style i.e. hard and long. There was a wall of rain behind us on the water approaching faster than we could row away until inevitably we got drenched.

At night we went out again by canoe alligator spotting. They find the alligators by the red reflected by the eyes from a tourch beam. Our guide was able to find a baby alligator in the pitch dark at 100 meters and even managed to scoop it up into our boat so that we could see it up close.

The following day we went for a long trek into the jungle and were shown, Ray Mears style, the medicinal uses of all the plants. There's a tree thats sap smells like vicks sinex! We got to drink from a vine and even have a go with the machete. There's these ants that if you get them to cover your hand and then rub them in quickly before getting bitten, they act as mosquito repellent. Unfortunately the camera was playing up and Dan had to keep his hand in a bit longer than advisable so has a few small bites! The whole trip was really enjoyable.

We also went to see the meeting of the waters in Manaus, where the black and white rivers meet, but don't mix for 10km. It's really strange and there's even a big difference in temperature.

The next morning we took our first flight which has brought us a few hundred km closer to Peru, but still a few hundred km and 2 sleeper bus journeys away. We hope to make it into Peru sometime this week and will probably head to Cusco as our first stop.

Our arrival into the city of Belem, the gateway to the mighty Amazon River was made with out incident apart from it being May 1. It turns out that that they don’t round all bank holidays up to the Friday or Monday so we found every thing shut on a Thursday apart from our hotel. It being May Day we find a large protest march running through the city. Sores of people waving reds flags, chanting and wearing red noises with cops in full riot gear looking menacingly on. We never did find out what was going on but it all ended peacefully enough.
After a night we made our move to the river boat that would be our home for the next 6 nights. It was only supposed to be four nights but this is how things work in the Amazon apparently. The boat had three decks. The bottom for cargo, the middle for people in hammocks and the top was a makeshift bar. The middle deck was full by the time we set off three hours late. About 80 hammocks cramed into a space made for half that number. We were at the end of this hammock line but still had people in very close quarters Hammocks were strung above and below each other all through out the deck. You got to know your neighbors very well. We were well fed for the 7 days we were on the boat albeit the meals were the same very day. The showers and toilets were a bit grim but nothing too bad even though you were sharing them with everybody else.

Nothing prepares you for how beautifully amazing the Amazon River is. It can be so wide that you are sure you are out at sea only seeing the faintest line of trees in the distance. You are also surrounded by dense jungle on either side with the odd clearing every now and again for a few small houses. Kids as young as 4 or 5 would row out to the boat to play in the wake or get a small gift thrown by one of the passengers.
7 days on a boat is not as boring as it first may sound. There is always something to look at. We would see pink river dolphins almost every day, toucans, macaws and a world of bugs would greet you in the night. You could also just chat everybody else on the boat. My Portuguese is a little better because of it. We also acted as makeshift babysitters on a few occasions. I don’t think I’ll forget little Gabriel and his mother who we nicknamed “trouble” for reasons we haven’t got time to mention in this entry.
I would recommend this trip to any one who loves a bit of adventure. It was a experience I for one will never forget.