Puno, Peru

This is where we stayed for our first night in Puno, Peru on the shore of Lago Titicaca. We splurged just a bit and got our first bathtub on the trip so far. That came in handy to give the boys there first really hot soak of the trip. Everyone enjoyed the little bit of luxury. The location was extremely convenient next to the Cathedral and the Plaza de Armas.

They only had one night available, which wasn’t really a problem as we planned to stay on Isla Amantani the second night and were fine moving elsewhere for our last night. But in the end we didn’t go to the island because someone got sick in the night. Thankfully, all was well later the next evening and we moved on to another place.

Whitewater Rafting on the Rio Chili (that was actually chilly)

The first time that I heard we might go whitewater rafting was in Baños, but when the chance came for the first time in Arequipa (or anywhere) I said “let’s go”. I was not missing this time because I had been waiting since Baños and was not waiting any longer. So, we got into a truck from our hostal, El Caminante Class, and we got started on our way to the whitewater rafting. On the way there we had to stop for all of our equipment like helmets, wet suits, the raft and a kayak too (actually two kayaks, but we only ended up using one). An then we were on our way. As the truck stopped again we got out and noticed that this was where we were going to be whitewater rafting. I can’t make the car sound here because we are just starting whitewater rafting we are not starting the car, we are starting to whitewater raft. As we went down our first rapid, I was like “WOW, this is awesome!”. We bounced around a lot. “Tow, Tow, Tow” (Try to imagine it even though you aren’t actually there) So, we went down the river a little bit, maybe a fifth of the way, and then we hit our first class III rapid and I was like “So awesome dude!” Because, we were bouncing around like “Tow,Tow,Tow”. As we went down the river and we came to stop, and I was like “why are we stopping”, we came to a class IV rapid. But we weren’t going to ride on it so we had to walk through it and my feet felt icier than ice cubes. Icier than the ice age. Iciest they have ever been in my life. That water was freezing. Then there were so many cool sites to see on our way to the next class IIs, IIIs, and our only IV. But, as we took all these rapids we were having so much fun that I didn’t notice when we stopped and he told us to get out of the boat. We walked a little ways down the river and I saw an amazing site. It was a rapid called “The White Canyon”. All the water bunched up so quickly and then crashed down and made a whitewater canyon. He said that we can ride on it or you don’t have to. I’m like “who would ever want to walk that thing, it looks awesome.” Some people didn’t want to, but I couldn’t understand that. We were just up there right over White Canyon. A lot of people were saying “yes” and others may have been sweating a little bit. And then “Kapfoosh”

It felt like we were going through a water tunnel because all of the water touched the raft and went around us. In the end we were all wet because of course the water has to come down and it came down on our heads and everybody got wet, wet, wet and more wet. After that it wasn’t as exciting because there were only class IIs and class IIs and they weren’t as exciting.

But then we came to what I thought was the most fun of the whole trip. 75% into the trip we hit a class III+ and that changed it all. It was about maybe one minute of almost class IV rafting and that made my day. But, what didn’t make my day was that we were almost done. Then when we got to the end I was “awesomely freaked out” because that was awesome, even better than horseback riding in Baños.

Bus Travel in Peru - Our Luck Runs Out

We had great luck in Ecuador with our many days of bus travel.  In all, we took eight bus rides varying from one to eight hours in duration.  Bus travel in Ecuador is not luxurious;  some times it is downright uncomfortable and scary.  Not once did we experience a break down, delay or other issue on any of our trips, however.

I kept telling the kids that as our trip progressed, next to Peru and then to Argentina, the quality of the bus service and roads would improve.  In most respects that was correct, except in Peru when our luck with bus reliability finally ran out.

First, our bus from Nazca to Arequipa got a flat tire. It was a little bit after 6 PM and we were making great time heading South along the barren, desolate and desert-like Pacific Coast of Peru.  The scenery and vast, empty beaches were stunning.  Huge waves were rolling and there was empty desert in every direction.  All was great until we heard a sound like a small explosion. It was pretty clear that a tire had just blown. We wondered what that meant for our trip. Would we be stranded waiting for a repair vehicle or new bus? The driver pulled to the side of the road and stopped to examine the situation. He then started driving again. Would we just keep going with a flat tire on to Arequipa? No, we soon stopped again, this time in front of a typical shack like house on the side of the road. We were told that they would change the tire and we would be back on the road shortly. So, the two drivers got out the spare tire and changed the tire in no more than 30 minutes. Impressive! It ended up being a bit of a blessing in disguise as the stop allowed us to view a beautiful sunset on the Pacific Ocean. We also got a small peak at life in this region of Peru. Suffice it to say, life looked pretty tough. A ramshackle house made of many different materials, a turkey running around the yard and no electricity or running water, perhaps.

That was last Saturday and this past Saturday (yesterday) brought yet another long bus ride. This time from Puno (on Lago Titicaca) to Cuzco (near Machu Picchu). We had splurged a little and booked a bus line called Inka Express. This transformed a straight 6 or 7 hour bus trip into a 10 hour journey with an English speaking tour guide, stops at 6 archaeological sites along the way and a stop for lunch. Well, it didn’t quite work that way. We were again traveling through stunning scenery, this time in the high plains of the Andes headed up towards the high point of our journey, when we felt the bus lurch, slow down and begin to spew white smoke everywhere. We thought we had our second flat tire on a bus in Peru. The smoke kept coming, however, and we began to think that this time it was different. Again, they stopped the bus and got out to take a look. Our tour guide gave us an update and said that the bus had some engine trouble and that we would try to drive slowly for 15 minutes or so to our lunch stop and that the company would send us a new bus. So, we started moving again. He opened some windows to get us some air, but the smoke started coming in. The bus moved very slowly and the smoke just kept coming. It quickly became clear that it was not possible to drive the bus further so we stopped at a random spot along the road.

Most everyone had a good attitude about the situation and we then proceeded to wait for some help. Cell phones didn’t work so our guide flagged down the few passing vehicles and sent one of the bus staff in one of them to get some help. We played cards. We waited. We met some locals and nearly cleaned out the one small tienda that was clearly stocked for local consumption, not a broken down bus full of tourists. We waited. Kelli got a bit of a walk in. We waited. We met a very cute 5 month old girl. We waited. We observed some old political ads painted on the roadside. We waited. The kids did some homework and then after 2 or 3 hours a new bus showed up to take us on our way.

All in all, if this is the worst of bus travel in South America we still are lucky. We’ll see!

El Caminante Class - Arequipa, Peru

Here is where we stayed in Arequipa, very near the central square. It was a great place, especially considering that it cost S/60 (Peruvian Soles) or $20 per night, including breakfast. They also booked a fantastic morning of white water rafting. Much like Cuenca, Ecuador, we found Arequipa a really comfortable and welcoming city. We were sorry to leave.

Islas Ballestas - near Paracas, Peru

We decided to take a short boat tour of Islas Ballestas on our way from Lima to Arequipa last Saturday. The bus ride from Lima to Arequipa is a mere 16 hours, so in order to take the tour and get to Arequipa that same day we left Lima at 4:15 AM. Ouch! ! We arrived in Paracas at 8:20 or so and headed straight for the harbor to catch our 8:30 boat. The tour lasted until 10:30 and we rushed back to the bus station to head to Arequipa, where we arrived just after midnight. Even though we traveled in relative luxury on a double decker bus, and on the 1st floor (sort of like 1st class on an airplane) for the last eight hours, everyone was quite exhausted. That said, as you will see from the pictures below, the day was worthwhile!

Volcano Antisana and Quilotoa Crater Lake

First, check out our new “Videos” page at the link at the top right hand side of the page.  We will post all of our videos in this one place, adding new ones at the top and letting the old ones move down.

It has been hard to keep up with postings on the blog. We’ve been a bit busy on buses and airplanes. We are now in Peru and we still have some more jungle photos and video from Ecuador to post soon. Two of the lasting impressions that we will have from Ecuador are the biodiversity of the country, one of the most diverse in the world, and the natural beauty at every turn.

Here are some pictures from our last weekend in Ecuador. JM’s good friend Andres took us to Volcan Antisana near Quito with his wife Rosanna and almost 4-year-old daughter Amelia. Antisana is a volcano of the northern Andes, in Ecuador. It is the fourth highest volcano in Ecuador, at 18,871 ft. (5,752m), and is located 50 km SE of the capital city of Quito. We really enjoyed spending the day with them and the volcano and surrounding areas were breathtakingly beautiful. Thanks for the great day! We’re sorry that we didn’t get a picture of you to post here.

Here are some pictures from our Sunday trip to Quilotoa Crater Lake. Quilotoa is a dormant crater lake located high in the Western Cordilleras of the Andes, 35 km west of Latacunga. The caldera is oval shaped with a diameter of 2.5 kilometers and the steep crater walls drop in some parts more than 300 meters to the water level at 3500m. The lake is 240m deep and its water is alkaline and no fish live there. The lake itself was spectacular and the drive there and back involved the typically beautiful views of the Ecuadorian Andean landscape.

After the hike down to the lake, which was really more of a slide down steep sandy hills most of the way, all of us except Kelli rode back up on mules/horses. Local indigenous people walk the animals down and then walk beside them as they carry the tourists back up. It looked pretty tough for the animals, which didn’t please Ainsley at all. Our guide claimed that each mule only does it once each day, but that was hard to believe. I was most amazed by the husband and wife pair that walked up with Jack and me. As you will see in the pictures below the wife was carrying a young baby with her the entire time. Even though they are acclimated to the altitude it was a tough clime, I can only imagine what it would be like with a baby. Furthermore, at one point she shifted the baby so that she could breast feed it and afterward shifted it again to her back. The US has trouble at times with breastfeeding in public; this woman did it while climbing out of a crater lake to earn a few dollars. Amazing!

Rio Blanco Community

For the first three nights in the jungle we stayed near the community of Rio Blanco. Our rooms were in the area that they built for tourists, just a short 5 minute walk from the actual community. (See “Where We Stayed” for some pictures and more description of our accomodations.)

We arranged our stay through a group called RICANCIE, recommended by a brother of a friend who is a professor of spanish and latin american literature. Here is an excerpt from their website outlining their background.

“RICANCIE stands for Indigenous Community Network of the Upper Napo for Intercultural Exchange and Ecotourism. It was founded in 1993 with the goal to improve the quality of life for some 200 quichua families. Then as now, RICANCIE has taken as its primary objective the defense of the Quichua territory against encroaching mining and oil companies. Furthermore, tourist groups were being sent into these communities by external travel agents. These groups paid only minimal reimbursement fees and left behind trash and bad feelings, which led to conflict within the communities. With organized tourism activities, RICANCIE pursues a self-determined development path and offers new perspectives for our children. While RICANCIE continues to enjoy support of international organizations, RICANCIE is proud of its independence and all decisions regarding RICANCIE events and strategies are taken by a Concil whose members come from the villages participating in RICANCIE. “

On the first day, after hiking into the jungle for a few hours and having some lunch, we headed to the community where we met some of the local families and the kids played soccer with two of the local boys (more on that later). As you might imagine, the living conditions in the community are far different than anything we’ve experienced before. Most of the homes are mad of wood and very simple construction. They do have running water and one has electricity, but as you will see in the pictures below the 60 or so people living in the community have only the very basic necessities. My perception is that the RICANCIE project has brought them some level of income and ability to be more self-supportive, but it was really hard to determine. The families were all welcoming and apparently used to a limited but fairly steady flow of tourists through town.

Everything must be brought into the community by foot or mule, about a 2 hour journey. In fact as we hiked in that first day a 9 year old boy from the community passed us heading out of town on a mule carrying goods for the market. He then caught up to us on his hike back in and then later in the afternoon “kicked our butts in soccer” as Ainsley said.

On the second day we went into a family’s house for a yucca preparation demonstration. Yucca and bananas are still a primary source of food for all of their meals and they are nearly completely self sufficient in terms of growing all of the food they eat. It was quite eye opening to spend an hour or so in their kitchen and to take a turn at preparing some yucca ourselves. You will also see Eliot drinking a tea concoction they prepared that was supposed to help ward off the effects of his cold. He hates onions and yes, that was one of the main ingredients. Miraculously he drank most of it and as you will see did not enjoy it.

The community does have a small church and a primary school. The Ecuadorian government provides support in the form of a teacher and a house for them to live in. They also provide food which is prepared by a different family each day in the school kitchen. We joined the students one day as they were eating their soup and then during part of their class work. It was really great for our kids to see the school, interact with the children and gain an appreciation for what we have in our school systems back in the US.

The children in the community are taught in both Spanish and Quichua. They also learn a limited amount of English. The classroom itself is arranged with the desks oriented into three different directions and the teacher rotates throughout the day, teaching the three groups of different aged children. While teaching one group, the other two are basically on their own doing work. During our visit they demonstrated some of their English skills and our kids did the same in Spanish. Here are some pictures from that part of the visit.

Hosteria Papagayo - Machachi, Ecuador

Here is where we stayed for two nights when we did a tour of the Quilatoa Lake, a spectacular lake inside of a volcanic crater. The hosteria is in a 150 year old house about 500m off of the Pan American Highway. Andres and his family dropped us off after our trip to Volcan Antisana. The day we left we walked out to the highway and flagged down a Quito bound bus, which we wouldn’t have been able to do just 30 days ago. Our comfort zone with travel, at least in Ecuador, is much greater than it was on our arrival.

Tena Hostal

Tena was the launching town for our jungle visit. We arrived in the mid-afternoon by bus from Banos and decided to find a hostal on the fly after some attempts via e-mail that were less than successful. Thanks to Lonely Planet we ended up at Hostal Limoncocha, which was just perfect for our needs. It is a german owned hostal and travel agency and the room with five beds at $20 per night was just perfect. It was a little bit outside of downtown on a hill with magnificent views, and other than the 50+ roosters about town crowing in the morning, it was nice and quiet. They even had a washing machine for our dirty jungle clothes, although we needed to take water by bucket to fill the tub.

Jungle Accomodations

We stayed in two different communities during our jungle visit; Rio Blanco, deeper in the jungle, for 3 nights and Runa Wasi, along the river, for our last night. Rio Blanco was a bit more basic, especially by Jack’s definition which meant that they didn’t have “leche frio” or cold milk. Milk for Jack is a staple and he may be in for another challenge during our 12 days in Japan. (Any suggestions Nancy?) Anyway, we were on our anti-malarial meds the whole time and under mosquito nets in Rio Blanco. (They even protected Kelli from a fairly heavy dose of bat dung one evening.) The nights were fairly cool and we slept well with the soothing sounds of the jungle and fatigue from our daily hikes.

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