Mancora, Peru - March 2012

Across the border, and into PERU!!! Mancora filled everyones blood with warmth an excitement. Beach, booze, babes and boards. We took one very messy night out (for which I am purposefully neglecting the photos of) and one super-fun-amazing-spastic fishing / snorkeling trip for which I am much more eager to share. We set out on a tiny ‘speed-boat’ (pffft!) with Max, Natalie and Callum - team sanity as I would now like to refer to them as, as that is what they provided me. We saw frigate-birds and boobies and sea turtles, and not to brag, but I totes caught the first fish…. not to brag.

 Oh, and I even braved my fear of murky waters and went snorkeling.

We made cerveche (raw fish deliciousness) out of our fishies on the boat and devoured every last little morsel, team sanity even let Callum eat some, despite his lack of fish catching. Although, to be fair to Call, he did hook plenty of fish, all of whom were keen on a dine ‘n’ dash situation, and none of whom made it to the surface.

Cuenca Ecuador - March 2012

A pretty wee city of inland Ecuador divided by a large river, I would not call Cuenca a ‘must-do’ but I’m certainly glad we did! We arrived at our hostel where we had a balcony which adjoined with Max & Garys room, as well as a charming neon blue sign reading ‘HOSTEL’ and an Ecuadorian flag out our window, one more intrusive than the other. We took a visit to the Panama Hat Factory (which as we discovered, is where original Panama Hats were made and shipped via the Panama canal - thus their name) and Rory bought a grey banded hat which the group decided made him look like Pete Dougherty. The following day Rory, Brett, Richard, Priya & I took an excursion to Cajas National Park for some more altitude training for Machu Picchu. Much to our disapointment we did not run into any elusive Spectacled Bears, however we were lucky enough to spot some Andean Condors. Cajas was a really beautiful walk and a much needed confidence booster after that wretched virgin hike. A bus then taxi ride later we wound up in Chordeleg, a silver mining town where I FINALLY bought a braclet for these charms I’ve been picking up along the way. Successful day all round, plus we are headed for some warmer climate…..(!)

Banos - Ecuador. March 2012

I had absolutely no predetermined ideas of Banos, no clue what to expect. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. When we first got there Rory, Callum and I rode in the back of a ute to the hotel, which set us on a high I wouldn’t snap out of until the infamous walk to the virgin. Banos is in a valley, surrounded by hills, waterfalls and volcanoes. Whilst Rory did some Machu Picchu training up a volcano, I went with Andrea, Natalie and Priya for a manicure and massage. Worst manicure ever. Andreas birthday was on the second day, and we started it off with a horse ride into the mountains. I now realise I hate horses, and riding on their stupid horse backs. Horse jerks. Gary (a first time rider) was riding the stallion, and I had his mortal enemy. They fought all the way to the top, with a couple of really terrifying bucks and bites. I’m writing this more than one month later, and I still have a decent sized scar on my leg reminding me of my hatred of horses.

 The afternoon was much more pleasant. White water rafting. It was my first time rafting and we were only on grade 3+ rapids, but I had so much fun, I really surprised myself. Riding on the front of the raft was awesome, and I am really keen to get on some better/bigger rapids at some point.

I’m not going to go into that evening, except to say there was Mexican food, shots called “Bob Marleys” and lots of games of pool. I wasn’t feeling well so didn’t drink much, but I can’t say as much for the others. The following day was a training session for me and Rory, and was a massive wake-up for me with the altitude and my abilities. We decided to part from the group for a day and take a hike up the 692ish steps to the virgin who overlooks the town. 20 odd steps from the top I had a panic attack and felt really let down by my abilities as well as surprised by the effects of the altitude. I didn’t feel good about reaching the top, only more scared than ever by the 4 day hike on the Inka Trail, which was fast approaching. We spent the evening relaxing in the hot springs, to calm more than just my muscles.

I bought another charm for my travel bracelet on the last day, a little Ecuadrian man in a poncho, he’s rader than he sounds. Banos taught me alot about myself, and I can confidently say; I hate horses, I love rapids, I need to pace myself, and most of all, I’m not as much as a princess as I thought I was. Travelling (even the bad parts) is beginning to suit me - still holding onto my hair straighteners though!

The Amazon Jungle - Ecuador March 2012

We took a local bus from Tena to our Jungle Lodge where we stayed 2 nights. The bus dropped us off in the middle of a paved road, surrounded by lucious green plants, and trees. I assumed we must be transferring to another, to take us to a more remote area… but no, that was it! I was surprised that the road was paved, and there was public transport which took us to our lodge. However, as we discovered when trying to get back to Tena, public transport down this road was few and far between. Our lodge was so amazing. The room we were given overlooked the Napo River (see pic 1). The room itself was built of rustic wood and flax, and came complete with family of bats in the roof! HIGHLIGHT! No sooner had we dumped our gear, we set off to see some Jungle. We visited a local Quichua family who showed us how they pan for gold, blow pipe their prey, and make the local drink “Chica” out of yuca. I wasn’t an expert blow-piper but Rory managed to get the dart in the wooden parrot - win! On our way back to the lodge we stopped for a game of soccer. I opted to be cheerleader. No idea who won, but the prize was a 3litre bottle of coke. 3 litres. 

Day 2 was nothing short of AMAZING. We set of on a canoe/boat thing up the Napo 10 mins or so, then trekked about an hour through the secondry forest. The trek itself was so wet, we were thoroughly saturated. We saw termites (which to our disgust were used as insepct repellent by the local guide), millipedes, poisonous plants, ancient trees, and flowers brighter
than I’ve ever seen before. Our destination was a breathtaking waterfall - ‘La Cascada de Latas’. We had to join forces for a river crossing (see pics) to get there, and once we had it was definitly the coolest place I’ve ever been. Hands down. We sat behind the waterfall, being pelted by it’s heavy drops in fits of laughter. So much fun. Then we got to tube back to the lodge, I’d never done anything like that before but I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. Waterfall and tubing; best part of the trip so far. The afternoon was spent at a butterfly farm, and we even got the privledge of seeing a tarantula (or at least, his legs poking out from his nest on a pole - that counts, right?). The lodge had no electricity, but was lit by kerosene lamps. It was perfect, if a little less remote than we’d expected. Oh, how could I forget the jungle cat… Kristopherson, as I named him. The cutest little kitten ever, and the little gang of monkeys who saw us off in the morning.

So excited for what was yet to come…

Quito - March 2012

We flew to Quito from Madrid via Columbia, and arrived with illnesses coming out my nose, and sleep deprivation oozing from my eyes. The hostal we stayed at for the first couple of night was..ok. Nothing spesh. We spent the first couple of days walking round, we walked to the old city and back (we stayed in the Mariscal district) where I bought another charm to add to my still not yet existent bracelet, a tiny little hair comb, and the second day we walked to the Botanical Gardens and back.

Quito struck me as a very big city with not a whole lot going for it. Trucks and buses driving around emiting leaded petrol fumes directly into my lungs and pores, and extremely crowded with (short) people. We managed to find a good coffee spot though, and made ourselves at home eating all the fresh fruits our bodies could handle, after the preserved foods of Spain we were craving fresh fruit like crazy. The third day we were meeting up with the group, and were delighted with the mixture of Aussies, Brits & one token Canadian. Such a great group of people. We ventured out to Otavalo the next day with the crew, as it was a Saturday which meant market day! I love markets. I bought a llama jumper. Obvs. Then we missioned to the Ecuator line and spent waaaay too long taking ridiculous photographs of each other doing tacky tourist poses at the ecuator. Totes funnest. The food in Ecuador has proven most delicious, especially the rice and vegie plates, and the fresh fruits (and juices). The hostal we stayed at once with the group was so adorable! The pics above are of our room, it was so cute, but totally made for the vertically challenged. Sunday was rise and shine and off to the jungle…

Quote

“I think you can have anything that you want. Find someone who has a life that you want and figure out how they got it. Read books. Figure out what you’re passionate about. Pick your role models wisely. Find out what they did and do it.”

—	Lana Del Rey

Madrid (again) Feb-March 2012

I’m so far behind this blog, currently sitting in my hotel room in Banos (Ecuador) waiting for 9am to roll around so I can go horse riding into the mountains, then white water rafting in the afternoon. Something tells me this delay is going to be a theme. We are so busy, all of the time, there’s very little time in South America for updates. Unlike Madrid. When we arrived back from Barcelona Rory and I had a week of Spanish language lessons to attend. We also booked a homestay which provedinterestingto say the least. Sunday night we arrived at the homestay to realise the the lady we were staying with (Maria, but we will call her crazy lady) knew no english, and at this point we knew no Spanish. We attempted to banish ourselves to our rooms, to no avail. She would sniff us out wherever we were and attempt conversation. This got frustrating. Monday morning rolled round and we were off to school! We arrived at the school only to realise that the rest of the class began their lessons a week prior to us, and therefore were already having Spanish conversations with the teacher and each other. D’oh! We were lagging well behind on that first day. I literally cried for not knowing what our homework was. Monday = worst. It got better though and I now feel confident enough to understand Spanish, and speak some words. It was successful in that Rory and I know more Spanish than anyone else we’re hanging out with in Ecuador. (a bunch of Aussies, Brits and a Canadian - lovely crew!) Although we jumped at the chance to go back to staying with Fredy, Eddy & Rasti. That couch bed has never been so tempting. The weekend was spent exploring Segovia with Sam, Noemi, Helena, Fredy, Chica, and the kiddies. We visited the Roman Aquaduct and froze our butts off. The pictures above are of the last night we spent in Spain, Rory made spicy fish stew for everyone and we made starters for Africa! Red wine, and a sneaky pinch of Jamon made for the perfect last night in Madrid. We had such a fantastic time, I can’t wait to go back!!! (maybe in summer next time though)