Where in the world?

I totally forgot abut this trip, with all the excitement, its easy to forget 4 days melting in the jungle heat and trying to avoid being attacked by mosquitos!
We left Cusco at 5am and headed for Atalaya via inca tombs and a couple of villages. We stayed overnight in a lodge before heading out on a raft. The group were cool and seemed to get on OK. We stopped to go to a lookout to see the national bird of Peru, "the cock of the rock" and there were loads of them, although with the forest lighting they were difficult to get good shots of.

COCK OF THE ROCK

The rafting was a little hairy as we had an extra person on our side and coordinating strokes was a little difficult. Thankfully the river wasn't too rough. I think if it had been we might have spent some time swimming!!!!
There was a cool Macaw at the rafting centre called Lola although she did many tricks I wasn't letting her anywhere near my fingers.

LOLA THE MAD MACAW

After the rafting we got into a small launch and headed for our lodge which was about 25 minutes downstream. Some of the water was a little rough and I'm not sure how we stayed upright. Our lodge was built right on the riverside where the water flow changes direction so it was kind of interesting getting through the rapids and then the boat having to turn against the current.
The 1st evening we headed out on a night walk in our gum boots and torches. We were only a small way from our lodge when we spotted monkeys. They were easy to see jumping between the trees but impossible to photograph. We also spotted a caiman but not much else of any size. We saw a few spiders and many moths in my headtorch light so we headed back to camp.
The next day we were going to get up early to see the Colpa or clay lick where the parrots get there minerals but it was raining too hard so we got a lie in till 0630hrs!! The rain had stopped and we headed for our canopy ziplines. Those of you who know me well are aware of my fear of heights but will be surprised to know that I managed to zip through the forest canopy 60 metres above the ground!!! Well it was included and you know how I like a bargain!!!!

CANAOPY ZIPLINE

As it turned out, the parrot clay lick was a bit of a disapppointment. The photos they show you when they sell you the trip are obviously taken with a super-duooper camera as when we got there we were at least 150metres away on the other side of the river. My tip is get some binoculars or they look like greenfly!
The days passed really quickly. One day we went to see the local shamen but he was away!!! How dare he not be there!
We saw a few strange birds that look like turkeys but sound like a cow, thinks its called a Hoatzin. We also saw some nocturnal monkeys who had, unwisely decided to sleep just above the tourist path. Not very clever of them. This photo wa staken by Bjorn as he was the only one with a good enough camera.

NOCTURNAL MONKEY FAMILY

I really enjoyed the jungle although would have liked to see more wildlife. I know like anything in nature nothing is guarenteed but would probably try to go to Puerto Maldonado and fly back if I had the money.

I was looking forward to reaching lima as I was meeting up with a girl and her daughter who I had met in Cusco. This was the only highlight of Lima for me. What a grey and dismal city!!. Its probably fine if the sun is shining but it wasn't and I was told it wasn't likely to!!
Met up with my friend and went for a "couple" of drinks.

The next day I decided to get the hell out of dodge and booked a ticket to Trujillo further north. Bought Cruz del Sur as several buses have been held up on this route when they stop for passengers. Got there and surprise, surprise, more grey skies. Only wanted to visit to see Chan Chan, so booked a day tour then my ticket out to Ecuador!
In the morning we went to Huaca del la luna (moon temple) which is pre-inca (Michu tribe if i remember right) then in the afternoon to Chan Chan, also pre-inca but this time chimu tribe. It originally covered 28 square km and housed 60,000 people, you can only visit a small part that has been restored but many of the other walls are still visible and stretch into the distance.

Chan Chan

Restoration work at Chan Chan

The last part was a detour to Huanchaca by the sea, pretty touristy but good surf.

Surfs up

Then 6 hours hanging around waiting for my overnight bus to Guayaquil, Ecuador. Galapagos here I come!!!!
I know the blogs a little short but little to say for once and very tired and hot. Will be sure to make full report from the islands!! xx

Just a couple more photos to add!!

Moon temple Trujillo

Fantastic hairless Peruvian dogs

Up for a busy old time, 1st trip was to Colca canyon for 1 day trip. I'd been advised by friends that hiking in the canyon wasn't suitable for me (vertigo girl!) so booked the trip and waited to get picked up at 2am yes I said 2am. They were only 20 minutes late which is pretty good by Peru standards. Nearly froze to death on the trip to Chivay and when we arrived at the spot for breakfast we were given blankets. A little like stable door and horse but nevermind. Had the smallest breakfast ever and headed through some villages to the condor lookout. The area is agricultural but now also survives off the tourists. I couldn't believe there were children doing the traditional dance in the main square at 0630am, also people with llamas and falcons for photos.

As ur guide kept reminding us this is their livelihood. The best part was at the condor lookout. Nothing to start but then spotted a couple taking practice flights, after that there was no stopping them. They were everywhere and I can tell you a 2.80m bird flying overhead is pretty impressive! Dad you need to come see them.

The canyon is impressive and I think the 2nd deepest in the world. If you want to know how deep, "google" it!
Stopped on the way back to look at vicuñas, a smaller relative of the llama who are protected in Peru.
Absolutely pooped so early night
Day 2 up early due to usual peruvian taxi drivers horn beeping. In the Uk they'd have been fined for noise pollution! Off to Santa Catalina convent which was built around 1579 and was closed to outsiders for 391 years. One story goes that the nuns who entered were from wealthy families and continued their luxury living inside the convent. Eventually after a few hundred years a stern mother superior took over and the good times changed. Don't know for sure the truth and the convent certainly weren't giving anything away to make the catholic church look bad!!! The convent is huge and has 6 streets inside it. there are still 24 nuns there but you don't see them and they do little of any use except praying and penitance.

Next visit was to see Juanita the ice princess. The body of a young girl was found on a mountain near Arequipa at 6300metres. She had been sacrificed 500 years ago but her organs and much of her skin are intact as she was protected by ice. fascinating insight into the beliefs of the incas and the incredible feat of climbing to the top of a mountain without oxygen, in sandals and with 2500 servants in tow!!!

I'd originally planned on doing a trek to machu pichu but what with volunteering etc I didn't have the time so Elizabeth and I headed up for the weekend on the overpriced backpackers train.
We left Cusco at 0650hrs and got to Aguas Calientes at around 1115hrs. Found a cheap hostal and had the hottest shower I've ever had. (In Cusco I'm used to only 3 minutes of nearly warm water if I'm lucky!) We bummed around for the afternoon and had a fairly early night after some entertainment from Omar, the child from the restaurant opposite our hostal who put on a fine show of card tricks and gymnastics.
The next morning we were up after a poor nights sleep. They seemed to be having a private party (if you know what I mean!) upstairs and people werer constantly banging on doors to wake people up at ridiculous times. We dragged ourselves to the bus at 0515hrs and joined the hoards already waiting. The drive up was a little daunting as there are many steep drops and the driver was stirling mosses brother! Eventually got through the entrance and headed up to get a good viewpoint for the sunrise. We couldn't see anything at all, so spent some time with the locals!

ME AND FRIEND

The whole place was covered in mist and at first I thought someone had moved it.
Gradually the mist lifted, descended and lifted again. The view was stunning and everyone was merrily snapping away in case the mist came back. we wandered around following random tour groups as we didn't have a map. You are supposed to get one with your tickets in Aguas Callientes, but we didn't! Between us we had an English, french and Spanish commentary, although the guides seemed to have differing views about machu pichu's purpose-interesting eh!

I turned down the chance to climb Waynu Pichu due to my vertigo and the fact that some of the people heading up didn't look like they'd make it without problems. Some looked fit to drop after the short walk to the start!! We spent 4 hours at the site and then headed down to boring old AC and slept on the bench while we waitd for the train home. You definitely need to see it but a weekend trip is as expensive as a 5 day salkantay trek. I'll leave the rest up to you!

At last my time at Yanapay is over. I had a great time although trying to teach Buddhism to children in Spanish was a real challenge! I would highly recommend anyone doing it, even though some times my class were little monsters.

ALDAIR

The school is open monday to friday from 3pm to 6.30pm. First classes are homework for those children who have it and believe me some of them have more homework than I did at secondary school. Teachers in Peru love making the children copy from the board even though the children don't understand what they're copying! If they don't have homework they either do reading practice or art and if the classes are full they go to games (educational to start with, then the skipping!) After this they have another class, at the moment buddhism so that they understand that not all of the world is catholic and eats guinea pig! This week they've started english class again which they love. I wish I was staying longer but have rucksack will travel!
Every friday, each group of children put on a show. Ours were pretty basic as the children were only 7 but the older ones and the project assistant seem to enjoy putting on epics that Steven Spielberg couldn't pull off!!! Last friday it went on so long that we didn't leave the school until 7pm.

OUR PLAY ABOUT SIDDARTHA GAUTAMA

All in all it was an experience and my spanish has definitely improved. I met some great people and had some fab nights out. Yuri started the project several years ago and is passionate about changing the thinking of the children from what they are used to at home. It isn't a quick fix but little by little it will hopefully make some difference.
If you're in Cusco and have some time to spare, even and afternoon head to the cafe on Calle ruinas for more information or the hostal at 534 Fierro. They'll be happy to have you.