28 de Mayo - Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
We spent 11 days in the Galapagos Islands and had an incredible time. We arrived in San Cristobal on May 16th in hopes of finding a last minute bargain to board a boat for an 8 day island hopping cruise. We had heard great success stories about people getting to the islands and then jumping on 1st class boats at the last possible minute for less than half price, so we were trying to make the same thing happen for ourselves. The Galapagos are very expensive, and have virtually no food or accomodations options priced for backpackers. Our first two days were spent in San Cristobal while we searched for a boat. San Cristobal is the captial of the islands, but it is just a tiny port town. Since we arrived in low season, we thought that it would be easy to book a cruise, but we kept hearing that every boat was full. At night we jumped on a water taxi and drove around to all the boats in the harbor, like pirates, asking the crew if they had space. This technique didn't pan out. We were working with one local travel agent and one in Quito via email to secure passage on any available boat. After two very stressful days of haggling, we heard that there were openings on a boat called The Gabi. The Gabi was one of the boats that we were warned about by other travelers we had spoken with before arriving in the islands. The travel agents even admitted that the Gabi was not a very good boat (it was economy class, which is the lowest ranking), but it turned out to be our only option to go on an 8 day cruise, so we accepted the challenge.
Since we had two days to kill before our boat left San Cristobal, we spent one day hiking around the island to beautiful deserted beaches and another day we went on an all day snorkeling trip to Kicker Rock about 30 minutes off the shore of the port. We watched every sunset from the same spot with our ritual ceviches, popcorn and beers. The snorkeling trip was a lot of fun. We went to this enormous rock off the coast of San Cristobal that juts out of the water to about 500 feet, and is home to hammerhead sharks, bull sharks, fur seals, sea lions, and sea turtles. The visibility was not great, so we did not see the sharks lurking deep below, but we saw plenty of turtles, sea lions, eagle rays and large fish. The one thing we noticed upon getting into the water is that the animals in the Galapagos are different from others that we have seen because they are not shy at all. They come right up to you, and look at you without any fear, and then just keep on swimming. Since they have had no predators (aside from humans who only colonized the islands a couple of hundred years ago), they act very differently than animals elsewhere.
The sea lions swim right at you as you are snorkeling with them, and then when their face is about 6 inches from yours they stop and stare in your eyes, playfully floating upside down, then they dart off and come right back to stare some more. They swam all around us and played with us for hours. They look like they are flying through the water, they are so agile and quick and can change direction really easily. They are built to be good swimmers and they are fast enough to escape becoming food for sharks. Since they look so much like dogs, it felt like we were playing with dogs in the park. We learned how to make them imitate us by blowing bubbles out of our mouths underwater, and then we´d watch them do the same. It was like looking in a magical underwater mirror. Sometimes we had 6 or 7 sea lions just swimming around us all as close as can be without touching us. We learned how to swim in circles like they do, and got really good at following them and making friends with them. The babies and the females were the most fun to play with in the water. Sometimes an alpha male would jump into the water to supervise our activities. The males are twice the size of the females. The alpha males are known to be a bit aggressive and territorial, and they are really big and have huge fangs. When they came near, we swam away quickly as we didn´t want to encroach on their domain. One day we were swimming at one of the beaches on San Cristobal where a baby sea lion was floating near the shore. Jen bent down near the surface of the water and called to the sea lion like he was a puppy. He swam over, jumped out of the water, barked in her face, retreated into the water and swam away. It gave her quite a scare. At this moment we realized that they may not be as much like dogs as we wanted them to be, and we learned that we should be cautious around the males.
We also visited the Interpretation Center on San Cristobal while we waited to board the Gabi, where we learned about the formation of the islands, the hypothesis about how the animals arrived there, and Darwin's discoveries which led to his theories of evolution and natural selection. The islands are naturally desolate, they were formed by volcanic activity and were lifeless at their inception. The animals are said to have arrived from mainland by floating over to the islands on rafts or bouyant pieces of wood or debris. This journey would have taken almost 2 weeks, so the animals that survived the trip were very hearty and needed little water for survival...they were mainly reptiles, like iguanas. The plants are said to have arrived in the Galapagos as seeds carried in the wind from mainland Ecuador. The birds flew there, but some, like the Flightless Cormorant, lost their ability to fly after generations inhabited the islands. These birds were able to find all the food they needed by fishing in local waters, so their wings atrophied over time. The Flightless Cormorant is an example of an animal that Darwin observed, and based on his learnings about this bird and other species, he later formulated his theories of evolution and natural selection. Darwin's Finches are the other birds that he observed and he noticed that each had developed beneficially mutated beaks designed specifically to hunt for various types of food. The marine iguana is another example of an animal that adapted to its environment and developed the capability to thrive in the water as well as on land, by an advantageous genetic mutation. The marine mammals swam to the islands, in fact, the sea lions came from California to escape being hunted by Great White Sharks. The persistence of life on the Galapagos is impressive, given that the islands are completely isolated from the mainland and the physical conditions on the islands make them fairly inhospitable.
Despite the location of the Galapagos Islands near the equator, they are not the tropical paradise that one might expect. For the most part, the islands are arid, barren, and there is little vegetation in the low lying areas. The water is cool at around 60 to 65 degrees year-round, but it's refreshing since the heat on the islands during the day is intense. We wore wetsuits so we could stay in the water for as long as possible. The color of the water is an emerald green and it is absolutely pristine. Underwater, everything is shaded turquoise and seems surreal as you witness the beauty of the ocean like never before.
After our adventures on San Cristobal, we finally got on board the Gabi. We were expecting a real joke of a boat, something that sputtered into the harbor and broke down upon arrival, but the Gabi wasn´t all that bad. The other people on the boat were all in the exact same position we found ourselves in, looking for a good last minute deal on a nice boat, and all of them had been warned about the infamous Gabi as well. It made things worse that some of our fellow Gabi adventurers who were already on the boat for 4 days had been swindled by their travel agency. They purchased an 8 day cruise, but were dropped off after only 6 days on the boat and a major change in their promised itinerary. These other passengers got the run around when they tried to get their money back, and once they found the culprit who owed them money, he got on his scooter and sped away (never to be seen again). With this disasterous orientation at the beginning of our trip, we were sure there would be major problems for us as well, but we got very lucky. The generator only broke down once, which left us in the dark for a few hours, but they fixed it quickly. And the crew only went on strike for a half day, because the boat owner hadn't paid them for 3 weeks. These small inconveniences were made up for by the stellar company we had on the boat.
There were 16 passengers and 8 crew members that we came to know, and we all laughed and gave the typical South American shrug any time we ran into stormy seas like these throughout the week. We also entertained ourselves by hosting competitions to see who could jump off of the deck of the boat most stylishly or who could jump the farthest. We had a great group, including one very crazy Spaniard from Madrid named Jesus and a photojournalist who was covering an assignment for the New York Times Travel section. Keep an eye out for a featured photo of the Galapagos at newyorktimes.com under the WHY WE TRAVEL section over the next few weeks. If we are lucky, a photo of one of us or one of our fellow Gabi adventurers will be published. Our guide, Wilmer, was a character too. Wilmer was quiet, and he spent most of his time on the boat in his room studying his books about the Galapagos. As we passed other guides on the islands, we noted the difference between them and Wilmer. Other guides led their tour groups with command and constantly spewed facts about the animals, vegetation, etc. Wilmer on the other hand would say things like, "Now you see the tortoises copulating. Hee. Hee. They are funny." He never wanted to get wet, so one day we threw him in the water while we were snorkeling. We all got a kick out of him and we think he had fun with us too.
Our first stop was the island of Española. It was an incredible place with tons of Blue Footed Boobies. The females were nesting with their eggs or newborns and the males were strutting around their nests as they performed their unique mating rituals and mating calls. The male boobies stand around their nests, which are surrounded by a carefully constructed circle of white excrement. They make a noise that sounds like a wind instrument, stretch their wings out, arch their backs, puff up their chests, and slowly march around picking their feet up slowly one at a time. Their coloring is fantastic, it's as if they know how unusually handsome they are, especially with their strange colored feet. Their feet look like duck's webbed feet, but they are bright blue. The older they get, the bluer their feet become. We also saw Masked Boobies here. We saw the giant and gentle Waved Albatrosses, which are the largest of the Galapagos birds and breed only on Española Island. Their wingspan is 7 to 8 feet. It was magical when a female Waved Albatross stood up to reveal her precious egg in its nest, just for us to get a peek at it. The island was teeming with red, yellow and orange Sally Lightfoot crabs, marine iguanas, and sea lions sleeping on the beach. The marine iguanas are bizarre, they sit still like statues, so you can barely see them on the black lava rocks. They are black, red and green, and their heads are scaley. They spit water out of their noses and they look like they have a permanent grin on their faces. Their tongues are pink and their hands and feet have long, skinny fingers and claws. We watched them walking on the sand, slumbering on the rocks, and hanging out in groups of 10...they gather together and pose in a funny way. In the water, they swim like serpeants and we caught one feeding on algae that was growing on a rock underwater. They are very prehistoric looking, primal animals.
Next we stopped at Floreana Island to see pink flamingoes and then we went snorkeling and saw eagle rays, sea turtles, barracuda, white tipped sharks. Someone on our boat saw a scalloped hammerhead shark, but by the time we all got back into the water, it was gone. These types of sharks can be up to 14 feet long. The English guy who spotted this shark, John, was shaken up quite a bit, and he couldn't tell us how big it was, because he didn't stick around to get a better look at it. We also encountered some aggressive sea lions here that scared us all by getting really close to our faces. One Swedish guy said that he was attacked by the sea lions and had to wrestle with one of them, he reenacted the wrestling match by showing us how he put the sea lion in a headlock, but we all thought that this story was akin to the kind of big fish stories you hear fishermen tell. In the afternoon we went to the post office on Floreana, where they have a post box that was once used by pirates. Here you can leave mail without postage stamps in hopes that a fellow traveler from your area will deliver the mail for you. We left two postcards for our parents, just to test the old pirate post system, and we took one to deliver to someone in the Bay Area when we finally go back to the States.
On the third day we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center and visited the Galapagos Giant Tortoise Hatchery there. The Galapagos Giant Tortoise is the namesake of the Archipelago. The word “galapagos” refers to an old Spanish saddle very similar in shape to the shell of one of two major types of tortoises: saddleback tortoises and dome-shaped tortoises. These giant tortoises live to be up to 150 years of age. They grow to be up to 1.5 meters in length and up to 250 kg in weight. At the Charles Darwin Research Center we learned a lot about the human impact on the islands. Many of the animals and plants that have been introduced to the islands by their human inhabitants, like dogs, goats, donkeys, raspberries, are causing the extinction of the native animals and plants. In the afternoon we visited a 40 kilometer long lava tube and two craters and we attempted to do some birdwatching, but we didn't succeed in finding the elusive Vermilion Flycatcher.
The fourth day of the cruise we went to Rabida Island. You can find every color sand imaginable in the Galapagos. Rabida has a dark red sand beach of volcanic origin. The snorkeling on Rabida was phenomenal. There was an amazing reef, with tons of colorful little fish and marine iguanas swimming and feeding underwater. Jen had a close encounter with a White Tip Reef Shark that was half the size of her. It swam out of a cave as she was snorkeling above and gave her a scare. That afternoon we went to Chinese Hat Island, where we saw the smallest sea lion on the rocks. He was just like any other baby...clumsy and wide-eyed. We wanted to pick him up and cuddle with him. He was so adorable that we sat and watched him for almost an hour. Chinese Hat Island had the best lava formations, and was named for the shape of the dormant volcano on the island that looked like a Chinese Hat.
The fifth day of the cruise we were up at sunrise to hike to the top of Bartolomeo Island, where we could get a better look at the strange rock formation that has become the icon of the Galapagos. We snorkeled with penguins while they were feeding on schools of small fish. We met an underwater camera man who was filming a 3 part documentary for the BBC and National Geographic. He was planning to spend 18 months in the Galapagos getting the footage that he needed. When we met him he was trying to film penguins feeding on camera, which is very difficult, because they swim so fast. We had just spent 5 minutes following a penguin around the reef and watching him feed on little fish. They zig-zag through the water so quickly in hot persuit of one little fish at a time. We had to swim hard to keep up with the little guy. The documentary series will air in November 2006...something to look out for. The first part is about the formation of the islands and the last part is about the eventual demise of the islands. Apparently, the islands are slowly moving toward the mainland every year, and they will eventually erode completely and disappear. That afternoon we went to see Red-Throated Frigate Birds on North Seymour Island. The male Frigate Bird builds a nest in the trees and then waits there and tries to attract a female with a striking, red inflatable pocket beneath his beak, which almost looks like a bullfrog. Frigate birds are large, black, and have scissor tails. They have superb flying abilities. They are scavengers that rarely fish for their own food in the water, unless a fish is at the surface, because their feathers have a low oil content and are therefore not water resistant. Instead they take food from the mouths of the Boobies or the Pelicans, by kicking them in the back of the head to get them to spit out their recent catches.
Our last full day on the Gabi was spent observing land iguanas and birds on Santa Fe and South Plaza Island. We snorkeled with stingrays and huge schools of fish. Everyday in the islands was different and amazing. We learned so much about the animals that we were able to see close-up and interact with on a new level. We will both cherish the experience forever.
14 de Mayo - Guayaquil, Ecuador
Ecuador is lush, green and humid in comparison to Peru. Here the official currency is the US dollar, so we went from calculating the exchange rate of 3.25 Peruvian soles per dollar to using American dollars in Ecuador. They use Ecuadorian coins alongside US coins. This is the first time in over 4 months that we have seen quarters, dimes, pennies and nickels. There are also many US-minted bronze dollars in circulation here, and neither of us have seen those used back in the States for years. During the bus ride from the Peruvian border to Guayaquil we passed time by looking out the window at the many banana plantations alongside the Panamericana. Rice paddies flooded with water and surrounded by thick greenery looked silver and swampy in the light of the setting sun. The green countryside was dotted with white egrits and silhouettes of palm trees and the golden sun hung low in the sky above. Our first busride in Ecuador was very picturesque.
Billy loves Ecuador so far. We got some ice cream at a creamery called Pinguino downtown in Guayaquil last night and the two young girls behind the counter were giggling and staring up at Billy. When we asked what they were talking about, one of the girls said something about the color of Billy`s eyes and let out an embarrassed chuckle. Billy turned bright red at the compliment and the other girl behind the counter excitedly asked us questions about where we are from and what it is like in the US. Billy was so flustered that he couldn`t speak. As we were leaving, the girls wanted to know when we would be back for more helados. People in Guayaquil are either very friendly, or they don`t see many gringos here. For now, we are enjoying being a novelty in this strange place.
The Spanish we have heard so far in Ecuador is very different from the Spanish spoken in Peru. We are having trouble understanding new words and their accent so far. We have spent our time in Guayaquil walking around the downtown area, exploring the city, and trying to beat the heat. Guayaquil is Ecuador`s largest city and chief seaport, so it is a center of industry and commerce. In the downtown areas of other South American cities, we have noticed pharmacies on every corner, but here there are electronics stores on every corner. We have read that since the 1990s Guayaquil has spearheaded an effort to gain autonomy for Ecuador`s coastal provinces, so this is a very prosperous part of the country. In the park in the center of the downtown area there are iguanas living in the trees and feasting on the green grass. These animals are only a preview of what we should see in the Galapagos Islands. We are excited to fly to San Cristobal tomorrow to make arrangements to see the islands.
10 de Mayo - Trujillo & Mancora, Peru
We decided to make a few stops along the route from Peru to Ecuador, to break up the journey a bit. Trujillo is a lackluster town, but it boasts proximity to Pre-Incan ruins. We spent one night and one full day there exploring the city of Chan Chan, which was the capital of the Chimu Kingdom. The city is said to be the largest in Pre-Colombian America. It was built in the 15th century of adobe brick and finished with mud, and the structures have barely survived erosion from rains and floods over the years, but parts of Chan Chan have been restored and the site has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The most remarkable feature of these ruins are the artistic renderings and sculptures carved in the adobe walls of the living quarters, burial places and warehouses. The sculptures depict stylized animals like penguins, fish, sea otters, and birds and also fishing net. There is also a beautiful reservoir in the middle of the complex, which is how the Chimu irrigated their crops in this arid part of Peru. The ruins were very unique remains of the Chimu civilization before the establishment of the Inca Empire.
We left Trujillo on an overnight bus to Mancora, where we spent a few days relaxing on the beaches in Peru. Billy has been fighting a head cold, so we welcomed the opportunity to rest and relax for a few days. Mancora is a sleepy beach town on the northern coast of Peru near the border with Ecuador. As a beach resort town that is located on the Pan American Highway, it is a nice pit stop for travelers making their way up the coast. We arrived in Mancora at 5am, and even at that early hour the weather was balmy and comfortably warm. We spent three luxurious days at the beach. Billy overdosed on ceviche (if that is possible) after eating it for lunch and dinner for days on end. Jen discovered Parihuela, which is a fish soup with a light tomato sauce served with steamed rice. We swam in the warm Pacific Ocean and took walks on the beach from Mancora to Las Pocitas (the neighboring beach resort town). Mancora and Las Pocitas appear to be the places where wealthy Limeños (people from Lima) spend summers. Since we arrived in low season, we found a beachfront hotel with great rooms for $20 per night. Apparently every day is sunny in Mancora, so even winters are warm.
We spent entire days gazing out at the ocean, looking for dolphins, watching giant pelicans fly by with their bellies to the water and hungry vultures circle above the fishing boats. We sat at the beach watching kite surfers and boogie boarders get their rushes of adrenaline. We woke up to the sounds and sights of the ocean and watched the slowly creeping silhouette of a man standing on a raft built of bamboo reeds as he paddled with a thick, long stick. The sunsets are flourescent pink and the sunrises are silver. We go to sleep with to the sound of waves crashing on the beach outside our sliding glass door.
One afternoon while Billy was sleeping, Jen sat on the deck outside our hotel room looking out at the ocean and spotted three dolphins heading south. At first glance she thought that the black fins might belong to killer whales, but she soon recognized the pattern of their movement. The three of them popped up for air, and then dove back down in unison. They disappeared underwater and then reappeared on the surface just long enough for her to track them to where the sun was setting on the water and it was too bright to continue to stare in their direction. Seeing dolphins in the ocean is akin to seeing a shooting star, isn`t it? She felt very lucky to have caught a glimpse of something so uncommon.
We spent a lot of time observing life in Mancora. The town is full of tuk-tuk drivers who chase arriving buses and compete for the fresh off the bus passengers who have just arrived in Mancora. These are the best fares that they can get, because unsuspecting tourists don`t know how much they should be paying for a ride, so the tuk-tuk drivers can charge double. It is a comical sight to see. The tuk-tuk drivers congregate at one spot in town and they sit around and leisurely chat until a new batch of potential customers arrives on a bus. At this point, they jump into their tuk-tuks and race to the bus to compete for those fares. There is no fair play with this ritual. They practically run each other over to get there first. The guy with a produce cart slowly pushes it along the main road making stops to sell his bananas, avocados, oranges to the neighborhood restaurants and markets. The guy in a poultry truck makes his rounds to the local eateries and pulls three whole chickens at a time out of the bed of his truck, weighs them, and closes the deal with the restauranteurs. In the back of the restaurants that line the beach, the fishermen bring in the catch of the day. A dozen huge, fresh fish lay on the table waiting to be gutted and cleaned, and later consumed in Billy`s ceviche.
We met a woman on the beach who was selling necklaces and other items made out of shells. We told her that we were married nearly a year ago and she asked if we had children. We gave our usual response to the question that we often hear here in South America, and she told us that being married without children is like having a garden without flowers. "Un jardin sin flores." We thought that statement was very eloquent. We told her that someday soon we hope to know what it`s like to have little sunflowers or roses of our own.
When we left Mancora and crossed the border into Ecuador, we were not sad to be leaving Peru. We decided that we loved and hated Peru after spending a little over three weeks there. Traveling in Peru was trying at times and easy at other times. The Peruvian people are much more aggressive than other people we have met in South America. This was both good and bad. Since Peruvians are forward, we inevitably ended up having conversations with the locals once we established that we were not going to buy what they were selling. However, we were always on guard when anyone was overly nice to us, because we were waiting to learn about their true motives. It was much more expensive to travel in Peru than it was in Bolivia, and we never recovered from the sticker shock. We often expected more for the money we spent in Peru, but this wasn`t always the case. Peru has incredible cultural offerings, a rich history with amazing ruins, beautiful sights from the Andes to the coast, an interesting political background and people who are friendly and warm. We enjoyed our time in Peru, but we are looking forward to seeing the rest of South America.
We are off to Ecuador, where the official currency is the US dollar (strange that we will be using dollars and American coins for the first time since we left home). The Galapagos Islands are notoriously expensive (we will spend more on our flights to the Galapagos than we spend during two weeks of travel time), but we can`t pass up a once in a lifetime experience to see them and we hear that a trip to the Galapagos is worth the expense. We are flying to the islands in hopes of arranging a last minute boat cruise on the cheap. We will report back once we have seen the islands for ourselves.
8 de Mayo - Lima, Peru
From Pisco, we hopped back on the Panamericana heading north and in four hours we arrived in Lima. The Pan American Highway runs north-south along the Pacific coast of South America. This long and legendary stretch of highway starts in Chile and ends in Venezuela. On the coast of Peru the highway is where the sand dune desert meets the Pacific Ocean. The sky here is filled with a dusty haze that makes it hard to see very far down the road. You can`t see the line of the horizon to the west. The band that defines the separation of sky and ocean is blurred, so you can`t tell where one ends and the other begins. The sunsets are the most dazzling collection of soft pastel colors. The sky lights up like a subtle gradient of mauve and purple. Cruising along the Panamericana in Peru feels like we could be in the Sahara Desert in Morocco.
In Lima we spent two days wondering how LA had magically been transplanted from California to Peru since we left home. We stayed in Miraflores, which is a very wealthy, modern suburb of Lima. We had heard from other travelers that it would be safer to stay in Miraflores than in the center of Lima (as Lima has a reputation for being a little dangerous). Miraflores is situated outside of the center of Lima on the coast, so this oceanfront realestate shares the Pacific Ocean with its identical twin on the other side of the equator. The main street in Miraflores is lined with skyscrapers, condos, highrises, hotels, casinos (OK, you don`t see casinos in LA). Not only do the buildings and streets look the same as those in LA, the weather is also very similar to the climate in Southern California. As we walked around Miraflores we made note of all the American corporations and franchises (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Bell South, Oracle, KFC, Burger King). We felt like we were back at home in the States. At the end of the main drag, there is a modern mall complex built at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. The mall contains American retail stores, a video game arcade, and a state-of-the-art movie theater.
We had some time to kill in Lima, because we were waiting there to call home for Mother`s Day, so we gave in to the urge to see a movie one night. It was a Hollywood production called Conquistando A Mi Suegro (Guess Who is the English title), starring Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac. It was the worst movie either of us have ever seen, but it was a bizarre experience to see a movie in English (with Spanish subtitles) in a theater like that while eating popcorn and sipping Inca Cola. Those two days in Lima felt like we were back in the States again, and it was weird to get a taste of what it will be like to go home after being absent for so long. After being in South America for over 4 months, our encounters with American culture here are the only times we feel culture shock anymore.
6 de Mayo - Pisco, Peru
We decided to take the bus to Pisco, about 3 hours outside of Lima so that we would not have to stay too long in the overcrowded, slightly dangerous city of Lima. We were also drawn to Pisco by its history, as it was one of the major ports of South America two hundred years ago. It is also near the grape growing region of Peru, and instead of making wine, they mostly make brandy from the grapes, which they call Pisco. The popular South American trago (drink) Pisco Sour is made from this brandy. The name Pisco Sour actually originated in San Francisco, which was a major trading port with Pisco, and people drank so much of the brandy from the port of Pisco, that they created a drink in SF and called it the Pisco Sour. We were expecting a quaint colonial city on the water with many restaurants that serve ceviche (another dish which originated in Peru) and Pisco Sours. We found Pisco to be quite a bit different than what we expected.
First of all, it was a long bus ride from Cusco to Pisco. When we were buying our tickets at the bus station, and comparing prices and services, we were told by one of the bus companies that the trip would take 14 hours, which was quicker than the trip the other companies advertised. We decided to buy tickets with that company, as we were told they make less stops and offer "direct" service to Pisco. We were supposed to arrive at 7am, but did not arrive in Pisco until about noon. Something we are quickly learning is that you can not trust anyone to tell you the truth that is in any kind of sales role in Peru. Even the bus companies lie to you about specifics on the tickets. We also had asked if we were getting dropped off at the Terminal de Omnibus in Pisco, and the reply was yes. As it happens, we were dropped off on the side of the Panamericana Highway. They pulled over, told us to get out, and threw our bags at us, and that was it. We weren't sure what was happening, and by the time we figured it out and were mad, they were gone.
We found a taxi and went to a hostal to drop off our stuff, and then go and have Pisco Sours and fresh fish after our long bus ride. We walked to the main square where the typical colonial era church and other government buildings were located, but thought that this certainly couldn't be the real Pisco. It was dilapidated, and didn't look like it ever had any glory days at all. The more we hunt out the cities of previous grandeur, the more we see that unless they have a major tourist attraction near them, they are pretty much distant, sad, elderly relatives of a life long past. It is sad to see these famous and historically important cities turned into nothing, but as bigger and better ports are built, industry moves away and these towns are permanently left behind. Pisco is not the first such town we have visited.
We were able to find a good restaurant where we ate a huge plate of Ceviche, a heaping portion of Arroz con Mariscos (rice with shellfish), and we drank a couple of Pisco Sours each. Pisco Sours are made of Pisco, egg whites, sugar and lime juice. They are very good, and quite strong. After the meal we decided to look at the oceanfront, so we took a motorbike taxi (like a tuk-tuk in Bangkok that has a seat in back and three wheels) to the shore, and strolled for about 5 minutes. It didn't smell good, there was a dead sea lion rotting on the beach, and it seemed a bit dangerous. We could see that beach town was never going to be a selling point for Pisco. We then walked back to town, and bought a ticket to leave the next morning to Lima. As luck would have it, there was a party for some teenagers next door to out hostal, and they rented a karaoke machine that was blasting until midnight. We were happy to get on the bus and out of Pisco the next morning. At least we can say we have had a Pisco Sour in Pisco.
1-4 de Mayo - Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
After an exciting night spent at the porter`s village, we began our hike on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. It was a fairly challenging 4 day trek, because of the high altitude and the steep climbs through the passes, but it was a stunning journey. We walked through the granite mountains and the jungle on a 500 year old stone path past many impressive Incan ruins to an ancient city built by the Incas for nobles and priests...a magical experience. In the end, we felt that the pilgrimage to Machu Picchu and the physical location of the lost city were more remarkable than the ruins themselves, but our first look at Machu Picchu was awe-inspiring.
Tourism on the Inca Trail is regulated by the Peruvian government, so it is now impossible to hike the Inca Trail without hiring an agency that provides permission (permits), guides, porters, and a cook for you. Only 500 people per day are allowed on the trail. We got very lucky with timing, and we happened to secure permissions for the Inca Trail without making reservations ahead of time. Apparently, the months of May and June are booked solid every year. We happened to arrive in Cusco just before the start of high season. Our tour agency made the journey very comfortable. It was like no other camping we have done in the past. We were well taken care of by our cook, porters and guide...in fact we felt spoiled. We carried our own backpacks, sleeping bags, and sleeping mats, but the porters carried all of the rest of our camping equipment and food. These guys worked so hard and carried up to 20 kilograms on their backs, and they still managed to arrive first to our campsite every night to welcome us. When we arrived at our campsite at the end of each day, our tents were set up for us. Every evening at 5pm we were treated to tea and a snack. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday on the trail, we were fed homecooked meals that were just as tasty as the food we ate at restaurants in Cusco (our cook Isauro had been given the title of the best cook on the Inca Trail). Every morning at the crack of dawn (or earlier), the porters woke us with mugs of mate de coca to fight off any lingering morning sleepiness and bowls of hot water to wash our faces with.
We met Juan, Modesto, and Timoteo at the porter´s village the night before, so it was great to get to know them even more over the next few days. Modesto was an older guy, but he effortlessly kept up with the younger porters. Juan was the quiet one who wore his baseball cap low, so you could just barely see his eyes. Timoteo was younger and was always joking around and flashing his youthful smile. Our guide (Flor) spoke English, Spanish and Quechua, so she helped translate for us.
The first day of the hike was fairly easy. We were a little tired, because we didn`t get much sleep the night before...either from too much cañaso or from camping in the backyard with noisy cows, pigs, and other animals in the porter`s village. In 4 days we hiked about 45 kilometers, which isn`t very far, but the second and third days involved steep climbs over passes that were about 13,500 feet tall. The first day the trail was mostly flat and we reached our campsite early (before 4pm). Our guide pointed out varieties of plants and orchids and talked about Inca culture and history as we hiked along at a relaxed pace on a trail that followed the Urubamba river, and we stopped to look at ruins along the way. There were impressive ruins to see on the route to Machu Picchu, including agricultural terracing, storehouses and checkpoints built out of granite stone by the Incas.
At our campsite that night we were welcomed by two of the cutest local kids with the snottiest noses we have ever seen. They ran around our tent laughing, yelling and playing until long after dark. We told them that we had to zip our tent up to keep the mosquitos out so that we could finally sleep, and they turned that into a game in which they pretended to be mosquitos and tried to get into our tent. When we could no longer stay awake, they finally gave up on us and bid us goodnight by whispering "Chau Mosquitos." On the trail during the first two days we noticed that there were villages set along the river inside the National Park. The women in these villages make homebrewed chicha de jora and sell cups of this maize beer alongside the trail to the porters as they make their way to Machu Picchu. The porters race uphill with heavy loads on their backs and they only stop for chicha. Our guide called chicha de jora "Andean Gatorade."
The second day was the killer. We ascended over 1,000 meters on the trail (from 3,000 to 4,200 meters), which felt like we were climbing a never-ending stone staircase. We were nervous about altitude sickness, and our guide didn´t help matters by telling us all the horror stories of her past treks with tourists who didn´t make it all the way to Machu Picchu. On the trail that morning we saw a woman and her husband coming down on horseback, which meant that they had some issue with the altitude and had to go back to Cusco. We trudged on slowly but surely and made it over the first pass after lunch. The view of the mountains on the other side of the pass was breathtaking. It was well worth the effort. Our campsite for that night was nestled in the valley below at around 3,500 meters, so as the sun was setting, we hiked down to our final destination for that day. It was amazing to be among the giant mountains and so far away from everything. We saw two eagles soaring overhead as we walked down the stone stairway to our camp. When we arrived at our campsite, we were exhausted and our legs were like jelly from hiking up and down the pass. We watched the sunset behind the jagged, green mountains. After dinner we admired the brilliant night sky and got so cold that we had to duck into our tent for warmth. We had another full day and went to sleep very early.
On the third day, we were up early again to tackle the second pass on the trail. The third day of the hike is the longest day. The ascent was not as steep or high as the climb the previous day (this one was at 3,900 meters), and this time the view from the top of the pass was of the snow covered Salcanti Mountain. Parts of the trail on the third day were literally carved into the mountainside, so if you looked over the edge of the trail, there was nothing but a sheer cliff and a ravine below. After the pass, we descended into the yungas (jungle), where we started to see beautiful vegetation, orchids and butterflies. We went through a tunnel that the Incas built in the side of the mountain. The third day of the hike was the most spectacular of them all. The whole time we walked on the Inca Trail we were in awe at how they masterfully built the trail with stones in those remote mountains. That night we camped in a spot that was closer to civilization than we had been in days. We showered and we bought cold beers for our companions to celebrate our last night on the Inca Trail.
On the fourth day, we were awake and hiking before dawn. We were walking through the Sacred Valley as the sun came up and lit up the clouds in the sky. It was like a fireworks show that kept getting more vibrant as the minutes passed. The clouds were flourescent pink, which looked incredible against the dark purple mountains. We were off to a good start. About 2 hours later, we arrived at the Gateway of the Sun, where we got our first look at Machu Picchu from above. It was a spectacular sight as the sun rose and illuminated the city of ruins.
We spent the rest of the day scouting around Machu Picchu and learning about the different styles of stonework and the functions of each of the sections of the ruins. Machu Picchu means old mountain, is located at 2,200 meters and once was home to 1,000 people (nobles and priests). It was built in 1438 to strict standards that would withstand earthquakes (the walls were built with a slight angle towards the center of the buildings). We learned about the religious beliefs and superstitious practices of the Incas. We were very impressed with their astronomical knowledge. One of the main temples, the Temple del Sol, had 4 windows built into the stonework, and each window was positioned to let in the first light of each solstice, summer, fall, winter and spring. The architecture was perfect. They also created a sundial in stone that illuminated Puma Eyes on the day of the winter solstice (Inti Raymi). All of the symbolism in the temples was either about crops, animals, astronomy or the three worlds the Incas believed existed (the underworld, the mother earth, and the sky and stars). The history was fascinating, but quite sad. The Inca Empire was so advanced, and was 15 million people strong when the Spanish arrived, but they were totally wiped out within 30 years of Spanish rule after many failed revolutions. Luckily, when the Spanish arrived the Incas abandoned the cities in the Sacred Valley and destroyed the trails, and the Spaniards were never able to find Machu Picchu.
In the afternoon we climbed up to another temple on a steep mountain right next to Machu Picchu called Wayna Picchu. The hike was literally straight up hill, but the view from up there was amazing. When the day was over we took a bus back down the hill to Aguas Calientes (small tourist town built for Macchu Pichu tourists) and took a bath in the natural hot springs in the town. Then we boarded the 5 hour train back to Cusco, and arrived back to the hostal late in the evening. The walk on the Inca Trail was truly a memorable one, and seeing Machu Picchu at sunrise before all the tourists arrived was breathtaking. We enjoyed the hike, the nature and all the ruins, but cherished our time with the porters more than anything. We were very happy to have shared the experience with such a great group of guys.
30 de Abril - Porter`s Village, Sacred Valley, Peru
One of the best experiences of the trip so far was our time spent at the porter`s village the day before we hiked the Inca trail. The tour agency we chose to go with was Waiki Trek (waiki means brother in Quechua). Part of the deal they offered us was to stay the first night of the 4 day trek with the porters in their village. The porters are the guys who carry all of the food and equipment on the Inca Trail. Their village was about 3 hours outside of Cusco, so we took a bus to a small town near the village, then got into a minivan for the last hour to reach the village. This was a real campesino village, a small rural village that has no tourism at all, and relies on crops of maize and potatoes as well as some farm animals for their survival. We have been to some places off of the beaten track, but none like this. The streets were full of people who were walking their crops back to their houses by donkey at the end of the day, or walking their cows or pigs back to their homes after grazing all day. It was a real Peruvian experience that we were very grateful to have.
We arrived just as the sun was setting and our view of the Sacred Valley was beautiful. All of the crops and farms spread out on the valley floor made the landscape look like a colorful patchwork quilt. We were dropped off in the center of the village, along with Freddy who accompanied us to the village, and we went to put our bags down where we would be sleeping for the night. We arrived a few mintues later at a farm house made of dried mud. We were welcomed into the kitchen by a toothless woman who was very happy to see us, and spoke only in Quechua. In her apron she was cradling a mound of maize (extra large kernels of boiled corn) and she offered us some, which we accepted. After she shook our hand and welcomed us to her home, we went to her backyard where our tents were set up for the night. The backyard was full of chickens, two donkeys, 3 cows, multiple cats and dogs, and a pig pen. We asked where we could find the restroom, and Freddy´s response was, "That´s a good question." It turned out that the bathroom was a hole in the ground in the middle of the pig pen. So, we had to jump over the fence, avoid the 8 or so pigs that were in there rooting around in the mud, and use the hole in the ground without much privacy. After the bathroom experience we donned our headlamps and followed Freddy down the dark streets to the first porter`s home that we would visit that night.
We were again welcomed into the house, and this time we sat in the kitchen with the family of 6 as they were preparing dinner. The kitchen was a small room made of mud, it had a table, two chairs, a wood burning stove made of mud, and some large pots and pans. The family was a mother with 4 daughters and one newborn baby boy, the father was still on the Inca Trail and was not due back until the next day. We brought notebooks and pencils as gifts for the children, because they need school supplies as they are expensive for the villagers. We handed the school supplies out, and the girls were so excited about it, and thanked us many times. In the village most people only speak Quechua, the schools teach in Spanish, so the younger people have decent Spanish skills, but all the older people know almost no Spanish. Just as our Spanish was getting good enough to have good conversations in situations like this, we were foiled by Quechua. We were able to ask some questions and talk with the children a bit. The oldest girl was very proud of her role in the family as the second in charge when it came to cooking and helping with the baby. When we asked how old she was, she put her chin up and with a very proud smile said in her best Spanish "catorce" or 14. The youngest girl sat quietly in the corner next to Freddy and clutched her new notebook and pencil in her arms. She was so sleepy that she kept nodding off and once even rolled out of her chair and onto the floor as she struggled to stay awake. The family insisted that Jen hold the baby and take a photo. The little guy was 3 months old and wrapped up in a brightly colored traditional Andean blanket. We think that most South Americans feel sorry for us because we don`t have children yet. The first question we are asked when we say that we are recently married is, "¿Tienen niños? Do you have children?" Our answer is always, "Todavia no. Not yet." We asked if we could take pictures of the whole family, and they all wanted to see what they looked like on the digital camera after we shot each photo. At first the mom didn`t want to be photographed with her daughters, but as we were leaving she changed her tune. Mamacita asked if we would take a picture as she was breast feeding her son, she was very proud of him and wanted us to take the picture of them in that unique moment.
They were cooking away most of the time we were there, and served us more maize, (eaten like popcorn, one kernel at a time), and potatoes that were cooked over the stove. While we were sitiing there, we saw many little furry creatures running across the kitchen floor. They had everything from a baby cat, to two neighborhood dogs, to about 15 guinea pigs. Guinea Pigs are a specialty dish in the Andes in Peruvian villages, and are only eaten on special occasions like Inti Raymi (the sun festival), Easter and Christmas. So, all the villagers raise these guinea pigs (called cuy), which freely roam around their kitchens, and then are served as delicacies on holidays. This seemed a little strange to us at first, especially when we accidentally startled the guinea pigs and they squealed in chorus and ran wildly around the kitchen. Later as we tried to explain how we treat guinea pigs at home, we realized that our custom of keeping them as pets in cages and making them run around on wheels for exercise is equally as odd to Peruvians. A few days later we ordered and ate fried cuy in Cusco, and it was pretty good. After we finished our meal and talked some more with the kids, we said our goodbyes and went to another small house to meet our porters.
We arrived at the next home (we later learned that this was Freddy`s parent`s home) and went into another kitchen, which was almost identical to the first, except there were no chairs, only mud benches built into the sides of the wall. There were about 8 people there--the matriarch of the family (Freddy`s mom) who was cooking maize and potatoes, and 7 older men (including Freddy`s dad who was the jovial ringleader of the group of porters). There was a large wooden harp that "the maestro" was playing beautifully. The men were all passing around a small glass with a shot of sugar cane alcohol in it (sweet and potent stuff called cañaso), and took shots each time saying "salud." When the glass came our way they poured less than each one of them got, we were not sure if this was to protect us from getting too drunk, or because they did not want to waste all their prized drink on us gringos. Either way, it was cold in the room, and the cañaso warmed us up quite a bit. After we made some more small talk in broken Spanish and some Quechua translated by Freddy, we were served soup by his mom. It was actually very tasty, made of maize, potatoes and parsley.
As everyone finished their food, the alcohol reappeared, and was passed around again. The two litre bottle it was being poured out of was quickly being drained, and the guys were getting pretty drunk. The maestro was going pretty good on the harp, and one of the older guys (Modesto) asked Jen to dance. So she got up and they danced to the harp music in the middle of the kitchen, and a few of the borrachos (drunks) were singing along to the traditional Peruvian harp music. Then the mother asked Billy to dance, and the four of us were dancing in the middle of the kitchen to harp music accompanied by the singing drunks. It was so much fun to be able to experience what normal life is for a good portion of Peruanos. There was one old guy in the room, and he looked like a real Inca Warrior. He had that weathered, distant look in his eyes that made him appear to be someone from a different era. He looked the way we imagined men in the village 500 years ago when the Incas ruled the land. We realized that with no books (Quechua is only spoken, not written), no TV or Radio, and only enough electricity for one lightbulb (electricity was a recent innovation in the village), there is not really much to do at night. It is common for them to sit around the kitchen and drink a lot, and tell stories and laugh with eachother, which is exactly what we all did that night until about 10:00pm.
We were taken back to our campsite in the backyard of the old woman`s home, and told that the porters would come back for us at 6am. On the way back to our tents the porters showed us the milky way and the southern cross in the night sky. The stars were so bright. We shared the night with all the animals in the backyard, and twice braved trips through the pig pen to the toilet. Once we startled the sleeping pigs, and they made shrieking noises and ran around crazily in the pen. In the morning we were woken up with a cup of warm mate de coca (coca tea), along with 8 children who heard that there were free notebooks being handed out, and wanted their share. We had 6 more pencils and notebooks, and gave them away and made sure everyone got at least one item. Our favorite child in the group was a little girl who was on the other side of the wall helping her dad with their animals early that morning. She would just peek her little eyes over the wall to look at us, and when we saw her she would immediately go back to hiding behind the wall. We finally got her to stay up long enough to give her a notebook and pencil.
Our guide came along with the porters from the night before to eat breakfast with us and drive us to the Inca trail. We ate more maize and potatoes, but also had fruit and coffee, along with some cheese. As we ate, there were at least 30 guinea pigs running around at our feet, fattening up and waiting to be eaten at the next Inti Raymi celebration (June 24th). We said our goodbyes to those we had met who were not coming with us on the Inca Trail, and got into the car. We thought this was one of the most authentic experiences we`ve had so far on this trip, and by the end of the 4 day trek we were calling the porters "waikichen" or brothers, as they call eachother.
