The Amazon. I think the only way I can describe the whole trip is as "an experience". By that I don't mean in the way people use it to describe something they would like to explain as awful but politely use the term experience, I mean from strat to finish it was quite unlike anything else.
Having heard varying reports on the bus journeys taking up to 50 hours due to severe flooding, we decided to posh it up and fly to the lovely Amazonian town of Rurrenabaque. A number of travellers we had met had flown and said the plans was small...nothing could prepare me for just how small. As we walked out onto the Tarmac, we were met with what can only be described as a model aeroplane. Or a tin can. It was amazing. 19 seats, propellers on the wings and a roof which prevented me from standing up...meaning I near-crawled to my seat. From where I was sat I could see the flight deck and put of the front window of the plane. As we took off the plane rattled uncontrollably and by some fascinating feat of modern(ish) engineering it stayed in one piece. We flew past mountains which were higher than the flight path, and 35 minutes later we landed in a field.
So my first real look at the Amazon came after a short boat trip on a long boat, a hot and sticky 50 minute walk to the start of the zip lines, followed by 1,500 metres of cabling between trees, 50 metres in the air, suspended underneath by a harness! It was amazing! Absolutely awesome (and slightly nervewracking!)
My second Amazon experience came the following day when we set off on our 3 day trek in the jungle. After a three hour long boat journey up the river we got to our base camp-a small collection of huts in the jungle. It was noisy with insects, and despite all my Amazon preparation (yes, that's right...4 hours of programming for work and I felt I was an expert!) I was nervous as anything. It was twice as humid as town and there were more scary animals than I could possibly imagine (that's right...cockroaches and grasshoppers!).
After some delicious lunch, we did our first trek. For 3 hours we sweated our way through the forest, filling Heriberto the guide and his trusty machete. At this point Heri collected some Amazon medicine for my very swollen arm-as I was suffering with a mosquito bite allergy promising to "cure" me later. After some unsuccessfully animal spotting (a couple of spiders and lots of ants) we returned to camp for dinner...preparing for the night trek.
The whole idea of the night trek frightened me (and if about now you are realising what a wussbag I am...believe me it only gets worse) especially as we were looking for jaguars and tapirs, and although I smiled, I can admit right now that no part of me wanted to find a 200 kilo tapir in the woods. Luckily for me, we were unsuccessful, although I have discovered I am very talented in finding huge spiders, millipedes and other nameless bugs by torchlight - which is a talent I wish I didn't have. Using my trusty headtorch and holding Sheryl's hand eveytime I fell over my own feet fully reinforced that I am definately not as outdoorsy as I would like to think. Thankfully the painful night trek was over and we returned to our mosquito netted beds, where I lay quivering in fear that some mighty cockroach would come into my bed, or worse...I would have to get up and go to the toilet in the middle of the night, meaning navigating the pitch black camp to the loo block where there were undoubtedly all sorts of terrifying monsters (I was right-we found a bat in there the next day. The bat, incidentally appeared to be watching whilst I showered.) anyway, I survived till morning, and after pulling myself together realised I really liked being in the big wide wilderness.
The following day we trekked again, and once again were unsuccessful in finding anything larger than a jungle pig- which were great! They made some fabulous noises...as when they are startled they clatter their teeth together to communicate, which always resulted in an outbreak of giggles.
Then that afternoon, we got crafty and made forest items (I can't say anymore as some of your pressies will be ruined!) it was at this time that one of the guides made some weird jokes about being alone in the forest with 4 women and having a machete ( needless to say I didn't find that very funny- Bolivian humour is weird at the best of times.) - Stephen King eat your
heart out my next horror story is ready and waiting!
After a fairly sleepless night, thanks to being accosted by a terrifying grasshopper and plagued with an overacting imagination, we did one more trek. This time we saw more jungle pigs, but we also drank water from a plant called uña de gato (cats fingernails) and then found a vine and swung like Tarzan-as well as doing some pole move in the Amazon courtesy of said vine!
Another day in Rurrenabaque, and a tempting offer to stay and volunteer teaching English in an indigenous community in the basin - which I reluctantly declined, and we prepared for the tin can plane back to La Paz.
After a lot of turbulence, and a rather green looking Sheryl and Amanda crawled off the plane, (and me recovering from the fear that the plane in fact would not make it in one piece) we were back in the altitude sickness inducing city of La Paz, at a dizzying nearly 4 kms above sea level. So a few days hear then off to Lake Titicaca. And I only have another 3 maim stops until my South America time draws to an end...now there is a strange thought!
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Saturday, 23 April 2011
An advert for Alpaca
Bolivia is a fantastically characteristic place. What it lacks in fast service, smiles, customer service, roads, Internet, reliable transport and supermarkets, it makes up for in sheer charm and crazy contrasts.
So we have made it back to La Paz, after a trip to the Amazon (which I will post about separately) in more or less one piece...with a few added bites, a swollen arm (it would appear I am allergic to mosquito bites!). Today was the day I have been waiting for. 10 weeks of travelling and finally it has arrived - SHOPPING DAY! We hit the markets of La Paz hard...knowing full well this could be my only opportunity to go nuts and buy loads of pressies for myself and loved ones (as it's possibly the only place I can afford it!) so after traipsing around the witches market, dreaming for buying gorgeous bags, wool for my darling sister to keep her occupied and in business until the end of time, or tiny beautifully handcrafted guitars, and avoiding the llama foetuses of various shape and size (and no I am not kidding!) I settled on some smaller token items.
But just to complete that picture I am currently sat in my hostel looking like an advert for alpaca...well almost. I am only wearing a dress, a jumper and leg warners...decorated with the mandatory llama-I decided against the trousers, I thought that they may be overkill!
So we have made it back to La Paz, after a trip to the Amazon (which I will post about separately) in more or less one piece...with a few added bites, a swollen arm (it would appear I am allergic to mosquito bites!). Today was the day I have been waiting for. 10 weeks of travelling and finally it has arrived - SHOPPING DAY! We hit the markets of La Paz hard...knowing full well this could be my only opportunity to go nuts and buy loads of pressies for myself and loved ones (as it's possibly the only place I can afford it!) so after traipsing around the witches market, dreaming for buying gorgeous bags, wool for my darling sister to keep her occupied and in business until the end of time, or tiny beautifully handcrafted guitars, and avoiding the llama foetuses of various shape and size (and no I am not kidding!) I settled on some smaller token items.
But just to complete that picture I am currently sat in my hostel looking like an advert for alpaca...well almost. I am only wearing a dress, a jumper and leg warners...decorated with the mandatory llama-I decided against the trousers, I thought that they may be overkill!
Friday, 8 April 2011
Santiago to the Desert
So we arrived in Santiago for the music festival Lollapalooza, which was amazing. Highlights included meeting David Arquette and his friend, now forever known as "famous Mike". We do not know who famous Mike is, but having shown the photo we had with him to a group of Americans, they were very in awe of the fact we had our picture taken with him! Good old famous Mike. Musical highlights were (for me) Empire of the Sun, Fatboy Slim, 30 Seconds to Mars and Kanye West. And despite a near riot getting our tickets in the first place (including a 3 hour wait, the military police of Chile and a riot van) we emerged unscathed and danced for two solid days.
Santiago is much like Buenos Aires. And Madrid. And infact most other cities...it was nice but nothing special, and after a few days rest, an adventure on an indoor climbing wall (thank you Lucille and Sheryl) and sadly no pole dancing...we got on a 28 hour bus journey, full of very interesting miners to San Pedro de Atacama in the Atacama desert, bordering Bolivia.
San Pedro is lovely. A tiny town, full of travellers and tourists, all hoping for a glimpse of sand dunes and other worldly volcanoes. They are in for a treat. Every morning I leave my hostel and can see a volcano (inactive I may add) and give Bolivia a wave...know I will be there tomorrow.
Today we are off to the Valle de la Luna. I would love to explain more what this is...but I don´t really know. Tomorrow we are off on a three day trek to Bolivia via hot springs, geysers, flamingo lakes and salt flats.
San Pedro has more stars than I have seen, maybe because it is so remote. It also has a great little football pitch where Sheryl and I played head-torch nighttime football with a bag of rubbish. This is an activity I highly recommend - and certainly not in the guidebooks.
Santiago is much like Buenos Aires. And Madrid. And infact most other cities...it was nice but nothing special, and after a few days rest, an adventure on an indoor climbing wall (thank you Lucille and Sheryl) and sadly no pole dancing...we got on a 28 hour bus journey, full of very interesting miners to San Pedro de Atacama in the Atacama desert, bordering Bolivia.
San Pedro is lovely. A tiny town, full of travellers and tourists, all hoping for a glimpse of sand dunes and other worldly volcanoes. They are in for a treat. Every morning I leave my hostel and can see a volcano (inactive I may add) and give Bolivia a wave...know I will be there tomorrow.
Today we are off to the Valle de la Luna. I would love to explain more what this is...but I don´t really know. Tomorrow we are off on a three day trek to Bolivia via hot springs, geysers, flamingo lakes and salt flats.
San Pedro has more stars than I have seen, maybe because it is so remote. It also has a great little football pitch where Sheryl and I played head-torch nighttime football with a bag of rubbish. This is an activity I highly recommend - and certainly not in the guidebooks.
Middle Earth...or Torres del Paine as it is more commonly known.
3 days in Torres del Paine, was definately not enough, sadly, and is on my list of things I would like to return to and do properly, at some stage in my life.
Torres resembles Middle Earth, of the famed Lord of the Rings trilogy - steep, dark granite cliff edges, lined with grass lands, forested areas and coupled with the famous Torres themselves on one end and a glaciar on the other.
We took a catamaran across the bluest (and probably coldest) lagoon I have ever seen, landing at the other end of Laguna Amarga. We then set off, at a hell of pace completing 11 km in 3.5 hours (including a stop for lunch on a log!). Feeling like a hobbit, dwarfed by the landscape, and in awe of the snow covered mountains on one side, we came around the headland and came face to face with Lago Grey, and its famous glaciar. The only way I can describe it, is that it looks like a tsunami, frozen in midair.
The following morning, after staying in the cosy Refugio Grey, and enjoying the lovely hot chocolates on offer, we set off at 8.30 am (and for those of you who know me know that this is in fact a weird phenomenon in itself...as usually anything before 9am is almost impossible!) back towards the catamaran and across the lake. We then caught a shuttle bus over to Torres Central - a rather posh hostel in the park, over looked by the Torres del Paine mountains.
The following day was in fact our last day in the park and although we had planned a short trek, returning to camp to get the 2.30pm bus back to Puerto Natales, I had already decided that as I was there I would complete the longer trek and get the late bus back to our hostel. The long trek was a massive 18 km in total, up to the mirador (lookout) bringing me in front of the Torres. Sheryl was brave (or stupid) enough to do this with me. And after an arduous few hours (I lost count somewhere between the boulders we had to climb, and the burnt trees - which I will come back to shortly), we eventually made it to the top...reward with a sign telling us it was the end of the trail. After kissing and cuddling the sign we sat and ate some sandwiches (with Peter the Wingless duck of course), and then practically skipped back to camp very proud of ourselves.
Interestingly, and very sadly, a massive 10 percent of Torres del Paine was burnt down in 2005 (I think) by a careless traveller and a camping stove. This destruction can still be seen as you walk through the park, with massive burnt trees lying on the ground, surrounded by young trees pushing their way through next to them.
Torres resembles Middle Earth, of the famed Lord of the Rings trilogy - steep, dark granite cliff edges, lined with grass lands, forested areas and coupled with the famous Torres themselves on one end and a glaciar on the other.
We took a catamaran across the bluest (and probably coldest) lagoon I have ever seen, landing at the other end of Laguna Amarga. We then set off, at a hell of pace completing 11 km in 3.5 hours (including a stop for lunch on a log!). Feeling like a hobbit, dwarfed by the landscape, and in awe of the snow covered mountains on one side, we came around the headland and came face to face with Lago Grey, and its famous glaciar. The only way I can describe it, is that it looks like a tsunami, frozen in midair.
The following morning, after staying in the cosy Refugio Grey, and enjoying the lovely hot chocolates on offer, we set off at 8.30 am (and for those of you who know me know that this is in fact a weird phenomenon in itself...as usually anything before 9am is almost impossible!) back towards the catamaran and across the lake. We then caught a shuttle bus over to Torres Central - a rather posh hostel in the park, over looked by the Torres del Paine mountains.
The following day was in fact our last day in the park and although we had planned a short trek, returning to camp to get the 2.30pm bus back to Puerto Natales, I had already decided that as I was there I would complete the longer trek and get the late bus back to our hostel. The long trek was a massive 18 km in total, up to the mirador (lookout) bringing me in front of the Torres. Sheryl was brave (or stupid) enough to do this with me. And after an arduous few hours (I lost count somewhere between the boulders we had to climb, and the burnt trees - which I will come back to shortly), we eventually made it to the top...reward with a sign telling us it was the end of the trail. After kissing and cuddling the sign we sat and ate some sandwiches (with Peter the Wingless duck of course), and then practically skipped back to camp very proud of ourselves.
Interestingly, and very sadly, a massive 10 percent of Torres del Paine was burnt down in 2005 (I think) by a careless traveller and a camping stove. This destruction can still be seen as you walk through the park, with massive burnt trees lying on the ground, surrounded by young trees pushing their way through next to them.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)