Merry Christmas everyone! We are here in Porto Alegre, Brazil after the most wonderful Christmas Eve here with Kiki's family. We partied until late and drank even later! We have had a wonderful time so far and, with more friends coming from the airport as I type, we have even more to come!
With the pics of Machu Picchu finally uploaded and arranged, it is time for an update as to our antics since!
When we left Machu Picchu, sad and tired, we went back to one last night in Cusco before our flight to Lima. We arrived late and met up with Clair and Cody, they had arrived that day to start their acclimatisation for the Inca Trail. We went out for dinner and a quick drink or two....... we got back to our hotel room at 6am, 2 hours before we had to leave for our flight! After a quick sleep, we awoke a little late and rushed to the airport and got on the plane a little worse for wear!
I have to give Jen a lot of credit here as we spen the whole day travelling and I could not have directed us anywhere! but we made it all the way to Huacachina, just outside of Ica, in the south of Peru. Here we stayed for 2 nights, it is literally an oasis in the middle of the desert - a small lagoon surrounded by giant sand dunes. Quite an amazing place. After a very well deserved sleep, we decided to partake in the local past times.... dune buggying and sand boarding!! We had a blast and the dunes were beautiful to see the Sun go down over.
With these activities done, and nothing left to do in the middle of the desert, it was time to move on. Not without a trip to the Ica museum first though. Most of the exhibits in this tiny museum are not that interesting, but they do have some really, really well preserved mummies, shrunken heads, crazy skulls and even a re-hydrated mummy hand!! We only have one photo from here of the mis-shapen skulls - they look like alien heads but they are human! Quite the exhibit!
We left Ica and headed even further south for Nasca. One of the few "must sees' in Peru are the Nasca Lines. They were constructed in the sand hundreds of years ago by the native people of the area and depict a wide range of animals, beings and plants. To view them, it is necessary to take a short flight over the area. We arrived for our flight at 845am and were buckled into the tiny plane and in the air within minutes. Jen's dislike of flying seemed to disappear as we soared higher in our tin can of an aircraft! It was really cool to see the lines, but difficult to get decent photos as we were jerked around in the dinky aircraft. The lines themselves were a marvel, the organisation to put them together was amazing, and there were so many in a high concentration in this area, the flight was definitly worth braving to see them! We even made it back to the ground safely!
After the lines we headed West for the coast, just South of Lima. Here there is a small town called Pisco, ravaged only 1 year ago by an 8.0 earthquake. 80% of the town was levelled and it is evident today that it is a very long process to come back from such a disaster. Despite the mis-fortune, the people here were the friendliest that we had encountered so far, everyone waving and saying hello, a refreshing change! Fortunately our hostel was still standing when we arrived and we were able to book a tour for the next day to see the nature reserve close by. We were also very happy to have kitchen, and for the fist time in a long while, we were able to cook our own dinner!
We left for the Ballistas early the following morning and, upon arrival, set out on our boat tour. The wildlife here is similar in someways to the Galapagos. Lots and lots of birds and sea lions. Infact, so many thousands of birds that some of the islands appear black! The one bonus here though is that there are lots and lots of penguins (we missed them in the Galapagos)! We were also able to see dolphins! After the islands we went on to get a tour of the rest of the reserve, we started with seeing the flamingos and then on to see the beautiful coastline.
We arrived back in Pisco that evening and with the 3 guys that we had met on the, tour, Simon, Thomas and Andy, 1 Swede, 2 Swiss, we headed out to experience the local nightlife! The club was poppin'! And Jen even managed to get a kiss!! We retired late, ready for our long travel day that lay ahead.
We desided to get a bit to eat before we left as we would be spending the next 24hrs in the airport. So, slightly hungover, we went in search of food. I suggested a place that I had seen previously, and after a short but hot trek through the city, we arrived for the set lunch and sat down to enjoy. Well, when Jen dug into her soup, she pulled up a chicken foot! It was foul (or fowl!!)!! Put me right off my lunch! Didn't put us in good stead for our travelling to Brazil!
Our Brazilian adventures are still under way, stories to come soon!
Merry Christmas!! xx
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
The Sanctuaries
Here are the photos of us in and around Machu Picchu. Both the Inca Site and the hotel were amazing! I hope that these photos do it justice as it was one of the most amazing places that we have ever been to. Also, it is the 3rd of the "7 New Wonders of the World" so far!
Hope that everyone enjoys! (& comments!)
Hope that everyone enjoys! (& comments!)
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
At long last....
here are our photos for the Inca Trail. They lead upto us arriving at Machu Picchu, more to come soon!
Can't wait for your comments!
Can't wait for your comments!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sanctuary...... quite literally. Thanks Aunt R & Uncle J!!
We left off last time checking into the Santuary Lodge as we arrived at Machu Picchu cold and wet! We went up to our room to drop our bags and change out of sopping wet clothes quickly before our tour started at 8. When the door opened we were greeted with a beautiful room with a splendid bathroom and a huge fluffy bed.... I dared not touch it for fear that the previous 27 miles may take its toll and I´d pass out before my head hit the pillow! We changed and reluctantly left the room.
The rain had stopped with perfect timing for our tour. The last 4 days had all been for this moment when we would enter into the Inca Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. We had followed the same pilgrimage route that the Incas would have followed 500 years previously. We had already seen the site from the trail, it was now time to enter and see the buildings from up close.
When we entered, our guide, Casiano, sat us down and we listened to the history of the site, its discovery in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, the myths and legends and the findings that had been made at the time. The information we were getting was wonderful and no one could wait to explore further.
The 1st thing that was so striking was how the Incas incorporated the natural rock formations in everything, whether it is the building itself, alters within or pools of water to view the constellations, the natural rock was ever present. Just as amazing was the use of a single natural spring to give water to the whole community. Elaborate channels, plumbing and irrigation feeds the whole site with fresh water. Machu Picchu is 60% agricultural and 40% residential. The seemingly endless terraces were used for all different kinds of crops and the residential area is comprised of palaces, temples, living quarters, a jail and more.
We also learned just how ingenious the Incas were. Many buildings and large structures are built on stone rollers, earthquake protection, and nearly all structures are built with an incline of at least 3 degrees, again for stability. Many of the alters are bult from the natural rock formations, but all with directional purpose. North, South, East and West points are used in the alters and are aligned to the degree (Jen has a little compass so we confirmed this!).
All in all we had a great tour, it is too difficult to put it all into words and do it justice. This really was a fascinating people and Machu Picchu really is a Wonder of the World. For me, the trek and the site itself was one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done, the sense of achievement and sheer amazement at the site itself was something incomparable!
This was, of course, until we experienced the Sanctuary Lodge!! We went back and finally showered and lay down. We ordered room service and dined with just each other for company. It was wonderful! Next on our agenda were our complimentary massages.... They were fantastic, and much deserved! We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring Macchu Piccu further and had a wonderful time doing so. As the light of the day faded we retired to the hotel bar and had a couple of drinks before relaxing on the bed watching TV before dinner.
We decided to sit and have dinner in the dining room, so after a quick drink, we sat down to indulge in the haute cuisine we had seen other diners partaking in. The whole 3 courses were wonderful for the both of us, including a delicious bottle of wine. I dined on crab and some amazing duck, whilst Jen enjoyed a wonderful avocado salad and Chicken in Tarragon sauce. We left the table plump and content and enjoyed the rest of our evening watching movies and lying in the oversized bed!
Unfortunately we had to leave the Sanctuary in the morning. After the buffet breakfast of course.... smoked salmon.... mmmm!! Thank you once again Aunt Rayna and Uncle Jimmy. It was amazing and even better as we had just hiked for 4 days. Thank you!!
More to come soon. We are having issues with uploading pics here I´m afraid. We have over 500, some from the tail end of Quito, some from Cusco, but mostly from the trail!
We are now in Huacachina, a little oasis in the Peruvian desert- south of Pisco and north of Nazca, 3k from Ica. It´s cool! We are going sandboarding and dune buggying this arvo!
Love to all! Feliz Navidad!
The rain had stopped with perfect timing for our tour. The last 4 days had all been for this moment when we would enter into the Inca Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. We had followed the same pilgrimage route that the Incas would have followed 500 years previously. We had already seen the site from the trail, it was now time to enter and see the buildings from up close.
When we entered, our guide, Casiano, sat us down and we listened to the history of the site, its discovery in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, the myths and legends and the findings that had been made at the time. The information we were getting was wonderful and no one could wait to explore further.
The 1st thing that was so striking was how the Incas incorporated the natural rock formations in everything, whether it is the building itself, alters within or pools of water to view the constellations, the natural rock was ever present. Just as amazing was the use of a single natural spring to give water to the whole community. Elaborate channels, plumbing and irrigation feeds the whole site with fresh water. Machu Picchu is 60% agricultural and 40% residential. The seemingly endless terraces were used for all different kinds of crops and the residential area is comprised of palaces, temples, living quarters, a jail and more.
We also learned just how ingenious the Incas were. Many buildings and large structures are built on stone rollers, earthquake protection, and nearly all structures are built with an incline of at least 3 degrees, again for stability. Many of the alters are bult from the natural rock formations, but all with directional purpose. North, South, East and West points are used in the alters and are aligned to the degree (Jen has a little compass so we confirmed this!).
All in all we had a great tour, it is too difficult to put it all into words and do it justice. This really was a fascinating people and Machu Picchu really is a Wonder of the World. For me, the trek and the site itself was one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done, the sense of achievement and sheer amazement at the site itself was something incomparable!
This was, of course, until we experienced the Sanctuary Lodge!! We went back and finally showered and lay down. We ordered room service and dined with just each other for company. It was wonderful! Next on our agenda were our complimentary massages.... They were fantastic, and much deserved! We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring Macchu Piccu further and had a wonderful time doing so. As the light of the day faded we retired to the hotel bar and had a couple of drinks before relaxing on the bed watching TV before dinner.
We decided to sit and have dinner in the dining room, so after a quick drink, we sat down to indulge in the haute cuisine we had seen other diners partaking in. The whole 3 courses were wonderful for the both of us, including a delicious bottle of wine. I dined on crab and some amazing duck, whilst Jen enjoyed a wonderful avocado salad and Chicken in Tarragon sauce. We left the table plump and content and enjoyed the rest of our evening watching movies and lying in the oversized bed!
Unfortunately we had to leave the Sanctuary in the morning. After the buffet breakfast of course.... smoked salmon.... mmmm!! Thank you once again Aunt Rayna and Uncle Jimmy. It was amazing and even better as we had just hiked for 4 days. Thank you!!
More to come soon. We are having issues with uploading pics here I´m afraid. We have over 500, some from the tail end of Quito, some from Cusco, but mostly from the trail!
We are now in Huacachina, a little oasis in the Peruvian desert- south of Pisco and north of Nazca, 3k from Ica. It´s cool! We are going sandboarding and dune buggying this arvo!
Love to all! Feliz Navidad!
Monday, December 15, 2008
WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So we left at 5am from Cusco with our Llama Path group, headed for Ollanteytambo. We arrived around 7am for breakfast, where we spied a guinea pig farm next door and some fabulous ruins in the distance. We ate in a hurry, and then hopped back in the van for the final 45 minutes to Kilometer 82- the starting point! How exciting. We organized our bags with the porters (who are incredibly fit and friendly) and then set off, walking sticks in hand!
Day one was nice. Fourteen km, slightly sloping uphill but nothing insane. We passed many houses along the way, with locals going about their business, cows and chickens and a baby pig roaming around. So strange to think that these people live here full time, watching tons of backpackers pass by their front doors in the middle of nowhere. There were lots of baños along the way, ranging from slightly scary to life-altering trauma (towards the end, as well as some local women selling water, soda, and gatorade to the unprepared passersby. We were blessed with gorgeous weather, and took tons of pictures along the way, clean and smiley, unaware of the horrors that lay ahead.
We passed two checkpoints along the way to our camp, getting the much coveted passport stamps that made us feel quite official. We camped at Ayapata, 3300m high. Our porters were amazing- they always passed us on the trail and had our meals set up and waiting for when we arrived, and our tents pitched, hot water to wash up, etc etc. We all felt quite proud that evening, and passed out very soon after dinner.
Day 2 was not as much fun, but was a lot more rewarding. We awoke to hot tea delivered to our tent at 5am, then rushed to pack and eat so that we could get to hiking. We had 9 hours of straight hiking, gaining 900m to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass, then losing 700m to the botton of a valley, another 500m up, then 400m down. This is all just the change in altitude, mind you, the actual hike was about 16km in total. The beginning was not so tough, but the trail quickly took a turn for the worse. At times, we were climbing up incredibly narrow yet very steep steps and thanking the Inca Gods for the lack of rain. We encountered a pack of llamas at one point, who turned angry when I tried to pose with them, and ended up chasing me up the trail for a while- very good incentive to run!
Everyone felt pretty downtrodden, but we pushed on, and made it to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass in much less that the estimated time. It was cold and windy up there, and the panoramic views were insane. The downhill was almost as bad as the uphill though, and as we went down the other side we felt our calves being pushed to their limits and knees getting a bit jerky. We had lunch at the bottom, then pushed up the next pass, which was much less intense but still tiring. We visited incredible temples and forts along the way, then entered the cloud forest right before our campsite. WOW, what a day! We shoveled our food in then passed out, freezing our butts off all night.
Day 3 was not so bad! Because we had pushed on so much in the first few days, we had only 7km to hike, mostly downhill (and down those damn steps!) visiting more Inca sites along the way. We arrived in Wiñay Huayna around lunchtime, napped for a bit, then checkd out more great ruins before heading to the small BAR(!)that was near the campsites. Beer to celebrate our new friend Chelsea´s birthday and to relax after our lengthy workouts. Dinner, then a ceremony with our porters and bedtime!
Day four- Machu Picchu! We woke up at 3am, ate a lovely cake that our chef baked for us, and hauled our butts down to the checkpoint gate, arriving second in line, and waited until the gates were opened at 5:30. We are not exactly sure why it is so important to arrive at that time and then wait, but whatever. As we sat there, it began to rain, then pour; our first rain of the trip thankfully but what a terrible day for it! As soon as the gate opened, we RAN as fast as we could, as it was the goal to reach the Sun Gate first. Well that didn´t happen for us, but 2 of the Aussie girls in our group made it there second! The trail wasn´t too tough, but there were some of those killer Inca steps thrown in that really put a kink in your pace. So tiresome! We finally reached the Sun Gate and there is was, in full glory. Machu Picchu in its entirety from a sort of arial view. There were few tourists in our view, so we shot some great pictures then headed down to the site, another hour of hiking, then there we were! We grabbed our bag from the porter as we waited for our tour to begin, and ran over to the Sanctuary Lodge to check in- we are SO LUCKY!!!!!!
Day one was nice. Fourteen km, slightly sloping uphill but nothing insane. We passed many houses along the way, with locals going about their business, cows and chickens and a baby pig roaming around. So strange to think that these people live here full time, watching tons of backpackers pass by their front doors in the middle of nowhere. There were lots of baños along the way, ranging from slightly scary to life-altering trauma (towards the end, as well as some local women selling water, soda, and gatorade to the unprepared passersby. We were blessed with gorgeous weather, and took tons of pictures along the way, clean and smiley, unaware of the horrors that lay ahead.
We passed two checkpoints along the way to our camp, getting the much coveted passport stamps that made us feel quite official. We camped at Ayapata, 3300m high. Our porters were amazing- they always passed us on the trail and had our meals set up and waiting for when we arrived, and our tents pitched, hot water to wash up, etc etc. We all felt quite proud that evening, and passed out very soon after dinner.
Day 2 was not as much fun, but was a lot more rewarding. We awoke to hot tea delivered to our tent at 5am, then rushed to pack and eat so that we could get to hiking. We had 9 hours of straight hiking, gaining 900m to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass, then losing 700m to the botton of a valley, another 500m up, then 400m down. This is all just the change in altitude, mind you, the actual hike was about 16km in total. The beginning was not so tough, but the trail quickly took a turn for the worse. At times, we were climbing up incredibly narrow yet very steep steps and thanking the Inca Gods for the lack of rain. We encountered a pack of llamas at one point, who turned angry when I tried to pose with them, and ended up chasing me up the trail for a while- very good incentive to run!
Everyone felt pretty downtrodden, but we pushed on, and made it to the top of Dead Woman´s Pass in much less that the estimated time. It was cold and windy up there, and the panoramic views were insane. The downhill was almost as bad as the uphill though, and as we went down the other side we felt our calves being pushed to their limits and knees getting a bit jerky. We had lunch at the bottom, then pushed up the next pass, which was much less intense but still tiring. We visited incredible temples and forts along the way, then entered the cloud forest right before our campsite. WOW, what a day! We shoveled our food in then passed out, freezing our butts off all night.
Day 3 was not so bad! Because we had pushed on so much in the first few days, we had only 7km to hike, mostly downhill (and down those damn steps!) visiting more Inca sites along the way. We arrived in Wiñay Huayna around lunchtime, napped for a bit, then checkd out more great ruins before heading to the small BAR(!)that was near the campsites. Beer to celebrate our new friend Chelsea´s birthday and to relax after our lengthy workouts. Dinner, then a ceremony with our porters and bedtime!
Day four- Machu Picchu! We woke up at 3am, ate a lovely cake that our chef baked for us, and hauled our butts down to the checkpoint gate, arriving second in line, and waited until the gates were opened at 5:30. We are not exactly sure why it is so important to arrive at that time and then wait, but whatever. As we sat there, it began to rain, then pour; our first rain of the trip thankfully but what a terrible day for it! As soon as the gate opened, we RAN as fast as we could, as it was the goal to reach the Sun Gate first. Well that didn´t happen for us, but 2 of the Aussie girls in our group made it there second! The trail wasn´t too tough, but there were some of those killer Inca steps thrown in that really put a kink in your pace. So tiresome! We finally reached the Sun Gate and there is was, in full glory. Machu Picchu in its entirety from a sort of arial view. There were few tourists in our view, so we shot some great pictures then headed down to the site, another hour of hiking, then there we were! We grabbed our bag from the porter as we waited for our tour to begin, and ran over to the Sanctuary Lodge to check in- we are SO LUCKY!!!!!!
Quito and Cuscotopia.
Sorry for the lengthy gap in updates, we should have done this before we left on our trail but these things happen...
We did manage to realise our plans in Quito and see the Teleferico and the beautiful view over the whole of Quito. We also managed to venture into the amusement park at it´s base and go karting. It was awesome! Haven´t driven in a while but both of us managed not to spin out! That evening we left Quito for Lima, where we spent the night in the airport for our 5am flight to Cusco.
On arrival at 7am in Cusco, we went straight to our chosen hostel, Suecia II, and checked in to a double room and slept until the early afternoon. We decided it was time to explore this beautiful city that we had found ourselves in. We arrived in Cusco 3 days before our trek to Machu Picchu began. We had to acclimatise to the elevation, 13000ft above sea level. This also meant that we were not smoking and drinking, so no falling off boats and late night rum sessions!
Cusco is an amazing city, so much history and lots of interesting architecture. The main square, Plaza de Armas, has 3 churches and 1 cathedral squeezed into 2 of it´s sides, all with differing styles, many of the buildings mix original Inca foundations with the more modern Colonial style. Also, littered across the city, there are original Inca walls and foundations, some of which have withstood over 500 hundred years of use and even a major earthquake in 1650 - we later learned just how ingenious the Inca engineers were, most designs include an incline of at least 3 degrees and some of Machu Picchu is actually built on rollers!
After 3 days of exploring it was time to go for our briefing for our trek. As it turns out, we were in a very large group, 16 people. What made this even more interesting is that along with the 16 apying customers, we had 2 guides, 1 chef and 21 porters. Giving a total group size of 40! We were definitly in for an interesting time.
Photos for the rest of Quito, Cusco and thgen the Inca trail to follow.... another couple hundred!
We did manage to realise our plans in Quito and see the Teleferico and the beautiful view over the whole of Quito. We also managed to venture into the amusement park at it´s base and go karting. It was awesome! Haven´t driven in a while but both of us managed not to spin out! That evening we left Quito for Lima, where we spent the night in the airport for our 5am flight to Cusco.
On arrival at 7am in Cusco, we went straight to our chosen hostel, Suecia II, and checked in to a double room and slept until the early afternoon. We decided it was time to explore this beautiful city that we had found ourselves in. We arrived in Cusco 3 days before our trek to Machu Picchu began. We had to acclimatise to the elevation, 13000ft above sea level. This also meant that we were not smoking and drinking, so no falling off boats and late night rum sessions!
Cusco is an amazing city, so much history and lots of interesting architecture. The main square, Plaza de Armas, has 3 churches and 1 cathedral squeezed into 2 of it´s sides, all with differing styles, many of the buildings mix original Inca foundations with the more modern Colonial style. Also, littered across the city, there are original Inca walls and foundations, some of which have withstood over 500 hundred years of use and even a major earthquake in 1650 - we later learned just how ingenious the Inca engineers were, most designs include an incline of at least 3 degrees and some of Machu Picchu is actually built on rollers!
After 3 days of exploring it was time to go for our briefing for our trek. As it turns out, we were in a very large group, 16 people. What made this even more interesting is that along with the 16 apying customers, we had 2 guides, 1 chef and 21 porters. Giving a total group size of 40! We were definitly in for an interesting time.
Photos for the rest of Quito, Cusco and thgen the Inca trail to follow.... another couple hundred!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Quito.... still....
The last blog finished with us doing nothing all day.... I was extremely hungover, which is unusual, usually it´s the other way around! But Jen kept me alive and we had a quiet evening. Yesterday we went for a great curry with awesome garlic naan and then came to use the internet. The plan was to go to the Botanical Gardens and maybe old town in the afternoon. The plan was not accomplished when it started to rain so hard and then HAIL all afternoon! After waiting out as long as possible we hurried back to the hostel and enjoyed an evening of reading, hanging out, and of course, a few beers!
Today I left Jen in bed (we had a very sleepless night due to a puking, M&M eating, snoring roommate) and we plan to attempt the Gardens again and the Teleferico - a huge cable car to the top of a nearby 4000m mountain for a view over the city. Fingers crossed the weather holds up!
Today I left Jen in bed (we had a very sleepless night due to a puking, M&M eating, snoring roommate) and we plan to attempt the Gardens again and the Teleferico - a huge cable car to the top of a nearby 4000m mountain for a view over the city. Fingers crossed the weather holds up!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Galapagos pics.... finally! There´s lots!
Now we have 2 cameras these are in an odd order...... Guayaquil 1st, then waterproof camera and then 400 more!:
Galapagone
Wow, time flew by!! Where did we leave off? Ah yes, day 1. Well, basically, we were on a 5 day/4 night cruise, and after day 1 our guide left on vacation and was traded out by a horrible guy named Daniel, who did not speak English. That wouldn´t have been so bad if he actually knew anything, but he was completely useless! He knew nothing, and made up everything else!!! You do get what you pay for though, so we should have expected some problems on our super cheap cruise. Other than that, things were fabulous! Great food, great day trips, and great company! Some of the highlights included panting blue footed boobies standing on eggs, smelly sea lions barking at each other, swimming with sharks, sting rays, turtles, and crazy fish, Oli being nibbled on by a large sea lion, and flying flamingos! Much much more, everything we looked at was amazing. It is impossible to sum it up with words, so enjoy the photos, please! One other highlight was our first trip (and 3 more!) to the local hospital!
On our third day, we were hiking along some volcanic rock and enjoying the scenery. Oli and I began fooling around, cutting each other off on the path, and in a typical Jen move, I tripped and chopped off part of my toe!! It wasn´t quite severed at that point, but it sure did bleed. Later, upon further investigation by Oli and our new friend Carolina (armed with tweezers), it was decided that the top part would need to be amputated at the hospital as it was not just the nail, but a large chunk of flesh encompassing the nail and more! So we wrapped it up, and the following day we were docked in the bay of Port Ayora. Clean hospital, lots of meds and painkillers, and half a toe later, we were ready for some Thanksgiving drinks! We all went to Limon y Cafe and celebrated until the wee hours of the morning, at which point Oli and I decided to head back for our last night on the Merak. We hopped on a water taxi and somehow it found our boat in the big harbor. Oli hopped off, and I followed. Now the following events were not the result of too many celebratory drinks and I feel like it was only a matter of time before it happened. I had one foot on the Merak and one on the water taxi, and suddenly the water taxi bounced back. I tried to leap for Oli´s arms, but I slipped, and after some struggling, there was darkness. And it was surprisingly warm! Somehow I found myself treading water in the pitch black of the harbor, with my bandaged toe becoming undone and my flip flops floating away into the night. Our cook came running up to the deck and tried to help Oli lug me up, and then they gave up and had the taxi do it. I was dead weight and slippery. Seconds later, wrapped in a towel, Oli and I sat on deck of the Merak and laughed to our hearts content.
We spent the following days in the Galapagos at the lovely Hotel España, drinking and dining with our new friends Clair and Cody. We were unable to do much during the day as I was not allowed to go diving or snorkeling or swimming or hiking or ANYTHING, per doctors orders. We relaxed and read and waited to get off that damn island!!
We are now in Quito, doing basically the same thing! We have been told by many many people that the city is incredibly dangerous, so we have not done as much sightseeing as we would have preferred. Yesterday, we hired a cab to take us to the equator, where we spied a shrunken head, large snake skins, and Oli´s new Halloween costume (he can tell you about it later). We then headed off to the Basilica, where we climbed entirely too many stairs and steps, and saw the entire city of Quito from atop one of the spires. Cody and Clair are staying at our hotel, so we have been drinking and dining and sightseeing with them. Last night we wasted away in a British pub, noshing on fish and chips and chilli con carne. Today we have done nothing, and it feels great!! Getting a bit thirsty.... :)
On our third day, we were hiking along some volcanic rock and enjoying the scenery. Oli and I began fooling around, cutting each other off on the path, and in a typical Jen move, I tripped and chopped off part of my toe!! It wasn´t quite severed at that point, but it sure did bleed. Later, upon further investigation by Oli and our new friend Carolina (armed with tweezers), it was decided that the top part would need to be amputated at the hospital as it was not just the nail, but a large chunk of flesh encompassing the nail and more! So we wrapped it up, and the following day we were docked in the bay of Port Ayora. Clean hospital, lots of meds and painkillers, and half a toe later, we were ready for some Thanksgiving drinks! We all went to Limon y Cafe and celebrated until the wee hours of the morning, at which point Oli and I decided to head back for our last night on the Merak. We hopped on a water taxi and somehow it found our boat in the big harbor. Oli hopped off, and I followed. Now the following events were not the result of too many celebratory drinks and I feel like it was only a matter of time before it happened. I had one foot on the Merak and one on the water taxi, and suddenly the water taxi bounced back. I tried to leap for Oli´s arms, but I slipped, and after some struggling, there was darkness. And it was surprisingly warm! Somehow I found myself treading water in the pitch black of the harbor, with my bandaged toe becoming undone and my flip flops floating away into the night. Our cook came running up to the deck and tried to help Oli lug me up, and then they gave up and had the taxi do it. I was dead weight and slippery. Seconds later, wrapped in a towel, Oli and I sat on deck of the Merak and laughed to our hearts content.
We spent the following days in the Galapagos at the lovely Hotel España, drinking and dining with our new friends Clair and Cody. We were unable to do much during the day as I was not allowed to go diving or snorkeling or swimming or hiking or ANYTHING, per doctors orders. We relaxed and read and waited to get off that damn island!!
We are now in Quito, doing basically the same thing! We have been told by many many people that the city is incredibly dangerous, so we have not done as much sightseeing as we would have preferred. Yesterday, we hired a cab to take us to the equator, where we spied a shrunken head, large snake skins, and Oli´s new Halloween costume (he can tell you about it later). We then headed off to the Basilica, where we climbed entirely too many stairs and steps, and saw the entire city of Quito from atop one of the spires. Cody and Clair are staying at our hotel, so we have been drinking and dining and sightseeing with them. Last night we wasted away in a British pub, noshing on fish and chips and chilli con carne. Today we have done nothing, and it feels great!! Getting a bit thirsty.... :)
Well...
There´s gonna be a lot going on today, updates & over 500 pix from the Galapagos. But..... just realised that we never posted the pix from Panama.... sorry! So here we are:
Sorry for the delay!!
Sorry for the delay!!
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