South America 2005

--------Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - Quito, Ecuador---------
Hi everyone!
Just a quick update with confirmation that I have arrived safely in South
America.  Yesterday was my big travel day, flying from Vancouver to Bogotá,
Columbia, with a plane change in Houston.  I was only in Bogotá for about 11
hours, and I only saw the route from the airport to the hotel and back.  I´m
in Quito, Ecuador now, arrived on a flight from Bogotá this morning.   As in
Bogotá, there are armed military guards everywhere, equipped with machine
guns. "They are there for my protection"..... is what I keep telling myself.
I think I´m adjusting well to the altitudes, but I am definitely feeling it.
  I never realized how much I enjoyed Oxygen before. Bogotá  is at 2600
metres and Quito is at 2800meters.  Tingles and numbness in my feet and
hands, tiny headache, general laziness (although that could be caused by
holiday mode...).  I´m actually really tired, and have been falling asleep
easily for short little naps.  The highest elevation in my trip will be
around 4200metres, unless I decide to visit the highest ski resort in the
world (on the Bolvia-Peru border) which is almost 5500meters.  I´m staying
at a cute little B&B in the tourist area.  The area seems safe, although I´m
not going to test that theory after dark.  Weather is nice in Quito, just
slightly cooler than Vancouver at the moment.  I´m comfortable in my shorts
and sandals.  The Galapagos will be hot, around 30 degrees.
Tomorrow I´m planning on traveling to Mitad del Mundo (the equatorial line
and monument) where I will be able to straddle both hemispheres.  I think
it´s supposed to be a cool view from there too.

The rest of itinerary is as follows:
Jun 2 - June 9 - live-a-board yacht tour of the Galapagos islands
June 10 - back to Quito, Ecuador
Jun 11&12 - La Paz, Bolivia (highest capital city in the world, at
4000meters)
June 13-16 - Amazon tour
June 17-July 7 - 3week tour of Peru and Bolivia, including Lake Titicaca
(highest navigable lake in the world), and the 4 day Inca Trail hike to
Macchu Picchu
July 7-10 - Lima, Peru
July 11th - return date to Vancouver
Well, that´s the update for now.  I´m anticipating my next update to be June
10th or 11th, on my return from the Galapagos.
Heather
The Amazon Woman (not the hairy kind.....)
------Ecuador in Review, June 10, 2005 ----------
Ola amigos!  Como esta?
The first two weeks of my six week trip have been amazing.

Quito, Ecuador
Before leaving for the Galapagos, I took a city tour of Quito, the capital
of Ecuador.  We visited the old city, some churches, city squares, etc.
Then we went to the equator line.  I went to the equator museum, which is
interactive with really cool demonstrations.  There is no water swirl on the
equator line.  In the Northern Hemisphere the swirl is counterclockwise, and
in the Southern Hemisphere, the swirl is clockwise.  Right on the equator
line, the water falls through a sink straight down.  Also, we weight about 2
.5lbs less on the equator because of the earth’s bulge in the middle.
Something about gravity or something.  I think I´m going to move to the
Equator.....  I got a photo with one foot in each hemisphere at the same
time.  Quite cool.

Galapagos Islands
Amazing.  I´m almost speechless... (almost...).
There were a total of 16 guests, 7 crew and a naturalist guide on the 75foot
yacht.  I was given one of the only single rooms on the boat, on the main
deck, with my door outward facing.  I often took naps in the afternoon with
the door clipped open and the sea air and warm breezes filling my room.  My
room had a private bathroom, with fresh water shower and everything.
We often sailed at night, arriving to a new island each day.  We would take
early morning nature walks to see the animals, then often go snorkeling and
swimming at a beach in the afternoon.  Everyday was different.
The highlights:
- snorkeling with: stingray and other ray species, white tipped reef sharks,
penguins, sea lions, sea turtles, eels, and millions of beautiful fish.  The
sea lions are so tame, they play with you in the water, with their noses
right up to your mask.  We actually all got stung by jellyfish one time
while snorkeling.  They are the really tiny translucent ones.  I felt a
little stink on my arms in the water, but thought it was my imagination.  I
just carried on, enjoying the underwater show.  Then I look up and the
zodiacs are pulling everyone out of the water because everyone was being
stung.  I got a few welts, which had about as much drama as a mosquito bite,
but sounds much worse.
- Scuba diving.  I tried it for the second or third time now, and bailed.  I
am, and will remain a snorkeler.
- Birds...  so many birds.  Frigate birds were always swirling and sometimes
swarming the boat, especially when the crew caught a fish and were throwing
the fish innards up in the air for them to catch.  The wing span is 7 feet
wide, and they flew within touching distance of us.  We saw the frigate
males with the red chin pouch inflated to attract the females. Saw lots of
blue footed boobies, pelicans, finches, albatross, mocking birds, penguins,
hawks, doves, and pink flamingos.  These birds are so tame.  We are given
strict instructions not to touch any animals, but we could if we wanted to.
The birds, and all the other animals are not afraid of us.  We saw the
mating rituals of the blue footed boobies, which is the most romantic thing
I´ve ever seen.  He whistles and she honks.  He spreads his wings and points
to the sky.  She tries to ignore him.  He presents her with sticks and rocks
(bird equivalent to a diamond ring), and then if she is agreeable, they
settle down, build a house and start a family.  We saw lots of eggs and
really new baby birds.  This is all happening right on the path where we
walk, we have to be careful to step around the birds and the nests.
- tortoises - we went to Darwin Station which is the place where researchers
are working to maintain the indigenous species to the islands that are
threatened by introduced species (pigs, cows, dogs, cats, rats, goats, etc).
  If left uncontrolled, the introduced species will cause the extinction of
the unique and special animals.  Very interesting stuff.  At Darwin Station
we saw loads of huge land tortoises, which we could walk amoung and take
photos with.
- Iguana - I saw loads of marine and land iguanas.  They are so cool.  Talk
about prehistoric looking.
- Sea lions - I think these might be my favourite.  They are just so cool to
watch.  One little baby sea lion came out of the ocean on the beach where
his Mom was resting.  I guess he couldn’t tell which one she was, so he just
went up to each one, and asked ¨Are you my Mom?¨ Once in a while, a another
male would come and try to challenge the male of the colony.  Things would
come to blows, and the challenger retreated.  Again, we could go right up to
the sea lions on the beaches.
- Ecuador won a soccer game against Argentina on a day where we had an
afternoon in one of the ports.  We watched the game with the locals in the
bar by the pier.  Holy smoke, these people are crazy for their ´football´.
They cried and hugged each other for each goal.  When Ecuador won, everyone
took to the streets and formed a parade of cars honking and flying the flag.
   I guess they are close to making World Cup qualifying for next year, so
every game is important.  Canadians only go this crazy when Canada wins gold
in Olympic hockey.
-Post Office Bay - this is a antiquated mail delivery system established
back a few hundred years ago.  Sailors would drop letters in this barrel,
and pick-up letters for the destination where they were headed.  The system
is still used today, maintained by the tourists visitors.  I left a few
post-cards in the bin, and took whatever I could find that has a Canadian
address.  I’ll put a stamp on them when I get back to Canada.  A few of you
will hopefully receive post-cards delivered this way.
The weather was amazing, mid 20´s most days, cooling off in the evening.
The sun was quite powerful on the equator line, so I covered up with a hat,
swam with a t-shirt and used sunscreen except for yesterday...  It was
overcast, and I didn’t remember to reapply after swimming.  Ouch.

Next on the itinerary....
I was scheduled to travel to Bolivia tomorrow, but due to the civil unrest,
and ´violent protests´ happening in La Paz at the moment, my next tour has
been cancelled.  My tour company has replaced it with something almost
identical, but omitting the Bolivia component.  I still go to the Amazon,
and I will still go to Machu Picchu, but unfortunately, with this new
itinerary, I will not be hiking the Inca Trail.  I fly to Lima, Peru
tomorrow, and have a week before the start of this next tour.  I don’t want
to spend this whole time in Lima, so I´m hoping I can scramble together some
sort of itinerary that takes me out of the city to some cool stuff.
The next update will likely be from Lima in about a week.  Enjoy the two
attached photos.
Heather
The Amazon Woman
 -------- Update from Lima, Peru - June 18th, 2005---------
Hola amigos!
I arrived in Lima, Peru one week ago today.  I've done and seen so much in Lima in that time, I don't know where to start.   Since this week in Lima was unscheduled (I was meant to be in LaPaz, Bolivia, but was diverted to Lima because of the riots and violent demonstrations in Bolivia at the moment), I had to scramble together a plan on how to spend this time.  I decided to enroll in Spanish school, and spend my time learning the language.  I attended school every day, Monday to Friday, for four hours each day.  I learned lots, and feel I can now understand much more of what is being said around me.  I've made some improvements in my conversation skills, but I'm clearly still a real beginner.  My school arranged for my accommodation in a little B&B directly adjacent to the school.  Perfect little scenario.   In addition to my classes, I spent the week immersing myself in this place.  I went to an archaeological museum on a school field trip.  It was interesting, however, the museum tour was conducted in Spanish, of which I only understood every 100th word.  I took some salsa dance lessons, which were SO fun. The teacher didn’t speak a word of English, so I had to learn mainly by watching rather than listening.   I took a Peruvian cooking class, which again was hilarious with the language barrier.  We managed to make ourselves understood using kitchen charades.  I made two dishes.  One was a layered mashed potato and chicken salad mold.  Yummy, but it would never occur to me to combine those things.  The other dish was equally interesting.  Stir fried peppers, onions and garlic, puree'd in a blender with soda crackers, pecans and chicken stock.  This is combined with chicken pieces, milk and parmesan cheese, served over boiled potatoes with rice and topped with hard boiled egg.  I tried another traditional Peruvian dish, called 'Ceciche' (Se-vee-chay).  This is raw fish, marinated in lemon juice and spices.  The lemon juice cures the fish so it's kinda cooked.  Delicious. One of the other things I did was attend a dinner event of the 'Canadian & American Association' here in Lima.  This is a bunch of ex-pats from North America who are living and working in Lima (or traveling through in my case).  A pretty successful and affluent group that were transplanted here for a variety of different reasons.   I've also spent some time in the spa this week.  Had a manicure and a pedicure earlier this week, and then treated myself to a massage after finishing school on Friday.  I think there might be a facial in store for me on my return to Lima after my upcoming three-week tour of Peru.  These services are so cheap compared to Canadian standards, I just couldn't resist. Today I went tandem paragliding.  Clipped onto my instructor, we got the parachute all set, and then the wind lifted us.  The take-off and landing spot is a grass park on the cliff beside the ocean, about 40 meters above sea level  Then the wind currents lifted us up and allowed us to sail and fly at about 200 meters above sea level for almost 30minutes, before landing back at the park.  Such a beautiful view of Lima from above.  So quiet and relaxing.  At the end, the pilot did some aerobatics, pendulum swinging and corkscrews which dialed up the adrenaline.  So fun, I highly recommend paragliding.  See attached photo taken by the pilot while airborne. Interesting things about Lima, Peru.....- The capital of Peru, it's a huge flat city at sea level in the center part of the country, approx 8 million in population.  The weather here is almost ALWAYS overcast.  They NEVER get rain.  They rarely get sunshine.  The temperature here is cool this time of year, probably in the mid to high single digits Celsius. I'm wearing my fleece constantly. - Public transit is hilarious.  The streets are filled with these mini vans.  They have a driver, and a sales and marketing guy.  The driver just drives.  The sales and marketing guy hangs out of the open side door, yelling out the route name to passers buy, coaxing people to take his bus.  He also appears to take care of the money exchange as well.  There appears to be set routes, but there are no set stops.  The van stops when people flag to get on, which in many cases happens in the middle of the busy street.  - Taxis are used for transportation much more than they are in Canada.  They are EVERYWHERE, and used by locals to go most places.  Taxis patrol the streets, honking at pedestrians as if to ask if they need a ride.  They are CHEAP compared to Canada, but it's important to negotiate the fare before you get in.  A 20min taxi ride can cost around $3USD.- Most of the streets are one-way- Money exchange people - uniformed moneychanger people are positioned on the major streets.  This service appears to be well used by the locals changing local currency for USD and vice-versa.  Both currencies are in full effect here in Lima, USD for most tourist related services and products, and Peruvian Soles for everything else. I join my next tour today.  We have a briefing tonight, then pull anchor tomorrow and start on our 21-day overland journey through Peru.   I'm anticipating about 10 people in the group, maybe 12.  The itinerary includes:- Pisco, which is home of the famous Pisco Sour cocktail, made from grape liqueur- Nazca, where I will take a short flight to view the 'Nazca Lines' from above.  These are ancient Incan type crop circles, except they are lines depicting animals- Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru, and apparently quite lovely- Colca Canyon- Puno, which is a town on Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world).  This is the highest altitude that I will reach on this tour, at about 4000m.  We will take a boat to one of the floating islands (made of straw and reeds), and spend an overnight in a home stay on the island.- Cuzco, the gateway to the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu.  We'll spend a few days in Cuzco, and another few days touring the ruins in the 'Sacred Valley'- Machu Picchu - I build my trip around my visit to Machu Picchu.  I can't wait.- Puerto Maldonado in the jungle, where we will take a small boat deep into the jungle and stay for two nights Lima for two days before my International flight home.  I arrive back in Vancouver mid-day on the 11th of July. I expect my next update will be in Cuzco at the end of the month. Adios mi amigos.  Anacondas, here I come!

Heather'
The newest Latin Sensation

 ------- Update from Lake Titicaca, Peru – June 24th, 2005 --------
Hola Amigas,
There is so much to report since my last message a week ago.
On joining my Peru tour group last Saturday, I learned that I'm booked on a
slightly different tour than I was initially told.  With this new itinerary,
I will now be hiking the trail to Machu Picchu.  It's a good thing I'm
flexible, because that is the third change to my itinerary.  Anyway, I'm
thrilled that I the hike is back on. My tour group is great, the tour leader
is good as well.  There are 8 of us.  One other Canadian, three from UK, two
from Australia, and one Swedish woman (sorry L&L.....).  Pretty good group
dynamics.  I seem to be bonding the most with one of the English girls,
Miranda.

First stop on the tour was Pisco, Peru, right on the coast just south of
Lima.  We had an excursion by boat to nearby Ballesta Islands, which is part
of Paracas National Park.  From the boat we saw heaps and heaps of sea birds
and sea lions.  Penguins, Peruvian boobies, cormorants, gulls, etc.  Really
neat rock formations in these islands.  After returning from this early
morning boat excursion, we traveled by private bus to some sand dunes south
of Pisco.  Here we took a dune buggy into the dunes, bombing around and
break neck speeds in this 10 passenger open air buggy. We stopped in spots
and took out the sandboards and slid down of the dunes.  Very cool.  Lots of
adrenaline.

Next stop was Nazca, Peru.  This is the spot where we saw the 'Nazca Lines'-
which are animal shapes made a gazillion years ago in the dessert floor.
There are several theories as to why these images where created and research
is still being conducted to prove various theories.  We took a flight over
the Nazca Lines, in a tiny little four-person puddle hopper. I was co-pilot.
  Over every formation, the pilot circled left and then circled right so
people on both sides of the plane could see.  Very cool.  Later that evening
we took an excursion to the desert and climbed a little hill to watch the
winter solstice sunset (June 21st) on one of the Nazca Lines.  It's only on
this day that the sun sets directly down on this line in the dessert, and we
were lucky to coincidentally be there on that day.  For dinner, we went to a
special 'restaurant' in the middle of nowhere, where we enjoyed a
'Pachamanca' meal, traditionally reserved only for very special celebrations.  This
is where they build a fire in a pit; place rocks over the coals, then place
the food on the rocks.  The food is then covered with earth and left for
four hours to cook.  We arrived in time for the ceremonial unearthing of our
meal. I got to be one of the special helpers to remove the food from the
ground.

We then took a night bus to our next stop.  The night bus was quite an
experience.  Buses in Peru are pretty foo-foo.  Ours was a double decker,
with almost fully reclining seats and heaps of legroom.  The flight
attendant gave us blankets as we boarded, and served breakfast in the
morning.  The ride itself was kinda hairy.  I felt like I could have been
ejected from my seat and launched forward at any time.  Despite that, I
managed to sleep fairly well.  We arrived in Arequipa by about 9am, and had
the entire day free to explore.  I LOVE AREQUIPA!!!  Such a quaint little
place.  One of the main things to do is visit the monastery.  I loved it
there.  So picturesque.  So silent, except for the faint sounds of chanting.
  I joined the rest of the group for lunch, which we enjoyed perched on a
roof-top terrace over looking the main square of the town, and a mariachi
band playing for us.

From Arequipa, we traveled to the Colca Canyon.  The journey took us over a
mountain pass, where the elevation reached 4900M above sea level.  As
recommended, I drank lots of water, ate Coca candies, nibbled on chocolate,
and even chewed coca leaves to help with the elevation symptoms.  At each of
the bathroom and lookout spots, there were roadside stands where women were
selling their handicrafts.  Their children, sheep and alpacas were there
too.  They must have to walk for hours to get to these spots from their
homes, carrying all their handicrafts and infant children.  In Colca Canyon
we stayed in a tiny little postage stamp of a town, where the only vehicles
are those brought in by the tourist.  People herding their animals past the
front entrance of the hotel.   The Colca Canyon is so beautiful.  From top
to bottom at the highest point, this canyon is 3800 meters deep.  I'm not
kidding.  The people here live much as they did thousands of years ago.
They dress in traditional clothes.  They farm on terraced plots of land
some distance from their homes.  They walk with their animals (cows, sheep,
alpaca, donkeys) to the land each morning, and walk the whole gang back at
night.  It makes for rush hour on the roads during these times.  We got
caught in that rush hour a couple of times. We took an excursion to one end
of the canyon called 'Condor's Cross', which is a spot where Condor birds
can be seen early in the morning when the thermals are best.  We saw heaps
of these vulcher birds, flying really close to us (probably 20 or 30 feet
from the lookout).  They are huge, 3-meter wingspan.  One of the other really
fun things we did in the Colca Canyon is our trip to the hot springs.
Visits to these thermal pools are a custom for locals in the area.  It was
so cool.  We flopped around in the pool, while 'Jorge' the pool boy brought
us drinks and served them in a floating tray.

Today we traveled to Puno, Peru on the shore of Lake Titicaca. This is the
highest navigable lake in the world at an elevation of 3800M above sea
level.  We are lucky to be here.  Until yesterday, there were riots and
protests in this area.   On approach to the town, we could see the evidence
left from these demonstrations.  Rocks and boulders in the road (we had to
drive around), and lots of broken glass everywhere.  Until the resolution of
the conflict last night, vehicles were not able to pass in this area, coming
in or going out.  Those that attempted had rocks thrown at the cars, and
sometimes all luggage is stolen from the tourist vans and busses.  There
continue to be demonstrations in the town.  I can hear one outside in the
streets right now.  We are told they are celebrating their victory in the
concessions they were given as a result of last night's negotiations.
Anyway, we were lucky to be here in Puno.

Tomorrow we travel by canoe on Lake Titicaca to some of the floating islands
in the area.  We will stay overnight with local families in their homes,
before returning to Puno the next day.  Following that, we head to Cuzco,
where we spend a couple of nights before the hike to Machu Picchu.  We
return to Cuzco after the hike, where I expect to send my next report.

Adios Amigos!
Heather
'The latest Latin sensation'
-------Update from Cuzco, Peru - July 5, 2005-------
Hola Amigos,
Since my last issue of 'Heather's Travels' I have visited Lake Titicaca,Cuzco, done a three day trek through the Andes, and visited MachuPicchu. Lake TiticacaFrom the port at Puno, we took our 3hr boat ride to the first island ofTaquile, with a slight delay when the boat broke down and another boatwasdispatched to rescue us.  Lake Titicaca is at about 3800 meters abovesea, and given thewinter season in South America, it was COLD!!!  We arrived to our fistisland, and walked up a path, ascending another 700 meters to the townsquare where we had lunch.  I went over to a group of young local kidswitha stack of temporary tattoos that I had, and before long, I was swarmedand busy applying to each.That was so fun.  I took pictures of some of the local children, inexchangeI gave them small pieces of fruit.  This was recommended by our tourguideinstead of giving candy or money.  Lunch was served to us by the localsintheir community hall, kingfish that they had caught in the lake thatmorning.  Very charming.  Back to the boat, we navigated about an hourinvery rough waters to the island of Amantani.  We were met at the pier byourhost families.  Together with my fellow traveler 'Miranda', our hostmotherwalked us to her home, about 15min walk up the hill.  Their home is very basic.

Concreteconstruction, with thatched roof.  No electricity.  No heat.  No water.Outhouse behind the kitchen.  The kitchen is a separate building, with atable, one chair, a clay cook stove under which is a fire, and over whichisplaced clay pots which the food is cooked in.  Miranda and I broughtsomegifts for the family in the form of groceries, such as candles, rice,apples and powdered milk.  I spend the late afternoon crouched on thedirt floorof the kitchen helping our hostess prepare the evening meal.  I helpedfetchwater at the local well.  I pealed 'papas' = potatoes until my fingersweresore, and watched as she prepared the rest of the natural ingredientsgrownin their own garden.  The people on this island don't speak muchSpanish,they speak a ancient local language called Quechua.  I learned a fewwordsin Quechua so I could communicate some basics with these people.Bundledwith hat, scarf, mittens, Gortex jacket and about five layers of otherclothes, Miranda and I enjoyed the evening meal with the family, whichwas apotato and vegetable soup, then boiled potatoes and fried cheese.  Afterdinner, our hostess dressed us up in some of her traditional clothing,andoff we went to a fiesta in the community hall.  A local band played aswewere instructed on the traditional dance by our hostess.  The place waspacked with locals and other tourists who where also in home stay on theisland.  The party was so much fun, I got some great photos.  Back tothehouse, bundled in five layers of clothes, hat, scarf, mittens andtrappedunder the weight of 5 thick blankets, we went to sleep.  It is so COLDatnight, well below freezing. In the morning we were served breakfast, then escorted down the pierwhere we met the others in our group for the boat ride to the floatingislands of Uros.  These islands are made from reeds, and inhabited fulltimeby several thousand people.  We went onto two such islands, met thelocals,were invited into their homes.  Solar panels provided by the governmentallowthese people the electricity needed for stereos and televisions, which isquite a contrast in their one room, reed constructed homes.  Two of thelocal men took us in their reed boat from one island toanother, to visit some of the other families.  We were explained howthesefloating islands are constructed and maintained, and that feudingneighbourswill often cut off their section of island and float over to anotherislandand attach. CuzcoThis city was the capital of the Inca empire back in the 1500s.  So far,this is my favourite place in my entire trip, and maybe anywhere in theworld.  I love CUZCO!!!  The 'Plaza de Armas' is the main square in allSouth American towns, and is the heart of the community.  The plaza hasthemain cathedral on one side, and churches and shops/restaurants on theothersides, with a park with fountain in the middle.  All streets arecobblestone, most are one way with slivers of sidewalks on either side.There is Inca stone construction everywhere.  The restaurants and shopsarequite upscale, and cater to tourists.    Our hotel was just a few blocksfrom the main square, a converted house with cobblestone courtyard, andcreaky wooden floors.  So charming. In Cuzco, together with a few of my group members, we hired a van totake us10km up the hill to the farthest of the local ruins.  We visited a totaloffour ruins, walked down the hill, through fields, along donkey pathsin-between each, until the last of the ruins 'Saqsayhuaman', which ispronounced 'Sexy Woman'.  'How did you enjoy Saqsayhuaman?'  'How longdidyou spend in Saqsayhuaman?'  'What was your favourite part ofSaqsayhuaman?'There was no end to the jokes we came up with.  It was actually a reallycool ruins, and the site of a Winter Solstice festival called IntiRhami,which we missed just by a few days, (bummer). Hiking in the AndesAfter a three hour drive from Cuzco to our starting location, wereserved a hot lunch.While waiting for lunch to be prepared, we were lucky enough to sit inon acommunity meeting of the locals in the little village.  There was a ceremonial flagraising to inaugurate the new president of the community.  All of thelocalswere present, men sitting on one side, and women and children on anotherside.  Guess which got to sit on the benches...... Our trekking crew consisted of our guide Wilbert, three horsemen, a cookandassistant cook, six llamas and three horses.  The animals carried thebulkof the gear, including our main luggage, tents, food, etc.  There werefive trekkers in our group, includingme.  We set off on the three-day trek, and about 5 minutes into it, I'm alreadyhuffing and puffing.  The climb is grueling, and this is made moredifficult by the thin oxygen at altitude.  This experience was one ofthemost profound of my life, by far the most difficult thing I've everdone.  A huge challenge on so many differentlevels.  So many times during the trek, I didn't think I could continue.Ireached down deep, and found a determination that I didn’t know I had.Iwalked at a pace that would frustrate my 91yr old Grandmother, but I didit, and without any help.  Uponreaching each of the three passes (4300M, 4100M, and 4450M), I felt suchafeeling of accomplishment and pride that I've never felt before.  If Icando this, I know I can do anything. This accomplishment is probably thething I'm most proud of so far in my life. Along with the sense ofaccomplishment, theother highlights were the scenery and the local children.  We didn't seeanother tourist for three days.  We passed by little homes andcommunities,walked through herds of llamas, alpaca, and sheep, and crossedtrickling streams.  The localchildren would run from their houses when they saw us approaching.  Theydon't see white people very often, and are as intrigued with us as wearewith them.  One of the local boys who lived close to our camp on thesecondnight couldn't stop kissing me.  He would just huddle close to me andplantone on my cheek every few minutes.  One the last day, we met up with aboyand girl on the trail, who again took a liking to me.  They were perchedonthe trail about an hour from their little town that we were walkingtowards.   The boy walked the wholeway back to his town holding my hand, never wanting to let go.  With my broken Spanish I was able to communicate with these children, which wasso fun for me. Life at camp was awesome, despite the sub-zero temperatures.  The crewarrived at camp well before us, set-up our sleeping tents, the kitchentent,the mess tent and the 'baño' = 'toilet' tent.  This was a portable seatwithplastic bag catcher, inside a tiny little tent for privacy.  The mealswereamazing, better than I eat at home.  Did I mention it was COLD!!!?  At night,it was well below zero.  I put on two pairs of pants, three shirts,fleece,hat, mittens, scarf, crawled into my down sleeping bag and cinched thethingaround myself only leaving a small air hole.  Our crew filled our watercanteens with boiling water.  I think that is what saved me fromperishing. Before reaching Machu Picchu, we arrived to a town called 'AguasCalientas'= translation is 'Hot Water'.  This town has thermal hot springs, whichweenjoyed very much after such a grueling hike.  While sitting in the hotsprings, we were approached by the mayor of the area, also sitting inthesprings, and we talked for awhile about our impressions of the town,areasfor improvements, etc.  That was pretty cool.  After leaving the hotsprings, with my hair wrapped in a towel, I wandered into the villageandinto the shop of a local massage therapist.  My intended 15 minute foot massageturned into a much longer full on body rub down.  I don't know if I'vehad a better massagein my life! Early the next morning, after a hot shower and comfortable night sleepin a actual BED!, we took a bus from Aquas Calientas up the very steepmountain (switchbackroad) up to Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas, and maybe one ofthelargest ancient ruins in the world.  What a magical place.  We had anexplanation by a local guide.  All their buildings had significance,every last stone was cut and shaped to fit exactly, every piece was planned carefully. I climbed to one of the high points of the ruins, and justspend some time inquiet reflection in this very special place. I arrived back to Cuzco, and spend a free day just enjoying thischarminglittle town.  I'm totally exhausted, and I've actually come down withsome sort of a bug (of the gastro-intestinal variety.....).  I'm trying totake it easy, which is hard in such an amazing place. Next on the itinerary:Only one week left in my six week trip.  We take a flight to the jungle about an hour from now, where we will stay for three days.  From thejungle, we fly back to Lima, where the tour officially ends on Friday.  I have afew days in Lima after the tour ends.  I'll plan to send another email on my return from the Jungle, before heading home from Lima late Sunday night (arrive back in Vancouver around noon on Monday). Attached photos:Machu PicchuFiesta on Amantani Island, Lake TiticacaReed boat on Uros Islands, Lake TiticacaReaching the summit, Andes Mountains, Peru Hoping all is well with you!
Heather
Saqsayhuaman of Peru

 -----July 9th, 2005 --------
 I'm back in Lima now, having returned from the three day trip to theAmazon jungle. The JungleAfter a 1hr flight, 1 hr bus ride, and 2hr boat ride, we arrived to ourresort in the Peruvian jungle.  The resort was amazing.  Beautifullyconstructed thatched huts, with indoor plumbing, fully screened withcomfortable beds equipped with mosquito nets.  Candles were provided forlighting in our huts, and lanterns along the resort paths lit the way tothe bar and dining room.  The sounds and the heat of the jungle were myfirst impression.  The place is buzzing with bird and animal calls andcrickets.Very loud.  The humidity is thick; I was soaked in sweat immediately onexit of the plane. I brought a small battery operated hand fan with me,and felt so clever when I managed to rig it up to hang above me in mymosquito net providing a slight respite from the heat in the night. We were led on a night walk our first night there.  Equipped with ourflashlights and headlamps, we went on a quiet wander along one of theresort walking paths.  The guide found a tarantula hole, and we watchedas our resort guide coaxed the beast out to meet us.  That was prettycool.  We saw a couple of snakes, lots of cool bugs, and a tiny littleleaf frog.  The next day our full day walk in the rain forest revealedlots more jungle treats.  We saw lots of species of monkeys, cabyvara(largest rodent species in the world, looks like a guinea pig, butabout the size of a full sized pig), macaw, lots of other bird species,and lots of cool bugs.  We found another tarantula hole, and againcoaxed it out to meet us.  This time I was crouched and hovering about afoot over the hole, with my camera aimed for good video footage.National Geographic, eat your heart out!  We took a canoe ride in on ofthe lakes, where we saw some otters, which is the rarest animal sightingdue to it's highly endangered status.  We hunted for anaconda, andalthough we found tracks, we didn't see any first hand.  I fished andcaught a piranha, and have a picture of me giving it a littlekiss.  Those suckers are hard to catch, let me tell you!!!   Back to theresort, we had some free time before the evening activity, which I spentswinging in the hammock at our hut, lulled to sleep by the motion andthe peaceful sounds of the jungle.  After sunset, we went caiman(crocodile) spotting in the boat.  Our leaders held a huge spotlight andsearched the shore line for sightings.  We saw lots!  Also saw a hugesnake and more cabyvara. Back in Lima, at our tour's farewell dinner, I decided to partake in thelocal delicacy of baked guinea pig.  I'm glad I tried it, but it'sreally not my favorite.  It's a lot of work for not much reward.  Idon't mind the work in the case of lobster or crab, but in the case ofguinea pig, the payoff wasn't that great.  Last night, three of mygroup members and I went to a dinner/dance show in downtown Lima.  Thelive band played, and we watched dance performances in very elaboratecostumes.  The dancers would perform for one song, then the dance floorwould fill with locals, during the costume change, before the start ofthe next act.  People of all ages were busting a move, some with rhythm,some without.  Really cool.

Trip in Review:
# countries visited = 3
# weeks away = 6
# of fellow travelers with trips longer than mine = 20 (of 26)
# flights in total = 13
# of bus trips = 10
# of train trips = 2
# of books read = 6
# of different animal species I saw = lost count at 100
# alcoholic drinks consumed = 0
# of cups of coffee consumed = 0 (both of the above are not recommended at altitude, so I decided to turn thewhole trip into a bit of a cleans).
# fellow Canadians on my tours = 5 (of 26)
# of 'small world' experiences = 2 (one of the guests on the Galapagos tour was a woman who interviewed me for a job last fall)(I met a guy on the train from Machu Picchu whose parents live on the same street as my Aunt Karin and Uncle Bob in Tsawwassen)
# trips to the spa = 4
# additional bags coming home = 2
Highest elevation reached = 4900M
Value of trip...............   Priceless

Home sweet home, here I come!
Heather
Caiman Dundette of the Peruvian Amazon

PS.  Did you know? In Peru, McDonalds and Burger King deliver......