Honeymoon in South America: Part 4

Pooh-pooh-Peru...

Wed, 28 Jul 2004 22:34:37 +0100

Hola all you geezers and geezettes out there!!

Angela and I have been running amok in the Americas for a full four months
now so it's time for another update. When we left you last we had just
crossed the border from Equador into Peru. Everyone knows the highlights of
Peru - trekking in the beautiful Andes, mystical ancient cultures, the lost
city of Machu Pichu and the mighty Amazon jungle...so where should we start?
The beach of course!

After a chaotic border crossing involving pushy local tourist "assistants",
dodgy taxi drivers and immigration officials who reccomend their brother's
hotel?! We managed to find our way to a charming little beach resort called
Tres Puntas. The whole place was built from flotsam and jetsam, driftwood
and seashells. Being a little off the beaten track meant that we were the
only guests and had the entire beach to ourselves. We just lazed about and
enjoyed the fantastic food, the company of the seven freakshow hairless
Peruvian dogs and the one fleabitten kitten.

Brushing off some sand we moved south along the coast to Trujillo, once a
proud colonial city with the help of a little conquistador's plunder. The
area around Trujillo is scattered with adobe (mud construction) ruins from
an older city called Chan Chan. The ruins stretch on forever, crumbling mud
walls and compounds, walking amongst them is erie. A single compound has
been restored so that visitors can see some of the brilliant artwork that
once adorned the city. Although the people who built the city had no
written language much can be discerned about their seafaring way of life
from the artwork and architecture.

The Andes were calling and so taking a deep breath we caught the night bus
up to Huarraz. Huarraz is the heart of trekking country in Peru, set
between the Cordilera Blanca and Cordilera Negra two of the 22 mountain
ranges that make up the Andes chain. The views from Huarraz were stunning,
surrounded by snowcapped peaks...simply breathtaking. Good job we could see
it from the town too as there was no way Angela or I were going walking
about in the freezing cold for 4 days and sleeping in tents, no thank you.
I guess the Andes weren't calling that loudly after all...it must have been
the sound of milk being frothed for lattes at Cafe California. How we did
laugh at the beardy mountaneers laden with crampons that passed our way...

After having our fill of crusty climbing types it was time to roll up our
sleeves and get into some proper wild adventuring. We booked some flights
and headed out to Iquitos - the largest city in the world isolated by road
and jumping off point for trips into the Amazon. There would be no Lattes
or cheesecake on this leg of the trip *sob*. We'd been reccomended a jungle
lodge (thanks to the Carters) 145kms down the amazon river.

The wildlife we saw in the Amazon was fascinating: sloths caught in a
timewarp, monkeys playing follow the leader, vicious little Pihranas, giant
martian frogs, delecate green whip snakes, a captured 12ft Anaconda(!!),
comical Toucans, mysterious pink river Dolphins and evil hirsute Tarantulas.
The price for viewing all this was being the main course of the mosquito
daily menu (menu del dia mosquito). We got munched like a Sunday buffet,
especially Angela (who tastes far sweeter than me).

On returning from our Amazon excursion we spent a day in Iquitos to visit
the Belen (Beautiful) market and shantytown. This sprawling suburb of
Iquitos is built in an area which (depending on the season) may be
completely submerged by the Amazon river. All of the houses are built on
stilts or on rafts so that they float when the water level rises. During
the wet season all trade in the market is conducted by boat - part of our
visit involved being paddled about in a dugout canoe. Unfortunately the
people who live here survive by plundering the Jungle, if it moves they eat
it. We saw monkeys, caimans, turtles, giant snails and toucans for sale
(all available either barbecued or whole)...a horrific but thoroughly
absorbing morning.

For a complete change of scene we made for Ica - a little town in Peru's
coastal desert strip. Near to Ica are a number of tiny oasses, complete
with massive sand dunes and palm trees (talk about a switch from the
jungle). After a 24 hours working on my abs in the bathroom (tummy bug
picked up in the Amazon) we jumped in a dune buggy and headed off for some
sand-boarding. The ride turned out to be a great laugh, a bit like hopping
on a rollercoaster. The dunes were massive...we plunged, we tumbled, we
screamed and laughed. I am still finding sand in my hard to reach places.

Way down south in Peru near the border with Chile is the city of Arequipa.
From here it is possible to visit the Colca canyon, the second deepest in
the world at 3200m and home of the Condor - the worlds largest flying bird.
The Condors begin to soar with the morning thermals, riding the rising warm
air currents from lower in the canyon, gaining height to begin their daily
search for prey. These great birds mate for life - the males apparently
commit suicide by throwing themselves to the canyon floor if their partner
dies (how womantic). Wonderful creatures to watch, infuriating to try and
photograph.

Well that's what we've done so far in Peru - yes we missed out Machu Pichu,
we're going back to Peru to do that bit last (finishing off on a high note).
We're in Bolivia now with our good buddy Rico (aka Ricky B, aka Rich
B-Rad). This place is a gas and we'll tell you about it real soon.

Hope you're all living the good life - lots of love...

Angela & Matthew
=)