The Santa Cruz Trail

I have always been told to go to Huaraz and witness the Cordillera Blanca.  I have never had the opportunity to do it and I thought I was gonna miss it this year because I didn't have any trekking partners.  In step Nikki and Chris, BAM, trekking partners and great ones at that!  The only problem is that we are in Arequipa, southern Peru, and Huaraz is in northern Peru.  I've already been to northern Peru on this trip, but what the hell!  So we got on the 18 hour bus, connect in Lima with the 10 hour bus and arrive in Huaraz 30 hours later.  We spend the next day figuring out a game plan for our trek.  We find out that the best trek for this time of year is the Santa Cruz trek because it is the middle of the rainy season, hmm rain, sounds like fun!

There are two ways of attacking the beast, the most common way and the way the tour groups go is to start in Vacaria and go towards Cashabamba.  This brings you to the pass the second day.  If you go the opposite way you hit the pass on the third day.  We mulled it over and decided to take the road less traveled, best decision we ever made!



Day 1 trekking, Nikki on her way up

Day one begins at the mouth of the valley, we are facing a steady climb of 800 m (2,625 ft.) to the first campsite.  It takes us 5 hours, 5 exhausting hours, let's say that the trekking legs are not 100% yet.  Carrying a 30 pound pack and a non stop climb took it's toll on this old man.  But it was worth it because we had perfect sunny weather in the 50's and the natural beauty of the valley was incredible.  We got to camp and we were the only ones there, perfect.  There was just enough time to cook up some tacos and eat before the sun went down and the chill set in.  The tempuratures at night hovered around freezing, so the sleeping bags were essential!



Second day - along glacial lagoons

 


Surrounded by glacier covered mountains

The next day we rose a bit late, but once again the sun was shining, the trekking gods were smiling down upon us!  We packed up and began another 800 m steady climb, or so we thought.  The valley ahead of us was overcast and looked cold.  But as we advanced, the clouds broke and the sun shined on us all day!  It took us 3 hours to get to the campsite prior to the one we planned on staying at.  The trail was suprising level along glacial lagoons and we were plugging along at a good rate.  We should have made camp within two hours, the only problem was that we were on the wrong side of the river!  Yes, we lost the trail!  We began to make the difficult hike back along the river looking for a safe crossing, none.  Stop, eat, think this over.  The only answer was to back track to the wetland and try to cross the river there where it is forked.  After two hours of back tracking and crossing narrow but deep channels we finally got to the right side of the river.  There we found three folks sitting around enjoying the sun.  They told us that they came across the pass yesterday and this is the first time they had seen the sun.  It seems the path we took was the correct on, at least so far!  At this point we've been carrying our packs for five hours and had about 2 hours to go.  Easy, right?  No, the trail turned up, and up some more.  The last two hours were hell, but the reward at the end was worth it!  Our campsite might have been one of the most incredible campsites in the world, see new picture at top of blog.  Nestled at the end of the valley at the foot of the Nevado Taulliraju.

Nikki making the final ascent to the pass



The third day it was up early to begin our 300 m (984 ft) climb to the pass.  A quick breakfast and we were off.  It took about two hours.  The climb to the pass was basically walking up a stream with a loose stone substrate.  It seems that all the melt and rain from the mountain was everywhere, in particular along the ascent.  There were areas where the trail became solid rock, slippery solid rock.  There were sections where bouldering techniques were necessary.  This was not an easy ascent, but really, when is it ever!  We finally made it to the top, and the feeling of completeing a phsyically challenging feat is beyond words.  I was out of breathe, sore, tired and hungry, but I felt like I was on top of the world.  I sort of was, the pass is at 4,750 m (15,584 ft).  We spent some time taking it all in, sun on the side that we came from and overcast and rain in the direction we were headed.

The view decending the mountain

After a nice rest, it was time for the decent.  The beginning was steep and included switchbacks, slippery and loose rocks and generally steep grade down.  We arrived after 7 hours of hiking at the campsite at 2 in the afternoon.  An early arrival, we had decended 880 m (2,887 ft) and were ready for a nice relaxing afternoon.  The reason, we realized, that our reverse route was 100% better than the normal route is because the descent.  If we had done the opposite, we would have had a 8 hour hike on day two of all switchbacks and hell trail to reach the pass, we are wise folks people, wise!!  We settled in and finally it was payback for the sunny weather we had to endure, about 5 PM the rain came with some nice hail.  Time to hunker down in the tent and warm up some food.  It was actually nice to spend the evening in the tent, reading and enjoying the sound of raindrops hitting the tent.

Civilization!!

A lazy start on the final day brought a pituresque 3 hour hike to the town of Cajatambo.  It was a great way to end four days of trekking.  The first signs of civilization in four days brought friendly smiles from locals.  They all waved at us, gave us helpful hints and were happy to see the three gringos and their packs.  I often think about what the locals must think about the way we get all geared up for these things, when they climb these passes many times in their lives with no advanced gear, much less footwear.  It must be a bit comical to them! 

Everything was going smooth and fine, until I slipped on a rock, go figure, that never happens.  Either does the outcome, more bruised ribs, my favorite.  But, we trekked on, got to Cajatambo expecting to find the collectivo waiting for us.  Exhusated and happy to be at the exit point, I asked a really nice old lady sitting in front of her Bodega at what time the collectivo arrived.  She looked at me and said the collectivo hasn't come here since the 80's when they built the new road to Vacaria.  Huh, news to us.  I asked her where Vacaria was, she pointed up and said at the top of that mountain.  Huh, that sucks.  How long will it take to get there?  A little over an hour.  And it's up there, on top of that mountain?  Yes, that one.  There are no cars that go up there?  No, no cars ever come here.  And it's up, right?  Yeah, straight up that mountain.  Hum, great news, thanks.  Well the journey never ends and we got our packs on for one last acsent.  An hour later we arrived at Vacaria dropped our packs and cursed high altitude hiking!

There we were, just in time for the collectivo.  Game over, right?  Never!  For those of you who do not know what a collectivio is, let me express what we were getting into.  This particular collectivo was a blue 17 passenger van with 20 people in it.  Which isn't bad because these things ussually have 30 people in them.  Nikki and I sat in the back, wedged in like sardines, while Chris was in the front with all kinds of leg room.  It was to be a two hour ride to Junga.  First we had to drive switchbacks up the mountain to a pass.  Incredible sights, it never gets old!  We made it to the top with no problem and began the descent.  Again a series of switchbacks that never ended.  At one point the driver, Don Pepe, pulled over.  Huh, what's this, bathroom break, how thoughtful!  No, flat tire.  No biggie, that has to be normal on the incredibly bumpy road made of gravel and boulders.  In ten minutes Don Pepe had us on the road again.  A few more switchbacks later and we pull over again.  What now?  Broken steering fluid line, this might take a little longer.  Nope, Don Pepe got under the van, hammered on something, busted out the duct tape and we were on our way! 

We made it to the bottom of the mountain and things were going great, when tradgedy struck.  I didn't see exactlly what happened, but apparently the right rear tire flew past the front of the van, while the rest of us felt the huge clunck and heard the digging of the rear right axle into the gravel road!  We get out and the tire was about 100 m ahead of the van, the rear break drum was about 100 m behind the van and lug nuts scattered everywhere.

This is where I got worried, atleast 20 km from Yunga, brokedown along the side of a gravel road, literally in the middle of nowhere.  But, than a strange thing began to happen, as the locals got off the bus they all began looking for parts that may have fallen off the van, this is obviously not the first time something like this has happened.  As they were collecting parts, Don Pepe was accesing the situation.  Once all the parts were recovered, he attempted to get the jack under the axle.  No go, it was buried in the gravel.  He grabs a rock and instructs all the male passegers to lift the vechicle.  Alright, we all lift and push, he gets the rock under the axle.  Not enough room for the jack, bigger rock and 1-2-3 lift!  Nope, bigger rock, repeat, and repeat again!  After the fourth rock, the jack is in place.  Piece by piece the brake is reassembled, and tire place on, 45 minutes later we are on the road and finally arrive safetly in Junga.

An amazing four day trek, with the wonder of nature surronding us.  And we got the bonus collectivo ride from hell!!  Loved every second of those four days.  In fact I have loved every minute of being in Peru for a month.  It is time to move on, Bolivia here I come!!  I leave you with some pictures of my home land, I love her and she will be missed!!

Peruvian sunset at Mancora



Pre-Inca ruins at Kuelap



Gotca

Bugging out!

Moutains over Ollantaytambo

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu - the royal houses

Colca Canyon

Cabanaconde - the pueblo at the top of Colca

Santa Cruz River

Santa Cruz River alongside the trail

Trekking the Santa Cruz valley

Punta Union Pass - 15,584 feet

Mi Familia en Lima

The Return to Machu Picchu and Colca Canyon

There are certain places in this world that you may visit more than once in your life, two of these places are Machu Picchu and Colca Canyon.  One is the one of the greatest achievements of humanity, the other one of the greatest achievements of mother nature.



Street in Ollantayambo



First it was off to Machu Picchu.  I spent a day in Cuzco planning my route.  Everytime I've been to Machu Picchu I've been on a tour of some sort.  This time it was all me, no boring tour guide.  I had plans on meeting Julia and her friends in Machu Picchu when they got off the Inca Trail, so I had limited time to complete the mission.  I planned it all out, a two day visit to the Sacred Valley of the Incas then off to Aguas Clientes, great plan!  I get up the next day, to get my train and park pass.  While in line for my park pass, I begin to realize that my dates are all screwed up.  My plan to take two days in the Sacred Valley does not concide with meeting my friends in Machu Picchu, classic Hobbit!  So, the plan changes and I'm of to Ollantaytambo.



Inca ruins on the side of a mountain

I grab the collectivo and I'm off.  I get to Ollanataytambo, find the cheapest hostel in town and go for a hike up a mountain to the Temple of the Puma and Moon.  Atleast, close to them, it was later in the day and it was a long way.  The view was insane, saw the pueblo from above and the mountains were amazing.  The town itself still shows sign of Inca culture, with it's narrow coblestone streets and terracing.

Got down the mountain, had dinner and went back to the hostel, you know the cheapest in town.  Well there was a reason for the incredible price at this place.  It was the worst bed of the trip, paper thin mattress laid upon wooden slats that embedded themselves into my body throughout the night, gotta love cheap hostels!!



Machu Picchu with classic Inca terracing



The next day I went to the market, bought a bunch of fruit and headed to the train for Aguas Calientes.  I got there, found my Swiss friends and checked into their hostel, quite a step up - private bath with hot water and a real bed!!  Luxury!!  I went to dinner and back to the hostel for a hot shower, right....wrong - no hot water in a town called Aguas Calientes (translated literally - Hot Waters)  ARE YOU KINDING ME?!?!?!  False advertisement all around!!  Luckily, the hot water was back in the moring before I left for Machu Picchu.



Llama at Machu Picchu

I planned on walking up the mountain to Machu Picchu, but it was raining.  I'm old and wise so I grabbed the bus.  I got there about 7AM, and headed straight for the Temple of the Sun for the view, well, it was raining and overcast, so running up the mountain for the view was actually unwise and quite stupid.  I went back down and meandered around the site, checking things out without the chatter of a tour guide and enjoyed the hell out of it.  I had time to kill becuase I knew that Julia and company would be at Huayna Picchu at 10 AM, so I found a spot overlooking the ruins and had breakfast and took it all in.  At ten, I headed to Huayna Picchu to find the Swedes.  Well, they were a no show, I got stood up, but as I always say, eveything always works out.  As I was sitting there, enjoying the light drizzle, who walks by but Niki Tiegland and her boyfriend Chris.  Go figure, small world.  Niki is from Mankato, but now lives in Alaska with Chris.  I knew they were in South America headed in the opposite direction that I am headed.  I figured there would be a planned meeting somewhere along the way, not this!!  It gets better, I ask her what the hell, she says she just got off the Inca Trail and was getting ready to climb Huayna Picchu, sound familiar?  I ask her if she saw four Swedish chicks on the trail, her response - "No, but there are four Swedish chicks staying at our hostel."  My response - "Hospedaje Inka?"  Yes she says, funny thing that's where I was staying also - small world people, really small world!! I spent the rest of the morning perched in different areas of the site, eating my fruit and loving the views.  I headed back to town and to the train for my return trip to Cusco and to meet up with my growing pool of friends.



Colca Family lovin' the Gato!



The next day we became seven, three Americans and four Swedes.  My Swiss friends were off in a different direction, thank you Manuela and Tanja for a wonderful week of sun and wine!  The seven of us decided that Arequipa would be a great next stop, Colca Canyon bound!  We all loaded up on the bus and 10 hours later we arrived in Arequipa.  We found a great hostel, cheap and comfy with hot water! and began looking into options for the Colca Canyon trek.  Done, leaving in the morning, now what?  How about a grill, meat, a few boxes of Gato Negro and Pisco Sours...I love the plan!!  By the way, I've become quite the wino on this trip - gotta love cheap box wine from Chile!!

The Swedes, one switchback below me - steep!



The next day it's off to Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world.  We begin our decent in the mid-morning.  It is a full kilometer to the bottom, switch backs and loose rocks all the way.  On top of the canyon it is your classic Andean mountian scene, scrub brush and high plains desert.  As we decend into the canyon it begins to change towards the bottom and becomes more tropical.  The views are stunning and the decent is relatvily easy.  We all make it down, have lunch and start our trek across the canyon to a hostel known as the Oasis, pools included!  Great day of hiking with great views and great folks, loads of fun, and the weather held out until we arrived.  Then the rain started, luckily we were smart enough to bring our dear friend El Gato with us!  Made dinner that much better!  In fact, a South African couple saw how much fun the Gato brought us and joined us.



Almost to the top



The next morning it was up early for the hike out of the canyon.  We started at 5 AM and got to the top at 7:30 AM, 2.5 hours to hike switch backs a kilometer up.  I have no idea how long the trail was, but going pretty much straight up for 2.5 hours was hard, tiring and sweaty, really sweaty.  So worth it though, the views with the rising of the sun were great and the reward of reaching the top incredible.

So there it is, the return to two of the greatest places that I have ever been.  Was it worth it, yes!  I rarely like to go back to places that I have been to already, there are very few places that I would return to, these are two of those places.  Everytime I've been to Machu Picchu it takes my breath away, this time was no different.  The size and layout of the city are awe inspiring.  The location of the city, on top of a mountain, not just any mountain, a mountain with a such a steep climb it is basically a monster cliff face.  The Incas were incredible architects, they did things that mordern day technology could never imitate.

The return to Colca also brought awe to my eyes.  Shear natural beauty, and the thought that people have been living at the bottom of this canyon for hundreds of years and farming it is incredible, gotta love Peruvians!  It has changed alot in eight years, electricity, running water and more.  The people here have benefited from tourism and they appreciate it.

What did I learn about myself....time to gloat....I am in much better shape at age 40 then I was in my early 30's.  Yes it is true.  It took me over three hours to climb out of that canyon at age 32 and I thought I was gonna die when I reached the top.  When I was 30 walking around Machu Picchu, I was completely winded and had to take constant breaks.  This year I ran around the site like I owned it!  Who would have thunk that a heavy Blue Bricks diet would make me a 40 year old machine?

Stay tuned the next update is incredible, more trekking, more injuries and great pictues!  Go Packers!!  or Vamos Los Empacadores!!  Time to watch the game...in Spanish - BONUS!!

Touring Northern Peru, it was a good week!

Sunset in Macora, sweeeeet!

Mancora, beach, sun and loads of fun!  We, my traveling partner Julia and I, spent four days on the beach.  I know, the general beach activity is nothing, well not so this time.  We did spend alot of time on the beach, reading and doing nothing, we also walked down the beach 6 km to get a great view of the sunset, took surf lessons (I stood, Julia as well!), checked out a sweet lagoon full of flamingos and ate.  That something right?  The quote of the four days came from Julia when she asked me, while sitting on the beach ¨Hobbit, what altitude do you think we are at?¨ I know, the Swedes!!  In all fairness, we played soccer and she kicked my ass!!  It was a relaxing four days, unlike Montanita in Ecuador.  We did find a great reggae bar and spent most of our evenings there.

Top of the pyramid

But, it was time to move on and we headed south to Chiclayo.  Not the best choice of destinations, but we made the best out of it.  We arrived early morning and slept, then headed to Sipan, a pre-Incian pyramid.  Wasn´t that exciting, so we broke a few rules.  First we didn´t rest in the designated "Area of Rest."  For real, there was a sign that said that, wierd.  The site is continually being excavated, we decided to take a closer look and climbed into one of the ecavations, which was actually pretty cool.  We then proceded to climb up one of the pyramids where the archeologists had opened a hole in the wall and checked that out.  Our final bad deed was to climb to the top of the other pyramid and check out the amazing view!!  Well worth it!

Local woman spinning wool

Back to Chiclayo, one more day and Julia and I were to part ways, what to do?  How about a market and the beach - surprise!!!  So, we get up and goto the market.  The cool thing about this market was that alot of the vendors where super nice and were letting us try crazy fruits that we had never heard of, some good, some interesting.  And then we proceeded to have the worst beach experience of all time.  We get to this beach and there are about a million people on it.  We ate the worst lunch ever and strolled the beach in awe of the humanity!!  All we wanted to do is relax on the beach and read, not gonna happen.  We caught a ride back to town, found a nice bench and watched life pass by, it was great!!

Guinea Pig pen in an ancient house

Fortress wall

Well, it was time to say farwell to the best traveling partner I have had yet, sorry folks, can´t lie. (Ish you will always be a favorite, just remeber who wept and what happened!)  I was off to Chachapoyas and she was off to Cusco, via Lima.  Hopefully our paths will cross again!  I went to Chachapoyas to see Kuelp, a pre-Incian fort, but found much more!!  The first day I went to Kuelp, it is a fortress set on top of a mountain ridge, the Inca had serious issues conquering the Chachapoya.  The fortress is huge and produced breath taking views of the valley and surrounding mountains.  The tour guide spoke english like a recorded message you get when you call the phone company, very robotic and boring. This guy took boring tour to the a whole new level.  It became hilarious after awhile!

Gotca

The next day I visited a waterfall called Gocta.  It is one of the highest waterfalls in the world.  It was a total of a six hour trek.  We went to the top fall first, sweaty and tired, standing next to the falls soaked us and it felt amazing!  We then went to the bottom of the falls and found the valley to be lush and cool.  This is one of my favorite places of all time!!

Cliff dwellings, some sketchy trekking!!

The next day, not as exciting, we visted some tombs on the side of a cliff.  Scary, but not exciting.  Well that was it for Chacapoyas, it was now time to make my way to Cusco.  How to get there, as soon as possible?  Plane, yes, I cheated and bought a plane ticket.  This morning I flew from Trujillo to Cusco.  I did spend a day in Trujillo though.  No, I didn´t go to the famous ruins known as Chan Chan.  Instead I sat on the beach, shocker!  I leave tommorow for Machu Picchu, on a route I have never taken.  I´m very excited about it and can´t wait to see how it turns out!  Time to go, take care!!

Farewell Ecuador!!

I have left Ecuador behind, not without some serious adventure!  I left the beach and headed back to Quito, looking for some adventure after spending 10 days doing, well, nothing.  It was not hard to find someone in the same mindset, even before I left the beach.  Julia, Swedish, and I set out with her Ecuadorian friend Andres to Tena.  Tena is this cool city in the Ecuadorian Amazon, with lots to offer - rafting, jungle treks and kayaking...heaven!! 






Portage spot



Portaged rapid

The first day we went rafting, along with Ryan an Joel, two Canadians.  It was a Class IV-V river, perfect!!  The river itself is cayonized and runs through the Amazon, so the views were incredible.  The river was fast and strong, we were having a blast.  We got to a Class VI and had to portage around.  This involved the guides stringing the raft through the rapid to the other side.  Our job was to watch, I like that!  We then had to hike through the jungle, which included a rappling section, BONUS!!  Our put-in was between the Class VI rapid and a Class V rapid.  This is where it got interesting!  The guide went through the series of moves we were to make to hit the rapid just right, this included "If you fall out or we flip, swim to the right because there is a series of holes through the middle you do not want to be sucked into," easy, right?  Well, it all started out great, we hit our line and we were getting it!  Then disaster!!  It all started when Julia fell out, she was back right, this made the raft go left into a wave.  I was front left, Ryan front right.  When the boat went into the wave, my paddle hit air, turning the raft right into a wave that sent Ryan flying over my head, as I looked up, I realized I was on my way into the drink!  Remember, swim right, right?  Well, while in the middle of a Class V rapid, it is hard to swim period.  The next thing I knew is that I was in the first hole, I got spit out and remembered, swim right.  I looked around and realized I was headed straight for a huge rock, which by the way I took a video of earlier, the irony!!  I went flying over the rock and right into the hole, got spit out after being underwater way to long and caught some air in my lungs long enough to hit the third and final hole of the rapid, yeah me!!  I am finally free of this watery hell, look around and smile, I am ALIVE!!!  I swim to the raft, the guide looks at me and asks "How are you smiling?"  I respond, " That is the first time I have ever fallen out of a raft an it was incrdible!!"  (Not that I want to do that again)  The rest of the river was tamer and I managed to stay in the raft, great day 1 in Tena!

Second day began a two day trek through the jungle, once again we were five.  The plan was for a five hour trek the first day, sleep in a cave and then return to work with an indiginous family on there crafts.  It all started great, as usual.  The treking was mild at first, but the "trails" became steeper as we climbed and decended several peaks on the way to the cave. 



Joel getting some jungle treatment



Funny thing happened on the way to the cave.  Julia was behind the guide, followed by me and the boys.  She got tangled up in some vines, and shock hard to get her self free.  By doing this she alerted the wasps in the bush and trees above that we were available for a good chase.  Julia started yelling "Ouch, something is biting me"  atleast I think because it was in Swedish.  I looked at her and she was covered in wasps, I yelled run and run faster, so we did.  I do not think the boys heard my sense of urgency because all I heard from behind me was Joel yelling "Owe, Help me!!"  This was coming from a big strong Canadian so you know things were going aray quickly!  We got to a clearing and we helped eachother free ourselves of the wasps on our cloths.  I was lucky, only got stung twice, but Julia and Joel took the brunt of the attack, getting stung over ten times each, probably more like twenty times each!  As we moved on, Joel became achy and feverish, and his stings began to swell.  In steps our guide, who happens to be somewhat of an expert in jungle remedies.  He lit a smoke, and grabed some leaves of some sort.  He began by blowing smoke on Joel´s head and brushing him with the leaves, I know wierd, really wierd.  But it seemed to work, because his headache went away and he was feeling a bit better but not 100%. 



Jungle medicine

 

We finally made it to the cave, exhausted and covered in sweat.  Time to clean up, but how?  In a waterfall of course!!  Ice cold water falling from up above cools the body and soul!  It was wonderful, but all great things always come to end, like when one slips on a rock, lands on his ribs on the same rock.  Yes, that would be me, I went to grab my ribs with my right hand and they were okay, but as I looked down at my left hand, I noticed that something was definately out of place.  My pinky and index fingers where at 45 degree angles at the middle knuckle, kind of like the NFL anaylist Brian Baldinger´s finger (google Baldinger´s finger).  I quickly snapped them back into place, and they quickly snapped back out of joint.  I attempted my repair job again and it took.  I was hoping they weren´t broken, but there was no way to tell.  They were sore and moveable, so the signs were good.  After dinner the cook, who was an actual Shaman in his village, took a look at my hand.  He boiled up some Hiawaska leaves, yes the Hiawaska of legend, and used the leaves to numb my hand.  He then massaged my fingers, there was craking noises and I felt alot of pressure.  He said that in a few days the swelling should go down and I´d be fine.  I was a bit skeptic, so I went to the hospital (gotta love free health care!) and had an x-ray taken.  Turns out the Shamen was the man, and any damage done to my finger was healed jungle style!



View from my hammock in the cave



The rest of the jungle trek was uneventful, well sort of.  There was some fishing and chocolate making.  Did I mention we slept in a cave?  How cool was that?  I have never slept in a cave, let alone a cave in the Amazon, but I have to say it is a great experience that all should try!

Due to my dislocated fingers and bruised ribs, my adventure time was over and it was time to head to Peru.  This took me through Riobamba to see the volcano Chimborazo. I then went to Cuenca for a day, which is a beautiful Andean city.  From there it was an overnight bus through mountains to the border, where we slept at the bus station until the sun came up, safety first!  Which brings me here, Mancora, a beach town in Northern Peru.  Love the beach!!

Ecuador was awesome, I will miss her mystery meat soups and hell overnight bus rides.  But mostly I will miss the people, the amazing scenery and the adventure!!  I highly recommend Ecuador to anyone, it offers everything!!  I leave you with some pictures of Ecuador, be safe!!





Trekking El Volcan Cotapaxi





Chicken head soup!  BONUS!!





Vicuna at El Volcan Chimborazo





Fruit market in Cuenca




Parade in Riobamba





Ecuadorian Amazon





The bike crew, beer time!



Ten days that stood still

Christmas Family with our favorite cocktail man - Pasqual

The Point

Ten days on the beach, ten days of beach life, ten days of doing nothing!  I arrived in Montanita on the 23rd with my Christmas family - Nicky, Ish, Ben and Jesse.  Beautiful clean beaches welcomed us and we were happy.  When I first got there I had big plans, one of which was learn to surf.  Well, the days passed, and no surfing!  The days were spent getting up around 10, eating breakfest, heading to the beach, sitting on the beach and waiting for food to walk by, go in the water, sit on the beach, ohh beer time!  and more sitting on the beach waiting for sunset.  Busy, I know!  One day I walked to the point in the morning, big day!

Los Frailles

Blue Fotted Boobies

Five days of Montanita was making us very tired, so we decided to take a break away from the madness.  We ended up in Puerto Lopez, about an hour north up the coast.  Puerto Lopez was a complete change from Montanita.  Montanita is crazy party town full of tourists.  Puerto Lopez is a lazy fishing village with alot to offer, and minimal tourists!  The first day we went to Isla de La Plata, the poor man´s Galapagos.  We had an hour hike across the island and saw lots of  Blue Footed Boobies. Then spent some time snorkeling, I was impressed by the variety of fish and the reef itself.  A good day of actually doing something!!  The second day we went to a preserve located along he coast - Los Frailles - AMAZING!!   Beautiful beaches and nobody there!!  It was a two hour hike and the vistas were amazing.  We gathered on the beach, had a picnic and took a nap, I know tough life!!  After that, a walk on the beach and off to the sulfur mud baths.  My skin is silky smooth, although there is a little smell, no biggie considering!!

New Year´s Sunset

The Sunrise

The next day, back to Montanita for New Year´s.  And was it all that and more!!  It started with a sunset....of course!  Then it was off to Pasqual´s for a cocktail, or three.  Then dinner and off to the beach and a fire.  The New Year´s tradition in Montanita is that the surfers all go surfing at midnight.  They all get together, huddle up and run into the water together.  Then the fireworks start, and the next tradition takes place.  Ecudorians burn paper mache effigies of bad things that happened to them in the past year, to rid them of the evil spirits.  It could be a boat that sank or just a life size figure of their boss!  The beach was ablaze, then the surfers came out and ran around the burning piles with their boards.  The beach was a mass of folks dancing, singing and drinking.  This went on until day break, and then the town slept, and slept some more until it was time for sunset.

So here I sit, after ten days when time stood still waiting for an overnight bus to Quito.  I have left my holiday family, we have all gone our seperate ways.  I will miss all of you!  Nicky go slow and I will catch you, Ish have fun planting trees you will be missed and Ben and Jesse, see you in Peru!!

Merry New Year everyone and stay safe!!