Finally...some air!

On my 3rd day in Cuzco, I finally felt more like myself. I woke up early and walked around the town. This time, I actually saw the town. I walked to the traditional market and WOW, they have everything under the sun there. The market is so different as compared to anything we have at home. The only thing I can think of that comes close is the San Jose/Berryessa flea market although I am not sure if it still exists. I was trying not to be the obvious tourist with my camera out snapping pictures, but I did get a picture of the butcher hacking away at a huge pig - bacon anyone? Most of the vendors of fruits, veggies, flowers, baskets and such are Peruvian woman with a very distinct look. They are very round, robust ladies with long braids and very indiginous features. One thing that I was thrilled with was the "sewing" section. They still make clothes by hand using the footpedal sewing machines. My grandmother had one in her house when I was growing up. I hadn´t seen one in years! So much for technology.

I grabbed lunch at a small cafe. The food is cheap here if you stay off the main drag. I was served a large bowl of soup, potatoe salad, spaghetti and tea for a whopping $2. Sometimes, the combination of food you get is a little weird but it´s pretty good nonetheless.

In hind sight, I am glad that I didn´t go to Puno or Lake Titicaca. I was feeing so bad when I got here that I never would have enjoyed it and would have had to leave right when I was starting to feel better. Also, there had been some blockades on the roads and several tourist buses were stranded because local people were striking/protesting several government issues. I believe a couple issues were the privitization of the water companies and taxes that are imposed on businesses. From what I gather, there is a lot of corruption in goverment here and this was a way for the people to try and be heard.

That afternoon, Cristian and I decided to go on the city tour. We were on the bus and he decided he didn´t want to go because it was raining and I think he was suffering from a bit of altitude sickness. I think he wanted me to not go too, but I knew this was my only day to go on the tour so, I stayed on the bus. Bu bye to Cristian.

We visited 4 local Inca ruin sites - Sacsayhuamán (pronounced Sexy Woman), Q´engo, Tombomachay and PucaPucara. It was freezing and rained most of the tour, but I felt like I had been such a dud for 2 days that I wanted to get out there and sightsee.

That night, I went salsa dancing with Luis, a local guy I met. OK, now this has happended to me before...HOW can someone born and raised here, listening to this music 24/7, claim to know how to dance and they can´t dance? It was almost embarrasing. I escaped to dance with someone else who actually could dance and this became and issue so, I left. Not a good night out dancing but interesting to hear some different types of music - kind of like cumbia but with a more indigenous beat.

Cuzco - Can someone please give back the air?

The next day, I woke up with the worst headache ever, NO appetite all day (can you believe that?) and had NO energy. Geez - what is going on here? I think I would have been fine with ONE issue but having to deal with both the altitude and my stomach well, it was just a little too much. This second day in Cuzco was a very lazy day. I had planned to go on a city tour with Cristian, but it had started to rain and I really didn´t feel up to it so we hung out in a cafe for quite a while and drank mate de coca. Mate de coca is the tea from coca leaves that helps with altitude sickness. Later, I went to my tour office, United Mice, to check in for my Machu Picchu trek. I was given a list of things I would need for the trek and the time for my orientation/briefing with my group.

I did a little shopping that afternoon. I bought an alpaca (actually, I believe it´s a blend - not 100% alpaca) sweater, as I was anticipating freezing my buns off on the trek and I bought a bathing suit for the thermal pools we would be visiting. I left my suit in the hotel in Baños, Ecuador...oops! The one I bought in Cuzco cost me $8 and was made in China - funny!

That night, Cristian and I went to Quesqo Centro to watch a show with traditional Peruvian dances. It was fun to watch. The traditional dress is so colorful and unique. I called it an early night since I was still struggling to breathe!

Travel Day/s from H·E· Double L...

The next morning, Daniel and I woke up early to pack our bags. We were on the same flight back to Quito. We said goodbye to Natalie and Myriam and headed to the Baltra Airport and flew back to mainland Ecuador. When we arrived in Quito, I had a few hours to kill before my flight to Peru so we took a taxi into town and hung out for a while before I had to return to the airport. I said goodbye to Daniel and away I went!

My flight to Lima landed at around midnight and this is when the fiasco started. I went to the LAN (airline) ticket counter to see about a flight to Juliaca. My plan was to fly to Juliaca and bus to Puno so that I could visit Lake Titicaca and from there bus to Cuzco to get ready for my big Machu Picchu hike. At this point, I am exhausted and my stomach is a mess (I was trying to avoid pulling a "Charlotte"- TMI right?). I purchased a ticket to Juliaca for what I thought was 6:00 a.m. (a mere 6 hours later) and decided to stay awake and high-tail it out of Lima, which I have heard is, for lack of a better word, the armpit of Peru. When you enter through security at the Lima airport, you have to have a scanable sticker that proves that you´ve paid the airport tax. I paid and scanned through, but then realized that my flight was for 6 p.m....what??? Crap-damn military time-I didn´t pay attention. I knew there was a flight at 6 a.m. so I tried to go standby and couldn´t get on. Double crap. Now, I am stuck inside the security area and they can´t change my ticket at the gate - LAME LAN! I had to exit to change my flight AND pay a change fee AND pay the tax again. Triple crap = SHXX! I was so over it at this point that I decided to go straight to Cuzco. Very shortly thereafter, I was on the plane and was in Cuzco by 7 a.m.

When I arrived in Cuzco, I was a zombie - exhaused, stomach was going crazy and the plane dropped me into the heavens as Cuzco´s elevation is 3400m or 11,150 feet - my head ached. I was bombarded by the taxi drivers and ended up getting ripped off by some taxi driver that charged me $5 USD to get to the center when it should cost more like $1.50 USD - jerk - it´s about the principal, not the amount. I was so tired, I couldn´t think to do the conversion to soles.

I had the taxi drop me off at a hotel that was recommended in my handy little lonley planet book. The hotel was full...WHAT? Are you kidding me? Agrrrr! The lady in the office was nice enough to let me leave my bag while I walked around to find a room. I asked around at about 4 places and finally found one. This was a brutal process because I would literally take 10 steps and I had to rest - Who took away the air??? I went back to get my bag and left it at the hotel. Unfortunately, my room wasn´t ready yet. I did the zombie walk around the town and saw a massage place. I treated myself to a 1 hour, $16 massage - so cheap and so worth it!

I went to a little cafe for lunch and there I met Cristian from Chile. We ended up hanging out and how I managed the strength to go on a horseback riding tour is beyond me. We went to the Inca ruins, Templo de la Luna. I don´t really even remember it. We ate dinner, I went back to my room and took my emergency perscription of Cipro (I finally gave in to the stomach monster - it got me...) and went to bed. I slept 10 hours that night. What a process. I get exhausted just writing about it - I am going to take a nap now!

Galapagos Islands - Dia numero cinco - on land!

Based on a recommendation from a fellow traveler, we decided to walk to Tortuga Bay. Jean Luke (I think that was his name...Natalie and Myriam met him earlier in their travels), made a very strong comment about the beaches at Tortuga Bay. He said, he's been to Hawaii and many other beaches all over the world and Tortuga Bay was more beautiful then all of them. We just had to see for ourselves so, we headed out in the morning for the long walk (about and hour) to the beach. The walk there was very unique - desert landscape with many cacti. The 1st beach you come to is too rough to swim but the water is gorgeous with crashing waves and marine iguanas along the way. The super fine white sand is so inviting. It really was beautiful! As we continued up the, what seemed to be, desolate beach we came to an area with an abundance of marine iguanas. When I say abundance, I mean WOW, a ton of them! They were all over the walking path and we had to tip toe through them. It was a little creepy but awesome at the same time. The two beaches are separated by a headland of mangroves, it was like a cactus forest...amazing! I grew up in the desert, Phoenix, and we had cactus everywhere, but these are more like cactus trees, tree trunk with cactus for leaves. THEN, we made it to the 2nd beach...calm, blue and just gorgeous! I can definitely understand Jean Luke's comment about the beach here. We laid out on the beach and just relaxed. The sun was pretty intense at times. We saw one turtle swimming just off the shore and, apparently, there were some sharks (the friendly kind), at the other end of the beach. I cut out a little early and met up with the others later for lunch. At this point, I am not feeling so well. Myriam, my French Canadian nurse, supplied me with some imodium...yikes! I was trying to ignore my stomach...if you ignore it, maybe it will go away!

That night was my last night at the islands. We, the 4 of us, had dinner together then watched a kids concert in the main plaza of Puerto Ayora.

Galapagos Islands - Dia numero cuatro...

Tuesday was my final Day on board El Intrepido. We were up early for one last tour on North Seymour Island. We disembarked and went on a hike around the island. Now, this is a bird watcher´s paradise. It is my understanding that there are 29 species of land birds living on the Islands with 22 of these endemic. The two I found most enjoyable to watch are the Frigatebirds and the Boobies. Here, on North Seymour Island, is where so many are living in their natural habitat with an abundance of nests and fluffy little baby birds. Of course, it´s all about mating and finding a mate with our feathered friends (with all living species for that matter...right?). The male frigatebirds have a bright red sack beneath their beaks and they expand it to attract the female. The boobies do this cute little mating dance with funny whistling sound. I finally got to see the boobies up close! There are blue footed, red footed and masked boobies. I only saw the blue footed boobie, whose bright blue feet are used to attract a mate. (Eileen - this Blue Footed Boobie is for you!)

After the hike, it was back on the boat to head to the airport for some and for others, myself included, to catch a taxi back to Puerto Ayora. Daniel, Myriane, Natalie shared and taxi and we stayed at the same hotel in town, Hotel Lirio del Mar. Later, the four of us walked to the famous Charled Darwin center in town. I am not sure if I was just tired or needed a break, but there wasn't a whole lot there. We did see Lonesome George or rather we saw him from behind - great view of his butt. Lonesome George is a famous turtle that is the last of his kind. There have been many attempts to find him a mate, but no other of his exact species has been found. Once he´s gone, his species is gone...boo!

The four of us went out to dinner and had a cocktail after. Fun time!

Now at this point, I am thankful that I made it through the boat tour without feeling sea sick or having any issues. The food on the boat was good and I felt fine. I had sea legs, as expected, when I got back to land but then...

Galapagos Islands - Dia numero tres...

Day three on the boat tour:

On Monday, I was up before the crack of dawn. I had gone to sleep really early the night before and was wide awake at 0 dark 30. I made my way to the deck of the boat and was immediately enchanted with the sound of the water, the sun rise and my hot coffee. There were only a couple people on deck and we just sat there and watched the sun rise...ahhh...calgon took me away!

After breakfast, it was a dry landing on Bartolomé Island. We immediately started a hike up to a light house at the top of the mountain. There, you could see the beaches of the island which have the shape of the sides of an hour glass. From the top, the sunken volcano craters were visible. The views from the light house are often seen in many travel brochures. I just love that I have been there first hand. We made our way down the mountain and headed to one of the two beaches, the one with sea turtles. At first we didn't see any, but later one just kind of sauntered on by. There is no swimming on this beach. Conservation efforts are in force here. There are designated pathways for hiking and designated swimming areas. The Ecuadorians are trying to balance the effects of tourism and the environment which is a constant struggle. But, there's always one in the group that has to push the limits. Our guides Eddy and Gallo were really good about getting everyone to keep to the rules, but there's always "that guy" in every group. I won't name names, but c'mon dude!

We headed to the second beach for some sun and snorkel time. I wasn't feeling the snorkeling so I just chilled in the sun. We saw some penguins on the rock! Yes, penguins! I thought they all needed snow but apparently not. These were small and mostly black. Very cool! After, it was back on board for sun bathing, lunch and moving on to Sullivan Bay.

In the afternoon, it was time to explore Sullivan Bay. We hiked on what I will call lava landscape. The entire hike reminded me of something that you might see in a movie on a different planet or maybe in a different time. There was the dark grey/black lava along with red rock land. There are random cactus growing out of the lava...they kind of look like...well you decide. Eddy pointed out the "lava hopper". I think he was joking, but basically it's a huge grasshopper and since there's no grass, only lava, it's a lava hopper. On our hike, I had Gallo pose for me. I call it the airport pose because everytime we´d be walking along and we´d get a little separated, he´d stand there and direct traffic. He was hilarious! After the hike, I was dying to get into the water. It was pretty hot out. I went snorkeling and saw a sting ray and loads of fish. Great time!

Back on the boat, Julio, our capitain, let me drive the boat. Just call me marinera! Of course, when I drove the boat, that's when the sea got really choppy and windy. I know I am powerful, but controlling the wind and the waves is asking a bit much ;-)! I think a few might have gotten a bit sea sick during that time!

This was our last night on the boat so after dinner, the entire crew and guests had a farwell toast and a few hours of salsa and merengue dancing. It was a fun send off!

Side note: I met some fantastic people on the tour...Charolette and Kelly from London, Myriane and Natalie from Quebec, The US Army gals from Ohio - Alicia, Amanda, Theresa and Stephanie and of course my roomate Daniel from Romania! Also, there were 6 ladies from France that did't speak english or socialize much, another couple from Copenhagen and two guys from Germany...that was our group! A very dynamic and fun bunch!

Galapagos Islands - Dia numero dos...

Day two on the boat tour:

We started out with a "wet landing" (sounds kind of dirty...oh but I digress...) on Rabida Island. A wet landing happends when the dingy boat has to drop you off in the water and you have to wade through to get to the beach. Rabida Island has beautiful red sand beaches with plenty of wildlife. The red sand is due to the minerals in the rocks. There were sea lions, pelicans, marine iguanas and a quite a few dead pelicans...awww...such is the life cycle. The sea lions are similar to the ones at pier 39 in San Francisco except these are definitely not afraid of people. You can get really close to them, I guess they are used to it. We hiked around the island and took in some amazing views with gorgeous blue water against the red sand beaches of the island. It was pretty incredible. After the hike, snorkeling was next on the agenda. Wow, I have never snorkeled with sea lions. They were so close, maybe 3 feet away and they would sneek up on you. I was just cruising along and then all of a sudden there was one about an arm´s length away...my heart stopped for a second there! I saw an abundance of starfish and some really cool fish. After the snorkeling, it was back onto the boat to chill out on deck, catch some sun, eat lunch and motor to our next destination.

In the afternoon, we partook in another wet landing on Puerto Egas on the Island of San Salvador. Here on Puerto Egas was my first sighting of the famous BFB (Blue Footed Boobie). They were pretty far away, but it was so cool to watch them dive for fish. They circle around and around and when they spot something, they dive bomb into the water, are down for a few seconds and then bob up like "bloop...here I am"! We went on a little hike and at the end found fur seals in crystal blue water with a landscape of gray lava rock...Yowza! The lava rock is the perfect backdrop for the marine iguanas. There were thousands and they blend in perfectly with the rock. They have this funny little smirk on their face and when they get excess salt in their body, they spit out water. It is pretty clear that they have evolved from pre-historic times and are a resilient species. From there, it was back to the beach for more snorkeling...snorkeling with the sea turles! We saw a male and a female sea turtle along with more bright colored fish. We also saw a large group of dolphins swimming by (what is a large group of dolphins called? a school? doesn´t sound right...anyway...). I love dolphins, something about them makes me feel at peace.

All in all, it was a great day of adventure. The sun was shining and there was a nice breeze which was great because the forecast was rain and clouds...not so! I was enjoying being on a tour where someone else planned the itinerary. I just followed along like a baby duck...quack quack!