Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Where the wild things are
Welcome to the jungle!! sister mouse and i have had a crazy cool past 4 days in the amazon jungle. on thursday we arrived at the office of Rainforest Expeditions at 7am...like they told me. when we arrived they said that they had called our hotel the night before and said we didnt need to be there till noon...did we get the message? clearly not. i was a bit irritated as you can imagine and went in the office to voice my frustration. they lady felt bad and tried to fix it by saying, `oh we can have stuffs for you to do until then...i will send you to see the snakes. wait..i no have a guide for you. oh well, maybe you just go by yourself.´
ok. im in the middle of the freaking amazon jungle...i´ve just pissed off some woman who is now going to send us by ourselve to a pit of snakes?????? wth!! i nervously laughed to myself as i go back and tell sister what mess i´ve gotten us in. she´s still groggy from the 5am wake up call and looks at me as if im crazy to go hiking in the jungle to a snake pit. but at this point im pretty bored, so what the heck, right?
as it turns out, the lady found someone who spoke some englis and took us there. it wasn´t at all wheat i thought i was getting into. we walked down a dirt road a bit to a little wildlife refuge. it had a pen of torises, and ocelot, and about 20 kinds of snakes in fish tanks, mostly boa constictors and anacondas. we learned about allt he different kind of snakes and then walked back...killing a half hour off out time. the rest of the time we just slept on the benched and ate popsicles. FINALLY the bus arrived with the others that were joining us.. we all loaded up on this crazy bus thing and headed down what was supposed to be a road...if you can call it that...for about 45 minutes. then we got out and climbed down the banks of the tambopata river, onto a boat, and headed down the river for an hour. they then pulled the boat up to the side of the river and we got out and hiked all the way up this steep bank of ancient wooden steps and another 20 minute hike through the jungle until we reached our lodge.
it was the coolest thing i have ever seen. there are no walla on the thing, just a series of connected cabanas. there was a hammock lounge, at main lobby, and the dining room. they met you with a cool wash cloth and a glass of freah sqeezed local fruit juice. it was amazing. they they assigned us a guide and showed us our room. the rooms were crazy too. it was set farther into the woods. and itlooked like a big bamboo hut that was sectioned into 4 or 5 individual rooms. no doors. no windows. no wall on the side that opens into the deep jungle. our room had 4 beds, each with there own canopy cover. and a small bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower.
after we got settled in, sister and i, our guide luis, and an older couple from south dakota jon and krista, went on our first expedition. we hiked through the woods for about 40 minutes to a canopy tower that was about 4 feet by 8 feet wide and 120 feet tall. you climbed around and around and around until you reached the top. at the top you were about the tree line and could over the entire jungle. from there luis set up a telescope and pointed out different kinds of birds and parrots and macaws for us to see. it was so beautiful up there.
later we hiked back to the lodge and got ready for dinner. oh yeah, i completely forgot... on our first bus rid to the river they gave us a small woven basked full of snaks made by the local indigenous tribe, the Infierno people. ther were finger bananas, brazil nuts and banana chips. there was also so fresh squeezed juice from a local fruit. it was amazing. sister mouse still hasnt stopped talking about the banana chipss. then on the boat ride they gave us lunch, which was the coolest thing ever. they passed us these large banana leaves that were wrapped up and tied with a natural twine.. i opened it to find warm fried rice. when we finished eating you just tossed the banana leaft into the river. it was all sustainable and biodegradeable and made from local produce. it was awesome!!!!!!!!!
i can´t remember what we had for dinner the first night. but as we were waiting for dinner to begin, i went in the dining room lounge and there was a guy sitting by himself so i sat down and intorduced myself. he was a super cool guy. his name is brad and he is 32, and he is from brisbane, australia. (and, by the way, he´s a redhead.) he had been traveling through south america for the last 2 months, and was at the end of his journy and on his way to visit NYC for the first time, before heading home. after dinner we sat and talked until the place was empty and it was time to turn out the lights. you see, there is no electricity in our cabins, only kerosene lamps and they get turned out at 930. so i bid him farewell because he was leaving the next morning and headed to my room, where sister mouse was already passed out under her mosquito net. in bed by 930. that´s a new one for me. but it was ok, because our wake up call was 4am! i slept really well, and surprizingly the sounds of the jungle were quite peaceful at night. plus it is pitch black and you cant see a bloody thing. so good luck trying to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night...i hope you have a flashlight. or radar.
at 4am, we were awoken, got dressed and headed to the dining room to have breakfast and head out. our first expedition was to a nearby lake called oxbow lake. it was a 20 minute boat ride down the river and another half hour hike throught the jungle to get there. it was sister and i, jon and krista, and peruvian couple who didnt speak much english, and our guild and another guy. we got on a small makeshift catamaran and headed out onto the lake. it was so beautiful and peaceful so early in the morning. the mist was rising off the water and there were birds flying about in the brush. were looked at wild life for awhile, and we did the most awesome thing i have ever done. we went pirahna fishing. the guides gave us the bamboo poles and we baited them with raw meat and put it in the water. i think gramps would be really proud of me. i had some mad fishing skills going on. i caught 3 pirahnas and one sardine. sister caught some kind of flying fish. when i hooked the first pirahna, luis took it off my hook, held its by its body between his fingers, grabbed a leaf, and put it to the pirahnas mouth. it instantly clamped down and bit off the leaf!! luis pulled back the pirahnas lower lip and revealed the crazy sharp teeth. then he handed me the darn thing and let me hold it. it was amazing! after we used up all the meat we went around the lake looking for the giant river otter. we didnt get to see any, so we headed back toe the lodge for our next adventure. it was about 9am at this point and starting to get pretty hot.
next, luis walked us for about 30 minutes to a clay lick where macaws and parrots gather. it was kind of uneventful because it was so hot and the birds stayed up in the tres. we did get to see some, but after a while we hiked back. oh yeah, on the way there luis, who is amazing, by the way...he will walk throuht the jungle, then stop and point out an animal or something that i would have never noticed. we saw poisonpoud toads, snails, bugs, birds, lots of monkeys, capybarras, a tree sloth, more birds, more monkeys, a wild turkey, and my favorite (NOT), a HUGE FREAKING TARANTULA: luis stops us on the path, grabs a long sick with a leaf on the end, lickes it, looks at me and tells me not to move a muscle, and sticks it in a hole at my feet. out comes the biggest trantula i have ever seen. i think i wet myself. but i did not move. mostly out of sheer terror. to say that i am not a spider person is an unserstatment. this thing was twice the size of my hand. it came out biting on the twig luis stuck down there, and it we moved it would go back in. then he´d make it come out again. i would freeze up again. sister would try and take pictures but couldnt get her camera to work and kept telling luis to bring it out again. i was about to killer her beacuse i couldnt take it any more. finnally she got a damn picture, the thing went back into its nest, and i scurried away.
we went back, had lunch, and had a nice afternoon siesta. then that evening we took the boat down the river to see the local shaman. this was really cool. he would tell us about all these different plants, and how to make different medicines with them and what they were good for. they had a plant that gave you energy, he called it the Red Bull of the jungle. they had a plant that made a love potion, one for arthritis, one for parkinsons disease, and ever one that was a natural viagra! after the hike and learning about all these things, we got to go inside his laboratory and we could try some of the medicines he had made. you could try cat´s claw (for strss), the one that gave you energy, or para para (the viagra one. sister tried the energy one. i decided to try the cats claw. it tasted pretty gross. i cant believe i´m in the middle of the amazon jungle drinking some medicinal comcoction made by a shaman. crazy! you could actually buy some of his medicines. i tried to buy the Love Potion No. 9 (no kidding) but i didnt have enought soles on me. oh well... guess i´ll have to just depend on my charm.
we headed back, had dnner and then went to bed. that night i was woken up by a ruckus in our room. i´m still not too sure what the heck was in there, but something was. sister heard it too. but i wasnt about to reach out from under my netting to get my flashlight to find out. some things are better just left unknown. we also ahd a ton of bats in our room that night. they were freaking loud too. cant a girl just get some sleep in the jungle please!
in the morning we got up, had breakfast, and headed onour journey back. when we got to yhr puerto maldonado airport, we checked out bags and waited about 1.5 hours for our flight to lima. as were were getting ready to board, low and behold, who do we see but my aussie friend from the jungle. he was on our flight to lima.
when we arrive in lima yesterday afternoon, we grabbed a bite with the aussie, and our couch surfing host came and met us at the airport. brads flight didnt leave till midnight, so the 4 of us sat in the airport for about 6 hours just talking. it was a ton of fun. then we bid farewell to him once more and headed back to helenas place to change and go out to a disco. she decked us out in her clothes and jewelry, stoped and picked us a canadian friend of hers, and went dancing at this really trendy latin club. it was tons of fun. we danced all night, until about 3 am, then went back to helenas to crash.
that brings us up to now. sister and i are going to go out and explore lima some more today. then this evening there is a big couch curfing get together, that we are going to with helena. then we fly out tonight at midnight and we will get home sometime tomorrow evening.
this trip had been absolutly amazing. never have i met so many kind people. mever have i done such a diverse amount of things all in one country. every single day had been chock full of crazy goodness. i love peru. a piece of my heart stays here now too.
see you at home..a little more rugged...but happily so,
City Mouse (i´ll bring sister mouse too...i think she misses her husband!...)
p.s. i want to say a special thank you to sister mouse. she had been the most wonderful travel partner. i dont think i have ever laughed so much everyday when i wake up, than i do around her. she is amazing. you should all travel somewhere with her. i look forward to our next adventure together! xoxo
ciao.
ok. im in the middle of the freaking amazon jungle...i´ve just pissed off some woman who is now going to send us by ourselve to a pit of snakes?????? wth!! i nervously laughed to myself as i go back and tell sister what mess i´ve gotten us in. she´s still groggy from the 5am wake up call and looks at me as if im crazy to go hiking in the jungle to a snake pit. but at this point im pretty bored, so what the heck, right?
as it turns out, the lady found someone who spoke some englis and took us there. it wasn´t at all wheat i thought i was getting into. we walked down a dirt road a bit to a little wildlife refuge. it had a pen of torises, and ocelot, and about 20 kinds of snakes in fish tanks, mostly boa constictors and anacondas. we learned about allt he different kind of snakes and then walked back...killing a half hour off out time. the rest of the time we just slept on the benched and ate popsicles. FINALLY the bus arrived with the others that were joining us.. we all loaded up on this crazy bus thing and headed down what was supposed to be a road...if you can call it that...for about 45 minutes. then we got out and climbed down the banks of the tambopata river, onto a boat, and headed down the river for an hour. they then pulled the boat up to the side of the river and we got out and hiked all the way up this steep bank of ancient wooden steps and another 20 minute hike through the jungle until we reached our lodge.
it was the coolest thing i have ever seen. there are no walla on the thing, just a series of connected cabanas. there was a hammock lounge, at main lobby, and the dining room. they met you with a cool wash cloth and a glass of freah sqeezed local fruit juice. it was amazing. they they assigned us a guide and showed us our room. the rooms were crazy too. it was set farther into the woods. and itlooked like a big bamboo hut that was sectioned into 4 or 5 individual rooms. no doors. no windows. no wall on the side that opens into the deep jungle. our room had 4 beds, each with there own canopy cover. and a small bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower.
after we got settled in, sister and i, our guide luis, and an older couple from south dakota jon and krista, went on our first expedition. we hiked through the woods for about 40 minutes to a canopy tower that was about 4 feet by 8 feet wide and 120 feet tall. you climbed around and around and around until you reached the top. at the top you were about the tree line and could over the entire jungle. from there luis set up a telescope and pointed out different kinds of birds and parrots and macaws for us to see. it was so beautiful up there.
later we hiked back to the lodge and got ready for dinner. oh yeah, i completely forgot... on our first bus rid to the river they gave us a small woven basked full of snaks made by the local indigenous tribe, the Infierno people. ther were finger bananas, brazil nuts and banana chips. there was also so fresh squeezed juice from a local fruit. it was amazing. sister mouse still hasnt stopped talking about the banana chipss. then on the boat ride they gave us lunch, which was the coolest thing ever. they passed us these large banana leaves that were wrapped up and tied with a natural twine.. i opened it to find warm fried rice. when we finished eating you just tossed the banana leaft into the river. it was all sustainable and biodegradeable and made from local produce. it was awesome!!!!!!!!!
i can´t remember what we had for dinner the first night. but as we were waiting for dinner to begin, i went in the dining room lounge and there was a guy sitting by himself so i sat down and intorduced myself. he was a super cool guy. his name is brad and he is 32, and he is from brisbane, australia. (and, by the way, he´s a redhead.) he had been traveling through south america for the last 2 months, and was at the end of his journy and on his way to visit NYC for the first time, before heading home. after dinner we sat and talked until the place was empty and it was time to turn out the lights. you see, there is no electricity in our cabins, only kerosene lamps and they get turned out at 930. so i bid him farewell because he was leaving the next morning and headed to my room, where sister mouse was already passed out under her mosquito net. in bed by 930. that´s a new one for me. but it was ok, because our wake up call was 4am! i slept really well, and surprizingly the sounds of the jungle were quite peaceful at night. plus it is pitch black and you cant see a bloody thing. so good luck trying to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night...i hope you have a flashlight. or radar.
at 4am, we were awoken, got dressed and headed to the dining room to have breakfast and head out. our first expedition was to a nearby lake called oxbow lake. it was a 20 minute boat ride down the river and another half hour hike throught the jungle to get there. it was sister and i, jon and krista, and peruvian couple who didnt speak much english, and our guild and another guy. we got on a small makeshift catamaran and headed out onto the lake. it was so beautiful and peaceful so early in the morning. the mist was rising off the water and there were birds flying about in the brush. were looked at wild life for awhile, and we did the most awesome thing i have ever done. we went pirahna fishing. the guides gave us the bamboo poles and we baited them with raw meat and put it in the water. i think gramps would be really proud of me. i had some mad fishing skills going on. i caught 3 pirahnas and one sardine. sister caught some kind of flying fish. when i hooked the first pirahna, luis took it off my hook, held its by its body between his fingers, grabbed a leaf, and put it to the pirahnas mouth. it instantly clamped down and bit off the leaf!! luis pulled back the pirahnas lower lip and revealed the crazy sharp teeth. then he handed me the darn thing and let me hold it. it was amazing! after we used up all the meat we went around the lake looking for the giant river otter. we didnt get to see any, so we headed back toe the lodge for our next adventure. it was about 9am at this point and starting to get pretty hot.
next, luis walked us for about 30 minutes to a clay lick where macaws and parrots gather. it was kind of uneventful because it was so hot and the birds stayed up in the tres. we did get to see some, but after a while we hiked back. oh yeah, on the way there luis, who is amazing, by the way...he will walk throuht the jungle, then stop and point out an animal or something that i would have never noticed. we saw poisonpoud toads, snails, bugs, birds, lots of monkeys, capybarras, a tree sloth, more birds, more monkeys, a wild turkey, and my favorite (NOT), a HUGE FREAKING TARANTULA: luis stops us on the path, grabs a long sick with a leaf on the end, lickes it, looks at me and tells me not to move a muscle, and sticks it in a hole at my feet. out comes the biggest trantula i have ever seen. i think i wet myself. but i did not move. mostly out of sheer terror. to say that i am not a spider person is an unserstatment. this thing was twice the size of my hand. it came out biting on the twig luis stuck down there, and it we moved it would go back in. then he´d make it come out again. i would freeze up again. sister would try and take pictures but couldnt get her camera to work and kept telling luis to bring it out again. i was about to killer her beacuse i couldnt take it any more. finnally she got a damn picture, the thing went back into its nest, and i scurried away.
we went back, had lunch, and had a nice afternoon siesta. then that evening we took the boat down the river to see the local shaman. this was really cool. he would tell us about all these different plants, and how to make different medicines with them and what they were good for. they had a plant that gave you energy, he called it the Red Bull of the jungle. they had a plant that made a love potion, one for arthritis, one for parkinsons disease, and ever one that was a natural viagra! after the hike and learning about all these things, we got to go inside his laboratory and we could try some of the medicines he had made. you could try cat´s claw (for strss), the one that gave you energy, or para para (the viagra one. sister tried the energy one. i decided to try the cats claw. it tasted pretty gross. i cant believe i´m in the middle of the amazon jungle drinking some medicinal comcoction made by a shaman. crazy! you could actually buy some of his medicines. i tried to buy the Love Potion No. 9 (no kidding) but i didnt have enought soles on me. oh well... guess i´ll have to just depend on my charm.
we headed back, had dnner and then went to bed. that night i was woken up by a ruckus in our room. i´m still not too sure what the heck was in there, but something was. sister heard it too. but i wasnt about to reach out from under my netting to get my flashlight to find out. some things are better just left unknown. we also ahd a ton of bats in our room that night. they were freaking loud too. cant a girl just get some sleep in the jungle please!
in the morning we got up, had breakfast, and headed onour journey back. when we got to yhr puerto maldonado airport, we checked out bags and waited about 1.5 hours for our flight to lima. as were were getting ready to board, low and behold, who do we see but my aussie friend from the jungle. he was on our flight to lima.
when we arrive in lima yesterday afternoon, we grabbed a bite with the aussie, and our couch surfing host came and met us at the airport. brads flight didnt leave till midnight, so the 4 of us sat in the airport for about 6 hours just talking. it was a ton of fun. then we bid farewell to him once more and headed back to helenas place to change and go out to a disco. she decked us out in her clothes and jewelry, stoped and picked us a canadian friend of hers, and went dancing at this really trendy latin club. it was tons of fun. we danced all night, until about 3 am, then went back to helenas to crash.
that brings us up to now. sister and i are going to go out and explore lima some more today. then this evening there is a big couch curfing get together, that we are going to with helena. then we fly out tonight at midnight and we will get home sometime tomorrow evening.
this trip had been absolutly amazing. never have i met so many kind people. mever have i done such a diverse amount of things all in one country. every single day had been chock full of crazy goodness. i love peru. a piece of my heart stays here now too.
see you at home..a little more rugged...but happily so,
City Mouse (i´ll bring sister mouse too...i think she misses her husband!...)
p.s. i want to say a special thank you to sister mouse. she had been the most wonderful travel partner. i dont think i have ever laughed so much everyday when i wake up, than i do around her. she is amazing. you should all travel somewhere with her. i look forward to our next adventure together! xoxo
ciao.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
the joy is in the journey...?
on tuesday we finally got to go to machu picchu. there are 2 ways of getting there: you can hike the inka trail for 3-4 days, or you can take the train up from cusco. due to time restraints we took option b. our original plan was to go up on monday, spend the night in the nearby town, aguas calientes, and go back up tuesday morning and finish seing the thing. since the roads were closed monday, we only had the option of doing the whole thing in one day (this is also known as `God has other plans for you´). so it goes a little something like this: 4-5 hour train ride to aguas calientes. get put into a group. (ours was White Pedro). separate by english or spanish. get corralled onto a bus with the other 200 people there. take the crazy bus 30 mins up to the top along roads the drop right off the edge of the mountain. get out of bus. find your White Pedro group. try and keep from kicking the crazy serbian man in the shins because he is super annoying and acts like he knows everything. enter into monument. climb all the way up to the entrance gate. step through and look down upon the ancient inca machu picchu.
all in all it was cool. i learned alot. we got to walk through the whole thing. the guide was very informative. with the exception of crazy serbian man, White Pedro got along well. it was really beautiful. and WAY SMALLER than i had expected it to be. we got through the whole thing in 2 hours. therefor, i am glad we didnt end up spending the night and going through it for a second day. the pictures are gorgeous....i cant wait to post them. and sister mouse made a really good point.... she said she was glad we didnt do the hike, because if she had hike for 4 days and this was what waited for us at the top, she probably would have been disappointed. i agreed with her. i think for the inka trail hike, the joy would definitly be in the journey, not the destination.
you dont come to peru and not go to machu picchu. but looking back, its by far not the coolest thing we´ve done. however, i am so thankful we got to go...i was a little worried the other day that we had gotten so close and we wouldnt be able to go.
this morning (wed. march 4th), we left cusco, a breezy 50 degrees...hopped on another plane..and 30 minutes later stepped off it in puerto maldonado in 90+ degree heat. what the heck. we are staying the night at this cute little cabana inn in town and tomorrow we head into the jungle for three days to stay at and ecolodge and research center. so you wont be hearing from us for a few days but stay tuned.... good things are to come...i´m sure of it!
xoxo,
The Jungle Mice
p.s. in honor of my friend, scott, i would just like to point out that today is my favorite day of the year.
March 4th.
It´s a date.
It´s a command.
It´s generally just good advice.
Come in like a lion...go out any way you want.
March forth, my friends, March 4th.
all in all it was cool. i learned alot. we got to walk through the whole thing. the guide was very informative. with the exception of crazy serbian man, White Pedro got along well. it was really beautiful. and WAY SMALLER than i had expected it to be. we got through the whole thing in 2 hours. therefor, i am glad we didnt end up spending the night and going through it for a second day. the pictures are gorgeous....i cant wait to post them. and sister mouse made a really good point.... she said she was glad we didnt do the hike, because if she had hike for 4 days and this was what waited for us at the top, she probably would have been disappointed. i agreed with her. i think for the inka trail hike, the joy would definitly be in the journey, not the destination.
you dont come to peru and not go to machu picchu. but looking back, its by far not the coolest thing we´ve done. however, i am so thankful we got to go...i was a little worried the other day that we had gotten so close and we wouldnt be able to go.
this morning (wed. march 4th), we left cusco, a breezy 50 degrees...hopped on another plane..and 30 minutes later stepped off it in puerto maldonado in 90+ degree heat. what the heck. we are staying the night at this cute little cabana inn in town and tomorrow we head into the jungle for three days to stay at and ecolodge and research center. so you wont be hearing from us for a few days but stay tuned.... good things are to come...i´m sure of it!
xoxo,
The Jungle Mice
p.s. in honor of my friend, scott, i would just like to point out that today is my favorite day of the year.
March 4th.
It´s a date.
It´s a command.
It´s generally just good advice.
Come in like a lion...go out any way you want.
March forth, my friends, March 4th.
Monday, March 2, 2009
new contest!!
whoever leaves us the most comments by the time we return wins an awesome peruvian present. game on.
its a small world after all....
for the last two and a half days we have been in cusco. its a really cool city. we were supposed to be couchsurfing with this nice guy named wilman but since i was not feeling well we decided for everyones sake we would go to a hostal. sister mouse went on a tour of the sacred valley yesterday, while i stayed in bed and tried to get rid of this migrain. today i feel much better though. since cusco is built into the side of the mountain we decided to go to the top and shop our way down. it was so much fun. we had no idea where we were going so we always took the direction of down. we stopped at a delicious cafe for lunch. popped into part of a catholic mass. and as darkness fell and we decided we should probably hail a cab and go back to our hostal, we looked up and low and behold...it was in front of us! it is a small world after all. and God does a good job of keeping an eye on us.
originally we were supposed to go up to machu picchu this morning but there was some kind of strike going on and the roads were closed. so we have a minor change of plans, we are going up early tomorrow and coming back late tomorrow night. our couch surfing host arranged everything for us and is picking us up at 6am. on wednesday we fly to puerto maldonado and prepare for our jungle adventure. there sure is a wide variety of things to do in this counrty!
Notes of importance so far:
1. with the exception of some nicer restaurants and shops nobody takes credit cards.
2. to make things more complicated, not everyone always accepts the national currency of Nueve Sols. sometimes they only take american dollars. so its hard to figure out how much sols you need and how much dollars.
3. everything here is incredibly cheap. you would not begin to believe how much you can get for 1 sol (0.31).
4. the peruvian people are very short. most dont come above my shoulder. and therefor my feet hang off the end of all the beds about a foot.
5. these have been the kindest most helpful people i have ever met. every single person we have met has bent over backwards to help us. peru wins the ¨nicest¨ award
6. cuy is on every menu. cuy is guinea pig. its named after the sound it makes (probably whiles its being roasted over an open fire..) still havent eaten it...not planning on it...
7. sister mouse loves her some llamas.
8. there is an unbelieveable amount of stuff to do in this country!
9. my spanish is getting a little better, however i wish i would have learned more before i came.
10. we miss and love you guys.
xoxo,
the (soon to be) queens of the jungle!
originally we were supposed to go up to machu picchu this morning but there was some kind of strike going on and the roads were closed. so we have a minor change of plans, we are going up early tomorrow and coming back late tomorrow night. our couch surfing host arranged everything for us and is picking us up at 6am. on wednesday we fly to puerto maldonado and prepare for our jungle adventure. there sure is a wide variety of things to do in this counrty!
Notes of importance so far:
1. with the exception of some nicer restaurants and shops nobody takes credit cards.
2. to make things more complicated, not everyone always accepts the national currency of Nueve Sols. sometimes they only take american dollars. so its hard to figure out how much sols you need and how much dollars.
3. everything here is incredibly cheap. you would not begin to believe how much you can get for 1 sol (0.31).
4. the peruvian people are very short. most dont come above my shoulder. and therefor my feet hang off the end of all the beds about a foot.
5. these have been the kindest most helpful people i have ever met. every single person we have met has bent over backwards to help us. peru wins the ¨nicest¨ award
6. cuy is on every menu. cuy is guinea pig. its named after the sound it makes (probably whiles its being roasted over an open fire..) still havent eaten it...not planning on it...
7. sister mouse loves her some llamas.
8. there is an unbelieveable amount of stuff to do in this country!
9. my spanish is getting a little better, however i wish i would have learned more before i came.
10. we miss and love you guys.
xoxo,
the (soon to be) queens of the jungle!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
climb every mountain... part3
where did i last leave off...oh yeah, sister mouse and i were hopping a flight to puno, peru (near the coast of bolivia) at 4 am. damn, the lima airport is busy at 4am! we were go to puno to do an eco-tourism journey on lake titicaca. at the last minute i realized that i had not given our information to our tour guide on where to pick us up at, so at 3am i shot him an email letting him know when our flight was arriving (in a city about 45 mins away.) then we jumped on a plane and started praying that it would work out, because neither of us had any way to contact the other. as we walked off the tarmack at the juliaca airport i saw this cute little old man holding up a sign that said NICOLE MOORE. i breathed a sigh of relief and thanks the Lord for, once again, seeing me through. these are the parts of life i love the most.
we hopped in a van-thing and scooted toward puno. victor, our host, and owned of the company we booked the tour through talked to me all the way about the history of the area and what we would be doing. victor is a rockstar. he reminded me alot of my grandpa ray. he knew everything there was to know about the indigenous people of the area. we were kinda late, so we ended up with our own privat tour and our guide john. john was the best! he was 23 and grew up on one of hte islands we would be visiting.
we arrived in puno, dropped off our big packs at the tavel office, and only took what we needed for the night. then they wisked us down to the pier and popped us on a boat. lake titicaca (i know, i know, funny name. get over it.) is absolutly stunning. it is the hioghest nagigatable lake in the world and borders boliva.
after about a 45min ride we arrived at out first destination, The Floating Islands of Uros. Dude, this place is CRAZY!! there are about 60 islands and they make them out of reeds, so they are literally floating on the water. it was so weird to get out an walk on them. each island has between 2-16 families who live there and each island has a pricipal elder or president. the principàl elder of our islad greeted us at our boat and showed us how thay make the islands and how they make their boats out of the same reeds. he also let us go inside their house. and he gave us a ride on one of his reed boats. all the islands have a community kitchen, and one even has a primary school. it was crazy! the island people also made lots of hanidcrafts so we got to buy some goodies from them. tourism is their main source of income, so it was a bit cheesy unless you focused on how amazing the place was.
after that we hopped back on our boat and took a 2.5 hour ride to the Island of Amantani, where we would be staying with a local family for the night. its a good sized island, and once we arrived we were greeted by all the host families and assigned to one. Sister mouse, john, and i were hosted by mario and sylvia. they dont speak english, and only a little spanish. their native languae was quechua. but since john grew up there, he was a great translator for us. we went back to sylvias house and she shoed us our room. it was nice, basic, 2 beads, very clean. the bathroom was downstairs and sister mouse got to discover that you have to add water to the toilet tank to get it to flush. they fed us lunch , just about hte time the altitude sickness hit sister and she vomited all over their house. twice. after she was feeling better, we went down to the primary school and worked with the kids teaching them english. i had the table of ten 4 to 8 year olds. and sister had the 9 to 13 year olds. by the end of our time there i had lost all the interest of the kids at my table and they were now over in the corner laughing and saying something in quechua abouyt me. sister mouse on the other hand, had her table speaking fluant english and signing all kinds of songs in english. so kids aren´t my thing...
that evening we were to climb to the highest peak of the island Pachamama. it is carnival time here and there was a big celebration happening. 40 minute walk, john said. i don´t know what it is about johns and making me climb mountains but SERIOUSLY. this place made the black forrest hike a walk in the park!! it was at about a 70 degree incline, and lets not forget we are over 13,000 mile above the sea, so ther is NO oxygen. seriously i could feel everyone of my organs shutting down. i took us over 2 hours to get to the top. the party was long over by the time we got up there. we passed everyone coming down. 3 little boys approached me as i sat to catch my breath and i let them paint my face with chalk for carnival. it was pretty funny. by the time weapproached the top the lake was glassy calm and stained red by the setting sun. as we rested at the top the rains came in as night fell and as sister, john and i began our decent down in the dark, with just my tiny flshlight to guide us, we both agreed there was nowhere else in the world we would rather be....
we made it down much quicked than going up, went back to our host family for dinner, where it was my turn to get sick. mine in the form of the worst headache i have had in a long time. i ended up skipping dinner and going to bed. that night while i was sleeping the island threw a fiesta and dressed the visitos up in traditional Amantani clothing. i awoke to sylvia decking out my sister in a killer outfit! sister and john went to the fiesta and danced and i passed out and prayed for death.
when morning came, we ate breakfast with our family, then it was off to another island, Taquile. it was so sad to say goodbye to sylvia and mario. they were soooo sweet to us. as we were boarding our boat sylvia kept giving us kisses on our cheeks. sylvia was the best. we love you sylvia.
an hour later we arrived at Taquile island. we were only there for part of the afternoon. it is absolutly gorgeous. we ate at a small home restaurant overlook the main square and en joyed the towns people as the marched around playing musical instruments for carnival. then back to our boat and back to puno.
once we got back to puno, victor helped us find a place to stay that night and arrange for your bus ticked to cusco the next day. our little hotel was nice. we met up with a girl from holland, sonne, that we me on our boat and we all had dinner together. then back to our room for a HOT much needed shower, and to bed. tomorrow we leave for cusco.... stay tuned....
xoxo, the mice who are now so freah and so clean!
we hopped in a van-thing and scooted toward puno. victor, our host, and owned of the company we booked the tour through talked to me all the way about the history of the area and what we would be doing. victor is a rockstar. he reminded me alot of my grandpa ray. he knew everything there was to know about the indigenous people of the area. we were kinda late, so we ended up with our own privat tour and our guide john. john was the best! he was 23 and grew up on one of hte islands we would be visiting.
we arrived in puno, dropped off our big packs at the tavel office, and only took what we needed for the night. then they wisked us down to the pier and popped us on a boat. lake titicaca (i know, i know, funny name. get over it.) is absolutly stunning. it is the hioghest nagigatable lake in the world and borders boliva.
after about a 45min ride we arrived at out first destination, The Floating Islands of Uros. Dude, this place is CRAZY!! there are about 60 islands and they make them out of reeds, so they are literally floating on the water. it was so weird to get out an walk on them. each island has between 2-16 families who live there and each island has a pricipal elder or president. the principàl elder of our islad greeted us at our boat and showed us how thay make the islands and how they make their boats out of the same reeds. he also let us go inside their house. and he gave us a ride on one of his reed boats. all the islands have a community kitchen, and one even has a primary school. it was crazy! the island people also made lots of hanidcrafts so we got to buy some goodies from them. tourism is their main source of income, so it was a bit cheesy unless you focused on how amazing the place was.
after that we hopped back on our boat and took a 2.5 hour ride to the Island of Amantani, where we would be staying with a local family for the night. its a good sized island, and once we arrived we were greeted by all the host families and assigned to one. Sister mouse, john, and i were hosted by mario and sylvia. they dont speak english, and only a little spanish. their native languae was quechua. but since john grew up there, he was a great translator for us. we went back to sylvias house and she shoed us our room. it was nice, basic, 2 beads, very clean. the bathroom was downstairs and sister mouse got to discover that you have to add water to the toilet tank to get it to flush. they fed us lunch , just about hte time the altitude sickness hit sister and she vomited all over their house. twice. after she was feeling better, we went down to the primary school and worked with the kids teaching them english. i had the table of ten 4 to 8 year olds. and sister had the 9 to 13 year olds. by the end of our time there i had lost all the interest of the kids at my table and they were now over in the corner laughing and saying something in quechua abouyt me. sister mouse on the other hand, had her table speaking fluant english and signing all kinds of songs in english. so kids aren´t my thing...
that evening we were to climb to the highest peak of the island Pachamama. it is carnival time here and there was a big celebration happening. 40 minute walk, john said. i don´t know what it is about johns and making me climb mountains but SERIOUSLY. this place made the black forrest hike a walk in the park!! it was at about a 70 degree incline, and lets not forget we are over 13,000 mile above the sea, so ther is NO oxygen. seriously i could feel everyone of my organs shutting down. i took us over 2 hours to get to the top. the party was long over by the time we got up there. we passed everyone coming down. 3 little boys approached me as i sat to catch my breath and i let them paint my face with chalk for carnival. it was pretty funny. by the time weapproached the top the lake was glassy calm and stained red by the setting sun. as we rested at the top the rains came in as night fell and as sister, john and i began our decent down in the dark, with just my tiny flshlight to guide us, we both agreed there was nowhere else in the world we would rather be....
we made it down much quicked than going up, went back to our host family for dinner, where it was my turn to get sick. mine in the form of the worst headache i have had in a long time. i ended up skipping dinner and going to bed. that night while i was sleeping the island threw a fiesta and dressed the visitos up in traditional Amantani clothing. i awoke to sylvia decking out my sister in a killer outfit! sister and john went to the fiesta and danced and i passed out and prayed for death.
when morning came, we ate breakfast with our family, then it was off to another island, Taquile. it was so sad to say goodbye to sylvia and mario. they were soooo sweet to us. as we were boarding our boat sylvia kept giving us kisses on our cheeks. sylvia was the best. we love you sylvia.
an hour later we arrived at Taquile island. we were only there for part of the afternoon. it is absolutly gorgeous. we ate at a small home restaurant overlook the main square and en joyed the towns people as the marched around playing musical instruments for carnival. then back to our boat and back to puno.
once we got back to puno, victor helped us find a place to stay that night and arrange for your bus ticked to cusco the next day. our little hotel was nice. we met up with a girl from holland, sonne, that we me on our boat and we all had dinner together. then back to our room for a HOT much needed shower, and to bed. tomorrow we leave for cusco.... stay tuned....
xoxo, the mice who are now so freah and so clean!
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