Adios Peru

I never really thought 3 months would be too long to be in Peru, considering my to do list...

Now I truly feel like a a peruvian chica...been there, loved it

I no longer explained that I did not speak spanish/castalino,i just on with it and chatted away with the locals

My hotel in Arequipa which can be appropriately described as "fawlty Towers" was in the process of being enlarged....and I found myself more or less in the middle of a building site...
Despite the issues...I still loved being there

and it was nice to have made some friends there

It was another 10 hour bus ride From Arequipa back to my base in Peru; the saving grace is that the roads are great, nothing like a pot hole...the buses seem to drive more carefully than the minibuses...
By now I was quite used to the local buses...and but it still amused me to see the mamas who came in to sell food...wrapped in the equivalent of a leso, strapped to the back, they move from bus to bus...at different points...then she gets her big butcher knife and literally hacks at the meaty bones...a very popular meal...she then has deserts...bread with cheese and tea...very organized

Then there are the traders who try to escape customs...marchandise is cheaper in Boliva...this one lady sort of sitting next to me, had dozens of bag packs that she stuffed everywhere in the bus to avoid getting busted...

Getting to Cusco was great, simply because it was nearer home for me...it was also nice to rediscover favorite places and the streets

which were now very familiar... each with it's dogs...
Some dogs are luckier though, and get dressed in skirts, tee shirts and get taken places,including into the supermarket by the owners...Definitely a dog loving Nation Peru is..




I was pleased to note that the display at the plaza de Armas had been changed

and as always abuzz with locals relaxing, hawking; tourists being tourists and children feeding the pigeons....The whole town was decorated in flags to mark the Country's independence...almost 200 years

Buena, to mark birthday and departure, my good friend Christine graciously offered to take me for Pisco sour....a proposal I gladly accepted

As I was waiting for her, in what had now become my favorite pub, I got talking to a guy who has been traveling 13 years.....yea....even I was impressed, he's been to 99 countries, Kenya inc.... In some of the places he worked...Brazil ws going to be the 100 next week...he always puts down his occupation as "traveller" for immigration purposes....

Wow....he still had his face painted in the image of a tiger, from last night..had not slept...and had missed his train to Macchu Picchu 3 times...but this time he was going to make it in the morning, he showed me the tickets...

Well, us gals made a night of it...

many piscos later, a meal and some good music, in yet another Irish pub...I was grateful to have a good friend to end my visit to Peru and also excited to note, from the flag in the pub, that another Kenyan had been here and probably had a great time just as I did

VIVA EL PERU

The Lines

Ok, now that we were flying,

I decided to sit back and enjoy the views and experience

The flight takes only 30mins from take of to landing....

First we saw "The whale"

I'm surprised that I managed to get a photo...with the plane swinging first to the left..then circling and dipping to the right.. once i got the hang of things, was able to take many photos...loads of nothing...just hoping to capture the lines


"The astronaut" unlike the others is etched on the side of a rock rather than the desert floor

One of the most clear images is "The Humming bird"

By now I was more relaxed and focused on the views, only having to grab my pal's thigh twice to stabilize my self...i was actually enjoying seeing the lines for my self...and having to peer closely to make out the images

Like "The dog" here, upside down in the right hand bottom corner

"The monkey"...very, very faint; look very closely at the centre of the photo

In fact i nearly trashed the photo thinking there was nothing










"The condor" is a very large image (136 mts)and thus hard to capture all of it in one shot

I managed to get the tail; light hand bottom corner

I did not manage to get "The spider"...

just a piece of the arm











"The parrot"'s head was clear, but don't know if I got the body; also a large image 200mts

Lastly we saw "The Tree and the Hands", next to each other

The hands look like a frog to me...
plus why one has one hand has only 4 fingers???







All in all there are 12 figures, but I did not see the "Trapezoids", ant the "Heron bird"... unless I just have not noticed them yet in the photos...will have to look more carefully

I was really happy to have made this experience to see for my self the lines which indeed leave more questions than answers...

I was happy to head back to the airport

I would have been grand to see the lines a second time around now that we understood better...

and we all thought and agreed that the flight was too short....!!!!

Fear of Flying

after the sea...we went off to Ica, about 50 mins by car...which is quite a big town...very hot here...A town that suffered devastating earthquakes in 2007...they are still to recover fully

not much happening here..except that people come mainly to sand board and race in the dessert...well I did none of that...

With my companions, a great couple from Lima,

we went to some family vineyard to learn how Pisco was made traditionally and of course to taste;

this was quite an appropriate way to celebrate my birthday

Being too hot...it's actullay in the Huacachina desert, driving around was not much fun...and I preferred to sit by the oasis and enjoy the rest of the day with some nice cold cusquena, dark...like guiness, and very nice...

I watched the courageous tumble down the hill in their efforts to have fun, sand boarding...

Then it was time for a 4 hour bus ride to Nazca....

I had been dreading this particular part of the tour....i really was scared of flying...given the history of planes crushing, throwing up on the flight, crazy maneuvers so as to see the "mysterious alien lines...." I had been spooking myself out for weeks now...and really did not think I WOULD DO IT.

I was pleased to arrive at my hotel...and thought of several items that I could have "collected" from there, but they were too heavy

The nice ambiance did help to calm my nerves...well and a few more cervezas...





Next morning...D day...it started out very hazy...and I thought great the flights will be cancelled...but by 8.30am..it was all blue...and we headed off to fly over the Pampa desert to marvel at what has not been explained to date...who drew the lines, why, how did they have images of animals that that are not found in the desert, and most buffling that of an astronaut....???? And how could they have the visual appreciation of these images from the ground..as this is not possible....the geometric lines...what are these...to guide alien landing ships....??? All these are questions that every visitor here is faced with and perhaps hopes to solve for themselves...

BUT UPPERMOST IN OUR THOUGHTS IS THE FEAR THAT THE PALNE MIGHT CRUSH....
even though we did not say it...only afterwards...we all were nervous about it and yet there are hundred lining up to fly....

A case of CURIOUCITY KILLED THE CAT?


To calm my nerves, I decided to try a massage...the guy told me that some of his clients said it was better that 'el sexo'....

Well for me, he lied.....

Well now that I was here..there was no backing out

I prayed and got on the plane..

and then was more alarmed when I saw a sign on the plane

and the two pilots squeezed together...

later i learn't that it was in fact the assistant who was flying.........

By the Sea

After the visit to the desert and thinking Paracas is just a bus stop...I was pleasantly surprised to discover otherwise...

I just had not ventured from my hotel to see the larger picture...

a busy little sea side town with quite the feel of islands...the palm trees, cafes, boats, seafood...

The little 'town' and gateway to the

home to millions of birds and other sea animals








Many tourists, awaited eagerly me included

to see what lay beyond the jetty

The guided tour lasts about 2 hours...the boats travel quite fast and makes a huge sea spray....leaving the face all salty...

On the way we saw a candelabra...I did not quite get the story why it's there but it makes a pretty picture

The Isla has millions and millions of birds...

pelicans, penguins

I think, if I heard right that they harvest tons of the droppings for fertilizer...and make a fortune out of it...'white gold'

I will leave the noise, smell and levels of activity to your imagination


The sea lions slide on and off the rocks...not as numerous or noisy as their feathered neighbors...I always wondered how they managed not to slide of the rocks...seeing that they are so smooth...they are just such adorable, gentle looking creatures...always huddled together in families, couples....the male can weigh up to 300Kg...???

What a beautiful home to have

Backest of Beyond

After a visit to a museum in Arequipa to see "Mommie Juanita": a frozen virgin girl (offered as an Inka sacrifice) found (500 years later) near intact (with skin and organs) in 1995 on one of the highest mountains around Arequipa, I headed off north to Paracas...

I had no idea how far away it was from Areuipa... I thought 4 hours..the tour agency told me 8 hours... I found out it was 12 hours.....by bus...

Anyway, I 'm glad to be here and looking forward to the home ran

In the morning as we still headed on, for the first time, I actually saw maize fields...there is always talk of maize, but in all my traversing the peruvian countryside, I'vr never seen any...
there were vast fields of grapes too....

I thought Paracas was a town...it's actually a bus stop....well more of a port

but has a great hotel with wi-fi...where I am for the night and the gateway to the the national marine reserve....

It's a beautiful desert...

that meets the `Pacific Ocean

Driving around the reserve...the roads have been graded with SALT, there is a museum and some breath taking views, pelicans, many other birds and powerful winds..your hat has to be jammed on the head

Earth quakes and tsunamis in the area may changed rock formations but did not destroy the beauty

I was glad to head back to the hotel and rest from the marathon bus trip...after a shared lunch

with my best friend for the day

....well he got to the lunch table, yes, just after I had eaten all the fish....!!!!

Having the conversation....3 months later

"...to learn spanish and experience a different culture...to get out of my comfort zone..."
this a quote from an earlier blog.... so we are now having same conversation, as to why 3 months in Peru and were my experiences worth have looked forward to...??

For sure I learn't spanish...i now speak better spanish than the average peruvian speaks
English....

Did I experience a different culture...yes in terms of language, food;
in terms of practices, Peru is very cosmopolitan and touristic (the milieu that I was in) so that was not an issue

Did I get out of my comfort zones...YES..I constantly had to adapt to new people and situations and I had to be cool and humble, seek to communicate and be understood in languages other than English

Some of my comforts, such as a cold beer, lap top, were always there for me.....mercifully

it was great to explore different foods: Guinea pig, chicaronne, cicivche, lomo saltado

drinks...pisco sour, cusquena beer, chicha morada, inka cola, coca tea

I visited the places on my wish list...Titicaca lake, sacred valley of the inka, Macchu,picchu, Arequipa the "white city", Cusco "the belly button of the earth"' I saw many fascinating dances, traditional ceremonies, landscapes and much, much more....

I am now on my final leg...visiting the desert and the pacific coast area of Paracas, Ica and finally overflying the Nazca lines...."made by aliens?"

As my birth day dawns and I find myself in a place that is totally back of beyond...(12 hours on the bus from Arequipa)... I feel blessed and I'm happy that I made this journey that I had dream't of for so many years....

I may not have found myself...because oneself is always with one...

but I know I have strengthened belief in my self and all those that I have met along this journey...a lot of wonderful people..

and now, I look forward to seeing all the wonderful family and friends I left behind, physically but who were always with me as I journeyed along...

Cruising with the Condors

Before we left Arequipa for the 180KM drive to see the condors in the Colca Canyon...deeper than the grand canyon...I was off loaded from my bus to another....not nice i thought....but I really I did not feel too good there...so off I went without regrets.

On our way we saw the 3 of 4 the camel family animals...1 other species lives in different climatic conditions

first the graceful vicunas, these are wild and are protected by the government from hunting..they have the finest fur/wool of all animals...it's finer than human hair...

The alpaca and llamas are owned by individuals who graze them in the vast terrains...these are reared for wool and the alpaca for meat too...just like goats and sheep; don't know about their milk

they are very domesticated

they insist on a cup of tea!!!











The paysage is fascinating....

During the ride, I met a German guy who had not only visited Kenya, but stayed in Kakamega for 2 weeks...now how much closer can it get?!

We arrived at the town of Chivay for the night and the hot water baths...I seriously did question if these were authentic, stink of sulphur, taste salty, but...i mean it's near boiling water at one point...I think it's just a thing they put there to get the tourists there...the moon rise over the rocks

as we bathed with freezing temperatures sipping pico sour all made the the "scam" worth it after such a long ride and being back of beyond..one does not question too much...just happy for a relaxing diversion.







Next day off to the canyon....oh I had lost my key the night before...the joint where I stayed had no duplicate...they tried opening the room from 10.00pm to 2.00am....Mercifully I was moved...to a better room...

Next morning they started trying again from 5.30am...and just as it was 6.30...bus time...voila...I had my had left my stuff in there earlier...I got surcharged....

Anyway...after a brief wait, the condors would emerge from time to time cruise above their nests...

they are so silent that easily unnoticed..

and then other times, i guess they just chill out...and watch us











Somehow, i doubt i will ever return to this far flung town

On the way back, someone from the other group...which I was bumped off from...told me their bus had broken down 30 mins after departure and they had lost the whole day....they waited 4 hours for a rescue...

Qui sera sera...I thanked God for my luck....