Sunday, May 29, 2011

Adventuring Amazonia

I arrived in Lima with a combination of big city negativity and low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. Having decided that my first stop in Peru would be the Amazon I planned to stay in Lima for just as long as it would take to sort out my admin and get myself on a flight to Iquitos.

There was a cielo grease sky over Miraflores as I walked along the path that hugs the Lima coastline and despite the dreariness I was impressed with the pretty parks, colourful gardens and sheer cliffs that overlooked the bay. My delight continued as I found the supermarket, a proper one full of my hearts desires, along with a sushi restaurant and an array of Peruvian eye candy...Lima I likey!

From the moment we started to decent into Iquitos and I first saw the Amazon below me I was entranced. The sheer enormity and density of the jungle below was incredible and like an arterial artery the mighty river snaked its way through the landscape.

By the end of my first hour in the Amazon Basin I had eaten Monkey Brains*, sampled Ice-cream Bean and was in a boat heading 100km downstream, north, towards Colombia. The Amazon River was discovered and named in the 1500´s, prior to that it was referred to only as "Madre Rio" by the indigenous tribes of the area. Now, having seen it firsthand I can see why - it is one mother of a river, stretching up to 6km wide in parts and winding a colossal 6072km from its source at Mismi Mountain in Peru´s south through to the Atlantic ocean.

Our small power boat sped effortlessly across the river surface, the water had a milky Nescafe coffee glean and overhead billowing flat bottomed clouds hung over the jungle on either side as if they were sitting atop a glass ledge in the sky. I couldn’t take my eyes off the river and the jungle for the entire two and a half hour trip to the remote Amazonian lodge that would be my home for the next five days.

Upon arrival at the lodge I was greeted by the resident Toucan; a beautiful, entertaining and somewhat moody bird. After lunch I set off on my first jungle hike which saw me but heads, or more accurately butt butts with a couple of angry Amazonian ants, resulting in a few nice burning welts on my back.

Following an evening of seeking out colourful frogs and gigantic tarantulas I boarded a dugout canoe (yep a tree trunk carved into a canoe!) and paddled the Amazons creeks and subsidiaries. I drifted over the satin sheen of the calm water, watched the Kingfishers and kept my eyes peeled for the elusive Anaconda.

Later that day a speed boat carried me upstream and we anchored in the middle of the indomitable waterway. The sun melted into a horizon smeared with inky clouds as I watched the pink and grey dolphins peek their fins out of the water and playfully swim in the cool dusk of the evening.

I followed up my Amazonian sunset with a sunrise and then set off on a fishing expedition, with one catch in mind - Piranha. Although my efforts were fruitless my guide did manage to catch a Red Bellied Piranha and I got to check out the carnivorous chompers up close and personal.

The most mystifying element of the Amazon is the immensity of it all; the river, the jungle, the spiders. There are giant lillypads, huge trees and the most mammoth skies I have ever seen, the landscape is flat and the vista is simply stunning, just river, jungle and sky.

On my last afternoon downstream I watched the children of the local village crowd around a small ice-cream vendor, the man folk of the community watched the Champions League on satellite TV (who would have thought!), chickens and dogs roamed freely and the local women awaited boats to sell their artisanal tapioca and popcorn to the passing passengers.

I returned to Iquitos, leaving my comfortable but basic jungle digs only to arrive at the hostel from HELL (and there has been some crackers). After a night of no sleep I couldn´t bring myself to strip down and face the disgusting, fungi ridden shower, I think it would have been more hygienic to slather myself in hand sanitiser, so I packed up and headed for the nearest luxury hotel, I needed a room with windows, proper walls, running water (hot and cold) and a day poolside to recover from the ordeal of the past 24 hours. Five days in the Amazon with no electricity was nothing compared to 24 hours in the worst hostel thus far.

I loved the Amazon but I´m quite happy to leave the two bit city of Iquitos behind, I changed my flight and headed back to Lima, a 21 hour bus to Cusco and some of the worlds most famous ruins await me.




View of the bay from Miraflores, Lima


Fruit Loop!

This Praying Mantis caught a ride with me in a dugout canoe

Amazonian Sunset

Arachnephobe?

Satin sheen smooth waters


The Amazon is the king of big



And sometimes small...


Pirhrana...clear of fingers


Portable Mr Whippy old school style


*Put away your looks of disgust, Monkey Brains is the nickname for the local fruit Macambo!


Monday, May 23, 2011

It´s Tuesday...


It’s Tuesday. Underneath my feet the ground sparkles with the glitter of pyrite, surrounding me are the lush mountain ranges that form the beginning of the Andes, to my right and to my left are splashes of vibrant hues that are a myriad of different flowers and butterflies. 


I think back to what I have spent most of the Tuesdays of my adult life doing and I know I will never go back. The sun beats down, a light breeze cools the sweat on the nape of my neck and I revere in the simplicity of it all...

The day earlier after five hours of watching mini landslides, masses of boulders cluttering one side of the muddy dirt road and sheer drops off the other, I was thankful to arrive safely in San Andres. The glass of fresh ice cold jugo Moro that awaited me in itself made the trip worthwhile, the following days of home-made ice cream and my discovery of the most delicious fruit EVER - Caimo and I was contented, to say the least. If I wasn’t on a finite time frame I would have just stayed in San Andres...for a while.

San Andres is the small village that marks the gateway to Tierradentro, a series of cavernous tombs decorated with paintings and statues sculpted into the supporting stone beams. The tombs are scattered throughout the villages surrounding mountains and I was blessed with a radiant day to explore them, wander the village and enjoy yet another tuna mayo cracker lunch overlooking a picturesque thatched roof chapel perched atop a hill.

The Colombian leg of my adventure was nearing its end but I had one more stop still to make so the following morning at 6:30am I stood in town awaiting my bus. Much to my amusement - initially - an old jeep pulls up, turns out this is my "bus". My backpack is strapped to the roof and off we set, within about an hour the jeep is loaded with 13 people (not including the driver), 2 kids, another 2 people hanging off the back and 1 sitting on top next to my pack! The guy sitting on top was actually a comfort to me as I had spent the first hour terrified that my poorly secured pack would bounce off and down the side of the ravine we were driving along. I spent the last half hour praying that the dark clouds overhead wouldn’t open soaking my pack....oh yeah and the poor guy riding on the roof!

San Agustin brought one last hurrah (until Melbs!) with T-dog and Stripper, 24 hours bedridden and a lot of monolithic statues. Once recovered I mustered some energy, determined to make the most of my last day in Colombia and headed for Parque Arqueolgico. The park is home to hundreds of statues and burials sites that date back centuries and is set against a scenic mountainous countryside. After my visits to both Tierradentro and San Agustin I am of the opinion that modern day human culture doesn’t put nearly enough effort into the burial and celebration of the dead....I’ll take a hand painted tomb or hard carved stone statue atop my grave thanks!!

Colombia has been an incredible leg of my journey and to think it wasn’t even on my original itinerary. The country is stunningly beautiful and the people are kind and welcoming, come visit before it’s spoilt by tourism.

Next stop...Amazon, Andes, Ruins, Sand boarding....Hello Peru! 



Cavernous tomb...dark!
 












Sunday, May 15, 2011

The adventures of Cola, T-Dog, Stripper & Goose

I can't remember the last time I laughed as much as I did during my visit to Volcan de lodo el Totumo, a volcano that bubbles not with lava but with mud! It was with some apprehension that I reclined into the gloopy crater of mud and glided across its tepid boyant surface. A one of a kind bath that gets you very dirty, mud in places it should never be!



Cartagena is an enchanting colonial city on the Carribean coast, a maze of narrow streets and plazas surrounded by cobbled stone walls. Its a perfect place to laze away a couple of days while savouring the local rum con lemonade and fresh lime....which is exactly what I did.

After my mud bath it was as if the sweltering tropics had been transposed for the Arctic as I endured a 13 hour hypothermic bus journey to the once murder capital of the world Medellin. Other than being famed due to Pablo Escobar and drug cartels it is also home to good thermal winds optimal for paragliding. Having always thought that if reincarnated I would want to come back as a bird or maybe a butterfly, paragliding was at the top of my list for Medellin. 

High atop a steep hill my instructor and I, strapped together, ran downhill and the wind gently lifted us from the ground. Within minutes we were soaring, the city diminutive below us and the wind shrilling around us. I found the experience both exhillarating and terrifying and after a short stint airborne, feeling nausiated, I was quite happy to have two feet firmly back on solid ground.

One of my only enslavements in life, which I endure joyously is coffee and the other big C that Colombia is reknown for is just that so I abandoned the skies and headed to Zona Cafetera on a visit to Hacienda Venecia to roast some freshly harvested beans and get my daily caffine hit. I spent a torpid but wired afternoon in a hammock overlooking the plantation, sipping my cafe tinto and investigating how I might get myself to the rain sodden Parque Ucumari to do another trek.

After a day of buses, failed plans, waiting and more buses I arrived in the quaint town of Salento. Surrounding the town is the beautiful Valle de Cocora, a landscape of towering wax palms and a cloud forest with hundreds of Hummingbirds. Following a day of hiking we rewarded ourselves with some well deserved cervezas and a few dozen rounds of the Colombian national game. Only in Colombia would they have a national game that involves explosions!! To play "Tajo" you throw a lead weight at a clay pit which contains small envelopes of gunpowder. The envelopes are arranged around a metal circle in the centre and when struck by the lead weight they explode. Blowing shit up - a thoroughly entertaining way to spend an evening!

From Salento I headed further south and spent 24 hours in Colombia's Salsa capital of Cali, yet another noxious, over populated city with very little appeal, besides its nightlife apparently, which despite our best efforts we were not able to unearth.


I was beginning to feel a little antsy after what seemed like days of roving and seeking only to be halted at every turn. After yet another dragging bus journey I arrived in the inviting town of Popayan and almost immediately my wanderlust was reignited. Popayan is bursting with colonial charm, restaurants, bars and late night Salsa clubs so we armed ourselves with a 2L bottle of rum, lined our stomachs with the cheesy deliciousness of Mexican cantina and proceeded to cavort and salsa into the early hours.

The following morning as we rose and prepared for our day of hot springs and mountain biking there was a few sore heads and a couple of missing participants, after a sobering soak and 29km of mountain biking I am pleased to report we were all ready for yet another beer!


After the best part of 3 weeks together the adventures of Cola, T-Dog, Stripper & Goose are about to come to an end as we all head in our separate directions.... satisfied and grateful...

Super slimy and hilarious!

 

Mud bath anyone?

Just one beer...its after midday afterall
Medellin
Boltero voluptuous
Sky high and shitting myself!

Run off the side of a big ass hill...sure why not
High above Medellin


Mmmm coffee
 
  
Indiana jones eat your heart out!
The wax palms of Valle Cocora


Well lathered....and loving it!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Raiders of The Lost City

A 6:00am flight means a 4:30am check-in, which means a 4:00am taxi and a 3:30am alarm. Coupled with mosquitoes in the dorm room means barely any sleep which overall equals bitchy and irritable Nicole. Add to that a drunk guy kicking my seat from behind and making a general nuisanse of himself, arm rest hog and serial nail biter to my left and a distinct lack of cafe con leche and those of you who know me can guess the rest....

Happily the second leg of my journey was much more pleasant; Max a great conversationalist I had met a couple times in Uruguay was also on stopover and I then had the company of a pair of handsome Brazilian twins on my flight to Bogota.

The idea of being in yet another heavily populated, smoggy city was less than enticing so I had already planned my exit to the Carribean coast and purposely limited my time in Bogota to a day and a half. I escaped the metropolis for a day by exploring the underground salt cathedrals of Zipaquira and upon my return a familiar face greeted me. Andre, a fellow traveller I met in Mendoza, Argentina was checking in at the hostel. Although a little weary from him journey I dragged him out to experience with me what had been described as a "must see". Andres Carne de Res is a quadruple level mega restaurant/bar that features kitsch decor, salsa dancing table hopping eccentrically sequinned entertainment and a choice of seating options; Heavan, Purgurtory, Earth or Hell! Not to mention a menu that resembles a glossy magazine and all kinds of Columbian gastronomical delights. We left with substantial food babies and sashes which promoted us from Purgurtory to Earth....or is that demotion? I´m not sure!!

I had some serious ground to cover on my last morning; the clouds cleared just long enough to take in a view of the sprawling city from high above La Candelaria, to whisper a little Easter Sunday prayer at El Santuario de Monserrate and make a quick visit to Museo de Oro; a golden wonderland that I could have easily spent the remainder of the day exploring. 

I had places to be and friends to meet though so I passed on the 16 hour bus ride in favour of a one and a half hour flight to Santa Marta.

---

It was lights out at 8:30pm at the Arrecifes camp in Parque Nacional Tayrona, I lay in my hammock overlooking the Carribean coastline as an electrical storm played out overhead lighting up the night sky and I ruminated how lucky I really am. Randy Pausch said in his Last Lecture that "Luck is - where preparation meets opportunity" so I guess my three and a half years in Dubai was my preparation and my opportunity came through being single and unbridled, two qualities which their value I often question.

The day before I had finished the Ciudad Perdida trek, 5 days in the Columbian jungle, an experience that was both challenging and amazing. The trek is 56km through the hot and humid jungle, 3 days uphill over rocks and crossing rivers to reach the 1400 steps that lead to pre-Columbian ruins dating back to the 7th century. 

We met coca leaf chewing indigenous Kogi tribes who believe chewing the leaves activates the powers of concerntration, memory and speech; all powers I desire so I gave it a go! It was mostly unpleasant, as a mouthful of dried leaves I guess usually is. We encountered watermelon seed eating ducks, frogs that whistled the night away and slender and venomous serpents. The night time jungle sparkled with lightning bugs and we had our very own entourage of dogs that we had affectionately named Tosser and Blanco who accompanied us all the way to the top. 


We were fortunate to have a small group, fun and interesting guides and rain-free days. Despite a bout of dehydration and nearly being trampled to death by a mule thanks to Alex´s piss poor "Mule Alert" the entire experience was sensational. The most tedious and awful part of the trip was the transportation back to Taganga, a 1970´s Landcruiser held together with cellotape and string - literally. 


Throughout the five days (less so on the last day as I was a sweaty disgusting bug bitten mess completely grossed out by myself) I was in continual amazement and couldn´t help repeating to myself "I am in the Columbian jungle, this is AWESOME!"


Back in Taganga we spent one night in yet another hell hostel (Trudy, Alex and I seem to know how to find them) before we set off for a few days of R&R and just the right amount of hiking on a visit to Parque Nacional Tayrona.


Ciudad Perdida - The Lost City...at last 



Terrifying!

1400 or so steps

A well deserved lie down


Mmmm

An army of Leaf Cutters

Now thats a tree

Angels...probably not!