Welcome to Puerto Maldonado

We've left our big backpacks at the office here and have our day pack for 2 days of stay in the jungle itself. It’s 34°C right now, 98% humidity, with a “feels like” index of 38°

Welcome to the Jungle

Well, not yet, but I’m about to board a flight to the jungle, where we will not have signal for 3 days.

Quarry day 2

The second day we had to say goodbye to one of our members, the heat of the day before was extremely unfriendly to them, and they made the decision to turn back when it was possible to do so, rather than continue into day 2 where it would soon be impossible to turn back.

End of quarry trail, Machu Picchu tomorrow

It’s 9pm, we finished the Quarry Trail earlier in the day and I’m lying in a hotel bed ready to take the train to Machu Picchu tomorrow. 

I’m not sure how to describe the last few days. It was in some parts pretty difficult, but it was also stunningly beautiful. The vistas looking out at the valleys and glaciers and mountains were amazing. The trail was pretty much empty, we only came across 3 other people, the rest were locals.

Cusco, última día

Last night, trek tomorrow. Daypack is 3.5kg without water, porters bag is 3.8kg. Not bad.

Can’t decide if I’m relaxed and confident or worried and nervous.

Es lo que es.

Cusco, two days before hike

 I may not have time to do a post tomorrow night, as it’s the night before I head out for the Quarry trail. So it could be a few days before my next post. Also after we return to Cusco we then head to the Amazon where we definitely won’t have wifi, so it’ll be another 3 days then.

As for the Quarry Trail, we had our briefing today and it sounds surprisingly comfy. The weather will be around 20°C during the day (actually a bit hot to hike in comfortably), and gets down to just over 0°C at night, again not a bad temperature to sleep (when you have a good sleeping mat and bag).

I did however injure my elbow playing volleyball yesterday, let’s just say that I forgot I’m no longer as young as I once was, and regardless of age it’s not a smart idea to dive onto stone blocks to try and get the ball.

I’ll post some photos here, probably without comment, because I don’t really have the time, nor is it easy to do on an iPhone.

The volleyball game where I injured my elbow. Intrepid vs locals from the island

Below is a literal floating island, built on mostly straw and reeds. The entire (small) island floats on the lake. This is how some of these people live. There are 4 families and 20 people on this island. They fish, hunt, craft, and trade with other nearby floating islands. The kids go by boat each morning to a nearby school.

When you dig down two feet in the straw you get water. 

First real test of altitude

Today we went by bus from 2000m (7600ft) up and up and up. Our peak today was 4910m (16,100ft). For comparison Everest Base Camp is around 5300m (17,400ft). 

Pisco & Nazca

 Yesterday we travelled to Pisco, and went to the Ballestas Islands in the Paracas National Park. Here there are a penguins and seals, as well as a “candelabra” carved into the side of a hill. I’m gonna be honest, the candelabra and nazca lines are in my opinion overrated. Even if we accept at face value they were created 500BCE, it’s clear they’ve been added to and damaged along the way. If you find yourself in this region of Peru, pay the 7sol to go to the viewing platform and save yourself the $130 flight.

The trip commences

 And now I’m on the road for the first of 28 days of an intrepid tour. 

Yesterday I had time to go shopping and found a beautiful outdoor mall on the top of a cliff looking out over the Pacific. 

And that’s 42! Welcome to Peru

As I land in Lima, Peru, I note with much happiness that this is the 42nd country I have visited. Poca a poca I will get to my goal of 100 countries visited!

On the road again

 Today I depart Aruba and head back to San Jose to pickup my larger backpack. This marks the end of travelling with a small carryon only backpack, as now I need to carry hiking gear, including sleeping bag, poles, warmer gear, etc. These are far too large to fit in a small carryon bag, so now I’ll be checking luggage and at the whims of airlines as to whether I get my bags!

Aruba!

 

I’m still alive, I realised i haven’t posted in a week. I’ve just landed in Aruba to meet up with the wonderful person who helped me back in January in Madrid and Bogotá. See the posts back then for the “fun” I had. She invited me to come to Aruba and meet her family, and here I am! 

I will endeavour to post something in a few days, but I’m in Aruba for a week. I gotta get myself a tan!