Uyuni Salt Flats

After sleeping off our challenging journey to Uyuni, we were very excited to be joining a small group in a 4x4 to explore the Bolivian salt flats and surroundings which we have heard are some of the best in the world.

Train graveyeard
For some inexplicable reason, the first stop on the tour was what can only be described as a train graveyard. As the train service in Bolivia is nearly non-existant (we tried unsuccessfully to get tickets on the train to our next stop, Villazon, before we left for the tour, but there are only two trains a week and therefore impossible to get tickets...), I wouldn´t have thought that there would be much call for a place for trains to go when they die here but there you go... Having said that, it was great fun to climb on some of the old bangers and it made for some great photo opps!

The Salt Flats
The main event was much better than expected and the recent rains gave us the opportunity to take some very interesting photos...

In the middle of the salt flats we discovered an island which we parked up near to and when exploring. Some of the cactus there was supposed to be over 900 years old!

We had a lovely lunch on the beach of the island and as we had finished up a little earlier than expected, Henri, our driver, promised that we could stop off at a spot where the salt was really impressive so that we could take some "trick" photos. It turns out that on the salt, the camera looses all perspective and allows you to take some really funky shots. Ironically my reasonably "low-tech" camera takes better photos in this environment than Johan´s which had problems focusing on anything :)

Salt Hostel
The first day exhausted, we drove for a while to get to our lodgings for the night. Turns out that when you are surrounded by mostly salt, you use it for everything, including building materials. Our room was made completely from blocks of salt, the floor was made of ground salt, the cement around the windows was salt, the bed, bedstead and bedside tables were all salt... Fantastic! Thankfully the roof was thatch and there was a good mattress and blankets on the bed which made the room quite comfortable, if unique. Hot showers cost 5 Bs and were very welcome!


Day 2 - Lagoons
We were well into "middle-of-nowhere" territory by now with the odd quinoa plant or vicuña (a type of wild llama) to break the now increasingly desert landscape. The morning of the second day involved lots of driving before finally reaching the first of a series of flamingo populated lagoons. The flamingos generally ignored us unless we really got too close, which allowed Johan to take some truely stunning photos. The lagoons were looking a bit sparce - I guess that it isn´t the right time of year to see them, so we largely missed the vibrant colours that they are supposed to reflect. Still, the sight of water in a desert at 4000m altitude is always impressive.

The day ended near to Laguna Colorado where we could see a bit of its pink colour. Our lodgins were the only building in sight and were where everyone on these tours stayed. We had a large room for the 6 of us and after dinner (with wine), we hit the sack. Tomorrow morning, Henri promised to wake us up well before the crack of dawn to leave by 5am!!

Final day - Aguas Calientes
True to his word, we were awakened by a loud banging on our door at 4:30 am and we all groggily roused ourself from our deep slumber, pulled on our clothes (no showers here) and packed our stuff and ourselves into the 4x4. After driving for about an hour and a half we reached the geisers which were the first stop. With no pesky health and safety regulations, we where able to walk as close to the geisers as we dared. They were beautiful to see with the rising sun in the background.

After taking lots of pictures, we jumped back into the 4x4 and headed for our next stop, the hot springs where we had an early morning dip before tucking into pancakes for breakfast. Lovely!

The tour was unofficially over now so the next stop was the nearby Chilean boarder where we dropped off two of our number and then settled in for the 8 hour ride back to Uyuni. It was a very visually satisfying tour and we were able to see many beautiful natural scenes. I read somewhere that Bolivia was a great undiscovered tourist destination and in many ways I think that it is true. It is a very basic place though and if you can deal with that, then this is the place for you.

As for me, I am looking forward to hot water, busses with toilets and high speed internet access which have all been promised to us in Argentina. Bring it on!

Bus adventures

We managed to get the bus to Uyuni, but as it turns out we´re not having much luck with buses at the moment, how is this for a record:

1. Cuzco - Puno, 33% longer time than expected since the bus had a faulty gearbox and couldn´t get into 3rd. So when we had spent 8 hours on it chugging along and being overtaken by anyting with an engine, we had to change into a local minivan. Fail


2. Puno - Arequipa, cancelled because the bus strike lasted more than three days instead of the billed one. It still wasn´t resolved when we left. Fail


3. Puno - Copacabana turned out to be a minivan (collectivo) instead of a bus and it dropped us off at the border crossing and left us hoping to find someone to pick us up at the other side. We did, but it toook us about 35-40 minutes. Barely scraped through, but a pass


4. Copacabana - La Paz. Got us there, on time, only the small nerve tingling ferry crossing to keep us on edge. Pass.


5. La Paz - Uyuni. Multiple epic fail. This busride started out positive, even though we really would have preferred to take the train. We bought the ticket early in the morning at 20 bolivianos cheaper than expected (2 pounds, but still a small victory). When we got to the bus it was there on time and looking better than we feared. It even had blankets and a toilet. Phew. Then things started to head south. We were pulling out of the bus station, on time, when the driver accidentally reversed into a small obstacle. Another bus. A parked bus. The damage to our bus wasnt that bad, just a little bump at the back, but all vital parts were working, however the other bus now needs a new windscreen, rearview mirror and actually, most of the front. After about an hour of commotion the company announced that for "insurance reasons" the bus we were on would not be allowed to leave the station, and the company was trying to sort out other arrangements. 3 hours later we were ushered on to another bus, much much nicer. However it only went half way, and had a deaf driver who blared music at maximum volume until about midnight. So at 2 am we changed bus for the final 8 hour leg and got onto an old banger without heating system, toilet or blankets, or suspension. The next 8 hours were spent on bumpy back roads and, we are sure, some "shortcuts" across fields where the bus mystically stopped several times and had to reverse to get unstuck. At some points the driver was also on the phone which did not make it any better. It was ok when he was actually was driving though, apart from the fact that the lack of suspension made all the windows shake open and the near-zero degree air kept flowing in. So after a very very long unpleasant bus ride we arrived in Uyuni, shaken and a little stirred as well. We've decided to not trust Panamericano again...

We've gotten some sleep now though and are looking forward to the tour of the salt flats (there will be a lot of pictures then) and to get to Argentina where we hear the bus companies are much better....

La Paz and Beyond

So we got on the bus to La Paz, which it turns out is a rather eventful ride. We were prepared for a ride through the bolivian high plains looking out over the andes. What we had forgotten about was the fact that we'd have to cross a small sound in Lake Titicaca in order to not have to take a 2 hour detour into Peru. So after about an hour we were kicked off the bus and ushered on a small little boat that took us across. And in the meantime our bus got on a small barge that would take it across. The display when we got off our bus wasnt too encouraging - there was a much smaller bus than ours that failed to make it onto the barge and the front wheels were stuck between it and the pier. And further out we could see kids on all fours bucketing water out of other barges which were obviously leaking. At that point we started thinking of the phonecall to the insurance company - we lost our bags because our bus sunk on Lake Titicaca. Not sure about the outcome of that...

We eventually made it to La Paz thoug, the bus didnt sink, and tried to make arrangements to get to Uyuni, where we have a tour booked on tuesday. Unfortunately it turns out that the trains there do not run on mondays and the other alternative are 12 hour overnight buses. Which means we have to leave La Paz a day early, which is a shame. Although we're not too disappointed since it is just a big city and we've already seen plenty of those. So next stop will be Uyuni and we´ll enjoy an extra day there instead.

Hello Bolivia

The Bolivian verison of Copacabana is a little town on lake Titicaca, which means its quite similar to Puno (cold and wet) only the internet hasn't really made it there yet. On the plus side though, Copacabana has equally good food - cheaper, and better activities and even a beach.





The day after we arrived we decided to get an early boat to Sun Island, and while looking for tickets we bumped into a friend we met in Puno, Maria Celeste and her friend Stuart. So we got on the same boat and had some nice company for the day. After a two hour slow-boat to the northern port we got off and went to the local museum for a quick explanation of the cultures that are prominent on the island. After the whirlwind 5-minute speach we had another 3 minutes to look around the displays at the finds from the area. After that we walked up to the temple area, which is still used today and sprouts a sacred rock, Titicarrca, and an ancient labyrinth. It was a really nice tour the only drawback was the climb up to it, about 400 altitude meters which put us at 4300 meter above sealevel.

After that tour we decided to take the scenic walk to the southern port where the boat back to Copacabana would leave from. Its a 3 hour walk across some hills (yes, more uphill clmbing required) that took us past ancient ruins and a lot of sheep and alpaca pastures. All the time with a fantastic view of the island, some nearby rock islands and lake Titicaca in general. Even the brief rain and the scamming islanders selling 'tickets' to enter the various parts of the island couldn't dampen our mood. Though the women at the last point really tried. I've played a bit of football and ice hockey in my days, but man, that old lady had a mean body-check. We managed to slip by her though and made it safely down to the boat and back to Copacabana.

Once back on dry land we grabbed dinner and a few drinks with Maria Celeste and Stuart and decided that the next day we should probably go to La Paz and sort out our travel arrangements to get down to Uyuni, before all the buses and trains were booked out. So we got our tickets for the next day and agreed to get in touch with them in La Paz, since they are also heading there.

Goodbye Peru

After leaving Cusco, we caught a bus to Puno, the largest town on the Peruvian shores of Lake Titicaca (3820m) to spend some time, explore the lake and the surrounding region.

Our bus left at the reasonable time of 8:30am and was scheduled to take 6 hours to take us to Puno. Great, we thought, we'll grab some biscuits and bananas and have a late lunch by the lake in Puno. Not so great... turns out that our bus driver couldn't find third gear and so when we were 5 hours into the trip and we passed the half-way point, we knew we were in trouble. Hungry and grumpy at this point, the bus didn't even stop for us to buy some "chicolo con queso" from the ladies shouting at us at every pause. When we finally stopped at the local Juliaca airport for us to change busses, we were very relieved (especially after picking us some food at the airport). To make a long story short, we finally arrived in Puno at 5pm, 3 hours after we were supposed to. Recommadation: don't use the San Luis bus company!

Puno was ok, a little more basic and less attractive than Cusco but our hostel (Inka's Rest) was great and provided us with the opportunity to grab some much needed R&R after the last hectic few days.

The only tour that we managed was a boat trip to the floating islands in the Lake Titicaca which were built and habitated by the Uros, a pre-Inca people who have survived and kept many of their customs since that time. I can't say that we particularly enjoyed the visit as it seemed a little like a human zoo at times and there was a lot of pressure to buy some souvineers from them, but it was certainly a very different experience than anywhere else that we have visited so far.

We are back in Puno now and we found out this morning that there is a bus strike which means that we now won't be able to do our trip to the Coca Canyon as planned. So now we're going to head to Copacabana (in Boliva) a few days earlier instead.

We've had some real high and low points in Peru. The stay in the Amazon jungle is definately one of the highlights of the entire trip so far and the hike to see the ruins at Pisaq will stand out as one of my favourite days. However getting ill in Cusco and the bus trip to Puno will also be in the bottom list. We have enjoyed our time here and we are now looking forward to heading South and experiencing Bolivia and most of all, Argentina.

Found some more ruins

Pisaq turned out to be a real gem, we knew that Sunday was a big market day (which is why we did the sacred valley walk the day before) so we got up early and went to explore it first thing. We got there as most people were still setting up shop so we quickly rescheduled it for later and instead headed for the other reason we stayed a few nights here. The extensive number of ruins that are spread out on the mountainsides just outside the village. When we checked in to our hostel we were told that there were two ways of seing the ruins.

1. Walk up to the furthest one (also the highest one) and then down again this would take about 7- 8 hours
2. Take a taxi to the highest point and then walk down which would take about 3 hours.

Since we're yet to experience a spell of 7-8 hours without a long spell of pouring rain, the choice was easy, and we hopped into a cab, having managed to pick up some fresh fruit as snacks for the walk . The ride up was eventful initself, the rains the night before had caused huge land/mud/rockslides which had to be navigated. Some rocks were about half the size of the car we were in. Fortunately, the mountain stayed intact both on the drive up and the walk down.

The ruins that we walked down through were a fairly complete set of Incan sites. There were two 'urban' areas (it only signifies that people lived there, not that they are of any size), a recreational bath, a military complex, a cemetary, storehouses, temples and a lot of terraces used for farming or sometimes just to prevent landslides. (note to Peruvian government: there seems to have been a great deal of knowlegde lost here). These sites were nestled in very protected nooks and crannies of the mountains, so you never really see the next one until you turn a corner, and there it magically appears, and you kind of wonder how you failed to notice it before. But then the path itself requires a lot of attantion, there are long drops, steep stairs, tunnels and ledges that may or may not have wooden railings. But that all aids in cementing the image of the Inca's and their ingenuity and dedication. And their eyes for fantastic spots to settle down in, though they are spoilt for choice.

Once we'd navigated the steep and at the end rain-wet (good call catching that cab) slippery slopes back down to the village, we got lunch and then went shopping for local Peruvian arts and crafts to bring home and adorn the house with when we get back. This was probably the best market we've been to through out our trip so far. Not the biggest one but there was some really nice clothes, statues, blankets, full-size rugs and jewellery on offer, and the fruit was great. So with distinctively less space in our bags we headed to Cusco - again- where we'll cath the early morning bus to Puno and a few days by Lake Titicaca. Wonder if its got any nice beaches...

El Valle Sagrado de los Incas

Actually, the Sacred Valley covers more than just the four ruins found just outside of Cusco that we visited today, it actually includes Macchu Picchu, Ollantaytambo and Pisaq to name a few. But when tourists do a Sacred Vally tour, it usually just includes the ones that we visited today.

Of course, we didn't take no stinkin' tour! We are independent travellers so we were determined to visit the four sites at our own pace. The day started nicely enough as we jumped on a local bus and told the conductor that we wanted to get off at the first of the sites, Tambomachay. The four ruins that we were targeting today are within 8 km of Cusco so we decided that the best way to get around would be by foot. Map in hand, water in our backpack and the shining sun to warm our steps, what could possibly go wrong?

Now I could just go on with some history or story about each ruin, but to be honest, one Inca ruin is pretty much like another and as we started to climb the hill to the first site when disaster struck! It started to rain. No problem we thought as I dutifully took out my rain poncho now affectionaltely dubbed "the tent", it's only 9am, the real rain isn't supposed to start until at least 1pm so this must be a glitch. But this was no glitch. The rest of the day followed the now familiar pattern. While we were walking to the next ruin, the rain thankfully eased up a bit and when we arrived at the ancient, priceless, Inca site, the rain started to bucket.

Nevertheless, we did enjoy our day and the sight of the impressive stones at Saqsaywaman or the labyrinth at Q'enqo made the day worthwhile. And as we sat at Jack's Cafe in Cusco tucking into our sandwiches we both agreed that we had had and amaizing day.

Ollantaytambo to Pisaq

First (no second) Ruins
The next morning we woke up bright and early and packed up our bags and left them at the lovely hostel that had been staying at for the past three nights and headed for the local ruins. We had been scared off checking it out before because the fee advertised at the entrance was S/ 130 (£28) which we thought was a bit much. After speaking with some other travellers, we discovered that the fee included entrance to about a dozen ruins in the Cusco area and is valid for over 10 days. So we coughed up our soles and headed up the ruins.

The ruins themselves were interesting, though writing this in hindsight makes it difficult to accurately describe what we felt at the time as we have seen so many other ruins since. The most impressive bits were the massive stones that they seemed to have quarried and lugged up the side of the mountain (how?) and the many agricultural terraces built into the side of the mountain. My reccomendation would be to check them out if you are in the area.

Peruvian Hot Springs
Some guy who was trying to sell us a tour mentioned that there were hot springs that you could go and bathe in at Calca. Sweet, we thought, muscles aching a bit from all the steps at the Macchu Picchu and Ollantaytambo ruins, it's on the way to Pisaq, our destination for the night, so we'll head there.

After negotiating one local mini-van (S/1.5) and one local bus (S/1), we arrived at the bus station at Calca. On asking around for the hot springs, we discovered that they were actually located 8km up the mountain at a place called Machacancha and we could get a route taxi there for only S/2. We jumped in.

The hot springs were not exactly what we expected but hey, the water was warm, we had a roof over our heads and another experience under our belt. Recommendation: why not :)

Pisaq
After safely negotiating our way off the mountain (another route taxi), we caught another bus to our destination, Pisaq and checked ourselves into the Kinsa Ccocha hostal. The name is the Quecha for Three Cockroaches... an ominous name... nevertheless, I did manage to examine the rooms before we handed over any cash and there were none of the creepy crawlys in sight.

Safely checked in, we went exploring. I think that Johan's favourite town was Ollantaytambo but mine so far is definately Pisaq. True, it doesn't actually feel as if you will turn a corner and encounter a real Inca (actually you do as the folk of Ollantaytambo are direct descendents of the Incas) but the streets are narrow and clearly for foot traffic and kept very clean, and the shops sell things like shampoo and granola bars...

Tomorrow's adventure will be a day of ruins as we explore the Sacred Valley...

An Inka village

We have now spent the last couple of nights in a lovely, genuine Inka (using the olde tyme spelling of the word) village called Ollantaytambo affectionately known as Ollanta by the locals.

It's a beautiful and interesting quaint little place and as you walk along the narrow cobbled streets (yes the Incas did cobbles), you can't help imagining what it would have been like so long ago. There are still Inca doorways and walls standing from those days that are still in use today, in fact, that makes up quite a big part of the village.

Yesterday, the rains cleared up and we went for a walk through the village then followed the signs up the mountainside to explore some Inca ruins left open and free to look around. Apparantly the really interesting ruins are found on the adjacent mountain which you need to pay to enter. Maybe we'll do that tomorrow.

Sadly, the good fortune that we had throughout most of the trip seems to have run out as I became ill once again last night, so we couldn't visit Richard's company today :( I'm feeling much better now but it might be vegetables and dry crackers for me for a few days...

To the hills...

The last few days in the jungle were as good as the first, a lot of more of the same (birds and monkeys galore) though the highlights were definately the times we spent in small canoes. Silently gliding through the forests looking for animals and trying not to scare them away. Or, in Vaniah's case, focusing on not falling in the water. So we left thinking it definately exceeded our expectations, and looking forward to the next opportunity we could get to wash our mosquito-repellent soaked clothing.

Cuzco
Next stop, Cuzco, altitude 3500 m and boy did we feel that. We noticed immediately that we were getting a bit winded a little earlier, but since I´ve been skiing on almost these altitudes before I was fairtly sure it would pass easily. That didnt quite happen, and we might just have had a little e-coli dose in something we ate along the way too. So we only managed to take a few short walks around the city, which is a beautiful little place by the way. Lots of old stone buildings, cathedrals, winding narrow cobbled streets and brightly clad locals leading the odd llamas that give it an ancient feel about it. In the next few days, when we go back, we´re hoping to catch all the great ruins outside of it as well.

Machu Picchu
One of the main reasons for visiting Peru, and to go on the this trip in the first place, was Machu Picchu, the mystical ancient ruins on the top of the mountains. Due to our issues with the altitude and food, and the constant raining that starts at 13.00 each day and keeps going until late in the night we opted out of doing any 4 day hikes, and instead caught the train. We got up at the crack of an hour before dawn and went to the bus stop. Then we went to the back of the queue, about 100 - 200 meters further up. This was at 5 am. But a little after 5.30 we got on a bus and went up the mountain, another long queue (they must like them here too) to get in.

It would have been great if we could have had a better day for it it was raining heavily and being soaked and cold is not the best way of seing and appreciating it. A word of warning first though, when you go to Machu Picchu you are a part of a captive audience and you will feel ripped off. You can only get to Machu Picchu village (formerly Aguas Calientes) by train or walking, so the train fare is extortionate. And in the horror that is the village, the food, water, snacks are grossly overpriced and the restaurants and hostels lack service. This is a great shame since the ruins themselves are amazing and it only serves to deter people from coming. Top-tip: when you go, go on a hike that does not involve a night in the village and head straight out after coming down the mountain.

Once finally in it was quite astonishing though, despite the low clouds and the pouring rain (top tip for anyone visiting, avoid rain-season, especially if you are trekking). It would be interesting to know what this place actually was, its almost never mentioned in preserved texts. But this makes it quite fun as well, you can easily play a game up there. Trying to get as many alternate explanations as possible by evesdropping on different guides (knowing multiple languages will definately be an asset). They are all happily going along telling their version as if it was a proven fact that the building currently in was the temple of winds. Or that the last building was where the emperor took his baths. We heard a few, most interestingly when two English speaking guides gave different descriptions, no more than 10 meters apart!

At one point, at a rock in a stone quarry, we overheard a different guide say to his troupe of 30-odd followers:

"The Incas worked very hard from sunrise to sunset then went and drank beer!"

which was too bad because the Incas had very advanced (for the time and place) stone cutting techniques which the guide didn't bother to mention, instead with a kurt "take picture", he herded his group onwards.

So tonight we'll be happy to leave this village and head to Ollantaytambo, from where we'll tomorrow hopefully visit Richard Webbs (an Univerity friend of Vaniahs) company.

The jungle - day dos

After retiring at around 9pm, we woke up bright and early in the morning for our pre-breakfast excursion. This turned out to be a canoe ride for just Johan and myself and our guide, Moises and we had to help with the paddling! The morning is comfortably cool and it was clear that the birds also agreed because they were out in full glory. I wish I could remember the names of all the birds that we saw, I hear that there is a checklist that we can use to record what we've seen so I will try to source one of them. The best part of the trip was seeing the calmness of the river and the refection of the jungle in it.

Breakfast was the usual delicious food and soon afterwards was time for our walk. We took a boat to the place were some of the others were meant to go camping the night before but their guide got ill so they couldn't go so we proceeded to take the walk around the lake. It was a long and hot walk, too hot for many of the animals though we did manage to see some tiny night monkeys up a tree and lots of birds including a tucan - though I didn't see that one...

Pirana fishing
After lunch, several others arrived from Iquitos and another traveller, a nice medical student from California, joined our group. The afternoon excursion was a trip to go fishing for piranas on the river. Very exciting! We travelled for a bit by boat to where the piranas were and Moises showed us how to bait the hook, make a circle in water lilies and drop our hook deep into the water. Within seconds I got the first bite, a tiny little thing that had to be thrown back. We fished in a couple of spots, finally finishing with about 8 acceptable fish including one that Johan caught! They have promised that we will be able to eat them tonight... I hope so :)

After dinner (yes we ate piranas and yes they were delicious) we went out again on to the river by night with the new group that arrived at lunch time today. Again I was amaized by the number and beauty of the stars. With no artificial lights to compete with, we really had the chance to see the stars the way our ancient forefathers would have seen them. The sky was clear and the moon was yet to rise so they were displayed in all their splendor. Wonderful. And then the moon rose - full and low and a yellowish-orange colour... A sight I will remember always.

The next few days were just as amazing as the first two however they were so visual that it's hard to just describe them so we've created a photo album for you to see.

Peru

Hello Jungle

Much of the next few posts were written out in the jungle where we had no electricity or internet access to upload them

So much can happen in just 24 hours that we find ourselves needing to record this as we are already beginning to forget some of the amaizing things that we have already seen.

To Muyuna
As expected in the morning we headed down towards the river (not the Amazon we discovered but one of its tributaries), and boarded our boat which would take us the 3 hours to our lodge deep in the middle of the Amazon jungle. After about 15 minutes the water changed colour from the dark brown to the light brown of the Amazon. Wow. We kept saying to each other "I can't believe that we're on the Amazon!". Pretty cool. Pretty soon however, the noise of the boat engine and the unrelenting jungle on both sides lulled us both into sleep, broken for a few minutes by a stop at the last big village (7000 people) before we reached to our Lodge.

Muyuna lodge was more than we expected though I have to admit that I'm not sure exactly what I expected. We met our guide, Moises, and after a delicious lunch where we met some of the others staying here, we went to our private bungalow. We expected not to have any electricity or hot water, but we didn't expect a beautiful thatched covered room set high on stilts overlooking the river with a generous balcony complete with a relaxing hammock. The entire room was surrounded with mosquito netting and our ensuite bathroom with separate shower was more than we imagined. We will definately enjoy our time here.

The first activity of the day was a walk through the jungle starting at 3pm in the afternoon. We donned our longed sleaved shirts, long trousers and the wellington boots that we hired in town and headed off into the jungle following our trusty guide, Moises. It wasn't long before we were attacked by mossies and for the second time on this trip I was thankful for the fly net that I bought back in the Outback of Australia. Seems that it works just as well on mossies as on flies. Moises was soon pointing out different plants and birds to us. THere was a plant whose leaf juice is good for burns, another mushroom that needs to be dried for several days before it is good to eat. We saw some parrots, hawks and a toad which was undistinguishible from a leaf, until it jumped. We saw a group of tiny marmaset monkeys playing in the bush, beautiful kingfisher and loads of termite and ants nests. Plus we had a great walk through the jungle. A great start.

Now a word about the mosquitos
We could dedicate an entire post to the unique Amazonian mozzies or wax lyrical in several posts about them until you are board stiff however we will try not to. Suffice to say, they are hugh, plentiful and have more persistance than your average mozzie. I will be hard pressed to find their equal anywhere in the world. They are the one thing that we could definately do without on this trip however I suppose that if we didn't have them to constantly consider, we would find time to worry about some of the many other nasties that live in this jungle.

After another scrummy dinner, we headed out onto the river on a little motorised boat in the darkness with Moises at the helm with a spotlight darting through the trees and bush. Not spotting any animals in the bush, we came to a little lake covered with water lily plants and came to a stop. Moises bent over the side of the boat and seconds later came up with a baby Caiman! He started to talk about its size and weight but none of us were listening to what he was saying, we were fully focused on the creature in front of us that he was holding. What a sight! Perfectly formed with strong hind legs and smaller front legs I touched his tail which was scaly and covered with some kind of moss that grows there. Wow! Moises put it back into the water and we were on our way back to the lodge.

What an incredible day, and we have 4 and a half days left. Each day can't be this good...

The mighty Amazon

You guessed it, after travelling for just over 20 hours (of which less than half was spent in the air, the rest in empty and closed airports) , we have arrived in Iquitos in Peru. Now Iquitos is a good sized town (400k people) situated in the middle of the Amazon jungle. It is so isolated that their are no roads to the town, the only way that you can get there is by plane, like we did, or by boat.

The first thing that you notice when you arrive in Iquitos, is the lack of cars. Instead almost everyone (it seemed) was travelling around on either a motorcycle or as a passenger in one of the ubiquitos converted motorcycle taxi's. Of course, when you think about it, how are they going to get cars to Iquitos? There are no roads... so either you'd have to fly (hideously expensive for the average Iquitos farmer) or by boat, which is possibly less expensive but certainly more convoluted. The lure of having a car certainly exists though and there were a few driving around, conspicous in their presence.

Weary and jet-lagged, but aware that we needed to stay awake to stay on the same time zone as everyone else, we went for a walk around town to get a feel for it.

Surprisingly, we both thought it felt a bit like Jamaica except when we wanted to communicate with anyone. Then the tables were turned.... Wherever we went, people automatically directed their conversations with us at me (I assume because of my complexion) when actually, Johan is the one that has the head for languages and the confidence to speak in Spanish. I have already lost count of the number of times that I have had to say, "no hablo Español" and point to Johan who wonderfully takes over. I do feel quite bad about it, maybe there is some way that I can start to pick up a bit more of the local lingo...

After a delicious two course lunch of chicken and fish with rice for S/ 7 each (approx £1.50) we wandered down the road in the direction of the local crafts market and stumbled across this ---> the mighty Amazon. Remarkably unspoiled, it really focused our mind on the main reason for coming to this place and now we can't wait for our time in the jungle to start.

Tomorrow morning, they will pick us up from our hotel and transfer us to a boat where we will travel for 3 hours on the Amazon to reach our lodge which will be our home for the next 4 nights. While there, we hope to go for walks in the jungle and see some of the local flora and fauna as well as sample some more of the delicious Peruvian food that we got a taste of today. Unfortunately, there is no internet access out there so we won't be updating our blog for about a week but don't worry, they haven't lost any guests yet :)

And of course, if we haven't already said it, we hope that you have a wonderful 2010. Happy New Year!!