We're off to Puno and Lake Titicaca

As this expedition has progressed, we have discovered that we all share the same passion of hating these early morning starts. Followed by porridge with a cinnamon twist, which had quite an acquired taste, this was disliked by many (Ed. not me :-)). A rushed, panicked start led to us running out the hostel (Ed. we'll not mention which girls were not packed in time :-)), quarrelling about the whereabouts of our bags, which led to almost missing our bus. This turned out to be the worst morning yet. Wet clothes stuffed in random available pockets and with the anxiety of people being ill (Ed. after drinking the Spa bath water) we were unsure of whether we would make it to Puno.


With no idea with what to do if we missed our bus, running through a foreign bus station with the fear of pick-pocketers was certainly an experience. We did, however manage to get on the bus, where many of us were able to appreciate this time to catch up on our sleep which we lacked. After a relaxing and unwinding 6 hour journey, we arrived safely in Puno.

Here, the number of ill people increased, probably due to the sudden rise of altitude, which is 3800m above sea level, according to our expedition leader, this is almost as high as Mont Blanc. Currently, we are very close to Lake Titicaca, which we have discovered to be the world’s highest navigable lake.

Shortly after arriving to the hostel, we quickly settled down and began exploring the town. Post this we found a lovely Chinese restaurant which makes a difference to the standard pizza and pasta that the vegetarians have lived on since arriving to Peru. This was enjoyed by the entire group even those that were feeling a little down managed to eat and take pleasure from the typical Chinese warming food.

As another day draws to an end, we look forward to tomorrow’s adventure on Lake Titicaca and the future challenges that this trip has in-store for us.

Quote of the day by Asha:“ Its so cold in this hostel I’m so scared that my bum will stick to the toilet seat!!”

By Ria & Sameera

Colca Canyon Trek

Well it looks like the blog for the past few days is down to me to complete as we have some very tired girls here in Peru!!!


With all World Challenge trips you are given an itinerary which is only a suggested outline plan, we do have the opportunity to change things should we so wish. With this in mind, when we arrived in Arequipa we were told by our local contact about a trek which descends into a Canyon called Colca. The promise of spectacular views, an opportunity to test the girl’s fitness and the opportunity to see Condors flying in their natural habitat sold it to me....now I just needed to persuade the girls :-)

This expedition seems (so far) to have been filled with late finishes and early morning starts and the trip to Colca was no exception. The girls were woken at 02.30hrs ready for the bus to pick us up at 03.00hrs....Yes folks it was that early!!!!

After three and half hours we arrived at our first destination, Chivay. This is a very traditional Peruvial village and sits at an altitude of 3,400m. This was where we were to have a very traditional Peruvian breakfast....Greasy Joes it certainly wasn’t. A selection of Bread, Jam, and some sort of meat, tea, coffee and even the local Coco leaves (which help with altitude) we laid before us....What surprised me was how fast the girls made this lot disappear....and then asked for seconds!

We then headed to the Cruz de la Condor to watch these amazing birds cruzing the early morning thermals looking for food. The condor has a 3m (9 feet in old money) wing span which when only 7 metres away feels very intimidating. To have this opportunity has been my highlight of this trip so far.

Following this we met out local Guide Nestro at the start of the trek. Our destination was an aptly named area at the bottom of the Canyon called ‘Oasis’. We knew we had a big descent ahead of us but what we weren’t expecting was the unrelenting steepness of the path. Zig after zag followed zig after zag....really without any real incidents until we arrived at the canyon floor....with jelly legs from the constant pressure on the thighs. Some of the faces that were being pulled by the girls said it all... The heat had been stifling the whole way down. It was at this point I realised that ‘my girls’ had not done the training I had suggested when I first met them at the ‘Meet the Leader’ evening. The descent was really just the first obstacle as we still had a few more hours trekking to reach the Oasis. A short (Inca short) saw us at a local house for our lunch stop. Not a sandwich in sight here...Traditional Inca Veggie soup was followed by a traditional meat and lots of carbs dish....topped off with a very juicy orange...Delicious! Some of the girls appetite had been affected by the exertion of the trek but for most ...ok me everything went down really well.

Following lunch we had to ascend for an hour and traverse through two villages (remember the descent into the canyon is the only way to these villages) until, as darkness arrived, we started our descent to Oasis. So with head torches adorned we set off down a particularly slippy path. We arrived at Oasis at 20.00hrs (8pm!!!!) with a lot of extremely tired girls. We were told by Nestro that evening meal was planned for 21.30hrs so everyone went to their rooms (little huts) for a quick rest....ok we all had a snooze...luckily I had set my alarm as everyone was out cold and only woke when I knocked on the door of each hut. To say the girls were grumpy is putting it mildly!!!! Appetite once again affected by over exertion and tiredness...

I woke everyone at 04.30 in the morning ready for a 05.00hrs start...I don’t think I was the most popular guy in the world at this point but needs be! The evening prior I had discussed with Nestro some options for us to make the ascent out of the Canyon as easy as we could and so we hired 4 mules....two mules to carry one of the girls who had struggled the most the day before and Mrs Douglas (she didn’t complain much about this ;-)) and two mules to carry everyone’s rucksacks. At 05.30 the trekkers set off for what we all knew was going to be a particularly painful and challenging day. The mule train was due to set off an hour or so later.

The ascent went really well using a combination of tactics from myself....I have to mention how proud of the girls I was today....Every single one of them showing great determination! For one or two the determination went as far as simply putting one step in front of the other...One of the girls had been a little sickly and tired the day before but she was determined to make the whole trek. At the top of the canyon a short (Inca short again) saw us in a little village where we were given a delicious breakfast of Eggs, bread, jam and a hot drink....Everyone was very hungry and had been mentioning food (porridge) all the way up the 4 hour ascent....Everyone left content!

Our day wasn’t quite over as we had a planned trip to a local hot spa where we could relax our muscles...now for me having experienced the very basic ones in Chile last year was very surprised to find a very well maintained Bath (Bano) with an enclosed area which kept off the cold wind. It wasn’t long before our time was up and we made the long journey back to Arequipa only stopping at the highest point on the road (4,900m) and looking at the gorgeous Alpaca and Lamas.

Arriving back at our hostel early (for us) meant we could get out and have a meal and a well deserved early night....A note to self here...always make sure you know where you are planning to meet the group in town otherwise you go hungry!!!!

Note to group: Don’t drink the water in the hot Spa!!!!

Quote of the Trek (and of the trip so far) from Roisin: “Even my dead Grandmothers legs feel better than mine do right now”.

I’m currently writing this from the bus on our way to the next step of our expedition in Puno....so stand by for lots of exciting blogs from the girls...if they are not too tired!!! This bus has Wi-Fi...How awesome is that!!! I should also mention the sheer luxury of these buses. The standard seats on the top are very comfortable and recline to a comfortable sleeping position. The seats down at the bottom are the ultimate in luxury being wide, very padded and able to recline to 160%...having never tried these seats before I thought I better....just so I can pass this information onto other groups in the future of course ;-) hahahaha....

Photos to follow :-)

Peru Day 5 – Arequipa Fast n Furious....

After the 11+ hour coach journey (which involved waking up to snow-capped mountains and no human civilisation within a 360 degree view) the team headed off into the depths of Arequipa to our hostel in three separate taxis. This hostel is full of character with plants creeping up the front and a small courtyard. We spent the next several hours acclimatising to our new, higher altitude and settling in by carrying out tasks in small groups such as buying food for the next few days and travel arranging.

A huge lunch was then prepared by the ‘food people’ which consisted of spaghetti with tomato sauce and an assortment of vegetables and chillies...hot chillies. I learned a valuable lesson today: when you don’t know how hot the chilly is, it is perhaps not wise to take the largest piece on your plate and chew. Rhona and Katya also learned a valuable lesson: very spicy things make them feel sick.

After sitting around for some time basking in the glorious sun and digesting the huge and –for some- unforgettable lunch, a large group of us walked into the old part of the white city where we not only had the chance to wander around in the cathedral, but had some wonderful ice-cream. For dinner we found ourselves at a fast-foodesque pizza place where..hmm..how can i say? ....some of us were a little bit too lively! :D (Ed: for a change) Now we are in bed preparing for the 2:30 wake up tomorrow morning for our first acclimatisation trek. Can’t wait :-)

Lucy

Peru Day 4 - Death of an Octopus

We unfortunately had another early start this morning where we had to be up and ready for breakfast by 6.45am with all fifteen of us cooped up in one room passing round strawberry yoghurt and marvelling at how delicious it tasted. The simple things in life.....


Our first stop today was the Islas Ballestas which was known for its wonderful array of wildlife. We boarded a speedboat with our guide, Luis, and donned our bright orange lifejackets as we made our journey to the islands.

As we neared the Island, everyone was in awe at the sight we had before our eyes, every spot and crevices of each rock face was covered in birds like pelicans. One of the most adorable sights was seeing the penguins waddling along the rock face in amongst all the birds. We were told that the white colour of the rocks was due to the poo (Guano) from all the birds and that to watch out for any circling birds overhead that might take their dump. Asha was lucky enough to experience this.

One of the highlights of today was most definitely when we acquired an octopus on board the boat. Many of us touched and stroked the purple coloured sea creature while one Katya took the plunge and held it in her hands for half an hour! We’re still not sure of its welfare by the end of this though .

Luckily for us the rest of the day was much more relaxed after our early start to the day. We were able to visit the town and explore the many souvenir shops buying present for back home. As the sun began breaking out from behind the clouds (first time since being in Peru) after lunch, it seemed only one thing was on our minds, sunbathing! So off we headed to the rooftop terrace of our hostel to rest in the sun. Some of the group took this opportunity to get rid of a bit of excess energy and do some dancing.

We have just started our overnight bus journey to Arequipa where we’ll be beginning our acclimatisation treks. Looks like many more jam packed days to come! Long may they last!

Quote of the day from Asha: I've been pooed on by a Peruvian bird....at least I can say that.

Avneesh 

Peru Day 3 - Luxury and Basics

This morning we hadue tod to wake up very early (5.15AM) in order to get on our bus to Paracas. After eating pizza for breakfast, we went to the bus station and got on our luxurious coach. we were all very excited as for the first time in the trip we got almost 5 star treatment, fleecy blankets, pillow, and full recliners. After a nice breakfast we watched a film "August Rush".However we never got to finish it ( hint hint parent please purchse before we come back!!)...Everyone was devistated!!! lol

On our arrival to our Hostel Zarcillo Connections we were greeted by our guide Louis. We were then lead to the Paracas National Reserve! We saw stunning views from all directions! We were astonished by the fact that there was a desert right next to the sea. Louis explained that the cold, dry air current from the antarctic meets the low pressure from the equator causing rain to fall before it reaches this area, hence making this a very dry arid area. We ate our lunch on one of the stunning clifftops over looking the ocean! with spectacular and unfamiliar views.

In the evening we decided to explore the town a  little. We decided to visit a little restaurant where we were met with live Peruvian music and jewellery selllers. After filling our bellies we walked back to the hostel for an early night! The rooms are the best so far almost 5*'s. We were happy to see a pristine clean bathroom, clean floors, TV, hot water (well some of us) and luxury bed covers. 

We have decided to have a 'quote of the day'...basically anyone will be quoted if they say anything which is funny or just down right bizzar....Todays Quote of the day from Anya 'Can anyone tell me how do you open a hard boiled egg??" LOL!!!!!

Asha

Peru day 2 - planning ahead

Today was a pretty jam packed day of planning ahead and booking bus rides for the upcoming days. Our in country agent, Maria, kindly met us at our hostel to give us important information regarding booking the vital bus rides that we'd be taking tomorrow. We were also able gather pointers on where to book hostels for the duration of our time in Peru.

After our admin filled morning, was followed by the team dividing up to administer various jobs. One job I was tasked with was picking up our pre-booked tickets from Cusco back to Lima ready for the last coupleof days of this trip. Having these jobs like booking our bus rides to Paracas and Arequipa definitely helped to increase our self confidence and independence.

One of the many perks of our jobs was carefully selecting and inspecting rooms at the top hotels for our last night before departing to the UK again. Making this incredibly difficult decision involved everyone's input at some stage, we all felt very complied to help here.

This evening we managed to find a Jazz and Latino Jazz Big Band concert to visit. Everyone was heavy anticipating the evening, however as nine o'clock was nearing, our eyes were gradually closing due to our eventful start to the trip.  Of course no one fell asleep during the concert ;-).

It seems the thing we are all most dreading is having to wake up at five in the morning to catch our bus to Paracas, wish us luck!

Avneesh :)

Peru 2011 - Northwood College

As some of you are aware I'm away for a month in Peru working for World Challenge.  The group is an all girls group from Northwood College in NorthWest London and what a lovely group they are (I have to say that as their parents are reading this ;-)).  We are a team of 15 in total being 13 girls, 1 female staff member and me.  The plan is to give regular up dates as we progress through our month long stay.  I'm hoping the girls are going to contribute with a different author for every blog entry.

Well after all preparations and logistics we finally made it to Lima and Peru.  Our long flight via Charles de Gal Airport went without incident and most of the girls managed a little sleep. 

We arrived at the Hostal (Friends House) in Miraflores shortly before 1800.  The girls and myself falling asleep on our feet, but we dropped our bags and went out for food :).  There is quite a bit of choice here so its unlikely any of us will  go hungry for long.

Walking through the streets of Miraflores reminded me how different things are back in the UK and how difficult it will be for the girls to explain that.   So tune in soon for the next step along our way :-).....hope you enjoy

Cliff Lowther