TRAVELLING THE DUST BOWL OF THE PERU COAST

WEATHER: Hot and 31C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Getting to our camp site by the ocean  

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Putting up some old smelly dodgy tents

BUYS OF THE DAY: Where do I start – I was a right ol shopaholic today!!!!

WORD OF THE DAY: Welcome back 'flapping'

An early start for Malar and I this morning.  6.20am wake-up for a 7.15am pick-up from the hotel.  The others had to wait for us to finish before leaving, so they got to have a bit of a lay in till 9am.  I am sure they didn’t mind as the Wi-Fi was back up this morning.  Give us internet any day and it will keep us happy. Sad that it has got to that, but it is just a sign of the times.  Mick is the only one not caught up in the whole internet, keep in touch with the world craze and is happy to make fun of us all when we lose connection or there is no connection.  Ahhhhhh to be like that again……..

The airport was only a 10 minute drive from the hotel.  Once we arrived we had to show our passports to get registered, pay an airport tax of 25SOL (8AUD) and get weighed, yikes!  I haven’t seen a set of scales since I left home, no I lie, I also got weighed for the helicopter ride I did over Victoria Falls, but that was back in August.  It’s good to see that not much has changed with the digits that appeared on the screen, especially with the eating habits I have had for the last 4 weeks.  It was funny though, we had to get weighed with our bags and shoes on.  Malar is a little waif, so she is half my weight and size and after she got on the scales after me, she was asked if she could leave her bag behind due to the restrictions.  Too funny, I wasn’t asked to leave mine, but she was.  I guess it would have been hard to leave a leg, or an arm, so I suppose it makes sense for Malar to leave something behind.  Mark mentioned that we would probably have to wait around an hour, so we went outside and got some breakfast, which consisted of 2 small omelet rolls for me and a ‘make it yourself’ cup of coffee for Malar. 

We waited till just before 9am where we were called to go through the passport check again from a manifest, collection of the paid tax, a very thorough security check and then into a waiting area and one step closer to our flight.  We only had to wait around 10 minutes and then we were collected by the pilot and taken to the smallest plane on the tarmac for our scenic flight.  We were also travelling with 2 young gals from Japan.  They go the 2 back seats, we go the 2 middle seats and then the pilot and some other ‘worker’ dude sat in the passenger seat.  We all got a window and as we were getting ready for takeoff, we put on our earphones and explained that we would all get equal sightings of each of the Nazca pictures and that we were to look where the tip of the wing was pointing so we knew where to look not thinking at this point that the plane would be twisting and turning to be able to do this.  The penny just hadn’t dropped yet. 

So after a few safety checks and clearance from the tower, which we heard through our headphones it was time for take-off in our little 6 seater plane.  Once in the air, it was an amazing view of the Nazca Valley and just the massiveness of the dryness of the planes surrounding this dry and dusty city.  It had some fields of green as they irrigate some vegetables from bore water, but it was dry and dusty and I am now starting to see why the Inca’s moved into the mountains and away from the aridness of the flat lands.  The Nazca Lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. They were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The high, arid plateau stretches more than 80 kilometers (50 mi) between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana about 400 km south of Lima. Although some local geoglyphs resemble Paracas motifs, scholars believe the Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca culture between 400 and 650 AD.  On the ground, most of the lines are formed by a shallow trench with a depth of between 10 cm and 15 cm. Such trenches were made by removing the reddish-brown iron oxide-coated pebbles that cover the surface of the Nazca desert. When this gravel is removed the light-colored earth which is exposed in the bottom of the trench produces lines which contrast sharply in color and tone with the surrounding land surface. This sub layer contains high amounts of lime which with the morning mist hardens to form a protective layer that shields the lines from winds, thereby preventing erosion.

The Nazca "drew" several hundred simple but huge curvilinear animal and human figures by this technique. In total, the earthwork project is huge and complex: the area encompassing the lines is nearly 500 square kilometers, and the largest figures can span nearly 270 meters. The extremely dry, windless, and constant climate of the Nazca region has preserved the lines well. The Nazca desert is one of the driest on Earth and maintains a temperature around 25 °C all year round. The lack of wind has helped keep the lines uncovered and visible to the present day.  On our flight we saw TheWhale, the Astronaut, the Monkey, the Condor, the Spider, the Hummingbird, the Tree and the Hands.

The flight itself was worth the 120USD.  It was a great ‘scenic flight’.  Add into that a few G forces as we dipped and waved our way over the lines.  There was one point I looked at malar towards the end of the flight and she was looking a little green.  It was nearly comparable to the aerobatic flight that I did in Swakopmund, as we dipped to Malars side; it was hard for me to hold my arm up to take a picture out of her window.  There were some serious G’s playing with us.  I was diagonal from the pilot, so he kept looking around at me to make sure everything was okay, so I would give a thumbs up, lucky Malar wasn’t sitting there as I am sure he would have got a different response!

What a great way to start the day.  We landed at 9.40am and then we were transferred to a gas station in town where everyone and the truck was getting breakfast before getting back on the road again just after 10.30am.  Before leaving town we did a stop at a traditional pottery place, where we met a guy called Toby that showed us how they make/made the pottery.  His father found pieces of pottery in 1944 underground and it has been transferred down through the family.  The pots were quite cute and not content with just buying one I bought 2.  I am a ‘match it’ kind of girl so it is all about even numbers which is always a great sale for the shops.  They are made of clay, so I hope that they make it home okay.

I am starting to think that the Peruvians are quite the business people.  As we came out of Toby’s pottery place there was a guy standing there asking if we wanted to see how the Peruvian gold was extracted.  Well we are in Peru and they are renowned for their gold so we all thought it was a marvelous idea!  So we only had to walk a block to get to the ‘gold’ place.  It is a pretty intense process to get 1g of pure gold out of 60kg of rock and like other countries I have been to, it sometimes explains the price of things when you see how much work actually goes into making something.  Another classic example is the mosaic pieces made in Morocco all by hand.  Like any other floor factory, they had a gold shop and the prices were dirt cheap.  I ended up buying a ring with some of the Nazca images on it and a pair of matching earrings, both 14K gold and it cost me 40AUD.  I think that is a steal, and I am thinking of Indian giving the ring as a Christmas present to Zeme when he arrives in February.  One of those gifts that keep on giving! 

It was time to leave Nazca.  We were on the road at 11.30am with only a 30 minute drive to Necropolis Chuachilla. An ancient cemetery associated with the Nazca culture. Several of the tombs have been excavated and can be examined along with the remains of those buried, now mummified by the desert conditions.  This large cemetery has an area of ​​2 km long by 0.5km. de ancho, y se ubica a 27 Km. al SE de la ciudad de Nasca. wide and is located 27 km southeast of the city of Nazca. Se llega a ella, siguiendo la carretera Panamericana Sur hasta el Km. 469.20, de allí se desvía una trocha carrozable hacia la izquierda cerca de 7Km. It is reached by following the Pan American Highway south to Km 469.20, from there a dirt road deviates to the left about 7 km. de distancia. away. La necrópolis de Chauchilla es uno de los más grandes cementerios de las diferentes culturas que hallaron los arqueólogos en los valles de Nasca.Chuachilla The necropolis is one of the largest cemeteries in the different cultures that archaeologists found in the valleys of Nazca. Se ubica en los antiguos predios de Poroma, su antigüedad data de 1,000 años dC, y pertenece al imperio Regional de Ica-Chincha. Located in the old premises of poroma, seniority dates from 1.000 years AD, and belongs to the empire of Ica-Chincha Regional.  Unfortunately, prior to the excavations and the site being made public with a caretaker, many of the tombs were robbed and an aerial view shows looter holes throughout the area.
 

The heat was pretty oppressive out there and there was no shade bar the shanty’s that were over the ruins that had been dug up.  I tell you, you wouldn’t want to be caught out there with no water and no shade, I rekon it would have been over 36C out there.  So after spending 40 minutes at the grave sites we were back in the truck for our final push to my first nights of camping at Puerto Inka on the coast of Peru.  As we were driving I had to shut my window a few times as the dust and sand would get whipped up by a wind and blow it straight through the window and onto me and unfortunately Seamus.  Sorry buddy.  It’s that dry.  Even if there was a fire to start, there is not much vegetation for it to spread anyway.  I just get thirsty thinking about it.  Apparently they have had the equivalent of 30 minutes rain in the last 2 years!

I have tasted my first drop of Inca Kola, which is like the Coca Cola of Peru, but it is yellow in colour and tastes like creaming soda.  I actually quite like it and would be happy to give it a crack with some vodka in the next coming days.  I think it would make a nice accompaniment. 

The drives don’t seem to be as long as Africa and I am enjoying the slower pace which was unexpected but a pleasant surprise.  We arrived early afternoon into Puerto Inca, which is a resort in the middle of nowhere facing a small bay with waves crashing (loudly) onto a grey brown beach.  Even though it doesn’t sound that enticing, it is actually quite beautiful and it is nice to know we are here for 2 nights.  Now was the moment of truth and it was time to erect my first tent since the winery in South Africa.  I have slept in a tent after that in Ethiopia, but Gap Adventure put them up and pulled them down for us, so it was a little luxury for us there to not have to worry about that.  We had to get a new tent, as Kate was sharing with Angelica before I came on the scene, so she was nice enough to let Angelica keep the tent that they had and we were to get another one.  Well of course we had to get a daggy, smelly tent that hadn’t been used and I have to say they are no way as nice as the African tents.  There are more pegs, more work, pole on the inside of the tent and our particular tent was missing some of the peg holds so it looked a little skuif once we had done what we could.  The main problem was the outer cover, as it was touching the inner tent so once we get into damn environs the tent would have water come through.  Here was okay as it is bone dry, but we have pulled out a second tent, to which we will swap the outer cover tomorrow before packing it up and in the truck.  Kate has worked out that we have 60 camping days out of the 154 days that we are on tour.  It sounds a lot when you think of it like that, so I will just have to get used to the fact that I am not on an Intrepid Africa tour where the tents go up in 5 minutes flat and Mark rekons by the end of tour our 15 minutes will turn into 60 seconds.  Yeah well I am not sure about that, but using Jimbobs positive thinking, we can only work with what we have and I need to suck it all up!!!! 

Kate had picked the left hand side of the tent, which was fine with me, as that was ‘Lisa’s side’, so I have just resumed where I left off…. Maybe I am a righty sleeper?  Now I don’t have a sleeping mat, so I had to make do with what I could find on the truck till I could get to Cuzco.  There were some spare blankets, just like the one I had in Africa (there I go again, but they were exactly the same) so this was to do as my base and then my sleeping bag and one smaller blanket should it get cold during the night, with my pillow all pumped up and my travel towel unpacked it was welcome back to tentworld and camping.  It was surprisingly quite roomy inside the tent, so no more comparing to Africa (even though their tents are better).

The new roster has been done to add in the 3 newbies.  I am in team B with Debbie, Julia and Omar.  We are currently trying to come up with a team name and we are trying to get something Spanish together.  I am not sure it if it something Tucan normally do giving the teams names, but everyone is now trying to think of names for team A and C as well.  I told them all the story of the Arse Muffs in Africa and got a good laugh.  I wonder if they get sock of my Africa overland stories?  I am trying to keep it low key as there is nothing worse than someone mouthing off about previous tours and how awesome they were.  I’m not going to win any new friends that way and I need to keep an open mind and make new memories and moments with my new group.  I also need to welcome back ‘flapping’.  Have I missed this part of overland?  Maybe it may help keep my tuck shop arms under control with the flapping introduced?  Yeah wishful thinking but let’s keep the positive vibe going.  Dave would have been proud, team B was on washing up and the clean pots were just waiting to be flapped, so I did the Dave call ‘we need flappers here’ and people then came over to help out.  I even felt like Dave when I said it.  Scary!!

Firewood had been purchased during an olive stop in the afternoon.  So Gray got the firewood all chopped and a nicer little fire going on the beach.  There are plenty of camp chairs and a bag of ‘special’ premade fire ready marshmallows appeared.  I’m not a marshmallow eater, so I used this time to go and have a shower.  The facilities at the camp/hotel are amazing.  Flush toilets, toilet paper and now I was going to check out the shower block.  The water was tepid, so it wasn’t cold but it was some form of treated salt water.  It tasted disgusting and snaffed out the possibility of washing my hair for the next 2 days.  I couldn’t even get lather up with my soap, but a wash is better than nothing at all, tepid is better than cold so all in all it was an okay experience.  There light didn’t work, so I was in partial darkness after I Had rigged my windup torch around the shower rail.  Gee I am becoming quite the handy woman!

Early to bed for me.  I sort of ‘smoke bombed’ and didn’t say goodnight as I didn’t want to be given shit I was going to bed just after 9pm, another African term, but in my defence I did read till just after 10.30pm, so not so grandma and I settled into what I hope would be a comfortable sleep with what I had.  The waves crashing on the beach were more than a little loud, but if that is my only complaint, falling asleep to loud crashing waves on a beach in Peru, then I’m not doing too badly.

AN OASIS CALLED HUACACHINA

WEATHER: Hot and 31C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Getting my first Peruvian Bernstar jump

BUMMER OF THE DAY: My sunnies getting blown off my head from the truck

BUYS OF THE DAY: FREE and FAST Wi-Fi at our Nazca Hotel

WORD OF THE DAY: Good times, Good times

We had a more civil departure this morning at 8am.  It seems a lot of our meals aren’t included on the trip, but the food seems cheap here with eggs, rolls, juice and tea only costing us 3AUD it is hardly worth losing sleep over. 

Leaving Pisco I don’t think I realized just how dry Peru is.  It is so dusty, literally there are whirly winds blowing the fine dust over everything.  I wonder how the locals keep things clean.  It reminds me a little of Africa.  Even though it is dusty, you can see things are swept and clean in a dusty way, if that makes sense.  There is rubbish around, but it looks like it is stacked in piles, so there must be workers helping to keep the city tidy as well. 

Peru covers 1,285,216 km². It borders Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the southeast, Chile to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The Andes Mountains run parallel to the Pacific Ocean; they define the three regions traditionally used to describe the country geographically. The costa (coast), to the west, is a narrow plain, largely arid except for valleys created by seasonal rivers. The sierra (highlands) is the region of the Andes; it includes the Altiplano plateau as well as the highest peak of the country, the 6,768 m Huascarán The third region is the selva (jungle), a wide expanse of flat terrain covered by the Amazon rainforest that extends east. Almost 60% of the country's area is located within this region.

We had a supermarket stop at 9.30am.  We are in a hotel tonight, but the next 2 nights after that we are camping on a beach in the middle of nowhere, so this was a stop to stock up on supplies.  I remember doing this in Africa and I generally didn’t use my supplies at all, but if I don’t do it, I’ll want something.  The good thing is it’s not like I’ll be in a hurry to use the stuff, I have 5 months right!  It was a great supermarket, clean, fresh and looked new.  They had a clothing department, shoes etc….. and a lot of Christmas stuff on the shelves and music playing.  I have to say that it really doesn’t feel like Christmas to me.  The first decorations I saw were in Quito and I thought it weird that they were out so early; not thinking it was late November.  If I was back home now, I would have had ¾ of my shopping done, my Christmas cards would have been in the post 2 weeks ago and I would now be checking my list, who and what was left and making new lists each time I went to the shops.  I am one of those organized Christmas shoppers where I would be nearly finished it all and Shelly would be lucky to have started yet.  We have competitions each year on who can get the perfect gift for each other and we generally draw each year as we think along the same lines generally.  I’m going to miss seeing the Elkins this year, but we will be in Bolivia for Christmas day, so I will be able to call them and say hello.  I had a thought to but some Christmas cards here and then send them home as a surprise, but after cutting 3 laps of the supermarket they had every other Christmas paraphernalia you could think of except cards which is a shame as that would have been a really nice touch to have sent them from Peru.

On the way out I used the ATM machine to draw out cash.  A lot of the ATM’s in Peru have the option of pulling out Soles or USD which is great.  So I withdrew a little of both as I need to get my USD stash back up to a respectable amount.  They are a little heavy handed on the bank fees.  The machine in Pisco charged a fee of $4AUD and didn’t tell me about it till after the transaction, where this one told me before I finished the transaction there would be a $3 fee.  Sure, what else am I going to do?  I have been lucky and not had a lot of ATM fees on my whole trip, so it will be something I need to suck up while in Peru.  The supermarket was so cheap.  I got a 1.5L bottle of coke, 750ml bottle of vodka, 2 packets of chips, some stickers, 2 bottles of water and chocolate covered peanuts for $11AUD!!!!  Crazy right.  The bottle of vodka was $4.  Thank goodness I don’t live here with vodka that cheap.

Our next stop was only 10 minutes down the road to an Oasis called Huachachina.  Huacachina has a population of 115 (1999) and the oasis features on the back of the 50 Nuevo Sol note.  Huacachina is built around a small natural lake in the desert. Called the "Oasis of America," it serves as a resort for local families from the nearby city of Ica, and increasingly as an attraction for tourists drawn by the sports of sand boarding and taking dune buggy rides on sand dunes that stretch several hundred feet high.

Legend holds that the lagoon was created when a beautiful native princess was apprehended at her bath by a young hunter. She fled; leaving the pool of water she had been bathing in to become the lagoon. The folds of her mantle, streaming behind her as she ran, became the surrounding sand dunes. And the woman herself is rumored to still live in the oasis as a mermaid.

Currently, private landowners near the oasis have installed wells, in order to access the groundwater. This has had the effect of drastically reducing the level of water in the oasis. To compensate for this water loss, and preserve the oasis as an aesthetically pleasing destination for tourists, the city began a process of artificially pumping water into the oasis.

The area is popular for both dune buggying and sand boarding and this is where the guys paid 20USD to go duning in a dune buggy and then did some sand boarding.  I have done sand boarding in Dubai and I passed on it in Namibia, it really isn’t my cup of tea, but it would have been cool to have gone in the buggy.  It looked like an awesome machine.  If I was to try it again, this would have been the place to do it, as they drove you to the top of the dunes, you would board down and then they run you back to the top.  Now that is my type of boarding.  Anyway I didn’t do it and instead I stayed at the hotel where the tours leave from, that had a great pool, a bar and music to listen to while I caught up on my blog.    The guys were gone for just overran hour, so I took a walk around the oasis and it was really quite cool as it is surrounded by MASSIVE sand dunes and made the buildings dwarfed in comparison.  They had canoes and water bikes you could hire, but the water looked a little green for my liking, not that I would have done either of those activities anyway.

Graham was preparing lunch while the guys were out, so it was all ready when they got back.  Salads, meat and rolls made an awesome lunch and a nice change from the plates of food I have been consuming on the cruise ships.  As we didn’t have much further to travel today, we got some more time at the hotel for people to have a swim and chillax after lunch.  I am liking the pace of this tour.  It is so different from Africa, but the distances were certainly a lot longer than what we have to cover each day.  If I was doing this tour on an Africa pace, I would struggle for 5 months.  Even if this is just at the start it is a nice way to break me back into over landing again.

We were back on the road at 2pm.  Only after an hour we got pulled over by the police to let us know what there a road block just outside of Nazca was and just wanted to warn us.  There were miners protesting over a mine opening in the north of the country and what they do is close roads so nothing gets in and out during the protest.  So Mark and Graham said they would take the chance and see how we go, as there was still traffic coming from the other direction.  Worse case we would drive back the 2 hours and stay at Huachachina.  I must say I have missed my therapeutic waving and it seems the Peruvian people seem to enjoy waving as well.  I have been waiting for the wave before me waving back, but they all seem really friendly and it is a friendly wave, where some of the waves in Africa were ‘taking the piss’ waves.  I have said this before but something has to be said for the power of the wave and a friendly smile.  It makes you feel good and hopefully someone else feel good as well.  I am right next to a window that opens and I sometimes think I may have a little bit if dog quality in me, as I LOVE to stick my head out the window as we are driving along.  The downside is I stuck my head out as Gray was hooting alomg nearly at top speed and my $60 sunnies I bought in Ushuaia were blown from my head, and as I saw them bounce on the road behind us I figured there was no point in stopping the truck as I am sure they would no longer be in wearing condition.  Bugger it.  Thankfully I am on the passenger side of the truck, so I don’t have to worry about oncoming traffic and having the wind back in my hair is great.  I am also on the ‘sun’ side of the truck, which I also don’t mind as I can work on the tan-age while on the move.  There are curtains there if it gets too much for people, but I didn’t use them in Africa and I know I won’t be using them here either.  Speaking of tan, in 3 days of being in Peru I have colored up quite nicely (maybe still a little red) but I love to think after 5 months on this massive continent how brown I will be.  I will need to ask my Greek Posse “how brown to I look”.  Miss you guys by the way xx

We made the blockade and joined the long queue of trucks that had stopped and had their engines off.  That couldn’t be good news right!?  So without truck also getting switched off we were prepared to sit there for a while and see what happens.  After about 20 minutes Mark and Graham went to the start of the picket line to see the state of the nation.  Apparently they just went up to the police barrier and asked if we could pass as they had a truck of tourists back there and was told straight up sure.  No worries.  They didn’t even bat an eye lid.  See what happens when you ask some times!  In the meantime there were some ice-cream sellers riding their bikes with their little freezers on the front making the most of the money making moment.  Very smart and he sold 6 ice-creams to us in the time, so very smart business strategy.  Once we were passed through the police and the miner’s blockade and what looked like their families there as well we had one more stop before reaching the outskirts of Nazca and our hotel for the night.

It was at Torre Metallica De San Jose which was basically a tower in the middle of nowhere along the Pan America Highway that overlooked 2 Nazca lines.  It wasn’t the best view of the lines when you were at the top but made for amazing panoramic views of the Nazca Valley and surrounds and also a great photo of the Pan American Highway that ran straight as a die through the valley.  At the bottom some more smart business locals selling stones with the Nazca pictures etched on them, books and cards.  Of course I had to get a stone and chose the one with the monkey to remind me of my god-daughters.  The little monkeys……. Malar and I are the only 2 that have out our names down for the scenic flight over the lines tomorrow.  You can’t come all this way and not do it is my theory and the flight is only 120AUD, a bargain I say.  After seeing what we did from the tower, which wasn’t much, it made the decision even easier. 

We arrived to our hotel just after 5pm.  We are staying just out of Nazca and after turning off the main highway and driving along a very dusty road that looked like it led to no-where, we turned into a gated driveway and there was this amazing hacienda looking hotel.  It was a 3 story u shaped building and the BEST thing besides the massive rooms, the hot showers and the purple bathroom was the FREE Wi-Fi!!!!  It was funny the second we had all got our bags to our rooms we were all outside our rooms booting up IPod’s, IPhones, notebooks and laptops.  What a bunch of nerds, but luckily there wasn’t anything else to do there, except some people went for a swim in the pool.  At one point the internet went down and we all were yelling I’m off, who’s on, nup I’m off, the internets down and there were a lot of sighs from all over the hotel.  What a bunch of nerds.  I did get my last 3 posts up on my blog though, so I was a happy camper. 

I had a low key evening, back to the room.  I’m still trying to upload Antarctica photos and having a hard time still.  Damn Facebook.  I have installed the latest version of Adobe Flash and crossed my fingers and toes that that would have helped but it still freezes and load photos as black boxes.  I have some additional time in Cuzco, as I am not walking the Inca Trail, so maybe I will be able to find some super-fast Wi-Fi or an internet café and load some pictures.  They are starting to get a little out of control.

I caught up on some emails, internet banking and birthday wishes.  Happy Birthday to my boss Cheify.  I miss your advice and talks so much and hope that you had a great day.    

A NEW ROOMY, A NEW TRUCK AND A NEW COUNTRY-MY OVERLAND JOURNEY BEGINS

WEATHER: Hot and dusty 25C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Getting started on the next part of my Odyssey

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Got a little sunburned on the boat

BUYS OF THE DAY: Buying a new mobile phone for 35AUD

WORD OF THE DAY: “I think we’re going to get along just fine” – Roomy to Roomy

Beep beep beep – my alarm goes off at 5.45am after getting 4 hours sleep.  I am a bit on a high as I am excited about getting onto the truck and meeting my new peeps. 

Let me introduce you to my new home for the next 5 months.  Her name is Rosita and she is massive.  I hate to keep comparing her to Kitonga, our Africa truck, but it is all I have to go on and I can see what is better and not as good when looking at the trucks side by side.  I got to the truck a little early and the introductions began.  Mike was very helpful and told me which seats were spare, so no flies on me, I had the pick of the ‘newbie’ seats and I have to say I am quite happy where I am.  The truck has a middle door.  There are 2 tables at the very front of the truck and then 12 rows of actual seats in total the truck can hold 36 people.  On this section we only have 13, and Mark was saying the next section there is only 12 of us and then we are getting around 20+ after the Rio section, but we lose around 6 people there as well.  I am sitting in the second last row, but I have a window that opens on my seat and no post obscuring my view, I am on the passenger side of the truck, so I will be able to continue my waving again to the locals as we drive.  We all have 2 seats to ourselves and there is massive overhead rack space.  MASSIVE.  The seat pockets are pretty much useless, but I will take the overhead rack space any day!  There is a small esky fridge, a well-stocked library, a safe and there are 2 passengers who have keys to the truck, so we don’t always have to rely on Grahame to get us into the truck when we need to.  That is a good idea.  There are no lockers on the truck, our bags are stored underneath.  So I will do what I did on my Africa trip and just get a small day bag and chock that with clothes for the next 5 days and leave my big backpack on the truck.  It will be a pain lugging that thing on and off each day and I know that system worked well for me in Africa.  Not having the locker doesn’t worry me now as the overhead space is massive, so I will be able to shove all my junk in there instead. 

So after meeting half the group, we were on the road a little after 6.30am.  We have a 3 hour drive to get us to a pier where we were going to catch a boat The Ballestas Islands and check out some of the wildlife.  After 3 weeks of ‘wild life’ I am not sure how much more I can see that would come close to what I have seen, but how wrong I was this place was amazing.    We arrived just into time for the 10.30am departure to take us to the islands.  These spectacular islands, eroded into many caves and arches, provide shelter for thousands of seabirds and hundreds of sea-lions. Although the islands fall just outside the Paracas National Reserve they are protected by separate legislation. The islands are home to over 150 species of marine bird including the Humboldt penguin, cormorants, boobies and pelicans. Even condors have been known to visit. On the shores can be seen large numbers of sea-lions and in the sea it is possible to encounter dolphins and even whalesbut we didn’t see the 2 later today.  The only way to get to the island is by taking an organised tour and are fairly inexpensive costing between US$10-15 and comprise a speedboat trip accompanied by a guide for about 2 hours. Boats depart between 08:00 and 10:30 from the fishing jetty at El Chaco port by the village of Paracas. Visitors are not allowed onto the islands but views of the wildlife from the boat were excellent.

We were seated on a speed boat, that kind of looks like the shot over jet in Queenstown.  With life jackets on we headed out to the first set of rocks that had a massive candelabra-shape traced in the desert hill called the 'Candelabro' 50m in size.  The usual, how did it get there, who put it there how long has it been there story accompanied the history of the picture before heading out further into the open ocean.  It was a beautiful day, the sun in the sky, the wind in our hair and I am in Peru.  Does it get any better?  I feel I have a bit of infinity now with the ocean after being around it and on it for the last 28 days.  The water is nothing compared to Antarctica and Galapagos, but it was beautiful all the same. 

After 30 minutes from the mainland we found ourselves in bird paradise.  The first thing that hit us was the smell.  It was familiar, like sea lion smell, but when you had a closer look, there were thousands of birds and it was just the shite from them on the rocks.  This place was awesome.  There were hundreds, no THOUSANDS, of Boobies, and I had picked they were boobies before I was even told as they were doing to ‘ol diving into the ocean for food’ trick.  It still makes me ‘wow’ at how they do their fishing!  It looks so extreme for a bird!  We saw sea lions, and they were at a different stage of the life cycle.  A lot of the females were pregnant and are their babies are due to be born December through to March, whereas the Galapagos sea lions have already had their babies.  Amy will be happy to know that I was still taking more photos of these guys; well they are Peruvian ones right, so they are ‘different’.   There were millions of black cormorants, massive black pelicans and sprinkled though were some Humboldt penguins.  They looked really cute as well, like all penguino’s of course!  No exaggeration there were thousands of birds spread over massive rocks and one of the biggest rocks we could see had what looked a sprinkling of hundreds and thousands on the top of it and they were literally all birds, every single black dot, a bird.  I would have loved to have gone and run through them to stir them all up and see them all in flight, but that wouldn’t be very responsible and also I wouldn’t know how the hell to get up there and we weren’t allowed off the boat.  But it would have looked cool.

So we motored around the rocks, which themselves were amazing formations, with the arches and bridges in some of the formations.  With the water breaking up over the lower rocks, sea lions playing in the ocean, sunny themselves and watching us, it was something that I have not seen in my wildlife history to date.  It really was a sight to behold that is for sure.

So after boating around the rocks for just over an hour it was time to hit the open ocean once more for the 30 minute ride back to the mainland.  What a great way to start my first day.  We lunched at the port of Paracas and being so close to the ocean, you would be crazy not to have some form of seafood, it was literally walking out of the ocean and onto plates, so I got my old favorite calamari and it was delicious.  I’ve had to borrow some money off Mark as I was yet to get to an ATM.  The rate of exchange was 2.66 to the Aussie dollar, so to divide everything by 3 will be a cinch for the next 20 days that we are in Peru.  We got some 30 minutes free time to wander around some market stalls and I bought 2 pairs of earrings for 6AUD.  Things are so cheap here; I think I may have a spending frenzy here in the coming months.  I’m looking forward to the silver, rings, bangles and earrings of course!

We only had to drive 20 minutes to our final destination of the town of Pisco.  It was great to have the afternoon free and a great way to ease myself back into touring mode and getting out of cruising mode.  It is also good to not have buffet for breakfast and lunch and to have just one meal at dinner, instead of 4 courses will hopefully bring me back into ‘normal’ eating habits again.  

Apparently there isn’t too much to see or do in Pisco.  I now have a new roomy, no Mala didn’t complain, but as there are 4 of us going all the way (154 days) we are going to share a room, so the configurations were changed and I now have an AWESOME  new roomy, Kate from AUSTRALIA.  As the evening wore on, we actually think alike and get along just fine, so I think we will survive 154 days no problems, but stayed tuned, it is a long time right!!!!  So after checking in, dumping our bags, we met Mark at 3pm for him to orientate us and the hotel was literally a 7 minute walk from the main street.  After walking the main street, that was the tour done and dusted and free time.  I had 2 things on my list I HAD to do.  One was to get a Peru sim card for my phone and the second to get some cash out.

As easy as it sounds, sim cards in Ecuador and Peru have proven difficult.  After my experience with the company Claro in Ecuador, I decided to try the other major carried Movistar.  Mark came with me as translator / helper to get me all set up, which I am glad he did as the whole process is not as simple as their African counterparts.  We got the sim in my Blackberry for 6AUD that came with a small amount of credit and we were on our way back to the hotel via the ATM.  When we got back I ripped out 3 messages to make sure that it worked and each one came back with a fail.  Damn.  Lucky Mark (well for me, maybe not Mark) was still in reception and told him about it not working.  So after some internet searching and asking the receptionist we headed back our mate at the phone shop to see if we could get it sorted out.  Thank goodness we are here for 20 days to make all the fluffing around worthwhile.  So our mate was there, we fiddled with country codes, exit codes, international codes, taking my sim out and putting it in some-one else’s phone I mentioned could it be a Blackberry issue?  I was told on the La Pinta for whatever reason, that this is the cause for a lot of people’s network problems, it’s a Blackberry issue.  So I mentioned this to our mate and he said yes it could be that, so I bought a cheapie phone for 36AUD and was transported back to the 1990’s analogue phone days.  My new Samsung GT-E1085i was the old fashion no bells and whistles kind of phone.  Oh it does have an alarm and one game that looks like it was from an Atari game back in the 80’s, but if it works I will be happy to rest my beautiful Blackberry till I am able to use it again in South America.  So again we tried to text now from the new phone still fiddling with country codes, exit codes and international codes with no success.  Poor Mark was getting to his wits end and I was hoping I hadn’t bought the phone for nothing, when we tried it in some-ones else’s phone again and the text got sent.  The last problem was that I didn’t have enough credit!!!!  WOO HOO I am now back in the land of texting.  Well I can send them, the question is will I receive them back?  Thanks so much to Mark and phone dude, I feel so much better I am now back in the land of text.  I know you’re saying it, leave it all behind me technohead, but I need to be in touch with people and home and was so worth the 1.5 hours of fluffing around. 

I passed a photo developing place on my way back to the hotel, so I decided to stop in and get some pictures developed.  I had put a few favorite prints onto a USB stick when I was in Paris and just hadn’t had a chance to get them printed, so with a 30 minute wait and paying 1.80AUD for 11 prints I decided make a call using my NEW phone to call Ethiopia, and for 10 minutes it cost me 8AUD.  Not too bad and worth every cent to speak to my sweet sweet Zeme.  Boy I have missed him.

So with a spring in my step, a new mobile phone in my pocket(it is analogue but still counts), some printed photos and cash in my purse I headed back to the hotel with an hour to kill before dinner.  I did use my time wisely and got my backpack into some form of order.  I am back to my ‘electronics’ bag.  I have taken out my camping gear (sleeping bag, pillow and towel), I have packed my ‘day bag’ with 5-7 days’ worth of clothes and I have my ‘schnack bag’ back (I have missed thee).  I may look like the bag lady again getting back onto the truck tomorrow, but it is nice to be able to get it all sorted and that I can leave my big bag on the truck.  I am settling in just fine.

Dinner was at the hotel, one of the better restaurants in town, I used the hotel internet for 30 minutes which only cost me 1AUD and then it was time to hit the hay.  I was tired and I guess the last 48 hours have finally caught up with me.  I attempted to write my blog, but I was knackered, so I switched off the computer and I am sure 5 minutes after my head hit the pillow I was fast asleep. 

What a great day, 153 left to go…………

TO CATCH A ZODIAC, A VAN, A FERRY, A BUS AND A PLANE-THIS IS GOODBYE GALAPAGOS

WEATHER: Beautiful and 23C – of course we are leaving!

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: The plane was on time for my connection to Lima

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Saying goodbye to Amy

BUYS OF THE DAY: New scarf to replace the one I left in the Seychelles

WORD OF THE DAY: Get this bird in the air – I’m starving – Amy ready to chew her arm off

Today was departure day.  It was a big travel day for me as well.  But as it is my last airline day for the next 5 months, I am happy to just suck it all up.  Starting the day at 5.30am and my flight is due into Lima at 11pm plus then getting to the hotel, I will be lucky to be in bed before 1am.  Yeah a BIG day ahead.

One thing that I will not miss is the beds on the La Pinta.  Amy and I both had singles, but I have to say they aren’t the widest beds in the world.  You cannot do a full roll or flip over without having to shimmy shimmy to be able to do it, they are super skinny beds and I think I kept waking every time I went for the flip in the fear that I would roll out of bed.  The other thing is the beds are positioned in the cabin, when we hit rough seas that we roll from side to side.  On the Expedition the beds were positioned that when rough seas hit we rolled from head to foot, which was more soothing (like a baby) and you didn’t feel like you were going to get rocked out of bed.  So that’s my rant on the beds.  Other than that they were quite comfortable.

Our bags had to be out at 6.15am, this wasn’t an issue for Aimes and I as we had packed last night, after showering and changing we were at breakfast at 6.30am having a potter of a time till we found out at 7am that we were leaving 15 minutes early at 7am to give us some extra time at the land tortoises.  Luckily we were all packed; I just had to squeeze in my laptop and charger, brush my teeth, stopping in at the restaurant for some final goodbyes then into the zodiac at 7.08am.  Not too bad at all. 

So our last ride in the zodiac was back to Santa Cruz.  Our bags had gone ahead of us in another zodiac, so we just had with us our hand luggage for the 15 minute ride.  We had some time to kill, as the ship was getting relocated around to another bay, so we had to get off, so keep us busy they were driving us the 35 minutes to the tortoise farm, where Amy and I had been last week.  So unless we stayed at the jetty with a small café, we decided to for the ride and take another gander at these amazing creatures.  The farm is located in the Highlands, so the weather at 600m wasn’t that great and hold onto your hats I didn’t take a single photo, so you will be relieved that you won’t have to sift through tortoise photos for the second time.  We got around 40 minutes at the farm and it was a little sad that we had been there already, as the other 8 people were having their ‘wow’ moment and we were yawn yawn been there done that, but we didn’t let on and ruin it for them, but that was the 3^rd problem with us starting in Balta, we doubled up on an excursion.  I know it’s all to do with itineraries and what they are allowed to do by the National Parks, but it is still a little sucky.

So we travelled back the 35 minutes back to the small pier, where we had to catch the 10 minute ferry to the other side and literally leave Santa Cruz Island and now back on the non-populated Baltra Island and heading to the airport on the islands bus for the 10 minute ride.  Our flight was at midday, and we arrived at the airport at 9.30am.  This is the busiest part of the day for the airport, as they have 3 flights arrive within 40 minutes of each other with LAN, Aero Gal and TAME and then they all turn around and depart within 40 minutes of each other.  So the airport was a hive of activity and someone entrepreneur was smart and they have a row of souvenir shops with people making last minute purchases at double the price you pay on the mainland.  Smart people.  They also had some ‘normal’ shops and there is a shop called Lonesome George’ where they produce high quality shirts that Lada had purchased when her bag went missing on their arrival.  So Amy and I were keen to get a shirt from there.  They were really cool shirts, but they were 47USD a pop!  I have to buy clothes that fit me as I see them, and sometimes if I have to pay a premium then so be it.  I am not going to have the luxury of getting a new set of clothes in London on this trip, so I sucked it up and bought 2 shirts and one off the sale table for 27USD.  I am still on budget to help justify paying 122USD for 3 t-shirts, but they are really nice to boot!!!

This was the most stressful part of ALL my 37 flights.  I NEEDED them to all run, they could be late, I had a 4 hour window in Quito, but they had to fly.  South American airlines are notorious for running late and to the beat of their own drum, so I was a little apprehensive and even after I was sitting on the plane I wasn’t happy till; we were actually in the air.  I have seen many a flight delayed and cancelled even after you are all strapped in and ready to go!  All flights fly via Guayaquil, so I wasn’t home and hose till those wheels touched down in Quito 4 hours later.  We were on an Airbus A319 with a seating configuration of 3x3 and the plane was packed.  We saw people on the flight that we flew over with a week ago and we all look a little browner and happy.  The flight time to Guayaquil was 1 hour and 35 minutes, with 45 minutes on the ground and then only 35 minutes further to Quito arriving in at 4pm winding out watched forward an hour?  After collecting our bags, there was someone from Metropolitan Travel to transfer me to the international airport which was laughable as it was only a 2 minute walk, but nice of them all the same. 

This is where Amy and I said our goodbyes.  Amy, you were an awesome travel buddy.  We think alike, we even look like sisters (according to more than one person on the trip) and we really are on the same page with a lot of things in love, life and work.  I am going to miss you terribly; it was AWESOME to have familiar face and true friend to share this experience with.  Are you sure you can’t come further on my trip with me?  Are you sure?  Anyway safe travels to you for your extra week in Ecuador and I will be seeing you in June/July next year for our trip to Ottawa and Montreal.  Here we can catch up with Shauna and also my Contiki husbands Marc and Andrew.    

Before heading through the security checkpoint I found a post office where I was able to get my Ecuador stamp and post a letter to Ethiopia.  I wasn’t too concerned about the stamp for my Globetrotters book as I am back in Ecuador in April next year, but no time like the present, so it was good to get that done.  I didn’t have my book on me for the Galapagos, so I missed out on the ink stamp there, but I did buy some limited edition lick lick stamps, so I will be able to use one of those, so I am a happy camper.

As I was checking in 4 hours early, I wasn’t sure if they would let me, so I joined the queue anyway and they had 2 ladies coming around with a clipboard checking your name off a list.  Geez I hope my name is on there as this particular flight has changed 3 times since I left home, not all me I might add.  But I was there and they left me in the line, so it was good that I will be able to drop my bag and head straight into departures instead of killing time at check-in.  I didn’t get to see how heavy my bag was, as they whipped it on and off pretty quick but nothing was said, so with a smile and a window seat boarding pass in my hand, I can’t believe that this is my last flight for 5 months.  I now don’t have any flights booked at all.  It feels a little scary and liberating all at the same time.  This is my 38^th international flight in 9 months.  I have travelled approximately 74,543 miles as the crow flies, which is about 119,965 km!  To put that into perspective I am 35km just short of being about to travel around the world 3 times based on km travelled.  I did look at the moon stats but it is approximately 420,000km to the moon, so I wouldn't even get halfway there - as impressive as that would have looked!

I will pass through and visit approximately 49 airports and travel on 19 airlines - some of which I hadn’t even heard of.  But in some regions it was the only way to get there.  That life motto life is just too short comes into play in these instances!!!  In saying that I should start looking at booking my Easter Island component for May next year, you may laugh, but it will be here before you know it.  Look how fast this year has gone already!

Considering how much air traffic passes through Quito International, the airport is quite small with only 4 gates.  As I was so early I had a wander around, that took 10 minutes, and then decided I should have something to eat, as I am sure LAN will only serve me a ham and cheese roll.  So I had Subway, a foot long club, it was the only thing I understood on the menu without too much hand gesturing, a drink and a packet of crisps for the cool total of 15USD.  Where I sat to eat my massive dinner, I could see the departure screen and I couldn’t help but keep looking to make sure my flight still had the ‘still on time’ status.  Thankfully it didn’t change and 8.10pm we were called and started boarding my flight to Lima.  The start of my new adventure, meeting new people, and not just a 3 week jaunt, I maybe with some of these people for 5 months, depending on how far people are going.  Even if they are just doing the first component, that is 39 days long.  That’s just over 6 weeks, which can be a long time if you don’t all get along.  Bye bye Amy, bye bye Quito….  I will be back.

The flight from Quito to Lima was 2 hour and 45 minutes.  I should have been tired enough to sleep, but I wasn’t and I was lucky enough to be in an exit row with a seat spare next to me, again.  So I decided I should try and blog to try and keep on top of it all.  Nicola said it was like a full time job, and I guess she is sort of right.  I still enjoy writing it, getting a kick that I have had over 21,000 people click on my site  and I will look forward to the day that I will be able to get it printed and bound and have the time to re-read my journey.  That would be kind of cool to just suck up what I did do and take the time to relive my memories.

So my flight arrived in at 10.50pm along with what looked like another 50 planes.  Immigration was a nightmare.  They have 2 sides to pick from, and it was impossible to see which one was the shortest, so eeeny meeny miney mo – I took the right.  From here it was one queue to the top and then you had to pick another line for the run to the immigration guy.  So I chose the middle man, they all looked the same, people wise and then I looked at the 2 queues beside me to mark a person that was the same as me and to see who makes it through first.  Well I picked the wrong line.  Couldn’t see that one coming.  There was an issue with the passenger and the guy had to leave his little box…. No no no where are you going….come back……… so our line was stalled for around 10 minutes as I watched my 2 queue counterparts move up and finally get processed and through the other side as I was still in line.  I hate that.  Finally our guy was back, we were stamped and though.  The upside my bag was already on the carousel and with a free trolley, I had to them join a queue a mile long to get our bags checked by customs.  They have a cute system.  Once you make it to the top of the line, you give the guy your form, you have to press a button that will flash up green, and you are good to go  straight through or red and you had to go to the left and get your bag checked.  As I pressed the button I was praying for my travel god, one more time to come through and flash me a green light, which I got and I was home and hosed.  Welcome to Peru.  I made it, no problems, no delays and finally no stress. 

Well there was one more hurdle, was my transfer waiting for me?  Lima’s International airport looks busy, and that is just based on the time I finally emerged at 11.35pm and with the amount of signs that were being held up.  I am sure I look like a goose as you try and scan them all looking for your name or Tucans brand on a board.  Seriously there would have been over 100 people holding up signs.  I finally found my little dude at the back with my name and Tucan.  It may as have been flashing and lit I was that relived to see it!  Awesome!!!

The transfer from the airport to the hotel only took 20 minutes.  There was hardly any traffic on the roads once we got out of the airport traffic getting me to the hotel just before 12.30am.  I have now been on the move for 19 hours and I am still feeling not too bad.  From waking up at 5.50am this morning to getting to my room at 12.30am.  I checked the message board on the way to my room, with 3 names on the welcome letter; at least I know there are 3 newbies and finding the start time for 6.30am!!  Holy moly!!!!  My roomy Mala was already in bed, so I used my mobile phone for light, unpacked my PJ’s, which were on top purely for this reason and was in bed by 12.45am.  There was a knock at the door, which I answered, and it was a message to call Mark, our tour leader, to check in that I had actually arrived, doubled checked that the departure time tomorrow was 6.30am and then tried to get some sleep.

So I am now on the start of my mammoth 154 day tour of South America. 

Back into an overland truck tomorrow. 

Back into tents for some of the trip.

Back into land travel and no more flights BUT no having back Dave, Lisa, Manu and Sean.

Tomorrow I meet the new group.  Please please let them be nice.  Most of them have already been on tour for 16 days, so let’s hope that they aren’t too clicky already.  I also missed the meeting this evening, which I hate doing, but given all the circumstances I am just glad that I am here.  The other thought I had while trying to get to sleep was the seating on the truck.  I know what we were like with the Africa overland, we were hell bent on getting the middle seats and not the front ones due to the cool air from the cab to the truck.  But there is nothing I can do about that, as they would already have ‘their’ seats, so I will just fit in where I can.

Goodnight from Lima – Peru.

AN ERUPTION OF ANIMALS ON OUR LAST DAY

WEATHER: Hot 25C all day and sunny!!!

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Choosing not to kill ‘bitter old woman’

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not killing ‘bitter old woman’

WORD OF THE DAY: Indigenous duck

Is there such thing as birthday blues?  I am still getting Facebook messages and now have 364 days till my next birthday.  I don’t know why people don’t like having birthdays.  Maybe my tune will change when I hit 80 or maybe 90.  I can’t see it happening before then!

Today was volcano day.  We were walking on them, walking on lava, surround by them and awed by them all at the same time.  Punta Moreno and Espinoza are some of the youngest islands in the Galapagos Archipelago at round 300,000 years old.  Earlier in the week we were visiting islands that were over 4 million years old.  So we had an early start this morning as Carlos wanted to get us on to Punta Moreno early before it got too hot.  It is on the southwestern side of Isabela. From here there is a spectacular view of the Alcedo, Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes. Here there are a number of lagoons with different kinds of birds such as frigate birds, flamingos and pelicans.  Punta Moreno has a desolate and pristine landscape of very impressive black lava flows with a unique system of brackish lagoons that are a magnet for wildlife.  This newly opened visitors site offers Darwin’s finches, Galapagos doves, penguins, blue-footed boobies, mockingbirds and flightless cormorants.  There is extraordinary and unusual vegetation here.

So our first landing was Punta Morena.  It was a dry landing, but on the edges of 300,000 year old lava and it was quite a climb out of the zodiac.  One lady couldn’t handle the steepness and unevenness of the landing, so she got a ride around in the zodiac while we completed the walk. 

The lava was really tough on people’s shoes and if they weren’t good quality the soles were really getting cut up.  The sound of the loose lava when we walked on it sounded like we were walking on broken plates.  I can see why they wanted to get us out here early, as the lava is black and there was no shade at all and you really had to concentrate where you were walking over the lava as there was path markings to follow but no path made, you just had to choose the best route to get you over without falling down crevasses or holes.  It was a challenging walk for us, so we have to give credit to the oldies that did the walk.  The ship had walking sticks that you could use for any of the walks, so this helped them and I am not sure if they could have done this walk without them.  But they got along, no complaints and just kept walking and taking their time to complete it all.  There was one duck that only had on Lacoste shoes, so they weren’t even proper walking shoes the poor dear.  Kudos to every single one of them I say!

¾ of the way through the walk Amy got a massive migraine, so when we got to the other side of the island, she was shuttle directly back to the ship as we got zodiac-ed around some of the small pools of the island.  This was probably the best panga ride we had to date.  Our mission was to find some penguins, where apparently 10-20 are found here out of the 2,000 that reside in the Galapagos and only after 3 minutes we found out first gut on his own on some rocks.  Not far from him were the BIGGEST iguana’s we have seen all trip and then further down the rocks was a sea lion and some flightless cormorants!  What a bevy of animal sightings and we also saw another group of about 8 penguins lazing around, all in different states of shedding their ‘Galapagos winter’ coats.  In between all that there were Green sea turtles poking their heads up as we motored around.  It was an amazing 45 minutes of wildlife viewing and got a bunch of photos that had all four species of Galapagos animals in the one shot.  I am sure I have the ‘money shot’ or the ‘Nat Geo’ shot. 

So it was back to the ship.  We have some ground to cover today as we are on the west side of the Islands, heading north and for our very last landing of the whole trip at Punta Espinoza in the afternoon.  It was nice to have 2 hours in the morning free to do whatever.  I was going to start packing my stuff that was spread from one end of the cabin to the other, our cabin steward Angel must have thought I was a messy bugger!!!!  But as Amy was sleeping to shake the migraine, and any excuse to put it off a little longer, I sat up in the lounge, updating my blog and trying to spot whales which would be highly likely in this part of the islands.  I have been unsuccessful in being able to upload my pictures to Facebook for Antarctica and Galapagos, but I have a feeling that could be a Facebook uploader problem and it is driving me nuts.  I have probably over 3,000 photos to upload!  I know right, it’s gonna take me ages if I don’t keep up with it.  I went out on the bow just before we left Punta Moreno, and it felt a little like the Expedition from Antarctic.  Man that was such a good trip, but seem like a distant memory now, and it was only 9 days ago.  Holy schmokes!  

We arrived into Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island at 2pm. Uplifting and lava flows issuing from the massive domed cone of Volcano La Cumbre have formed Fernandina the most volcanically active island in the Galapagos. Punta Espinosa is a jagged promontory of cracked and eroded lava, but the name could also refer to the hundreds of spiny marine iguanas that drape the rocks. Pristine nature under an active volcano and a highlight of the cruise so far.  Flightless cormorants, Galapagos penguins, Galapagos sea lions, waders and the world's largest colony of marine iguanas thrive on the edge of a barren lava flow. Fine stands of mangroves support yellow warblers, Darwin finches, large billed flycatchers, Galapagos hawks and nesting brown pelicans. There are plenty of green sea turtles and marine iguanas underwater and shallow lagoons attract sea turtles more sea lions, fish and rays.  Vegetation includes these funky looking cacti called lava cactus and pahoehoe lava.   The immense shield of Fernandina volcano provides an impressive backdrop for Punta Espinosa, a narrow spit of sand and lava rock extending from the base of the volcano into the sea. the harshness of the recently formed landscape of Fernandina's slopes can be appreciated by taking the trail inland to the edge of a large lava flow.

We got a zodiac run into a dry landing and there was a sea lion sitting in the small concrete pier, stopping us from coming in.  We still drove straight in and I think he got the message as he slinked into the mangroves to let us disembark the boat.  Well after the last person was off, the big Argentinian guy walked to the end of the small pier and the sea lion jumped back up and had him cornered between it and the water.  It was so funny and made a great photo opportunity; before the seal looked like had had his laugh and slinked back into the sea again to let him back to dry land.  Well the first thing we see are my favorite animals the marine iguana – NOT.  These things are SO So U-G-L-Y!!!!!  Really they are and I have mentioned before they give the Wildebeest in Africa a good run for their money in the UGLIEST thing in the world call.  Really.  To be honest they also scare me, they are that ugly, they spit and these ones seem to be massive.  They don’t give a hoot that we are walking within 40cm of them as they cover the walking path and tracks everywhere we have gone, but they really give me the heebie geebies.

The Marine Iguana is an iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to live and forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile. The Iguana can dive over 10m into the water. It has spread to all the islands in the archipelago, and is sometimes called the Galapagos Marine Iguana. It mainly lives on the rocky Galapagos shore, but can also be spotted in marshes and mangrove beaches.

On his visit to the islands, Charles Darwin was revolted by the animals' appearance, writing:

The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft), disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'. They assuredly well become the land they inhabit.

This island is also made up of old lava, but wasn’t on mass as Punta Moreno.  There was a Blydes whale skeleton that was on show for us to see what a ‘small whale’ looked like at 6m long.  It was missing its skull, but someone had replaced it with a dolphin’s skull which looked a little out of place.  We were able to touch the skeleton and I handled one of the spinal disks and it was light as a feather and as big as a bread plate, it was pretty big. 

This walk was a combination of lava and beach walking.  The beach was a stunning white beach, but made up of all broken shells that had busted up over the volcanic rocks.  That stuff is pretty nasty and I would hate to fall over on the stuff that is for sure.  We found some more Iguana, and because they are marine iguana’s they are dark in colour and with the black volcanic rock you really have to watch where you are walking as they are so well camouflaged that you could easily step on one if you let your guard down, which I did twice and nearly DID step on some.  Thanks to Amy she saved me a few times as well.  I would hate to see the scene had I actually stood on one.  Their claws/talons are massive and I am sure they could do some serious damage.  This group of iguana seemed to be more energetic than ones we have seen previously in the week so there were lot of them moving and walking around, I felt like I was watching my back the whole time!!  Yick, they really are a horrible animal.

So the walk continued and we were back on the beach.  We had to stay to the left of the path markers as the iguanas had eggs buried in the sand and we didn’t want to disturb their nests, damn right about that!  We were watching a large iguana that was getting swept off some rocks from the waves crashing in to the beach, where he decided to give up and swim to shore.  To actually see this ugly animal swimming was fascinating and he looked a little like a snake as he swished his tale in the water to help him move.  Well he was just about to the beach when Carlos came in behind me and grabbed my left calf like a jaw and I have to say I squealed like mad hog, but managed to keep all the expletives I had in my head right there and chased him half way down the beach for a slap.  My heart was in my mouth, it scared the hell out of me, but it gave Carlos and Amy a great ol’ laugh. Yeah hardy har har guys.  Carlos thought I would have been a better schmuck than Amy knowing how she felt about snakes.  Yeah well iguanas aren’t that far off my hate list either buster.  What a scare!!!

Moving further along the beach we came across a ‘hord’ of iguanas.  That’s their official collective noun.  A hord.  There would have been 100+ of them all lazing around, on top of each other, next to each other, in pairs, triples singles you name it they were doing it.  It was disgusting and fascinating all at the same time.  As ugly as they are it made for some great photos with a mass posse.  Seriously, imagine if they all had decided to move at the same time – ugh I hate to even think the thought. 

There were sea lions playing and frolicking in the small pools as we walked to the point of the island to see some more wildlife.  I think after the seals, the most photographed animal I have taken is the Sally Lightfoot crabs.  These crustaceans are so pretty with colours of blue, orange, yellow and reds, they make for some great close up photos.  There were hundreds of them on the rocky point, and we had to make sure that we weren’t going to step on any of them as well, but they are a bit more skitterish than the iguana’s and generally move out the way before it even becomes an issue!  There were also more sea lions basking on the rocks and like all the other guys we have met, they were pretty non plusses without arrival and presence.  I just can’t stop taking photos of them, they are so cute.  Amy can’t believe I am still snapping photos after 7 days of seeing these guys and she stopped on day 2, but they all look so different and it’s better to have too many than not enough – right……..  We also did a photo swap.  I have copied Amy’s 536 photos and I copied my 1567 photos for her and that number already has the dud’s already removed.  Surely I didn’t take that many more of seals than Aimes?   

We easily could have spent another our here walking around and taking in the surrounds with massive volcanoes, swimming sea lions, sunning sea lions, crystal blue waters, iguana’s, sally lightfoots and green turtles popping their heads up now and then.  But with the tide coming in fast, we had to high tail it back to the waiting zodiac and get back to the ship.  The Captain was getting that worried/frustrated that he even sounded the ships horn as we pulled out of the little pier coming back.  The water had also got a little rougher, so maybe the weather was about to change as well?  Either way, we were on our way back and made it safe and sound.

Our next activity wasn’t until 6.00pm, which was an invitation to the Captains Bridge for a champagne as we crossed the equator at 0 0 0 degrees. So Amy and I spent the afternoon packing our bags.  Mine for airline travel for the last time, well for 5 months at least anyway.  That is one thing I am NOT going to miss, airports, planes and packing.  We did some hand washing and the ship has a dryer that we could use which was awesome, so I am now travelling with a brand new pack of clean clothes.  My backpack is still chocked to the brim, and I am just waiting for one of my zips to pop and then I would be up the creek.  The old girl just needs to hang on for one more day and 2 more flights.  I now have a broken top strap, a half ripped side pickup strap, a small hole developing on the bottom and I think my frame maybe starting to change shape as well.  I have to say after packing everything in, the bags seems to weigh the heaviest I think it has ever been, so I am hoping I don’t get done tomorrow for excess baggage tomorrow at Baltra Airport. 

The call came at 6pm to head to the Bridge.  It was going to be pretty cool to cross the Equator on a ship.  So we all gathered on the bridge with a champagne glass in hand.  There was a beautiful sunset happening at the same time, so I thought I would have enough time to go out and get a photo and then back inside for a photo of the ships instruments to get the 0 0 0 readings.  Well Amy and I missed it the first time around, along with a number of others, so the Cap did a U-turn, which took around 10 minutes, for us to do a countdown to get the 0 0 0 readings the second time, well when it came to 0 0 2 it skipped the reading 0 0 0 so for the last time we swung around again and got a third chance to get it.  I even changed my camera to burst mode to make sure I got it with 15 frames and I missed it again with 0 0 2……  Needless to say the Captain wasn’t going to turn the boat again, so I will just have to steal some-ones photo off Facebook, as I think I may have been the only one who didn’t get it.  Damn it.  Like the Expedition in Antarctica the La Pinta also had an open Bridge policy, which I think is quite rare in ships, so it was pretty cool to see all the gadgets and instruments that they use to navigate us safely though the islands.

Even though this is our last night and more than half of the people are leaving tomorrow, it is not classified a Captains Farewell, so no freebie drink and no slide show for our last 4 nights.  Bugger.  We will be able to see the slide show next week once it is loaded on their web site, so that bit, we will still get, but it is sucky that the ships itinerary doesn’t work for all passengers.  We were given feedback forms to fill in, which everything was an excellent.  It was very hard to fault the La Pinta, its staff and its crew.  They were all amazing and it was certainly a nice and luxurious way to see this part of the world.  We signed the guestbook, we paid our bill popped out tips into the boxes provided for staff, bar and naturalists and we were packed.  I think I will write a separate letter to Metropolitan Touring suggesting about the arrival letter for guests that come in on the ‘off’ arrival days.  Just to make us feel loved. 

Our last dinner with the ‘rowdy’ bunch was as funny as ever.  Dermot, Jane, Mike and Nicola have made wonderful dinner companions and will be missed around my eating times for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The exchange of emails and Facebook addresses we swapped and with the promise of if I was in their neighborhood to pop in next year.  Well I am not sure if they know but I will be in a position to do just that and will certainly take them up on it mid next year on my back through Europe when I finally head home, well if I head home.  We certainly had some great laughs, even if we got shushed by the bitter old woman the other night.  Stupid old bat! Her and her racist husband were the only 2 people on the cruise that Amy and I did not like one iota.

On that note, it was time for bed.  We had an early start in the morning with bag collection at 6.15am, breakfast at 6.30am and a 7.15am departure from the ship.  We said a few farewells, but hoped we would see everyone at the staggered breakfast times in the morning for the final goodbyes. 

So it another successful trip, another wonderful experience, more new friends made, more memories to lock in my travel bank and more thanks to be given to my travel gods and to my mum.  The Galapagos Islands is truly an untouched paradise, a once in a lifetime experience and something that you will not experience anywhere else in this magical world we call our home. 

So as all my other trips I would like to thank my new friends for making this experience what it was.  Life and travel is also about the people you meet as well as the destination and the things that you create with them.  So thanks guys and in no particular order:

Charles and Lotte Moore – USA

Dermot – Northern Ireland

Jane – UK

Mike – UK

Nicola – Scotland

Peter – UK

Amy – CANADA AY – old friend but you deserve a BIG thanks – love ya xx

Carlos – Ecuador

Victor – Ecuador

Antonio - Ecuador