We drove through the night, about an hour down the Panamerican from Arequipa and then right towards the Andes and the town of Huambo where we met the hired buros and got our stuff together for the hike in.
We also enjoyed a local breakfast before the hike:
(4685)
Burro with kayaks
(4693)
Burros with canyon
4696รง
The hike into the Colca Canyon was impressive beyond belief. We dropped into a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, passing through millions of years of geology on the way. The hike took about 6 hours and was probably close to 20km.
We arrived at camp to great hotsprings and swimming in the river.
Lots of bugs eating us alive. Big days up ahead.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
10/15 - Rio Colca, Day -1
The Colca trip began with everyone arriving in Arequipa on the 15th and getting the logistics together for the trip. We had to buy food, gear, arrange shuttle, finances, everything! It was quite an ordeal for 13 people to go on a multiday expedition in a third world country. Highlights included rope shopping at a sweet store that only sold rope with Roberto, Gian Marco's assistant (IMG4678).
Roberto and I were responsible for rigging the rafts with 'Maya' netting and getting them to Gian Marcos house for the midnight shuttle. (4681). We managed to get a kayak, two rafts and all the other gear from the wearhouse to Gian Marcos in one Tico! It was impressive to say the least.
We had an interesting shuttle to the Rio Colca. We had arranged transportation through Gian Maro with his fearless driver, Elard Garabato. Unfortunatly, this driver didn't have a tourist licence that permitted him to operate where we were going, so we had to drive through the night. We loaded the bus around midnight and got rolling on the road at 1am! An epic start to an epic trip.
Roberto and I were responsible for rigging the rafts with 'Maya' netting and getting them to Gian Marcos house for the midnight shuttle. (4681). We managed to get a kayak, two rafts and all the other gear from the wearhouse to Gian Marcos in one Tico! It was impressive to say the least.
We had an interesting shuttle to the Rio Colca. We had arranged transportation through Gian Maro with his fearless driver, Elard Garabato. Unfortunatly, this driver didn't have a tourist licence that permitted him to operate where we were going, so we had to drive through the night. We loaded the bus around midnight and got rolling on the road at 1am! An epic start to an epic trip.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
'Private' bus tour of Lima, Preu
In Lima, there are many differnt driving and bus tours of the city. With a population of nearly 10 million people, Lima is expansive, covering an area that rivals Chicago. For this reason, it is a good idea to go with an organized 'private' tour provider.
After taking a look at some of these 'private' tours, I decided it would be better to venture out on foot and bus to explore the city. The private tours cost $20-50 depending on the sites visited, and I prefer to explore myself anyway. Although the privateness of not interacting with the people of Peru was VERY appealing (Why would anyone want to visit a country and not interact with the people?), I thought just getting on any of the millions of busses in the city would wet my appetite for adventure.
The busses in Peru are worse and more numerous than the busses in Costa Rica. In Peru, every bus is covered with the names of places you can go: 'TASCA', 'Barrancos', 'Chorillios', 'Miraflores', 'Tdo Arequipa'. Each bus has at least 10 places written on it, sugesting where it might go. This is quite perplexing, because most of the busses doen't actually go where it says on their sides. The only way to know where it is really going is to ask the wingman of the bus as he hurriedly shoves people on and off the bus. I waited for a while to select my first bus, knowing that this could be the most important decision I made all day. After watching for a bit, I saw the first 'Wingwoman' and promplty boarded her bus. The only seat open was right in front of her post at the front door, so I sat there. 'This is going to be a great opportunity for me to practice my spanish and get a private guided tour of the city' I thought as the bus rattled into the diesel smoke-filled Avenida Arequipa.
The entire city of Lima is a giant grid, not unlike LA, and there are good parts and bad parts. Avenida Arequipa passes through the center of the city. I got to see the national museum, capital buildings, and some of the other famous sites in Lima. I had gotten into a conversation with the wingwoman, and she was guiding me through the city as we went. I asked her to point out all the important site and some of the history. She was happy to oblige in between yelling at the driver and getting her passengers on and off as efficiently as posibble. I asked her to tell me when we were in TASCA, the central stop, so I could get off and walk around downtown.
As we passed through the center and crossed over the motorway into another part of Lima, I figured she knew better than I, and that we still hadn´t gotten to the center. We began getting into poorer and poorer areas, and the building kept getting older and older. I asked a few times if we were close, but 45 minutes later, I knew something was up. I told her I was getting off at the next stop, and asked if the busses going in the other direction would take me back to the center of Lima. She told me that her bus would take me back, at the end of its route. All I had to do was wait till the end (on a seemingly interminable ride across the urban sprawl that is Lima), eat lunch with her, and then wait for the bus to come all the way back around. I wasn´t impressed, and got off at the next stop I could.
This stop left me somewhere about one hour outside of the city center in one of the poorest looking areas I have ever been in. None of the houses had complete walls, and most looked as if they had been burnt to the ground. All of the houses were built with brick and mortar, with no doors and tin roofs, if they had a roof. I was the only non-peruvian person I had seen since I left Miraflores two hours earlier, and I was getting pretty worried about my wellbeing. I knew I could probably get a taxi back for $30, but I wasn´t quite ready to use that safety net yet.
I walked across the motoway to the traffic going the other direction and got on the first microbus that passed. Once I was on the new bus going the way I had came, I was feeling a bit easier, and my stomach began to untwist the knot it was in. About an hour later I was back in Lima Central where I had originally wanted to go.
The moral of the story is, if the wingwoman on a bus starts flirting with you, even if you don´t realize it, pay attention to where you are going and go with your gut instinct. I knew where I thought I was supposed to get off, but trusting her experience and not paying attention to her posibble alterior motives put me into a crazy situation. I feel fortunate that I got to see part of Lima that 99.9% of people visiting the country will never see. Now, that is a private tour.
After taking a look at some of these 'private' tours, I decided it would be better to venture out on foot and bus to explore the city. The private tours cost $20-50 depending on the sites visited, and I prefer to explore myself anyway. Although the privateness of not interacting with the people of Peru was VERY appealing (Why would anyone want to visit a country and not interact with the people?), I thought just getting on any of the millions of busses in the city would wet my appetite for adventure.
The busses in Peru are worse and more numerous than the busses in Costa Rica. In Peru, every bus is covered with the names of places you can go: 'TASCA', 'Barrancos', 'Chorillios', 'Miraflores', 'Tdo Arequipa'. Each bus has at least 10 places written on it, sugesting where it might go. This is quite perplexing, because most of the busses doen't actually go where it says on their sides. The only way to know where it is really going is to ask the wingman of the bus as he hurriedly shoves people on and off the bus. I waited for a while to select my first bus, knowing that this could be the most important decision I made all day. After watching for a bit, I saw the first 'Wingwoman' and promplty boarded her bus. The only seat open was right in front of her post at the front door, so I sat there. 'This is going to be a great opportunity for me to practice my spanish and get a private guided tour of the city' I thought as the bus rattled into the diesel smoke-filled Avenida Arequipa.
The entire city of Lima is a giant grid, not unlike LA, and there are good parts and bad parts. Avenida Arequipa passes through the center of the city. I got to see the national museum, capital buildings, and some of the other famous sites in Lima. I had gotten into a conversation with the wingwoman, and she was guiding me through the city as we went. I asked her to point out all the important site and some of the history. She was happy to oblige in between yelling at the driver and getting her passengers on and off as efficiently as posibble. I asked her to tell me when we were in TASCA, the central stop, so I could get off and walk around downtown.
As we passed through the center and crossed over the motorway into another part of Lima, I figured she knew better than I, and that we still hadn´t gotten to the center. We began getting into poorer and poorer areas, and the building kept getting older and older. I asked a few times if we were close, but 45 minutes later, I knew something was up. I told her I was getting off at the next stop, and asked if the busses going in the other direction would take me back to the center of Lima. She told me that her bus would take me back, at the end of its route. All I had to do was wait till the end (on a seemingly interminable ride across the urban sprawl that is Lima), eat lunch with her, and then wait for the bus to come all the way back around. I wasn´t impressed, and got off at the next stop I could.
This stop left me somewhere about one hour outside of the city center in one of the poorest looking areas I have ever been in. None of the houses had complete walls, and most looked as if they had been burnt to the ground. All of the houses were built with brick and mortar, with no doors and tin roofs, if they had a roof. I was the only non-peruvian person I had seen since I left Miraflores two hours earlier, and I was getting pretty worried about my wellbeing. I knew I could probably get a taxi back for $30, but I wasn´t quite ready to use that safety net yet.
I walked across the motoway to the traffic going the other direction and got on the first microbus that passed. Once I was on the new bus going the way I had came, I was feeling a bit easier, and my stomach began to untwist the knot it was in. About an hour later I was back in Lima Central where I had originally wanted to go.
The moral of the story is, if the wingwoman on a bus starts flirting with you, even if you don´t realize it, pay attention to where you are going and go with your gut instinct. I knew where I thought I was supposed to get off, but trusting her experience and not paying attention to her posibble alterior motives put me into a crazy situation. I feel fortunate that I got to see part of Lima that 99.9% of people visiting the country will never see. Now, that is a private tour.
The Two Guys Who Run Lima, Peru
In Lima, Peru, there are two guys who run the entire city. Whatever it is that you need or want, you must pass through them to get it. If you are crossing the street, these are the guys who decide if you live or die. They are 'the driver' and 'the drivers's assistant'.
The Wingman
These guys share a weird kind of symbiotic relationship. While the driver is the employer of the wingman, the wingman can abuse the driver. If the wingman is on a bad day, the driver can fire the wingman. Communication between the two is rarely civil, and they rarely exchange more than a few words. The Wing Man gets paid on comission for how many people he can get on the bus. The driver is self employed, but is too bad at customer service to get clients on his bus. Thus, they need each other. While on my 'Private' bus tour of Lima, I got to observe a few of these dynamic duos. Here is a sample conversation:
Wing Man: 'Hurry, hurry, get on the bus!' (yelling at patrons)
Driver: 'Talk to me!'
WM: 'Still boarding.'
D: 'Hold on!' (as he speeds into traffic with people still boarding)
WM: 'Wait!'
D: 'Load the bus faster you asshole!'
WM: 'The people are too slow, lets go!'
D: (sticks arm out window and honks horn to indicate merging into speeding traffic)
WM: 'Paradero! Paradero!' (bus stop!)
D: 'We're not stopping at this stop. The bus is full' (traffic stops in front of bus so he opens door to let people on).
WM: 'Hurry, hurry, get one the bus!!!'
The Driver
The WingmanThese guys share a weird kind of symbiotic relationship. While the driver is the employer of the wingman, the wingman can abuse the driver. If the wingman is on a bad day, the driver can fire the wingman. Communication between the two is rarely civil, and they rarely exchange more than a few words. The Wing Man gets paid on comission for how many people he can get on the bus. The driver is self employed, but is too bad at customer service to get clients on his bus. Thus, they need each other. While on my 'Private' bus tour of Lima, I got to observe a few of these dynamic duos. Here is a sample conversation:
Wing Man: 'Hurry, hurry, get on the bus!' (yelling at patrons)
Driver: 'Talk to me!'
WM: 'Still boarding.'
D: 'Hold on!' (as he speeds into traffic with people still boarding)
WM: 'Wait!'
D: 'Load the bus faster you asshole!'
WM: 'The people are too slow, lets go!'
D: (sticks arm out window and honks horn to indicate merging into speeding traffic)
WM: 'Paradero! Paradero!' (bus stop!)
D: 'We're not stopping at this stop. The bus is full' (traffic stops in front of bus so he opens door to let people on).
WM: 'Hurry, hurry, get one the bus!!!'
Without these two guys, the controled chaos that is Lima, Peru, would digress into utter madness. Thank you, driver and wingman.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Hola de Peru.
So, I've touched down in Peru and everything went smoothly. I checked my kayak from Portland to Lima through El Salvador and it made it, for only $50. It was a pleasant suprise finding all of my gear at the bagage claim in Lima.
Arriving in the airport in Lima is quite simlar to Costa Rica. There are tons of people offering you a ride, pressuring you to their hotel, and generally making your life more stresssful than is necessary. I think its a tactic to get people to make split decisions to do things in an uncomfortable situation.
I had a ride arranged to Miraflores and they were there to pick me up. The roads in Peru rival those of CR, with eight lanes crammed into a space big enough for only three or four. The weaving, the people, the motorbikes and the police are only there as a suggestion for what you should do or where you should go.
I went out with a few canadians last night walking around Miraflores and checking out the night scene. There is a central park here with lots of locals selling their handicrafts, foods, and services.
I went for a walk this morning along the coast. The coastline is very dramatic with a steep rocky drop down into the sea from the city. This is a popular place for paragliding off of the rocky cliff face. The paragliders were impressive, just lifting off of the ground and hovering a few feet up with amazing control.
I'm headed south in the next few days for the southern coast, making my way down to Arequipa.
Arriving in the airport in Lima is quite simlar to Costa Rica. There are tons of people offering you a ride, pressuring you to their hotel, and generally making your life more stresssful than is necessary. I think its a tactic to get people to make split decisions to do things in an uncomfortable situation.
I had a ride arranged to Miraflores and they were there to pick me up. The roads in Peru rival those of CR, with eight lanes crammed into a space big enough for only three or four. The weaving, the people, the motorbikes and the police are only there as a suggestion for what you should do or where you should go.
I went out with a few canadians last night walking around Miraflores and checking out the night scene. There is a central park here with lots of locals selling their handicrafts, foods, and services.
I went for a walk this morning along the coast. The coastline is very dramatic with a steep rocky drop down into the sea from the city. This is a popular place for paragliding off of the rocky cliff face. The paragliders were impressive, just lifting off of the ground and hovering a few feet up with amazing control.
I'm headed south in the next few days for the southern coast, making my way down to Arequipa.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
daysontheriver blog back up!
Hey all,
So after a great 6 months of summer here in the US, I will be traveling again for the winter. This winter has some great adventures in store!
On October 8th, I will be flying to Lima, Peru. My first week will be spent aquainting myself with Peru, perhaps some treking around Machu Pichu, and trying to get my hands on a kayak if mine doesn't make it down. Good luck is about as good as you can do with kayaks on planes. On October 15th I'm meeting up with the Wet Planet Crew, and we're going to do a month of boating through Peru. We'll be down in the Cotahuasi, and Colca Canyons, the two deepest canyons on earth, followed by the Apurimac, Tombopata, Urubamba, and others.
After a month with that crew, Andy Round, Ben West, Scott Baker, and I will be headed out on a 4 month South American paddling epic. We'll be hitting Bolivia, Chile, and possibly others. Keep an eye on the blog to see where we're at. Itinerary subject to change. Vamos a ver.
So after a great 6 months of summer here in the US, I will be traveling again for the winter. This winter has some great adventures in store!
On October 8th, I will be flying to Lima, Peru. My first week will be spent aquainting myself with Peru, perhaps some treking around Machu Pichu, and trying to get my hands on a kayak if mine doesn't make it down. Good luck is about as good as you can do with kayaks on planes. On October 15th I'm meeting up with the Wet Planet Crew, and we're going to do a month of boating through Peru. We'll be down in the Cotahuasi, and Colca Canyons, the two deepest canyons on earth, followed by the Apurimac, Tombopata, Urubamba, and others.
After a month with that crew, Andy Round, Ben West, Scott Baker, and I will be headed out on a 4 month South American paddling epic. We'll be hitting Bolivia, Chile, and possibly others. Keep an eye on the blog to see where we're at. Itinerary subject to change. Vamos a ver.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Back in the US of A
Hello all,
Thanks for stopping by. I'm back in the US, and am now back to tracking my adventures at: daysontheriver.com Check it out.
Jonathan
Thanks for stopping by. I'm back in the US, and am now back to tracking my adventures at: daysontheriver.com Check it out.
Jonathan
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