Peru – Lima & Arequipa Cities

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Teresa

We passed through the capital Lima which has 10 million people and is very spread out with major traffic problems and crazy drivers! Pedestrian crossings mean nothing to these people as do traffic lights; they keep going with horns blearing blocking intersections.

Lima is on the Pacific Coast with nice views from the Malacon. There were lots of people out surfing, swimming and sunbathing below us as there were blue skies, something that is not typical of Lima. Nice for us though😉.
A city tour took us to see the old Colonial Centre of Lima and some of the historic parks and neighborhoods around Lima.
Plaza de Armas was once the Colonial centre of Lima, founded in 1535 and then rebuilt in 1746 after a major earthquake. The cobblestone streets and architecture are very grand.

Cathedral

Archbishops Palace with its grand balconies

Presidential Palace – Peru’s President works

At the Monument of José de San Martin, a national hero who lead the revolution against Spanish rule, there were protestors & police, which is apparently a common site every day. There seemed to be a lot of people everywhere we went in Lima to be honest.
Our final stop was the San Francisco Church and monastery where we went underground to the dusty catacombs to see the bone filled crypts with skulls and femurs, of only the rich and middle class, displayed in all sorts of designs.

It was then on to Arequipa, which lies on the edge of the Altiplano or Andes slopes, 2380m above sea level and is surrounded by the volcanoes Misti, Pikchu Pikchu and Chachani.

Misti volcano with a nice conal shape. There are lots of houses at the base of this mountain!

Pikchu Pikchu Volcano

Arequipa is known as “La Ciudad Blanca” (White City), because many of its buildings are made of sillar, a white local volcanic stone.

We arrived on a Sunday and decided to go down to the main Plaza to see the Arequipa Cathedral, one of the biggest in South America. Wow lots of people, they were there to set a Guinness World Record for rocoto relleno (hot peppers stuffed with meat, rice and vegetables) a traditional Arequipan food. Sunday is a family day so it was nice to sit and watch them enjoying the event and the day.

sunset on the cathedral, it just glows

We loved the cowboy hat on this Police women who was directing the traffic around the plaza.

In Peru people are conscience of the sun and typically wear sun hats.

The Santa Catalina Monastery is considered the most impressive colonial building in the City, founded in 1579. The 2nd female child of a wealthy family was sent to the convent at about the age of 14 to study under a nun for 4 years upon which she would determine if she would continue on to become a nun. It was 20,000m2 and was like a city within the city. There were approx 200 nuns with their ‘personal assistants” living here through to the 1900’s. Sounded like they lead an interesting life partying for many years. Now, there are 20 nuns who live in a sectioned off area of the Monastary with most of the monastery being used for tourism.

At the ”Momia Juanita” museum we saw the Inca Ice Maiden found in 1995 at 6380m and is well preserved with hair, skin and teeth. It is believed that an Inca girl was killed as an offering to the Inca gods sometime between 1450 and 1480, at approximately 11-15 years old. To date 18 Inca bodies have been found since Juanita in 1995.

Arequipa was a great town to just wander around and see the architecture.

Peru – Colca Canyon

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Teresa

From Arequipa we left for the town of Chivay (4 hours driving) and to the Colca Canyon passing thru the volcanic ranges and a National Reserve where we saw Vicuñas, Llamas & Alpacas roaming free. We climbed to 4700m where people live in the hills farming the harsh terrain. The road wound around the edge of the mountains and then we dropped down into the canyon to a small country town called Chivay.

the landscape here was so dry as we crossed the mountain range

farming looked difficult but there were lots of farms out here

Chivay down in the valley

In Chivay the women wear traditional clothing of the Cabana & Collagua Indian cultures now identified by the hat they wore. Interestingly back in Pre-Hispanic times the two ethnic groups in the Colca Canyon area deformed their babies’ skulls — the Collagua into a taller, tapered shape and the Cabana into a mesa-shaped cranium. Thank goodness the Spanish banned this and so the 2 cultures were forced into identifying their differences via dress.

A traditional Cabana outfit with the dancing guru.

Collagua hats and clothing worn by the women

The plaza had its iconic cathedral, which the locals enjoyed in the evenings. We liked just sitting and people watching.

Not many places where you get to see the locals walking with their lama or sheep in the streets that’s for sure but they are taking them to the market to sell. This Lady still wears her Cabana hat to go to market even though she’s dressed in jeans.

The Colca Canyon is one of the deepest in the world and is famous for the condor, where we saw 2 small ones gliding in the thermals in the distance. There were amazing views inside the canyon of the valley floor terraces that had been built in pre Inca times and are now farmed by the local people here.

A stuffed Condor, just so you can see how big these guys are.

Peru – Lake Titikaka

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Teresa

Lake Titikaka is the highest navigable lake in the world at an altitude of 3800m. Here we went to visit three islands; Uros, Amantani and Taquile.

The ancient Uros were the owners of the lake who in the time of the Inca invasions would lift anchor and drift together and move to a safe part of the lake. They were eventually conquered and made slaves. Today, the Uros people try to live a traditional life and still build their boats and islands using bundles of totora reeds abundant in the shallows of the lake, but add solar panels for electricity. There were 4 families living on the small island we visited.
The islands have become quite touristy where the locals have become business people relying on the tourist boats to come organizing tours in their reed boats, demonstrations of the way they live and craft markets to sell their wares. It worked!

relaxing in front

demonstration of how island is built and yes needs regular maintenance

At Amantani we stayed with a local family (Aurora & Damien) where we got to experience some local traditions and customs. The community put on a party for all the tourists so we had to dress the part. Damien and Arora are on either side of us below.
p1110981 This was a rewarding experience seeing how these people live. Most people speak Quechua but luckily our family spoke Spanish as well and with the other couple that stayed here we could communicate. There are actually 10 communities scattered around the island (4000 people) who rotate taking groups of tourists in to help their community. The house where we stayed was very clean and quite big but had no electricity so it was back to the basics.

farming out back and great views

The color of the skirts indicate what community they are from on the island. A lot of the ladies sit in the community areas spinning the wool into yarn.

some of the hosts from the community we stayed with relaxing in the main plaza

We hiked to the top of the hill and after a tiring climb in this altitude to the top we found Pachatata sanctuary, where special events are held & the amazing views over the island.

these people walk up here to tend to the crops, it was cold!

great views up here on a clear day

Needless to say the bar in the plaza was busy after with everyone wanting to get warm. Beer and Muña tea with alcohol!

Taquile is renowned for their knitted garments. The men actually knit the garments and can be seen all around the island knitting.

yes he’s knitting at a really pretty viewpoint

Here we also had a great view over Lake Titikaka back to Amantani in the distance.

Peru – Cusco & our fav. Inca Ruins

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Teresa

The historic area of Cusco has many narrow cobblestone streets, plazas and ruins and is easy to wander about. Cusco was invaded by the Spaniards in 1535 where many of the original Inca structures were destroyed and rebuilt in their own style.
Plaza de Armas is huge with lots of restaurants and shops around it.
The Basilica Catedral is on one side of the plaza and is big with 3 churches within the one building, each church all very different.
The Church of Santo Domingo and its gardens are impressive compared to many of the buildings in the area.
Ceramic bulls can be seen on the roofs of many buildings around Cusco and the surrounding areas to signify the Spanish era.

original roof design, we like this guy!

We went to many Inca Ruins in the area the best in our opinion being:
1. Machu Picchu, why of course, where we spent a whole day hiking the site. You can either hike the Inca trail in here in 4 days/ 3 nights or go by train at a small price(not!) to Aguas Caliente, which is worth staying over at to relax and have a hot shower after enjoying the site. Machu Picchu was never found by the Spaniards and therefore in good condition after being identified in 1911 by a man from Yale, Hiram Bingham. It is thought that the rich Incas from Cusco used this site as their country holiday destination in the Urubamba Valley.

Machu Picchu ruins with Huayna Picchu in the background

The whole site was amazing, including the hike up Montaña Huayna Picchu to look down over Machu Picchu and along the valley. Yes it was as steep as it looks. Below is the view from Huayna Picchu back to Machu Picchu.

No wonder the Spaniards didn’t find it.

We hiked 11km in total that day and oh yes we deserved the beers and hot shower after.

2. Ollantaytambo is a town and site along the Sacred Valley and is surrounded by 3 mountains where you could see Inca ruins all around you. There were 247 steps to climb to the top of the main site, good exercise in this altitude.

Inca ruins or searching the net?

can you see the Face and ruins on this mountain

3. Also In the Sacred Valley Pisac was really impressive sitting on a huge mountain side, where various Inca communities had lived. It was a big structure and we could have wandered around here for hours to the various ruins to admire the views. The Inca terraces were about 6ft tall and originally built for protection (erosion control and from enemies) and of course for agriculture purposes.

loved the Inca floating stairs

4. Saqsayhuaman close to Cusco, where you got to appreciate huge boulders and wondered how the Incas built these walls shaping and polishing the boulders together with no mortar.

these boulders are huge

We did go and see a lot more ruins than these and its definitely amazing how they built these walls and Terraces. We’re Inca’d out so we’ll leave you with the best in our opinion.

Peru – Amazon

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Teresa

From Puerto Maldernado in Southeast Peru we took a boat about 3 hours up stream on the Rio Tambopata to our lodge. We spotted Baby Capybara’s the size of a small pig on the waters edge; these guys get up to 60kgs!

walking thru the mud looked like tough work

nice & clean now after a swim

The lodge was a 10 minute walk into the bush with rooms open to the outdoors. Wasn’t expecting such a nice place to be honest. Such a peaceful tranquil environment with the sounds of birds etc at night that just put you to sleep. Ok maybe exhaustion from getting up very early to go and see things, what with 2-3 activities a day.

Lots of different species of birds including the Amazon Kingfisher but the best sighting was at The Clay lick with Red and Blue McCaws and Mealy Parrots, which were very cool. The clay gives many animals here nutrients to help them survive.
img_0935 Click to see Video of MacCaws.

these are birds nests that swing below the canopy. Very strange.

It’s actually very difficult to see animals as the forest is so dense. Many animals like Jaguars, anteaters and snakes are easier to see at night as their eyes glow. Our guide on his previous tour saw an anaconda and shared the photo with us.

We climbed the 30m tower to sit above the tree line and spotted a couple of families of Titi monkeys on the way up. Forest for miles up there that’s for sure; 60% of Peru is actually Amazon Rainforest.

While hiking in the forest we first smelt and then saw a herd of Peccary pigs running through the forest. No photo of these guys as they were fast, probably running to get away from us. Here’s what they look like. Lots of bugs about too and some of them were big!

The canoe ride around Lake Condenado was hot but peaceful and the small black Caiman waiting for us in the Lilly’s made us wonder where it’s mum was. The trees near the Lake were massive, we could walk inside them.

Daniel our guide was always on the lookout for animals

A beautiful sunset along the river

Pisco sours to end a good trip.

With Christmas fast approaching the decorations have come out at the lodge

We have family coming to join us for Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone and have a festive season.

Ecuador – Los Andes

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Teresa

The volcanos in the distance from Quito beckoned us and we definitely were not disappointed.

From Quito we crossed the Andes to the North into the Imbabura province with incredible views of Imbabura volcano, San Pablo glacial lake & Cotacochi volcano. These mountains just towered all around us.

We were surprised to learn that this area produces a lot of roses and flowers for export and you’d see the growing sheds and road side stalls selling flowers everywhere.

The scenery just made us want to get some exercise, so we walked to the Peguche waterfall. Nothing to strenuous but nice to get some fresh air. We were surprised to see lots of Eucalyptus trees in Ecuador imported in from Australia.

The town of Peguche is small with mainly indigenous people dressed in traditional clothing going about there everyday lives. Interestingly both the men & women have long hair here. The men and women seem to share the agricultural duties here.

they are small people and carry everything on their backs.

the women here tend to the animals and the fields

we saw many cows being led around the towns in Ecuador

selling their bean produce on the side of the road

This town actually makes all the textile weaving that is found in many markets and stores around Ecuador. The women prepare the wool and the men actually do the weaving.
While in Peguche we saw the Tren de Los Andes or the old steam train that takes tourists through the Andes. An expensive way to get around apparently. Here’s a video clip of the train going by but I’m not sure if its going to work. Our guide was so excited.

It was then into the Otavalo markets to see the local markets selling weavings & FRESH produce, both very colorful. Would have loved to get some fresh produce here.
We made our way through some valleys directly East of Quito to Pampallacta, also known as the gateway to the Amazon. The drive was impressive as we climbed up to 4000m where it was very rocky with coarse vegetation and down to the town.
The natural public hot springs of which there are many pools beaconed us. So nice and relaxing.

Our room had a nice pool outside with no one around, perfect!

We made a trip into Cotopaxi National Park South of Quito. The landscape was so dry and flat with wild llamas about.

Walked 4km around Laguna Limpiopungo with Ruminahui volcano in background

Cotopaxi Volcano in the background, an active volcano

Our guide took us to some amazing haciendas built in the 1600’s around the Andes to see the grounds, all of which were really impressive.

Hacienda San Augustin so different to the homes in the area

Interesting art work in the El Monasterio wing at Hacienda Cusin

We ended up staying at a working farm, Hacienda La Alegria to experience their daily works. Maurico was awesome taking us for a 5 hour horse ride into the hills with some nice scenery.

The farm has Alpacas and Llamas, dairy cattle and lots of horses. The farm dogs were very proud when they decided to round up the Alpacas and llamas for us on their own accord. The llamas were not so happy being disturbed.
Excellent time in the Andes. Heading to Peru.

Ecuador – NW Coast to Quito

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Teresa

Ecuador, it’s truly a diverse country and we really enjoyed our time here. The red dotted line in my picture above is where we travelled in Ecuador. Would have loved to get to some other towns here but then you can’t do everything.

The NW Coast
We were moored in Bahia de Caráquez a great place to leave the boat to go inland and see the country as it’s nice and protected behind a point of land, up a river.Unfortunately the NW coast region, including Bahia was struck by a 7.8 earthquake in April 2016 destroying many homes and buildings. In the photo above most of the white tall buildings have to come down still and need to be rebuilt. The people who have stayed (and many have left) are strong and are fighting back rebuilding their towns. We saw many temporary homes and volunteer groups along the way helping the many towns and communities on the Coast.

We drove the Coast road from Bahia to Quito some 300kms. The landscape was so dry on the coast with bare dirt and hardy looking trees. Through all the small towns we passed lots of roadside stalls selling all sorts of things our fav being the candy stalls, which of course we needed to try. Yum!

We went through one town where there were lots of pigs strung up at each restaurant entrance. Fritada is a traditional Ecuadorian dish available on the weekends and yes is made from pork hence the advertising out front. We had already eaten Seco de pollo or Chicken Stew, which was very tasty and filling so the pigs out front on the dusty road did not appeal.

To get to Quito we drove up, up and further up, West over the Andes some 3500m where it got very cold.

Then it was down into Quito, which sits at 2850m above sea level.

Quito was founded in the 16th Century on the ruins of an Inca City. It was designated as a UNESCO heritage site in 1978 and you can definitely see why. We stayed in the old city and wandered around the streets, which have just amazing small one way cobbled streets with beautiful old buildings, incl many churches and an amazing landscape, where there are 15 volcanos around Quito.

From the old city looking up at El Panecillo hill with the Virgin of Quito (40m high) overlooking the old city
Plaza de la Independencia was beautiful at night and seemed to be busy all the time. Catedral de Metropolitana de Quito from the Plaza square at night
Calle de la Ronda was a small colorful street that was near the entrance to the old city

The city of Quito is 65kms long and your only seeing a little bit of it here at a mirador on El Panecillo. Definitely a big place with lots of volcanos in the distance. Below is the views North over the old city with the Basilica, below volcan Guagua Pichincha to Volcan Cotacahi

Lots of beautiful churches all around the historic district.
San Francisco is Quito’s oldest church and was built in 1535. This was a huge church with an amazing gold leafed interior everywhere you looked.

Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesús also has gold leafed alters and ceilings.

Basilica del Voto Nacional. The gargoyles on the exterior at Basilica are of animals not your typical faces

On Mondays at 11am you can stop by Plaza de la Independencia for the changing of the guards, which is quite the affair with the President & VP of Ecuador standing on the veranda at the presidential palace and lots of people gathering below to watch the band, guards and horses parade around the plaza. Very colorful.

We also went up the Teleferico or cable car to top where you get views over Quito North through to the South and can see how big this city really is. Lots of hiking and mountain biking trails up here.

We drove up into the North of Quito where we went for lunch at the Pululahua Crater and had amazing views from the top of the crater. So nice to be out of the city. One side was mountainous and green while the other was so dry.Even went to the Equator Museum at the “Middle of the World” where we checked our GPS and yes we were at latitude 0. Whoever bought this piece of land was thinking, lots of tourists = money! They did a number of Coriolis effect tests to show how things are different south and north of the line. Eg. Which way does water turn clockwise or anti-clockwise. The Simpsons’ episode was right!

Heading into them there big hills, Ecuadors Andes.

We are now Trusty Shellbacks

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Teresa

After bobbing around at the Balboa yacht club near Panama City for a couple of nights we headed over to Isla Taboga to clean our hulls. The town itself is cute and everyone was friendly as we wandered thru the skinny lanes at the base of the hill, which you can climb but sounded like too much work for us in the heat.
Then it was off to The Las Perlas Islands where we caught a tuna on the way, so sushi for dinner, yum. On arrival Brett was up up the mast trying to work out why our wind instrument has just started to play up. Great timing! Maintenance is a never ending job.
We cycled around the most populated island; Contadora and were surprised at the large homes, most of which were for sale. Hmmmm. It was holiday time so we watched the bay fill up with large motor boats and fishing boats from the City. Most of the month of November is holiday time in Panama.

Found a Wrecked Ferry in one of the bay’s

Las Perlas had lots of nice bays to anchor where we could laze as the weather was pretty benign and there were only a few sailing boats about. Before we knew it we were at the furthest south west island, San Jose and heading out of the Panama Bay. Goodbye to the humidity for now.

Our trip south to Ecuador was good even though we wish we had dagger boards for that upwind sailing. Took advantage of the currents and tacking West to help with the southerly winds and waves. Saw great phosphorescence in the water, lots of dolphins, a few turtles sleeping and a group of pilot whales that led us towards the equator. The seas seems to get bigger the closer we got, with 6-8ft seas.

Crossing the equator by boat is a big deal for up until that time you are known as a Slimy Pollywog but after crossing the equator you transform into a Trusty Shellback. Brett having crossed the equator last year still partook in the celebration with me with a jig in the cockpit and a toast to Neptune and to finally becoming a Trusty Shellback.

Note Vessel at 0.00.000North

Note Vessel at 0.00.001 South

3 sips for Neptune

As we were partying we look up and there’s this hombre in a very small open boat fishing in the large seas out today; 25 miles from the nearest land and 40 miles from the port entrance. Perhaps he wanted to join the party.

We really felt for this guy out here in his boat

At the equator we’ve passed from the North Pacific Ocean into the South Pacific Ocean and have arrived in Ecuador. Yeah! Looking forward to some land travel.

Moored in the river in Bahia de Caraquez near the bridge, which is brightly lit up at night

Our Panama Canal transit

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Teresa

We made our transit from the Atlantic through the Panama Canal into the Pacific with friends April, Cain and Malcolm and were joined both days by the same advisor, Harold.

The Seismic Wave Canal Crew in Miraflores lock

The Seismic Wave Canal Crew in the last chamber at the Miraflores lock

Harold our Canal Advisor with Cain

What an amazing experience with beautiful scenery shared with good friends.

An alligator spotted on the side of the canal, no swimming here

A small crocodile spotted on the side of the canal, no swimming here

DAY 1 had us being lifted via 3 chambers at the Gatun lake lock up into Gatun Lake behind the ship Celsius Mexico.

These ships are huge when you are up close

We were the only other boat so as we entered the first chamber a line with a monkey fist was thrown to each of our 4 line handlers who had to secure our long lines from the boat to it so that our long line could be pulled back up the wall and walked by canal crew staff to the back of Celius Mexico. Our line handlers were busy keeping us steady as the chambers filled and emptied as necessary to move through the lock.

Malcolm giving everyone a quick lesson on how to set up your lines

centre tied in the lock – see how far up the lines go

the gates close behind you

But watch out, the chamber starts to fill and you need to pull in those lines to keep us steady.

the water then starts churning from below and lines need to be adjusted continually as its fills

the chambers full, water is calm and Malcolms happy; no issues

April doing her 1980’s disco moves, later proving that these gloves helped her hands

One final look at the Atlantic…

One final look back along the lock to the Atlantic

Once through the Gatun Lake lock we were moored to a large buoy for the night where we enjoyed a good meal and just a few drinks and laughs.

looking very happy after a few well deserved drinks

DAY 2 started very early (6am) where Cain cooked us all a hearty breakfast to keep us going and help with soaking up all the wine we’d had the night before.
Our advisor from Day 1 surprised us by returning for the final day of our transit, which was great as he was very friendly and had quizzes to keep us entertained.

The crew all looking very relaxed cruising in Gatun Lake

We all took turns driving through the Lake. The Canal ended up closing the Galliard cut as visibility was bad so we had to sit near the Pedro Miguel Locks waiting for our Canal partners to arrive.

April took us through the misty cut before it was closed

her other half had a well deserved nap

We entered the lock with 2 other boats, a tourist boat “Tuira #2” and a maintenance boat with a low platform to tie to, which meant our windows were protected. Yeah! The maintenance boat crew were great as they did everything.

As the 650ft Car Carrier ship “Clovis Composer” eventually arrived into the lock we watched her tie onto the locomotive trains and slowly fill the lock. Just amazing the sheer size of these ships.

As the lock emptied we felt like we had to push her back, she was getting very close to us with her crew looking down on us.

We went through 3 down chambers and before we knew it we had come down from Gatun Lake into the Pacific. Amazing.

Looking at the Bridge of America’s ahead

The huge ship Glovis Composer and her crew passed, waving

This is a trip we will not forget. Thanks to Harold, Malcom and April & Cain for their help in making it a fun, safe trip. Thanks also to them for some of the photos of our journey thru the canal.

So its farewell to Panama City for a while as we head South to Taboga Island and then on to the Las Perlas Islands to wait for a weather window to Ecuador

Shelter Bay Marina with friends

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Teresa

We arrived into Shelter Bay Marina at the entrance to the Panama Canal and who did we find but our good friends from Spirit of Argo; Cain, April and “our dog” Quinn. OK everyone around here has adopted Quinn and why not, look at this face. Life is tough.

April & Cain have been running the sail loft and are doing a great job of helping out cruisers that need work done in a short period of time. Thanks guys for good times yet again and of course our new water catcher. 😉

As with any marina it’s the people that make it a fun place.
April has water aerobics every day to whip us all into shape for the upcoming sailing season. The pool is definitely a bonus after working hard all day.

The nights while we were here were full with all sorts of social events incl games night, BBQs, movie nights etc. Even caught up with our friends from Guatemala; Brian & Sue from SeaRose and Stu & Steph from Matador.

Steph, Sue, Vicki, April, Manuela

Cain, Malcolm, Brett, Stu, Brian

Had a couple of great jam sessions at the Marina and lots of musical talent came out to join in. Was awesome.

Our neighbor, Wakeem has a vehicle and took us out to San Lorenzo Fort past the Marina. It was built in the 16 Century to overlook the mouth of the Rio Chagres, which was used for commerce. The fort was taken by many pirates including Henry Morgan because it had excellent views of approaching ships.

On the side of the road we spotted a couple of gatosolo’s, similar to raccoons.

Well alas it’s not all play we had a few jobs to sort, including major provisioning for our pacific crossing. Our poor boat has lost its water line with food and alcohol but at least she’s looking shiny now and everything is in order.

Polishing the boat while in the water is difficult but it’s now done, yeah!

Yachts transiting the Panama Canal are invited to leave behind a memorial or lucky talisman of their boat on the outside walls of the Sail loft, so my artistic skills went to work. Here’s our image setting us off from the Caribbean with good luck for our Pacific adventure. We are ready for our canal transit with some friends who are joining us to do the transit as line handlers.