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Latest news: Lima is known as the "City of Kings", Emma discovers another side to the Peruvian capital. The Team:
Posted on 09 May 2006 Lima is an interesting city in that it doesn't feel as South American as it's counterparts. Quito, for example is definitely an Andean city. Surrounded by Volcanoes and mountains and full of Indigenous people alongside Mestizos and gringos. It has it's Ecuadorian culture heavily scored throughout it. Lima however is very European, and you get the feeling it isn't a new phenomenon either. The very regal colonial buildings speak of past prosperity and Conquistador grandeur. The plazas and museums illuminate it's culture but alongside that you have the ubiquitous fast food places that we find so depressingly common in the west and in North America. There are swish department stores and hi-tech gadget shops, multiplex cinemas with diet defyingly large popcorn buckets and showing Hollywood films, North American, Canadian and European style clothing stores. Right in the centre there are a number of streets, the most westernised ones, line with tattooed and pierced locals loudly wondering if you would like a tattoo or piercing and quietly whispering, as you hurry past, that they have the best marijuana or cocaine in town. Less than ten metres away there parades at least two different kinds of police, I don't know where the "tattoo" guys get their nerve, but they are either really lucky that they aren't arrested, or else they have some kind of deal with the cops, because it was so obvious as to almost be unbelievable. I witnessed a pop video being made for one of the god awful romantic Latin American pop songs that are constantly blared at top volume in buses and Internet cafes and banks everywhere here. >Needless to say the stars of the video were as annoying and cloying as the song they were singing, and by the looks of the video, not top quality stuff! I was witness to this fiasco as I was late again at meeting some of the rest of the group, by about an hour... I got carried away in an Internet cafe and by looking for a guide book to Peru in English. Well, chance would be a fine thing and I bumped into a few of them in near the cinema and we went and grabbed some food together before catching a flick called "La Fiesta del Chivo", which was a pretty good kind of historical drama. Then we met up with the others and decided to head into Barranca for drinks. It was tonight or no night, since the elections were coming up and they would be shutting some bars (don't ask me why?) for the elections. We taxied into Barranca and had some standard pizza and fairly good Sangria there, followed by a mini pub crawl, where we drank our fill of Pisco sours. As soon as Harriet and Taylor got wind of a possible Karaoke session they were off home in a taxi, to put on their slippers and tuck themselves safely in bed. The Karaoke never materialised but we did sit in one particularly nice bar for a little while, with some of the most interesting contemporary art I have seen so far in SA. The wine was pretty good too, so Karen, Paul and I shared a bottle. (Wine in Ecuador is worth just leaving alone really, the best they have is Gato Negro, in a carton). We then headed to another bar where there was promise of a special offer on jugs of beer, I got to play with everyone Else's camera settings and got some funny partying pics, then, with out warning in the middle of a possibly very enlightening conversation (yeah right), the police jump in, shut the bar down and tell everyone they have to leave immediately, literally we were man handled out of the bar, all of us desperately trying to finish the freshly ordered jugs of beer and so on that we had ordered whilst simultaneously thinking "what the blaze?!"... we decided that really couldn't be it and we JUST HAD to get more alcohol, so we bribed the taxi driver with a few more soles and got him to take us to the nearest open booze place and FAST!!! We managed to get some Bacardi Limon (which has since become a favourite pre dinner aperitif!) and other random things that you think you want when you are in a garage three sheets to the wind near midnight with too much money and not enough change. So! We were drink rich again, but location poor as it seemed the whole of Lima was shut down for the night. We headed dutifully to the hostal (the one with the beautiful baroque and colonial style, art, a parrot and two very randy tortoises.). Despite the warning signs everywhere about being quiet after 11pm, we took it upon ourselves, to disturb the boys room (the girls were in a shared dorm, and we couldn't possible disrupt strangers). Brendan and Taylor were both tucked up in bed, but we roused them and generally made a nuisance of ourselves, at one point I was under Brendan's bed frame telling him stories will above people were jumping on each other and generally being rowdy enough to be shouted at 4 times! In light of this and the fact the boys really did want to sleep, Karen, Becky, Nick and I opted to go up onto the roof with Alfonso, our new Brazilian friend and we sat and put the world to rights until the very wee hours of the morning. The next day I feel very very weird and I have the strangest taste in my mouth. The toilet becomes my most visited hot spot in Lima and I can't leave the hostal. After a bit of research in his little book, after we are all packed up and ready to head to Pisco, Paul reckons I might have Giardia. Nice. Most likely I picked it up on trek, i was careful with sterilising my water and boiling food for long enough, but my platypus mouthpiece ended up in the mud a few times and that's the danger! So, without putting you off your morning coffee or dinner or whatever luxury you have chosen to accompany your read, let's just say it was pretty nasty. Nastier than the Puerto Lopez gut attack, as it was also accompanied by a very strange taste in the back of the throat like and eggs. I burped this delightful smell for a few days after, but Paul as usual, had the necessary Anti Biotics for me to deal with it, so mas medicine for Emma and no more alcohol sessions for a few days! Our bus to Pisco was delayed by a few hours and we all had to weigh our bags. I discovered that despite having fewer bags and less to carry, I seem to have the heaviest contents at a grand total of 29kilos (I imagine it could be more by now with all the presents I have bought). Imagine that on your back at altitude! ha! When we get to Pisco it's a bit of a rush dash as we get our stuff together for the Ballestas Island tour. Waterproof, camera, hat as protection for both sun and guano, and some snacks as it will be a long day! The Ballestas tour is pretty amazing. Beginning with a visit from the dolphins, we were pretty lucky to see them apparently. They don't always come so close to the boats and play. Then we head past the "Candleabra" a weird, cactus like geoglyph carved into the side of one of the sandy cliffs we pass. there is no concrete evidence to suggest what it was for or why it was there, but there are many speculative theories, from hallucinogenic cactus that thrive in the area, to a marker for seamen, no-one really knows for sure. this is true of a lot of Inca and pre Inca cultures in South America, as there have been few to no documents found as they weren't societies based on the written word but by word of mouth, so much of what we learn on our adventures is educated guess work. We see birds, flippin loads of them! We also see Sea Lions, Sea Gulls, Penguins and we smell guano everywhere. Not a good smell on a dodgy stomach, not a good smell really ever. i pity the poor Guano farmers who ship the stuff out to sell as fertilizer. EUW. We head back to the shore and manage to grab a few bites before heading off to the Bodega near Pisco. We stop off for a winery tour on the way, they use the waste grape skins as a kind of mulch on the ground and walking through it in the desert heat was certainly an experience for anyone with a dodgy tum. Fermenting and refining Pisco takes allot less long that's it's finer wine cousin. It was a very interesting place indeed and we all were loaded slightly heavier with our bottles of booze afterwards. We eat in a fantabulous place that Nick falls in love with and goes back to twice... and we prepare for our Nazca lines flight.... -- M
We all load ourselves onto another nightbus to Huaraz and get into Jo's place in time for an early cooked breakfast, in what lends itself quite easily as a very homely kitchen for a few days. Huaraz is at nearly 3,000 mtrs altitude, which is a bit of a shock to the system after 4 or 5 days at sea level. From here we will embark on the Santa Cruz trek. Our first day is really for acclimatisation and recuperation. On the Friday morning we are all up early for an acclimatisation walk up to the cross that looks over Huaraz. It's a very steep ascent in the beginning but evens out on a plateau and then ends down some rocks and across a river. A very beautiful rock altogether and we got to meet Wilson (VentureCo's first South American Venture Leader) and discover how wonderful and endearing both him and Jo are. Nipper the dog comes along for the walk. Paul orders a mule and a horse. Andrea is still coming on the trek even though her arm is in plaster, so we have the mule to carry her stuff and Aussie fancies her first trek sans pack so a mule takes two loads and we also have the horse for any possible emergencies that may occur. We watch some very bad films that night and buy our food supplies in our camp groups, Man you need a lot of food! We get up very early the next day and rush around trying to put stuff in the deposito, eat our brekkie and make sure we have everything we need for trek. And we're off! It takes us a few hours to get to the start of the trek, it is still in the warm, dry part of the day and we ascend the trail with gusto and determination. At our first pit stop, it is clear that Karen isn't well at all, so we hitch her pack to the mule and she struggles bravely on to the camp a few hours later. All of the first day is uphill and we climb nearly 1,000m in the first day. At the camp that evening, Karen decides to go back and get better for the next trek. Wilson takes her and the horse down the next morning for Jo to nurse her back to health. At Camp, we all get a lesson with the camp stoves and Harriet and I discover rice is a mistake on trek. It takes so goddamn long to boil. The rest have triumphed with ready mash and their Bean Feast. The next day but one is the day we head for the pass. 4750 metres up and then we descend to the valley below. By the time we joyously reach the pass (sooner than we all expected) we get a magnificent view of the glacial laguna. We are all very proud of ourselves, and especially proud of Andrea, whose injured ankle is playing up as if her cast wasn't enough to deal with for her! We sped along quite a way that day and made it to our camp just before dark, passing two other sites on the way, prompting the expected jibes from a few of the team! On our final day, we all expected an easy day. Oh no! Paul had a surprise in store, the steepest ascent was yet to come! We came to a crossroads at a very small village in the mountains, one led very steeply up and one kind of meandered off flatly. Guess which one we took, yep! Uphill! Many panting faces later, we looked across at the mountain road over the river, yes, we had to get to the top of that to get collected by a van taking us to our mountain bike path. The last part was gruelling and unforgivably steep, but every single one of us made it. Pretty much everyone collapsed gratefully on the grass when we hit the top. The biking was a bit easier than Cotopaxi, but the road down was pretty slippy and rocky Paul, Wilson, Nick, Harriet and the others got right down until the lakes and then Wilson, Paul and Nick cycled the whole way downhill into Huaraz. Paul got chased by a pack of angry dogs at one point. We were all very disappointed we didn't get a chance to witness the amusing spectacle! That night, after hot showers and sustenance, drinks of celebration were in order, so we headed to Xtreme bar (it has big Jenga) and got mightily entertained, amused and er, ever so slightly tipsy. From here we bus to Lima, the big city!
Wandering through the border between Ecuador and Peru, we wait to see if there might be anything strikingly different about the new country we've come to. People are still trying to sell us anything and everything on the streets, the climate is just like the coast of Ecuador and there is that beautiful smell that accompanies rotting fish and sewage in a very hot climate. So not yet. When we arrive in Mancora, it arouses memories of Puerto Lopez, or even maybe a smaller Montaņita. It is a tiny little fishing village right slap bang in the middle of the Pan American Highway, so you are often the intended recipient of an enormous blast from the horn of an articulated truck, possibly on it's long journey to Tierra del Fuego! We discover a few good restaurants and once again fulfill another slice of our wish to eat our way around South America. We have decided on that theme anyway for our T-Shirts. The next morning we get our swimming clobber on, get our books and music and head for the beautiful shoreline. The beach here is the cleanest we have been at in South America so far, the waves are pretty strong as well and our early attempts at a sandcastle are swept away fairly soon. Taylor is the only one to try surfing here, but he seems to enjoy it, the rest of us just enjoy being thrown around by the waves and watching the tide come in fast. After tea we take a night bus to Huanchaco. Most of us manage to grab some sleep before our arrival into another coastal surfers paradise; Huanchaco. However for some members of the group our stay in Huanchaco is spent sampling its medical services. Poor Andrea broke her arm when she fell over in hostal whilst reaching to catch, er an Oreo, which Nick had thrown to her. Luckily it turns out to be a clean break and Andrea is soon plastered up and able to continue with the Venture. The next day a bunch of us decided to brave the heat and head for the Chan Chan ruins. They were pretty amazing: it was a Pre-Inca culture, which founded a city in the middle of the desert, with an oasis in the centre and in view of the nearest mountain. The carvings were explained intricately by our guide, Jose who also played some conch and a traditional flute for us. He is from an Indigenous family in the mountains of Peru and is well versed in Chan Chan and Inca cultures.
Another day, another bus journey. We arrive at our next hostal, completely spoiled by the hotel in Baņos, but at least the Casa Naranja was a beautiful old colonial building, and had hot showers, despite the odd bed layout and seemingly forever damp interior. We headed out for a mini explore as soon as we arrived and found an amazing restaurant called Cafe Eucalyptus. It had tapas from all around the world and the most amazing Pisco Sours!Cuenca is most famous as a large university town, rich with colonial architecture and home to the famous Panama hat. The layout and the architecture do immediately strike me as very Spanish, cobbled streets and balconies, giant wooden doors with seemingly trick smaller doors inside them. Our latest Lonely Planet Ecuador guidebook definitely needs a Cuenca update, quite a few of the things we tried to locate had changed, moved or shut down. But Wunder bar on the river was still there, so Aussie and Paul got to beat Taylor at Backgammon for the price of some delicious local ice cream. We all explored in our own little groups the next day. the indigenous museum, history museum, the cathedral, a political rally, an art museum, the markets and the hat shops were all explored, although no one actually made it to the Panama hat factory. They all shut fairly early on a Saturday, so Paul, Dave, Taylor, Brendan and I decided to go with the flow and go into a tiny "zoo" right beside the closed hat factory instead. I have definitely seen cleaner amphibian, reptile and fish tanks, but nonetheless the species were all the usual creepies, designed to make you creep out in nightmarish horrors. Big spiders, Pirhanas, Boas, a Croc, Moray eels and er... some Tortoises. Still, $2 isn't much! We decided to make our own breakfasts to save a bit of food money and so we had porridge and honey both mornings in Tena and some people even made themselves sandwiches for the bus trip to the border. The bus trip was fairly uneventful and started early in the morning, but it ended up a little more complicated as expected, when our coach driver didn't stop at the border and Paul had to do a lot of negotiations to get us a truck back to the Ecuador border control to get stamped out and then back through to the Peruvian Border to get currency and stamped in!
On Tuesday 21st March, we got an early morning bus from Tena to Baņos, further south, we heard reports of possible road blocks, due to the TLC talks coming up, but thus far, no trouble was apparent. This was possibly the most stunning bus journey so far; we were at some points literally going through the mountains, going in one ear and out the other of the giant mountain gods. We were on what seemed like knife edges at some points, and the deep green gorges and rivers looked magnificent on what was a crystal clear day, set against the towering, cloud and ice topped summits. The nearer we got to Baņos, the more evidence of human scarring on the landscape jolted and shocked the views. Huge banana farms and bean plants and various kinds of agricultural enormities, as well as factories and truck stops and very luxurious looking hotels. But even these large human structures, some less ugly than others, couldn't quite spoil the regal vistas. At first Baņos was fairly reminiscent of Otovalo, although it seemed slightly more affluent and larger. Our hotel wasn't far from the bus station so most of us walked with our packs, whilst one or two people got into cabs with big kit bags. Our hotel was absolute luxury. hot running water, very cosy beds, double rooms, with our own outside table and chairs and.... TV's! Amazing what simple pleasures can spread joy quickly amongst bus weary travellers! We had a fantastic early dinner in "Cafe Good", reflecting it's name, and we were serenaded by some live pan pipes, drums and guitars. We then were told by our esteemed group leaders for the week, Andrea and Jonesy, that there was one of the hot springs, under a waterfall, that stayed open until late at night, so we all headed back, got changed and went into the hot springs by moonlight, under the Virgin Waterfall. It was pretty amazing, and although difficult at first for those of us with rafting sunburn, it seemed to help the skin troubles in the end. The next day we had a big brekkie, then Karen and I decided to do some horse riding up to get a good view of the volcano that forever threatens the Pueblo and some of the others hired mountain bikes, and headed out into one of the valleys. The horse riding was pretty intense, very steep ups, followed by narrow little cliff edge paths, followed by a fantastic view of Baņos and the Volcano top and mini smoke explosions, followed by very steep downwards paths, which even worried our poor steeds at times. Karen had never been horse riding before and it has been a number of (cough) years since I did any, so we were introduced and re-introduced with a bang! The biking trip sounded like fun and Nick did his usual breakage quota. We got stuck in Baņos for one more day because of the strikes and road blocks, but to be honest, there are worse places to be stuck, so we all took the news with our groups usual gusto and decided to visit the Leprechaun bar for a mini celebration. It was an amusing night, culminating in an electricity blackout and Brendan discovering that trees and people can all feel alike in the dark. Brendan and Nick braved a canyoning tour the next day. They have photographic evidence of the two of them heroically jumping down waterfalls!! It looked pretty damn amazing. The girls liked our horse riding reports so much that they tried it and Karen and I went for the mas tranquilo option of therapeutic massage and some good mountain coffees! Much needed after the Long Island Iced Teas and Mojitos of the night before. Paul had been to the bus station and it seemed as if all would be clear for us to set off to Cuenca, our last stop before the Peruvian border.
We went rafting on the Rio Napo, a tributary of the Amazon and sourced by glacial melts from Cotopaxi, the volcano which we climbed and cycled. It isn't the height of the season so the rapids weren't at their most dangerous, but were still a healthy grade 3 or 4! Were in two rafts. Our guide was called Gino and he was a bit of a messer. He made us jump in the river pretty much straight away! The rapids were wicked, long pools to rest up, play games and prepare for the next big rapid. Lunch was good in a little bamboo hut, although we were almost eaten alive by blackflies. We all had the funniest time, trying to run round the edge of the raft, floating through rapids outside the raft with only our lifejackets, trying to flip the boat and taking turns to ride rodeo on the front of the raft. A good day in all. We leave for Baņos in the morning, it sounds pretty spectacular, keep you posted.
So we've completed our leg of the project! I am just amazed that we actually finished the foundations and started building up rather than just digging down, before we left. Alicia and Mark, (Projects Co-ordinator and VentureCo chief) were here to see the project and were impressed with both the scale of the project and the amount we managed to get done in the stifling heat. Alicia took us to see two other projects that the next group will be working on and Karen and I went to the kids day centre on our last day's work. We played with them and drew and I tried desperately to understand what the kids were on about. I think the kids were happy enough and the playgroup leaders seemed happy for the distraction so they could attend the very young day care members. We made sure that we went around Puerto Lopez and said our farewells and goodbyes to all of the locals we had come to know and love! Bob Marley (actually called Xavier) the forever barechested bar owner who looks like wood with dreads and has a maniacal laugh but who is actually way more sane and tuned in than people give him credit for. It was funny if he ran out of supplies at the bar, he'd run out onto the street, hop onto his bike and come back ten minutes later with a plastic bag, all probably for two drinks worth about $1.50 each!! Hibel from Patacones Pisao, the Columbian Cafe that served great veggie food, including bean and cheese crepes and the most amazing coffee. He also provided bikes for our day trip to the eggy smelling Agua Blanca in Machallila park, and who also gave the boys a run for their money when we had some games sessions at his establishment after our eats there. The patient couple at the Whale Cafe who always got cleaned out by us when we brought visiting groups in to see them, and never complained if we only ordered a coffee but sat and read there for 3 hours! Enrique the engineer, who very specifically wanted me to take pictures of us and the lads on the project and who treated all of us like his own children whilst we worked with him. The builders on site who took so much stick from Dave and worked away despite whatever challenging weather conditions presented themselves. The guys who ran the internet cafe where Taylor and I both spent a small fortune, updating photos and contacting our nearest and dearest. Last but certainly not least, the lovely Stella and Jose, the managers of the hostal we stayed in for over four weeks. It was really lovely to be fussed over by Stella and being made fun of by her husband Jose. They are from Argentina and they were so helpful, kind and patient with us and Stella even made us all empaņadas and a giant cake for a leaving party do. We gave Jose some playing cards, as they love to play poker and Stella loves tie dye so we got her a scarf and some jewellery. I will definitely miss Stella and the patient slowed-down conversations she had with Karen and I and the fun she made of David and Paul when any mention of "novias" was made!!! It was definitely a shock to the system for us to arrive with a jolt into Quito during rush hour. It was sooo cold!!! Back to the altitude and hustle and bustle of a city for a few days, to gather ourselves together for the big expedition. We returned to our ususal haunts; Papaya Net for phoning and emailing and cake, Xococoa for an Oompa Lumpa special (chocolate fondue), a trip to the camping shop to get more waterproof gear, (Karen, Taylor and my bags got the chemical toilet leakage ALL over them during the 13 hour bus journey, so everything had to be washed and more precautions taken, other people's piss, euw). A visit to Red Hot Chilli Peppers for some great cocktails and Mexican and a reunion with the rest of our glorious little group and off to La Bungas to celebrate a Paddy's Day in Ecuador!! We are all together in Tena now (a 6 hour ride from Quito) kind of in the jungle, quite warm, full of sandflies but chilled out and welcoming. Oh my god, the hostel we stayed in housed the most comfortable beds we had had in weeks. Fans too!! the rooms had fans! We have such a lovely group that it took seconds to get back in the swing again, Taylor got a birthday t-shirt, hat and book from us and we shared our illness, accident and drinking stories and then packed all of our stuff for the 9 weeks of excitement ahead. We are rafting tomorrow which should be fun, grade 3 rapids and all, then we are off to Baņos for a few days, followed by Cuenca. This is gonna be so much fun!!!
We're working in Machalilla National Park on a 3-year VentureCo project supporting local communities. Our first task is to build a bunk-house with kitchen and living room that future VentureCo groups and other volunteers will use as their base. Iīm sure all and sundry would have had a great laugh at us guys on project the last few days; using a pick axe and shovelling dirt for foundation trenches, building steel reinforcements for the concrete columns by hand, carry stones round the site in our bare arms (there is not much money or electricity here for power tools). We have even been single-handedly bending the steel rods for the enforcements with a wrench, a log, a set square and some rusty nails as guides. Quite randomly, a mum and an army of children wandered into the site today and just started gabbling to me in espaņol. I managed a bit, but they speak so much faster here than in Quito. All the builder dudes (who are sooo much quicker then us yet so much smaller, and they do it all in their bare feet!.) thought it was hilarious when I started calling Dave names in espaņol; things like monkey, donkey and chico loco. It definitely helped to break the ice between the Venturers and the local builders. Iīm glad because Iīm sure that during our first few days on site they thought we were more of a hindrance than a help sometimes. Bite-wise, the deet stuff has started working and we are less of an insect feast now, though that stuff stings! It also kinda rubs off sun cream, so for every part of your body you have to decide whether youīd rather get burnt or bitten! We are working right through until Saturday afternoon, (8am-6pm on a building site every day, I will look like a bloke soon) and then we have until Wednesday off because itīs CARNAVAL!! Basically this means we couldnīt get the locals to work on those days so we all get time off! At carnival everyone throws water at each other. Dunno why yet... The rest of the group are making the 12 hour bus journey to visit us from Thursday, on the proviso that they help us on site too. They are gonna be so jealous when they see the beach and our hostal, but so NOT jealous when they see how much work we have to do!
We're now in Puerto Lopez, in Machalilla National Park on the cost. We all went for a wee swim after dinner today. It was so nice to be in the sea and there were a few good crashing waves. The air here is cleaner but thicker than in Quito. You could feel the air slowly becoming different as we descended the mountains on our bus journey. That was a long arrival. 12 hours to get here and a locked toilet on the bus. Nice. Still, we had some of the most spectacular window candy I have ever seen. Someone famous once said "the journey is the destination", canīt remember who but I agree in this case. It was amazing just how many different vistas we were treated to on our way. Rainforest and jungly-type foliage. Massive trees with leaves bigger then me, shrubs, palms, vultures, donkeys, chickens, millions of dogs, lying absolutely everywhere, waterfalls, up in the clouds and down towards the sea, sandy little shanty towns and one or two bustling busy places. Nightclubs which were basically walled open-air arenas in the middle of the mountains, pimped up motorcycles and cars in the most unlikely of places. Men playing cards leisurely, and watching us go by as part of their routine. People trying to sell us stuff at every opportunity, getting on and off and up and down our coach with great mission and balance and never spilling a drop or losing sight of a haggling objective. Neat and tidy little white washed shrines and churches, obviously loved and heavily subsidised by someone or everyone. Little shacks made out of flimsy bits of wood, old bin liners and aluminium, with cracks running all the way down to the foundations, but cherished enough to have a print a bit like wallpaper on the outside. However, when we did finally near our prize of Puerto Lopez, the happiness on every one of my fellow Venturers' faces was priceless. After a long sweaty journey, and very little sleep it was so relieving to see the sea; the sun gloriously setting over it. When we got here and followed our much missed leader, Paul, to the hostal, we were invited in by a lovely middle-aged Argentinian couple who could not have been more welcoming. The Hostal (Columbia) is all wooden, but with hot running water and pretty coloured mosquito nets on the bed and loads of hammocks for us to recover after our manual labour. I am gonna like this place.
After careering off my mountain bike at great speed, my bruises are gaining momentum now, the whole of my left thigh is monstrous. Itīs kind of swollen as well, so is my hip, in fact I have bruises everywhere. Sarah J fell off her bike too and sprained her ankle, our poor fill-in leader was very stressed about all the injuries! Last night we all went on a "chiva" (pronounced CHEEBA). Itīs a party bus: they give you whistles and a flag and a cup of weird hot cinnamon alcohol. A live local band sits at the front at the top (itīs an open top bus We all wore hats and our happy hippie pants, we must have looked mental. I am sooo surprised that no-one came off the bus, we had to duck under tunnels and telephone cables!! Andrea and Taylor were so uncoordinated, they just fell over all of the time. We stopped in the old town in the massive sqaure and we had to do a big dance in a circle, then theygrabbed three girls (I was one of them) and three lads and we had to have a mini dancing competition,though none of us knew what for. I was pronounced the ladies' winner and Taylor was pronounced the men's winner and we were made king and queen of the Chiva... this basically meant I got a chiva bus t-shirt and Taylor won a bottle of liquor, then we had to dance together with everyone laughing at us and clapping. Then we headed back to Gringo Landia and we all hopped into "Level"; a nightclub that plays Argentinian reggaton and hip hop, and the drinks are ridiculously cheap. Oh dear.
Well, well, mucho has happened since my last entry. For a start all of our pobre espagnol is improving. We have moved onto our second teachers and are about to embark on more vocab. Yikes. Since I last wrote, we have been tubing down some muy fuerte rapids in Mindo, been to a Saposarium (frog house), jumped off a small cliff into a waterfall, danced on the tables at a reggaton nightclub, walked up the steepest steps EVER, to the Statue that overlooks Quito, which, when we returned, we found out is the most famously dangerous path through one of the poorest parts of Quito. Nice. We have been to the Equator, played far too many games of truth or dare, and there have been some drastically new haircuts courtesy of one of our temporary guides, a cheap pair of clippers and some bleach. We watched "The Motorcycle Diaries" with the Spanish teachers, tried to learn salsa, have been covered in insect bites, burnt loads (no factor seems quite high enough for this altitude), and gained a plethora of injuries from stys and sprains to cuts and bruises. We have found out many interesting and surprising things about our co Venturers, chosen our projects (one on the coast near a small place called Puerto Lopez and one in Quito), been to a casino, got bored and persuaded some of the girls to leave the boys to it and go to a non-gringo land club. Tomorrow some of us will bike down Cotopaxi and the rest of the group will climb up it. The highest active volcano in existence, apparently. I might die of altitude sickness or just faint due to my great levels of "not-fit-enough-ness". My camera is temporarily kaput and the Spanish school is feeding us far too much. We have discovered that beer here isn't so bad, especially seeing as it's 1/4 as strong and half the price of Cuba Libres!! Expect reports of limb damage and sunburn from the volcano... Love and peace as usual, Emma xx
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