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Latest news: Patagonia Venture 11 brave giant insects, thieving monkeys and a Bolivian election in their 2nd update. The Team:
From: Gavin Saxton After a free day to recover from the Inca Trail, and the all-night sesh which followed, it was finally time to leave Cusco. Bit sad about that - after eight weeks there it was starting to feel like a home from home. However, the next few days kept us busy enough. First stop was Puno, about which there's not a lot to be said except that it's on the shores of Lake Titicaca and serves as a base for visiting the Floating Islands - man-made islands of reed beds out on the Lake, on which a couple of thousand people still live. Then it was time to head for Bolivia: you can say what you like about VentureCo leaders (and most of the time we do) but when the bus broke down on the way to the border it was Paul and Wilson themselves who rolled up their sleeves and fixed it (with gaffer tape). Then, passing quickly through a village where the locals stoned their mayor to death earlier this year, we reached border control. Neil and Jess were recognised as dangerous fugitives and made to pay a fine before leaving Peru, but with that out the way we headed to the sleepy town of Copacabana for two nights. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, and you can tell the difference: things have a slightly more ramshackle feel to them, the roads and vehicles are in worse nick, and you have to play guessing games in the restaurants to find out which of the items on the menu are actually available. The beer tastes every bit as bad as the Peruvian stuff as well, although those with a more highly developed palate for lager assure us that it's actually even worse. We had a day out on the lake on the Isla del Sol, then headed for La Paz. La Paz is a bit mental but we all liked it, it's so bustly that it feels much bigger than its million or so inhabitants, and the streets are crowded with market stalls where you can buy more or less anything, like the decorated dead frogs and dried llama foetuses in the Witches' Market. We had a couple of days in the city, and some of the group went mountain biking but, surprisingly given our track record thus far, all returned without serious injury. Next up was the Choro Trail, the second trek of the trip. The guidebooks mostly warn you off this in the wet season (ie: now) but in the event we got pretty lucky with the weather, especially on the first day when we had glorious views on the climb up to the high pass. After that, the Trail is "all downhill" (apart from the uphill bits) and it was a really good three and a bit day walk down through the cloudforest, finishing up down below high altitude for the first time in a couple of months. Nice to be able to breathe normally again. The Trail over, we stocked up on home-made biscuits from the nunnery in Coroico, then settled in for a very bumpy and dusty fourteen hour bus ride to Rurrenabaque - well done to the driver for his eleven-point turn over a cliff edge when we found the road blocked shortly after setting out. Rurrenabaque is a base for trips into the jungle, so we had a day and a night out there (and no matter how many times Paul does these trips, it seems he'll never get tired of the "it's a jungle out there" line). The jungle is much as you'd expect - hot and humid with lots of trees. You can hear a lot of wildlife but we didn't see much, except for some ridiculously big insects. [Like the one which landed on my (Gavin's) hand of cards that evening, causing me to cover myself in glory by throwing the cards in the air and jumping about two feet backwards.] More interesting was the subsequent two night trip to the Pampas, the riverside grassland where there was much more to be seen (mostly from the small wooden boats on which we toured the area): lots of birds, pink dolphins, capybara, crocodiles (not least Pedro, the semi-tame one who lives around the camp) and - most fun - the monkeys, which have cottoned on to the idea that passing tourists mean food. Hold up a banana in the right place and the squirrel monkeys will clamber all over you (and each other) and rip it to bits. The downside of the Pampas is that there are even more mosquitoes than in the jungle, so we were covered in bites as we returned to Rurrenabaque. Here we found the flight back to La Paz cancelled, and with the Bolivian elections next day we were stuck for two nights. Disappointing to miss out on more time in La Paz, but no one is downhearted, we're still on schedule and there's so much to look forward to over the next six weeks. Jacqs / Gavin
From: Kevin Garlick and Gemma Rogers After only 2 hours into our big adventure, emergency alarm bells were already ringing when we found ourselves to be one member down (i.e. Kev) at the transfer from Madrid to Buenos Aires. However, not to fear he was found already with his flight socks on sipping vino, wondering where on earth the group had got too!! (This was to be a taste of things to come…..!) In Buenos Aires we were met by our first Ventureco leader, Jez. Luckily for him he only had us for one night before we were shipped off at the crack of dawn the following morning to Lima……..where we met Bridget (leader #2). From here our whistle-stop tour of the western coast of Peru began……. First stop Pisco – an early morning boat trip around the Islas de Ballestas (dolphins, gazillions of poo-pooing birds – poor Emma and Steve! – and not forgetting the smelly sea lions). It was brilliant and was then followed by a swift tour around a Pisco winery, where muchos free sampling was undertaken followed by copious purchases for the adventure ahead. The great day was completed with an afternoon being flung round the sand-dunes of Huachina in a ´Mad Max´ style sand-buggy….not to be missed! Next stop Nasca – amazing views were enjoyed by those who could stomach the hair-raising, acrobatic flight over the lines (sick bags for ´Frat-Boy´ a.k.a Neal!), after which a lazy, sunny afternoon was enjoyed by most relaxing round the poolside. However this was short lived as we were faced with a 4 hour delay to a 10 hour night bus to Arequipa….nice! Once in Arequipa, all was forgiven as we enjoyed a relaxing lunch and cultural afternoon viewing monasteries and museums, followed by our first official night out on the tiles with the locals. After a short flight, we were excited to finally arrive in Cusco which was to be our home for the next 3 weeks. After being paired off and assigned to our surrogate mums, we prepared ourselves for our first day at ´Amigos´ Spanish school. We soon managed to slip into a daily routine of early mornings, hangovers and homework, with a good dosing of Latin-American Spanish. Lessons are well structured, with 2 hours of grammar and 2 hours of conversational classes, between which we had the opportunity to practice our newfound Spanish skills (or lack of!) with the local school children. Afternoons are spent exploring the cultural delights of Cusco – so much to see! – including a local footie match, and bungee jumping for the hardcore adrenaline junkies of the group. The third highest bungee in the world was conquered, at 122 metres, in rain and hail! Special mention to Gav for his total disregard for technique!! Ouch…! Weekends have been spent further afield discovering various Inca ruins…. The first weekend was a combination of hiking in Pisac, and mountain biking around the Sacred Valley. This was the first real eye-opener to the levels of fitness required at altitude, and the first major casualties of the trip involving copious amounts of bruises, cuts and broken bones - nice one Dave and Kev! This was followed by another weekend’s trek through new terrain - led by our illustrious leader Paul! - with a night’s kip on some Inca terraces (accompanied by wild mountain pigs) and waking up to amazing mountain views. Fitness was put to the test once again, especially those who had to carry extras for the wounded a.k.a Kev…again…(well done Gem!) So, the last week has been a busy, planning for the first half of our community work in the middle of nowhere, Curao, buying pots, pans and most importantly, planning for birthdays, Halloween and fireworks night! It’s gonna be great fun……..! Gem and Kev
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