Machu Pichu!!

And so it was time for my next adventure.....a 4 day jungle trek to Machu Pichu. We left last Wednesday from Cuzco and drove high into the mountains, and then spent the 1st day downhill mountain biking. Good fun! We stayed the night in a little town and spent the next day trekking for about 8 hrs or so, along part of the actual Inca trail to Machu Pichu. It was a bit hard going at times with the altitude but good hard work! The Jungle was amazing! We picked fruit along the way, crossed rivers on scary old cable cars and then as a reward for all the hard work chilled out in some hot springs at the end of the day.

Friday we trekked to Agua Callientes (the town you stay in right near Machu Pichu) and had a bit of a rest. Then Saturday was the big day! We got up at 5am to beat the big tour buses and caught a bus up to Machu Pichu - an amazing preserved town of the ancient inca civilisation - perched on the top of a mountain at about 2500m (see last 2 pics above). It was really amazing, and the setting was gorgeous. It was a bit rainy for us but the mist and cloud really added to the atmosphere.

We got back to Cuzco Saturday night and spent the night dancing away. Good fun and a good reward for our hard efforts! Yesterday had a bit of a sleep in before going to see a local shaman here who read the coca leaves for me (just like you would read tarot cards). Very interesting! To top the day of had a nice massage as well =)

Doing a bit of sightseeing around Cuzco the next couple of days before heading to Lima tomorrow night. Then Im flying up to Mexico on Saturday to meet up with lovely Anna and were going to travel together for a while. Yay! Cant wait xo Ps. The 1st two pictures are of Lake Titicaca.

On the gringo trail......

Hola Everyone,

Well what a busy week! Last Tuesday I went mountain biking down the worlds most dangerous road. Its just outside of La Paz and you go from almost 5000m and ride down the mountain on paved (and mostly unpaved) road into the jungle at 1000 and something metres. It was really crazy! As ive never really been mountain biking before it was pretty full on, I stacked it a couple of times, but got back on the bike and kept going. Lots of fun!

We were supposed to leave La Paz on Wednesday but there was a transport strike and road blocks and so we couldnt get out. So we decided to have a chill out day, went and saw a movie and enjoyed La Paz =)

Thursday hopped on a bus to Copacabana, a lovely, chilled out town on Lake Titicaca - the highest navigatable lake in the world at something like 4000m. On Friday we took a boat trip out on the lake to Isla del Sol (Island of the sun) and trekked from one side to the other. It was a great trek and the views were amazing!

Saturday we left Copacaban and Bolivia behind - and travelled to Peru! We stayed in Puno the night, which is also on Lake Titicaca. Sunday we took a local boat and visited the floating islands - islands made entirely of reeds floating on the lake where people live in houses made of reeds. Very cool. We then vistited another island on the lake and stayed the night with a local family. We also partook in a bit of traditional dancing which was fun!!

Yesterday we visited one of the other islands on Lake Titicaca and had a beautiful sunny day. Lovely! In the afternoon we got back into Puno and then hopped on a bust to Cusco - tourist central. Got into Cusco 2am this morning! Today just wandered around Cusco and checked out the city. Its nice but very touristy as all people visiting Machu Pichu use Cusco as a base.

Well im off tommorrow on a 4 day mountain biking and jungle trek to Machu Pichu! Should be really fun! Unfortunately I cant put pics from the last week on this computer but next time I promise lots of pics from Lake Titicaca and Machu Pichu!!!

The Pampas......

Hola!

Well I have just come back from a lovely few days in the Pampas (Wetlands) of Bolivia. From La Paz last week (can´t remember the day!) I took a 18 hr bus ride along an incredibly bumpy dangerous road to Rurrenbaque, the town close to the Pampas. The next day I left off on my tour.

The first day we cruised down the river and had a look at the wildlife basking at its edge - like the Capybara, the worlds biggest rodent, and black caiman´s (see pictures above), alligators, monkeys - the list goes on!

The next day we went wading throught the pampas, through waist high water at times in the search of anacondas, but alas, none were to be found =( That afternoon we went swimming with the pink river dolphins. That was the best part of the pampas for me. Really amazing!

On our last day we went fishing for piranhas (see picture above of one caught) before heading back to Rurrenbaque. Not suprisingly I opted to fly back to La Paz from Rurrenbaque yesterday. Had a relaxed day checking out the city and met up with some friends for dinner and a few drinks.

Today went on a bit of a shopping spree at the witches markets here - where they sell among many things - llama foetus´s (wierd! supposed to be good luck). These weren´t on my shopping list but I finally got my own hammock so I can string it up anywhere I like now and rock myself to sleep. Aaaaahhhhhhh.

Off tommorrow to cycle the worlds most dangerous road....Will keep you posted!

Photo´s:
1 of my lovely macaws, me and one of the monkeys (please ignore fat neck!), one of the spider monkeys, Quirqui one of the puma´s and I, and the bird girls - me and courtney at halloween.



Hi all =)

How are you all going??

Well yesterday was my last day volounteering in Villa Tunari. Although I´m still here today as unfortuntaley I´ve got a bit of an upset tummy and need to rest before I head off to La Paz tomorrow....

































The last week has been really cool. The animals have a routine and so we are doing the same thing every day but something exciting always happens. Like when Courtney and I were going to feed our birds and got ambushed and surrounded by the head guys of the capagan monkey gang, and had to hide in the office until they went away =( Or when we got a new boa constrictor to look after!!! We did have an anaconda but he escaped into the jungle somewhere =L Anyway our boa is BEAUTIFUL and almost 3m long. We had to force feed her the other day as she wasn´t eating and it took for of us to hold her and get her to eat. She´s so strong!! Amazing.....

We had a couple of fun parties the past week too, especially halloween where everybody really got into it and dressed up. Fun!!

Have fun! Chau xo