Mark's Stuff

-=[ DAY SEVEN - Fri 16th June ]=-

Surprise, surprise, another early wakeup call, this time to meet our two Inca Trail compatriots for the bus trip to the trail head at Chilca, just 2km shy of Kilometer 82. In the photo from left to right; Kirsty, me, Darren, Bob, Julie & Cindy.

The first day on the trail saw everyone in high sprits, making good pace along the steady incline upwards from about 2800m above sea level to our camp at Yunkachimpa about 600m higher than KM82.

Jeremy had us walk the extra distance one camp further than most other groups so our campsite wasn’t so crowded.
Upon arriving into camp our 12 porters greeted us all with clapping and cheering. Even though they arrived into camp about 2 hours earlier and were each carrying about 25kg of equipment on their backs!

< Ollantaytambo | Inca Trail – Day 2 >

-=[ DAY SIX - Thur 15th June ]=-

This morning we (once again) were up bright and early for a bus ride into Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley. On the way we also stopped at a local community that GAP has been working with to help educate the locals. They were mostly women and children there working with textiles, and their husbands mostly away working as porters. All the Peruvians we have met so far have been extremely friendly, and these villagers were no exception.

Other stops along the way included a walk around the ruins of Pisco, which was our first real training run the Inca Trail (although looking back it was nothing!), and also a visit to a local Chicha house to try their locally brewed corn beer, usually served in a one litre glass. It´s a very refreshing drink and popular amongst porters on the trail when its available.
We also stopped by a llama and alpaca farm before our tour of the ruins at Ollantaytambo. We’ve seen so many ruins already that I forget their Quechuan names. But they never get any less impressive.

< Cuzco | Inca Trail – Day 1 >

-=[ DAY FIVE - Wed 14th June ]=-

Once again an early wake up call had us packing our bags for the return trip to Puerto Maldonado, and then onto Cuzco. Kirsty & I have a habit of turning up at places in the middle of festivals – in this case the start of celebrations for the winter solstice. As a result a lot of the streets of Cuzco were closed to traffic, including the one our hotel was on. Instead it was lined with dozens of food stalls selling mostly beer and roasted guinea pigs – an Andean favourite.

Without too much time to relax, we were straight into a city tour, seeing some of the Incan ruins around the outskirts of Cuzco. I’m pretty much ruined out, and forgot the names of most of the ruins, but one that sticks in my mind is Saqsayhuaman, which is Quechuan for ‘satiated hawk’, or something of the like. It is pronounced ‘Sex-ay woa-man’, or for us westerners just ‘Sexy Woman’.

In the evening, we met our Inca Trail guide Jeremy, as well as Bob & Darren who would be joining us the trail.

< Sandoval Lake | Ollantaytambo >

-=[ DAY FOUR - Tue 13th June ]=-

Up bright and early this morning for a canoe trip around the lake, spotting many birds including hoaxins, herons and snake birds. We also stopped a while to watch the giant otters feeding and playing. Just before getting off the boat, right near the pier we spotted a caiman lying in the shallows.

After brekky our new guide Julian took us on a jungle walk spotting all sorts of camouflaged fauna, and telling us about the different plants and trees in the area, with all the poisonous and medicinal properties.

It was absolutely amazing how he could spot tiny frogs and butterflies which the rest of use could hardly pick out looking through the telescope which he lines up for us!

< Puerto Maldonado | Cuzco >

-=[ DAY THREE - Mon 12th June ]=-

Woke up at 6am to get ready for a 10am flight from Lima to Puerto Maldonado, via a quick passenger drop-off and pick-up at Cuzco. After a short bus trip into town we put most of our luggage into storage, bringing only what was necessary for the jungle. We were all fitted with gumboots and headed into a motor boat for a tasty lunch of fried rice as we headed Eastward down the Madre de Dios toward Lake Sandoval. A 3km hike throught a slochy mud trail took us to the lake, then we got into canoes to go across to the eco-friendly Lake Sandoval lodge.

On the canoe ride we spotted numerous birds as well as a troop of around 50 squirrel monkeys, followed by a family of 11 giant otters.The lodge was very comfortable, and most of the food was caught locally or grown in the vegetable garden.Our guide Oscar took led us on a jungle walk after dark in search of critters – mainly spiders. We were rewarded at the end of the tour, only about 15m from the lodge, with a good sized tarantula.

< Lima Day 2 | Sandoval Lake >