Sorry about the lack of contact- my electronics always seem to run out of charge at the same time and it takes a while to get them all up and running again. Plus time has been precious in my final week in Cusco! Can´t believe its nearly over!
The last day of school was great- there was a big presentation/goodbye at the school for the "amigos australianos"- we were given gifts, confetti was thrown in our hair, and we received countless hugs from the forever affectionate kids.
We managed to complete the build just in time and it looks great- something we can really be proud of. Liza (Lauren’s replacement) complimented us on being such a great group- apparently we´ve taken classes seriously and the teachers have noticed real progress in their kids, which is really satisfying for us.
We also scraped together $US20 each to buy a much needed photocopier/printer/scanner for the school which we presented on the final day as well. We also enjoyed the first meal in the Restaurant which we built. I got to officially open the restaurant by smashing a pot hanging from the front door- not entirely sure of the significance of the pot-smashing but was an honour nevertheless.
I should also update you on the amazing Bolivia trip from last week, because it was really a great adventure. We took a night bus from Cusco to Puno, a high altitude Peruvian city built on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Again, the long night trip took it out of us, but we didn´t have much time to rest- within an hour we were being driven to the pier to start our overnight Lake tour. We met our guide Ruben on board our boat, and we were off, sailing across the vast expanses of glassy water. Our first stop was the famous "floating islands" a series of tiny patches of crushed reeds that exist as homes and business centers for local family groups. It was truly another world- golden islands of dried reeds, supporting little reed huts and humble fisherman families. Reed canoes and boats floated gracefully in this wonderfully serene, yet equally bizarre environment.
We then travelled three hours by boat to the distant island of Amantani, our stop for the night. Upon our arrival we were greeted by the local families adorned in traditional garb. We met our host sister who led us to her home- a small, yet comfortable house with unbelievable views of the island and lake. A much needed lunch was followed by a few rounds of Muña tea, a local brew compared to menthol, great for altitude and stomach pain.
The night on the island was great fun. After dinner we dressed in traditional clothes (poncho and chullo) and headed for the local town hall for a night of dancing. The band, complete with panpipes, flutes, guitars and percussion, were amazing, and we soon forgot about the cold as we danced around and around in circles.
The following morning, after a delicous breakfast of pancakes Lake Titicaca style, we made our way down to the pier for our trip to nearby Tequile island, which proved to be perhaps even more beautiful than Amantani.
We walked for about an hour along the hill face until we reached the main plaza, enjoying spectacular views along the way.After a quick look at the Artesian hall we made our way to our restaurant for lunch- veggie soup plus grilled trout with chips and rice- was tops.
We walked again for another half hour to the other side of the island, and as we descended the hill we were greeted with more stunning views of the Lake. Our boat then took us all the way back to Puno, another 3 hour trip. We arrived late afternoon, and after some time chilling in the hostel, we went out for dinner and a look at the local nightlife- it was non-existent so it wasn’t a late night- and besides we were all pretty tried.
We woke up early the next day for our bus trip into Bolivia, destination La Paz. On the way we stopped at Tawinakay, a very important historical Incan site which once housed a series of temples dedicated to their gods. Much of it was destroyed by the Spanish, but the collection of artifacts in the museum, and the remnants in the field were really interesting.
We reached La Paz late that afternoon, arriving at our very comfortable hostel. After some more time spent relaxing we went out for dinner at a very cool Mexican place. We took a look at Prado, the main street, before heading back to bed.
After a nice sleep in and breakfast we made use of a few hours to go shopping along the market streets before our scheduled city tour. Our guide took us along the main street to the southern side of the city, where high rise buildings and traffic give way to a much more attractive landscape- an impressive valley of weathered red stone and cacti. We stopped at El Parque de Luna- an area of sandy coloured rock formations jutting out of the earth, reminiscent of the moons landscape. We then made our way to an older part of the city with a panoramic lookout and an attractive colonial street, filled with brightly coloured European terrace homes.
We drove directly from the city to the airport for our flight to the Amazonian jungle. From La Paz we flew in a small plane to Reyes, then we drove a couple of hours to Rurrenbaque, a jungle town where we stayed the night. The next morning we travelled another couple of hours to the national park. After lunch we caught a long river boat up the river to our lodge. The river was unbelievable- an array of wildlife, ranging from alligators, turtles, coppyburras (world´s largest rodent), squirrel monkeys and even pink dolphins, lined the banks, filled the trees and rippled through the water. When we finally arrived at our lodge it was dark and the mozzies were out in force. After dinner we went to bed, pulled over our mosquito nets and went to sleep.
We woke early the next morning to see the sunrise over the amazon- it was beautiful to see the glowing orange light rise above the horizon and cast a warm glow through palm fronds- it was a quintessential jungle experience. We returned to the lodge for breaky before going on an anaconda hunt through the pampas. Our guide found a juvenile in the mud- apparently we were lucky to find one at all.
Our next activity for the day was swimming in the Amazon- we were taken to a reasonably safe part of the river to swim- was a great relief from the stifling heat. We then returned to the hostel for an amazing lunch and a casual siesta, before starting our afternoon activity, fishing for piranahs! As usual I didn´t catch a thing, but our guide got a couple- was really cool to see these fearsome creatures in the flesh- they´re surprisingly small with quite attractive colors, but the teeth are clearly very sharp and vicious.
As the sunset that afternoon, we played soccer on a dirt pitch whilst the girls played volleyball. My feet blistered pretty badly but it was great fun, and really beautiful.
The next morning it was unfortunately time for us to go. We had time for one more activity, a walk through part of the jungle with our guide, who showed us the various plants that are used for medicinal purposes, as food sources etc... was really interesting.
The boat then took us back down river to our taxi, who took us back to Rurrenbaque for our flight back to La Paz. The flight again wasn´t too bad. We spent another night in La Paz before waking up early for our full day bus trip back to Cusco. We got home at about 7pm, tired but buzzing from a great week.
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So that gets you all up to date. Tomorrow morning we start our trek to Macchu Picchu- can´t wait- feeling pretty good at the moment so fingers crossed I´ll be OK from here on in.
Love to all
xoxoxo
Jack
fantastic!!!
ReplyDeletethanks for update
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