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ola!
well not sure last time i blogged, think it was after the inca trail... so from then, i returned to cusco to recouperate, had a day in the sacred valley where got to see more inca ruins and then the day after it was off to the amazon jungle!!
wow,,,, what can i see, since the day i first learnt about the amazon rainforest in Mr. Bonds´s geography lessons i wanted to go and it was certainly not a let down! the jungle brings every sense alive,,, from the beautiful array of greens, bright coloured flowers, exotic fruits growing and obviously the wildlife, to the smells...some trees emit a garlic smell, some a lemon, the odd whiff of mint and then you have the smell of oxygen and moisture when it rains to the sounds...the howler monkey is impressive....can only liken it to somoeone chopping down wood with a saw, but more husky and loud (thats its mating call!), to miniature frogs which make a noise like a goat, to normal monkey noises, birds squawking, parrots talking spanish...believe!! and a horn screamer bird which usesits wholebody in a undulating motion to scream out a hoarse horn type noise..surprisingly when u know the name!!!
the lodge we stayed in was beautiful with lots of wild animals roaming around, and the first meal we were fed was chicken and rice with veg served in a banana leaf!! we then went to the monkey island.... was so fab to see the monkeys swinging around, one mademe squeal out of shock as it swung out of no where above my head!! i also fed some a banana asking after the guide if i could....just lobbed a banana really high and the monkeys just swing intomid air catch the banan and swing to next tree. they are such amazing catchers and acrobats!! maybe each pe teacher should have a monkey as a role model....that would keep the kids attention!!!!
that night we went caiman spotting, didn´t see any, but did the next day, quite a few actually just swimming around or lazing onmud banks!!! second day we went on a jungle walk.... was good, saw a cocoa plant, lime tree,monkeys, frogs, centipedes, tarantulas and lotsof exotic creatures i can´t remember name of as didn´t know they existed previously!! we also went for a little boat ride inlake in middle of jungle, climber across a stream..luckily wearing wellies...but was allso fun and adventurous!!!
my fave part was when it rained though....nothing beats rain in a rainforest!!! the canopy protects you most of the time and then the next minute you are drenched, but it is ssssooo refreshing!!!
was sad to leave the jungle but on last night had started to feel ill so it was also welcomed to head back to a hotel bed....but the 3 hour boat journey and flight were not what i wanted with an upset stomach!!
that night stayed in hotel in cusco, as felt really ill and then next day had a 6hour bus journey which again wasn´t pleasurable....the only saving grace was the bus had a tiolet!! once arrived in Puno, went to bed,,, at night was feeling even worse so much so that called a doctor out to find i had an intestine infection!! nice!!! but once taken some antibiotics and other prescribed drugs felt better and currently feel fab and back on fine form!!
needed to feel better as the next day, we headed to lake titicaca to stay with some indigenous island people!! lake titicaca is huge and proposed to be the half the size of Belgium!!! we visited floating straw islands where people live in straw huts...apparently they still do for a few reasons,,, custom, tourism and because they don´t have to pay tax!! we then headed to Amantani, the island we were staying on...lickily houses were not made of straw!! we met our mummys at the port, mine was called blancho and she took us to her house where she made us quinoa soup for lunch! we then all joined back up to play football with locals and other tourists at 4000metres altitude!! thats tiring!! at tea again we were served food made from scratch by our mummy in a kitchen that was small, had one stove, a small stool and table and rest was just concrete hut! tea was soup and a lentil curry. after tea we gave gifts of sugar, rice, pasta, fruit, colouring books for kids and i also gave away my halloween skeleton costume including face paints....they were puzzled at first but it received lots of smiles and i just hope one of mummy blanco´s offspring get as much pleasure as i did from wearing it!! after gift giving, we were dressed up in their traditional dress...3 skirts so they flow out when u twirl....a pretty embroidered blouse, a colourful belt to hold skirts up and a black head scarf with embroidery on..... and for the girls... haha, no boys got a poncho and a woolly hat!! in all our gear we went to the localcommunity centre or shoukd i say shed and danced with our mummys to a five piece band playing andeanmusic on guitars and pipes!! dancing was like jigging up and down and skipping side to side! lots of fun!!!
next morning we said our muchos gracias and adios and set off for isla tequile for an hour hike and to observe more peru scenery before boating back to puno for the night!!! went out in puno to some nice bars...they all offer games like jenga and packs of cards so was a chilled night out!!
yesterday,,,journey day from hell...menat to be getting a bus at 6.30am, it didn´t arrive til 3.30pm... consequently we were waiting around for along time!! then when it did arrive we had a two hour drive to bolivian border where u have to get stamped out of peru and then walk across a bridge into bolivia and be stamped in!!! we then had to wait another hour or so as the bus broke down and it was touch and go whether the bus would get across the border before it closed!!! it did and finally arrived in la paz at midnight! a long day of doing nothing!!
today am ready to tackle la paz!! there are lots of xmas markets and i have just purchased a santa hat!!! this arvo am doing a city tour of the worlds highest capital! then tomorro as taking on the worldmost dangerous road on mountain bike!! it starts at 4,900metres in snow capped mountains and ends at 1,000metre above sea level in the jungle!!! cannot wait!! aaaaarrrgggghhh!! just practising!!!!
then its onto uyuni for xmas and the salt flats,.... if you look at the photo to match this blog,...thats my view for xmas...its going to be white, but salt rather than snow!!!
have a good one x x x
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