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So I haven´t managed to do a blog entry in a long time. Sorry for that! We´ve been moving pretty quickly this past week or so and I haven´t really had time.
So! After that last entry we had a day visitingLake Quilatoa. It´s a huge mineral lake in the crater of a massive volacano. It´s absolutly beautiful and getting there was fun too! We got a bus to the nearest sizeable town and then a pickup truck the rest of the way. The views were incredible even before we got there. When we made it we decided to trek down to the bottom and get a horse ride back up to the top since it was our first time a true altitude and were feeling the effects of it quite a bit. Unfortunately I got the slow/lazy horse and ended up lagging about 5 min behind the others!
Steph and Paul unfortunately became very sick with the altitude and so we had to try move as quickly as possible to a lower altitude. We took a bus to the next major city down, called something like Ambato. We then had to find any bus going in even vaguely the right direction so ended up on a 6 hour jouney to Guayaquil on the coast. The bus was pretty scary on the mountain roads in the pitch black with lightening storms in the background! So we ended up in a bus terminal trying to get another bus south at about 3:00 in the morning. Thankfully we found a man and his young daughter who were travelling the ame route who spoke English and they let us tag along over the boarder into a coastal city called Mancora. We had no problems crossing the boarder, although by the time we made it to Mancora we were all shattered!
Mancora had lovely beaches so we had a lazy day there before getting onto the next bus to take us even further south and more inland. Paul decided to pay the extra to get a bed bus out that evening while us girls decided to rough it a bit and not bother paying the extra. All would have been well except we turned up to catch our bus to find it had been cancelled! Paul went merrily on his way while we had to wait another 5 hours to catch one later that evening half the way down. The idea was that we would then be able to get another bus the rest of the way, no problem, and arrive in Lima only 8 hours later than planned! It wasn´t quite that simple, surprise surprise, but we got there in the end and met back up with Paul.
So after a day to see the sights we flew out to Iquitos in the Amazon to start our 3 day tour the next day. On the first day in the jungle we dumped our bags in the lodge, an amazing local-style hut complex built from wood and leaves, and went for a guided walk into the jungle. Our guide showed us lots of different types of plants and explained their uses. He also showed us some prhistoric birds, some spiders and a lot of bugs! After that we went to a local outdoor zoo where you can play with the animals. There were really cheeky m,onkeys which stole stephs earings and used you like a climbing frame. There was also a sloth, which I ot to hold, and s the weirdest thing I have ever seen! There were also parots, tarantulas, a tortoise and a strang prehistoric turtle thing. There was also a HUGE snake ( a ring boa I think) which we got to hold!
That night we went for a night walk in the jungle to sot giant frogs. There were so many of them all over the place! And they really are GIANT! We also got to see some more strange bugs and spot some southern hemisphere constalations.
The next day we got to visit a local tribe and see their traditional costumes and dance. We also got to have a go at their blow dart guns! I ended up buying one! Later that day we went for a swim in the Amazon River. It was so much fun but also a little unnerving as you can´t see beneath the surface for all the mud. We then visited another local village to see how they live.
The next morning we got up early to go birdwatching from the canoe. We saw so many different kinds, including the prehistoric ones and fly catchers. We also saw giant lillypads and a snake! Later that day we flew back to Lima and stayed in an area called Miraflores and had a night out. The next day we went paragliding off the cliffs by the coast in the city. I wasn´t scared, which was odd! You feel very secure in the harness and the views were amazing, both of the sea and the city.
In the evening we went to a waterfountain park. Theyre absolutly beautiful, all lit up in the dark. Some are set to music and there were lots of different kinds. It was a really nice evening. The next day we got a 22 hour bus journey to Cusco, which is where I am now. We´ve had a couple of days here so far. Tomorrow we go white water rafting in the sacred valley before joining up with the GAP people inthe evening in preparation for the start of the trek the day after. I can´t wait!
Sorry this has been such a rushed blog, there was a lot to get through! The next blog will come if I make it through the Inca Trail! It´s gonna be tough!
xxx
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