South America: May 2009

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

C'est le Pérou

Je suis bien content d'avoir visité le Perou. C'est magnifique, les paysages sont très divers, les gens sont sympathiques, la cuisine est très bonne.

Cuzco est une belle ville, même si c'est aussi le ghetto des touristes. Le chemin de l'Inca et le Machu Pichu etait fantastique. Je considérais que la visite du Machu Pichu etait l'un des grands moment du voyage et je n'ai pas été déçu.

On a vu les lignes de Nazca. Ces lignes représentent des formes qui ne peuvent être vu que du ciel. La civilisation pre-Inca qui a dessiné ces lignes, n'avait évidemment pas d'avion, ce n'était donc pas pour leur plaisir, mais pour celui des Dieux.

L'oasis dans le désert près de Ica. On a fait du surf dans le sable. Un mec complètement taré nous a conduit dans son buggy a fond la caisse dans le désert. Excellent!

L'experience de la jungle a Iquitos etait grandiose. On a vu plein de d'animaux, j'ai grimpe le long des lianes, conduit la barque a moteur dans la jungle inondee, nagé au milieu des serpents et autres anacondas, bataillé avec des singes a tete rouge.

On a passe 2 jours avec un Shaman en plein milieu de la jungle. La, on a rencontré l'esprit de la foret, et il nous a raconté plein de choses qu'on ne peut pas répéter.

Je me disais que j'allais péter les plombs a cause des moustiques dans la jungle, en fait, c'est pas ca le probleme, c'est les mouches prehistoriques qui piquent, elles s'en foutent de la creme anti-insecte qui tue.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Iquitos, Peru

5-10-09

Getting off the plane and right into a taxi..........we were bombarded with mototaxis, motorcycles, scooters, open air buses. We seemed to be the only car on the road. And actually, that was our only car ride in Iquitos.

Our taxi driver immediatly funneled us into a jungle lodge sales trap. That was fun. We barely had time to get settled into our room before 3 men arrived downstairs to talk to us about their fabulous jungle lodge, and weren´t we lucky, the boss was there himself. Greg and I rolled our eyes as he offered to take us to his office but our grimaces turned to grins as he offered up his motorcycle as a means to get there.

Greg grabbed the bike (and me) and off we went into a sea of motorcycles and mototaxis, with no helmet and flipflops (sorry Dad!). It was really fun, although the ride lasted about 6 minutes.

After some negotiating we decided to go with this guy to his jugle lodge (not always the best move to pick the first giy who comes along). But the price was good and we would have our own guide.

We ate lunch at an american expats´ restaurant, fried aligator and BBQ ribs (he came from Texas 30 years ago for the oil in the region). After lunch we wandered through the dead streets as it was Sunday and Mothers Day, everything was closed. It didnt matter though, the jungle was already relaxing us.

The next day we were surprised to find 3 Peruvians arrive on time to take us to the lodge. We had to travel by car for 1 hour and then by boat for 1 hour to arrive. We took off with our guide, Mike (or May as they say) and arrived for lunch at the lodge.

After lunch we took off on our first adventure, and everyday we had amazing expereinces! A few of the highlights were:

- Holding a sloth

- Iguana spotting
- Pirahna fishing
- Monkeys on our boats

- Swimming in the amazon with pink dolphins

- Climbing tarzan trees
- Taratulas

- Ant watching
- Putting out hands in a termite nest, they are a natural mosquito repellent

The scenery is wonderful, the cloud breathtaking and the noises enchanting. The smells take you away and gliding over the glassy water offers peace and tranquility. The night sounds lull you to sleep and the rain cools the air. La selva es magica.

The jungle is truly a special place and not as scary as one thinks. There is a reality to it all and nothing like the movies.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Lima

5-6-09

¨What a mess¨, was all we thought entering the city from the south. There was traffic, smog, pressing amounts of noise and brown seemed to be the reoccuring color.

We were arriving from Hucachina, a small desert oasis, where we spent a few blissful days relaxing in the sun, enjoying a rollercoasterish dune buggy ride, sandboarding and hanging out with new friends.

Lima promised find gourmet food- all travelers we have met say Lima is where it is at for food in South America.

After we found a place to drop the backpacks, we took a taxi to find some sushi. It was expensive and disspointing, so we had a sandwich after. =)

Lima is a hige city and the wealthy areas look stragely like Los Angeles, old LA that is. I kept tripping out over how much it was like the US. There was even a Whole Foods type store, which we wandered around in just looking. Since we were covered by a thick gloomy fog, we spent our time eating, sleeping, walking and we watched the new Star Trek in the theatre. It was not our most exotic stop thusfar.

But I did get to eat good sushi! Twice=)