Second day in the jungle

Today we did a hike into the jungle/rain forest to see some waterfalls and wildflife.



First step was to cross the river, slightly unstable boat, but we made it over ok.



Lots and lots of ants... didn´t see much else, but heard some monkeys.



Then we rafted down the river back to where we started. All in all a pretty full on day.



Got the bus back at about 9ish, thank God it was dark, don´t think I could have taken another terrifying journey.

Back in Cusco now, it´s pretty chilly.

In the jungle

So, who would have thought that the jungle would be cold! Apparently it´s only cold for maybe 3 or 4 days of the year...

First day in the jungle and we head off to a locla hacienda to go horse trekking,



Before getting onto the horses we took some time to explore the farm and the wildlife, all of which is remarkably tame:



The monkey took some coaxing before he´d climb on me, apparently people with hair are much nicer to cuddle.



Here´s a field of pineapple plants:



Along with an abandoned plane - it wasn´t clear if the plane had crashed here or if it had just been left... You have to wonder what it would have been used for, we think smuggling.



After looking at a few more animals, including some edible snails we took the horses up to a local village to visit the people and take photos of the kids.



Then it was back to the hacienda for a nice warm fire.



Getting up to the village had been a nice leasurely walk, coming back we acutally got up to a gallop! I have ot say, despite the complete lack of control and the high likeliehood of falling off, the gallop is a lot more comfortable than anything else the horse does. It´s also pretty exciting, might have to take up horse riding when I get back...

Welcome to the Jungle

With Guns and Roses playing in our heads we went into the Jungle on Monday morning. After what can only be described as a perilous bus journey over some quite rough mountains and down some pretty steep roads we stopped off at a small local village for lunch and a browse through the markets - potatoes seem to feature a great deal.



Then it was back on the road for some an even more frightening bus journey we finally reached our destination, a small town in the cultural region of Manu national park. Luckily they´d built a nice new bridge so we didn´t have to cross this one!



I guess not much new stuff makes it out here, lots of pretty old trucks lying around.



Lovely views of the mountains that we´d just come over:



And here´s our intrepid group:



Lots of fresh produce to buy. Pineapples going for just 10 centimes - that´s about 6 pence!

Football in Cusco

This Sunday just gone a few of us went to watch the local football team. Getting tickets was an interesting experience:



And the appalling football was more than made up for by the fans.

Cusco

Dreadful bus journey. For some reason they started playing pan pipe music at 7am. Good views out of the window though.

Cusco is 3380m above sea level! It´s going to take a bit of time to get acclimatised.

Mexico revisited

Met up with Amy from the Mexico trip last night who´s down here visiting family. Going to have to watch those Pisco Sours in the future, they are deadly strong! But my Spanish definitely seemed to improve...

This afternoon jumping on the bus to Cuzco to meet Jeremy, another Mexico amigo.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Went out exploring the town today. First stop Plaza San Martin.



Then onto Plaza Armas, was hoping to catch the changing of the guard. The guide book says 12pm sharp, the hostel says 11:45am, the local policeman says; "It's running late, maybe 12:30". In Latin America, nothing is on time...



Usual obligatory big church - there's a fair few of them here.



But this one was actually quite interesting, big crypts. Sadly no photographs allowed so you'll have to imagine the 4 meter deep containers of thigh bones and skulls.... I think that I have definitely played too many computer games where skeletons suddenly come to life to really enjoy this kind of place.

Photos from Isobella island

Text to come...

San Cristobal

After a day on Santa Cruz I took the ferry over to San Cristobal to catch up with a friend I met in Quito.

Not sure why, but the incredible hulk goes fishing here.



A long walk into the wilderness we find a slightly more serious statues of the man himself, Charlse Darwin!



And over dinner we´re serenating by the sounds of sealions...



Ended up spending almost a week on San Cristobal. It´s quite nice at the moment as the airport is closed to big planes. The only people here were volunteers, locals and a few people from yachts. All good things come to an end though and it was time to jump on a plane and fly to Isobella.

Photos from Galapagos (Santa Cruz)

Here´s the photos from after I got back from the boat trip and spent a day or so back on Santa Cruz.



There´s a very nice beach here, but it is a long 45 minute - 1 hour walk!



Definitely worth it, if you get out here early enough then you have the place pretty much to yourself.



And after a walk along the mile of beach and after bypassing the guards



you come to a beautiful lagoon where you can snorkel and rent kayaks.