Gringos En Route

Manuel Antonio

2011-01-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

After losing track of time chilling out in Montezuma we made our way to Manuel Antonio. With not inconsistent internet connections and many "no availability" emails from places we checked out in Manuel Antonio...we set out wondering if we'd get a place at New Years as apparently this is the Beverly Hills of Costa Rica and really hard to find anything reasonable.
We found a Beach Front place that looked beautiful on the website and so aimed to land there and see if they had any rooms.
We actually did the the tourist thing this time and booked a direct "gringo" service - private bus from Montezuma to Manuel Antonio. It was super nice for a change and met some really cool people from Montreal.
We are continually amazed at how clean Costa Rica is. They really are into preserving the environment here!
We landed in good time near the village of Manuel Antonio on the coast...and it is magnificent!
The beach front hotel had a room and within 5 minutes we realized why...the manager is certifiably nuts, but thought since it was right on the beach, half reasonable for the area, we'd just try to stay out of her way and chill!
She sure kept us entertained just the same!!!
Anyway, Manuel Antonio is quite similar to America with all the amenities and gringoes, so it was nice to be on the beach away from the commotion with New Years even if it meant putting up with Loco Woman!
We're well rested and ready to come back and face the world. We've had a grand time catching up on three years of lost sleep!
Happy New Year!

Montezuma

2010-12-27T16:31:00.000-08:00

We finally got a bus from Puerto Viejo to San Jose for the night en route to Montezuma. Andrew ate some bad food at our hostel in San Jose and spent a restless night visiting the nearby bathroom...a startling encounter with some naked europeans at 2am woke him up out of a daze though! haha
We got to the bus station just after 5am (so much for sleeping in) in hopes of catching the bus to the beach. The same Europeans were also waiting at the station ordering everyone around trying to form a line up for the bus, but as thëy soon found out, it just made people rush and elbow all the more when the bus finally got there. Ticos don´t like the gringoes telling them what to do in their country!!
Anyway we did manage to get a seat which was fortunate as many had to stand for the 6 hour trip. We crossed on a ferry and found our much sought after sunshine!!!
Montezuma seems to be an over priced hippy town where their charging steep prices for ¨love¨to be added to the food. But so far it´s a nice chill out town. The beaches up the coast are un crowded and beautiful. Andrew got sucked in on the ¨cloudy¨day and got burnt to a crisp, so he´s nursing some tender skin...alas it meant a day of exploring today and we headed up to Mal Pais to check out the surf there. As we were waiting for the bus, we saw the yellow head monkeys playing around and one little guy peeled his banana and had a yummy snack! So cute (and cliche!)
We were sorely disappointed with the beach at Mal Pais..or should I say lack of it. Santa Teresa sported a nicer sandy part with some surfable waves, but we were told Mal Pais was the place to be...hmmm...we think Mal Pais must be the whole region. Nonetheless we had some amazing smoothies and a good 7 km walk in the heat of the day. It´seems to be hottest in the mornings down here with it cooling off with clouds around 1pmish.
Costa Rica is really similar to Panama and I would say Guatemala to an extent too. Very lush and green. Have to say that the Costa Ricans seem much more happy for the Tourism...maybe it´s because they charge an arm and leg, so they´re not worrying about ¨hawking¨as much. It is also much cleaner as a result of Tourism being the main industry here and their dedication to preserving their earth space.
All in all we have found the people to be happy and honest in the general sense, which makes it a dream to travel through.
Anyway we are planning to chill here in Montezuma for a few more days and then make our way over to Manuel Antonio.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
Ciao

Detour

2010-12-23T12:41:00.000-08:00

We woke up to rain again and were glad to hit the boat and up to Costa Rica. So as always, we seem to find adventure. We missed the one bus that would take us all the way to San Jose. When we got to the border crossing from Panama side, we were told to just walk across the rickety bridge to Costa Rica. It's a little sketch with big trucks leaving crossing with all the people...pressing up against some wire, hope, the trucks don't run over the feet and on we go. The line up to Immigration was long and it was seriously hot and humid from all the rain. Once up to immigration (after copius amounts of people budding), the immigration officer sent us back to Panama as they didn't stamp properly. I have to say I was seriously frustrated...good thing Andrew has the patience of Job.
After another couple of hours we got the proper stamping and headed back over to Costa Rica where we caught up the bus heading to San Jose. Andrew negociated our tix and the waiting continued. We finally found out that a truck had run over a lady and one of the ladies on the bus didn't have a passport. So the combined problems meant nobody was going anywhere. Andrew met some frustrated Americans and we all decided to high tail it to the nearest town and catch another bus from there to San Jose. So here we are in a little ocean front cafe listening to the waves, eating fruit and chocolate and desperately trying to find places to stay for Xmas and New Years. I think we're going to need some serious luck.
Our bus jets outta here at 4pm all going well which puts us late into the city with no accommodations lined up (all the places we contacted are full up)...ahhh...the stresses of travelling! Luckily Andrew isn't bothered by any of this and met some guys last night at dinner that own a hostel in San Jose and said we could crash there if all else fails. It sounds like quite the party place and since we are wanting to catch the 6am bus, we're hoping to find something closer to the station.
So it is me who has to learn patience and trust that all will work out as it usually does...
Hope this finds you all well!
Cheers
AnK

Bastimentos

2010-12-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight we're chilling back listening to the jungle come alive at night. We made it over safely from Bocas town to the island of Bastimentos. OUr flight was delayed 2 hours...which seemed normal for the airline. It was raining when we landed and with wondering around we finally found the boat dock to get across. 2 ten year old boys herded us into their little boat and whizzed us across. About mid way through some serious waves I started thinking about how we didn't have any life jackets on board and then all our important docs were in our backpacks which would be quickly at the bottom should we have to abandon ship...we both discovered we were thinking the same thing when we safely landed...our return trip will go differently hopefully!
Andrew is now officially certified diver. He had a blast and did amazing. He was the first graduate of Scuba 6 diving...he just opened up shop with all brand new gear. Cool guy left it all behind in Holland and living hte dream down here.
I am still on the fence with the diving thing...and think I'm still more of a snorkeler...seems to be more "dark" waters than clear carribbean, so it's official, I'm still a water "baby"! :)
We're hoping to make our way up to Montezuma for Christmas...we'll see how we make out.
Our little cabina here in the jungle is amazing...so many sounds in the jungle at night! It rained here today and is very wet. We went to an amazing beach yesterday after diving and snorkeling...It was a cow trail through the jungle from our cabina...Andrew just took off his sandals through the jungle, it was so muddy.
Up the hill from where we're staying is a little chocolate farm. We have been gorging on truffles and coffee..amazing!!!
Our little cabina is run by an Oregonian and his Thai wife who runs a little restaurant that is well known all up the carribbean coast. So we have also been gorging on Thai food every night and it is the best we've ever had!
So this is a bit of a muddled post, but wanted to get a little update as we're off chasing sunshine in the morning.
Hope this finds you all well!!!
Cheers
AnK

Panama City

2010-12-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

Well, we have arrived safe and sound. There's always something to kick off the adventure and this time our luggage didn't make it with us. With no offer of explanation, we were told to call the next day and confirm where we were staying. Dressed in our canadian clothes, we were a little concerned that our one and only checked bag with all our necessities wouldn't make it with us for our travel to Bocas. Turns out there were 5 other people in our hostel with the same problem. Apparently Continental is famous for leaving luggage behind. Anyway today it arrived safely and we're ready for some fresh clothes.
A serious down pour grounded our interest in venturing too far today. Once the rain slowed we made our way to the canal. Panama City is a modern city, but us budgeters are staying more in the "local" district...meaning a little more sketch area. Mamallena is a chill place with lots of room...although my sensitive nose is taking a beating with the smells...
The Canal is amazing...we saw 4 huge ships pass through the Miraflores Locks. Quite an astounding operation. Amazing how many people came to build the canal...amazing how many died during the construction.
We're finding the cost not too bad for a city that looks similar to Miami.
Found a great little market nearby and had some amazing fresh fruit...ahhh...vacation here we are!
Tomorrow we're off to Bocas and hope our little cabana is as cute in real life as it is on the website!
Cheers all...

Panama Bound

2010-12-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

Van Halen's "Pan-AH-Ma-ha" has been sung periodically, at the top of Andrew's lungs the last couple of months since we changed our plans from Africa to Panama and Costa Rica over the Christmas Holidays.

With flurries all day today, we're looking forward to some sunshine tomorrow!
We were hoping our newest Ewing nephew would make his appearance before we jetted out, but as luck would have it, he's taking his time making his entrance into this world...alas we will look forward to meeting him when we get back!
Andrew and Brent took their diving recently, so Andrew is pumped about completing his certification with his open water dives on Tuesday in Panama!
We're not sure how often we'll get to update with our travel journal this time around...and this trip is a little more about chilling out, so we likely won't have much to report.

Hope this season finds you all well and enjoying your time wherever you are!
Cheers
The Harrisons...

Venezia

2010-02-19T23:41:00.000-08:00

So we discovered a possible reason why our flight from Rome to Venice was so incredibly cheap...being an early morning flight, the local transit wouldn't get us there in time for the flight so we had to fork over the money and pay for a car to the airport. It was still cheaper to fly with extra cost than it was to take the train, and of course it's only a 50 minute flight, so it def added time in Venice for us.
When we arrived in Venice we were able to get right on the taxi which is actually a water boat and landed in at St. Mark's square before 10 in the morning. It did take an hour though to get from the airport to the square.
It is just so cool to land in the airport and take off on a boat. It's hard to comprehend that there are no cars and walking or taking the boat is the navigation choice.
We had heard alot about how Venice stinks, but perhaps because we were there in the winter when it is cooler, we didn't find it smelled at all.
So we're on a roll with Italian hotels...apparently our hotel didn't have hot water, so they moved all the guests to another hotel of similar caliber and it was beautiful!
The only downside was our canal side room was set back in and we couldn't actually see the water...anyway after our usual form of travel rooms, we have no complaints for the huge beautiful spacious hotels! :)
We had the most fantastic time getting lost in Venice, stopping for espressos and taking it all in.

I now understand why all the reviews on Gondola rides are so mixed. We did the Venice thing and went for our "romantic" Gondola ride...it is the one thing that didn't surpass my imaginations...although it was fantastic, I would not consider this to be romantic...first off unless you pay huge amounts of money for a private one, you will be pretty much guaranteed to have others in your boat...which is actually fine when you understand this is not really a romance event. The Gondoliers are all talking shouting to one another through the canals, checking their email etc...so it's really neat to explore and see the city sitting from a Gondola, but not as heavy on the romance side of it. All in all it was awesome, and I'd def say completely worth it!
It rained pretty heavy our second day there which was pretty cool in that we could experience the elevated side walks...the St. Mark's church was all flooded as was the square back up into the maze of streets...but out come the elevated side walks and by late afternoon all as back to normal.
Since our train didn't leave until noon, we thought a couple of hours would be lots of time to get over to the train station....normally this would work...this time there were high tides and a strike on the boats!! WE did manage to get on the last running boat, but there was def a few stress moments in there...worse case scenario we could have paid the money for a water taxi as there was no way we felt confident to navigate through the streets on a short time frame to get to the train.
As a side note the train station ends at the Grand Canal, so either way flying in or taking the train is very cool. Certainly the train gives you that "wow" feeling when you walk through the doors and the water is coming up the "steps". Venice...certainly the coolest city ever!!!
We had a fantastic train ride through Italy back to nice and after some late night Gelato and great sleep, we're looking forward to exploring a medieval town, the small country of Monaco and then us girls are off shopping while the boys chill at a football game here!

Roma

2010-02-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

So French is def easier than Italian...although since it is close to Spanish, we at least understand some.
Rome is quite unattractive coming in on the train from the airport and a bit of a shock to the senses after the beauty of the Mediterranean, but it isnt very long until one can see the attraction to Rome!
Our hotel was nice, but a blip on the radar...apparently they overbooked the rooms, so sent us to another hotel where we were upgraded and treated like royalty. It was in the residential political area, so safe and actually much nicer area than our original booking.
Went to Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps and finished with a traditional home made pasta night...YUM!!!

Our only full day in Rome started at the Colloseum. Amazing it is still standing as it is 1930 years old!!! Is far more amazing than any picture can depict. The Romans are def the great builders of the world.
A jaunt over to the Vatican city where we discovered the Basilica and went through the Museums. Although it is all gaudy and tacky looking, one cant help appreciate the incredible artistic talent and effort it took to create it all. We are still blown away by the architecture of it all. Canada is such a new country we are literally unable to comprehend how much history we are walking through over here.
The whole town is an archaeological site!
Andrew has been drinking 4-5 espressos a day here...so we are def on a high! haha
We are enjoying wandering around eating gelato and then espresso while getting lost in all the winding streets of Rome...looking forward to Romantic Venice in the am!

Nice - South of France

2010-02-17T10:40:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like seeing great friends standing on a train platform in a beautiful city to welcome you!
It stills feel surreal to realize we are here and actually visiting some of the worlds greatest people...Scott and Shawna of course!
Their adorable french apartment is romantic and lovely. What a view they have and we are seriously convinced they are living the dream life over here. After showing us around Nice we had steamed milk, cappucinos and brie cheese and honey on open sandwich...delish!
Fromage is incredibly cheap here and we are loving it!
Sunday was an early day and off to Marseille to visit our friend Lydia. What a breath of fresh air...after wandering around Marseille we stopped off at Cannes on the way home and were again blown away by the beauty of the Mediterranean...the sun came out and the green sea made us feel like we perhaps found home for the first time. haha

Since it was V-day...we had a romantic dinner at Scott and Shawnas where we dined on cheese, salad, bread and fresh raviolli purchased in old town by the niceoise expert!
Late night visiting, laughing and enjoying the moments...off to Rome...

Paris

2010-02-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Paris after bingeing on Starbucks to stay awake in order to get our internal clocks onto Paris time.
After 5 hours of a small child kicking me in the back, and an upclose and personal look at my buried temper, I realized some sleep was in order and nothing like a quaint hotel in an artsy village of Montmartre to forget all the annoyances of coach travelling!
Montmartre is not for everyone, but we have to say it was right up our alley. Built on the hill in Paris, it was fantastic. We checked in and went for a walk on the cobblestone streets and had a feast of Crepes! Welcome to Paris!
It is so amazing to look around and be in awe of every building!
We had a great sleep in our "large" hotel room. Everything is small and condensed here, so we felt lucky to have some room to walk around our bed and we actually had our own bathroom!
So cool to look out our balcony and see the lights of Paris! Fantastic.
Started our first day in Paris with a visit out to the Versaille Palace where Louis the 14 lived. Completely over the top and incredibly beautiful.
Next was a stop off at the famed Eiffel Tower and yes it is worth it and yes it is cooler than you think! It was incredibly cold and snowy, so we could only go to the first level unfortunately, so an excuse to come back!
We finished out the evening with the viewing of the Arc de Triomphe and some high class shopping on Champs de Elysses where Mcdonalds is not MCDonalds but McCafe!

Day 2 found us at the Sacre Coeur up where we stayed in Montmartre and as we got to the top of the steps, a man was playing our wedding song on a harp...couldnàt get more romantic if Andrew planned it himself!
Next we were off to the Notre Dame Cathedrale...we of course do not have the vocabulary to describe it all, and we are just blown away by the architechture of Europe...it is truly far more stunning than we ever imagined. Pictures just do not do justice to it all.
As a side note, this is by far one of the most stress free vacations we have had, with transit being so easy to use and completely efficient.
Since our train to Nice was not leaving until late, we spent the rest of the day wandering through latin quarter, exploring districts, eating croissants, drinking espresso in cafes, hitting the shopping districts and ending the evening at the Louvre. Since we are not the most cultured folk around, we have to admit we were far more impressed with the actual building itself than the art it contained...all the same a fantastic evening spent before we headed off to the train!

Vive La France!

2010-02-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

I have to start with a huge Thank you to Scott and Shawna for moving to France in order that our little mini trip could take place 20 years ahead of plan! There is nothing like the possibility of visiting good friends to expediate a getaway.
So tomorrow is the big departure date and we have been patiently waiting for it since the fall through planning and dozens of emails to Shawna. It seemed so far away and now it is right here!
Cheese, croissants, chocolate, crepes...old castles, ruins, shopping...So pumped to explore an ancient world new to us!
Our plan is to start with a couple of days in the city of lights, head to seaside of Nice to hang with Scott & Shawna for 2 days, off to italy for 5 and then back to Nice for the weekend. So as you can well imagine it is not nearly long enough, but we are always of the mindset to take whatever days we can and enjoy every moment we have while we're there!
With so much to see, we're seriously pumped about not just enjoying it together, but getting to expereince it for a short time through the eyes of our now "local" friends!

Vive La France!

Malacatan

2009-10-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

Well although we are home in our winter wonderland...we thought we'd recap the last week so that we'd have a point of reference.
There apparently are lots of details I omitted from our mountain time...one being we got to experience Que-chi culture dress...8 metres of material later VL and I are all dressed up with traditional head dress, skirt, top etc. Although not my choice of fashion, there are certainly beautiful in the handiwork. We had a riot and Elizabeth from Bolivia joined us in the fun. How these beautiful women walk with all that material while balancing baskets of fruit, vegetables etc on their heads and children strapped to their back is beyond me...
Our week on the mountain ended with a tradtional shower of aromatic flower petals floating on us. What a wonderful good bye tradition!
Our trip down the mountain started with 40 minutes late departure and the realization that not all of us were going to fit in the rented van that was supposedly able to accommodate all of us with luggage. After conversing with our hired driver, a kind neighbour offered to take 3 stragglers down in his car so off went Andrew, Stacy and Benigno on a hair rising trip down the mountain while I held the middle front seat of our 15 passenger van between the driver and our tall visiting american! I managed to keep my cookies down, and we had an interesting trip heading into "sweatsville" with VL snapping pics like a madwoman in the back! haha
Malacatan is a happening place with over 800 000 people. It's close to the Mexican border and seems to have a variety of people.
It's lush with palm trees, humidity, banana trees, rubber trees, cocoa trees, water falls near by and of course the garbage finding it's way from the streets to the river. Right down the street from where we stayed is a huge market that more than doubles in size on the weekends. Anything you want, you can find in there from fresh tortillas, clothes, veggies, meat, live animals...it's a maze through dark, dirty gutters to open air.
We made the daily trek with Ken and were his pack horses...it was lots of fun just watching and experiencing doing biz in the markets...so much entertainment!

Although Malacatan is extremly hot, we experienced heavy rains every day. The roof top had an amazing view of Santa Maria Volcano (one of the largest in CA), but it was a few days before it was clear enough to see. When it did clear, it wasn't long before it was clouded over, so had to be quick with the camera! The clouds didn't offer much relief from the heat though and the rains were a welcome change!
Our diet is made up of mostly beans and veggies...and let me tell you, entering the Harrison quarters was seriously taking your life in hand between father and son, but anyway we survived!

Guatemala!

2009-10-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

So we´ve been out of internet service for the past week...currently we are roasting in Malacatan! But to back up a week....we arrived into Guatemala in true Central American style...late!
SnV were there waiting with big smiles...we were a little worried how they would fair, but they found a friend who spoke english and entertained them until we arrived. The airport in Guatemala is surprisingly nice!
Everything went well...we had a great night sleep in a hostel close to the airport and got a transfer to our bus heading into the highlands.
The 3 hour bus ride was pretty much a roller coaster ride all the way, but this country is so beautiful!!! We are constantly amazed at how green it is. I suppose that is one advantage to coming at the end of rainy season!
Archie and Pedro picked us up in Xela (shayla), a beautiful mountain town and took us to Pachaj (9000ft) to hang for a few days.
So far everything has been pretty uneventful in the sense that nothing crazy has happened. Great food, Great people, Great country!
The corn here makes Andrew look like a midget, so that tells you how lush everything is and how well things grow here. It reminds us a lot of Peru in the mountains with all the crop tiers, Qui-che culture and corn!
We are enjoying all the spicy options for topping on the food...turns bland into YUM!
Everyone here has a story, and it´s pretty cool to meet and hear them all.
In the highlands it´s primarily indian (Qui-che) culture and they are very industrious, wealthy people for this country. We are very surprised at how well these people do, we were certainly not expecting that.

We have even had hot showers!!! Heated by wood stove...well not exactly, but you´ll see what we mean when you see the pics.

We visited a man who has a cloth business. It was very interesting to see the looms and the beautiful silk cloth his business makes.
So we´ve spent a week here already and now we are up to more visiting etc here at malacatan which is a stark contrast with humidity and heat to the cool temps of the highlands. We feel like we should be moving on, but it has been insisted that we stay with the travelling band...
Currently we are bunked in with a man who has built what started out to possibly be hotel and is now used for annuales...I´m not sure there is a facility for this purpose quite like this one anywhere else. It is beautiful with huge rooms hotel style with ensuite bathrooms...there will be about 450 people here by the weekend...lots of room to accommodate everyone!
I think we´ll leave it here for now...this certainly isn´t like any other trip we´v had...and feel like our experiences aren´t really blog material!
Hope you are all well!
Buenas Tardes!

PS surprisingly our spanish is getting us by...óf course very basically, but we understand alot more than we thought we would and learning more every day!!!

Pre-Trip Mayhem...

2009-09-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

It seems like the night before every trip, there's always a little drama...It always tranports me back in time to Hazelwood family vacations. I seem to recall nearly every time trying to get away and something challenging always happening...our AnK Harrison trips have been no different except as time goes on, I'm learning that what I used to find challenging is now simply a blip on the radar...like losing the visa we planned to take with us and use on our trip...no big deal, call it in and take the next 2 back ups! I mean really...we're all packed...I enjoyed a lovely dinner with a friend, my desk at work is actually cleared!!!! I mean literally you can see my nice gleaming desk top!!!!
So yeah, when I look at it that way, perhaps it was fitting that the visa would get lost!
Anyway, bags are ready at the door and we're off in the am!
Buenos Noches!

Olive Ridleys

2009-01-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

The Olive Ridley turtle is fascinating and it is believed that the turtles will return to the beach they were born on.
The baby turtles mostly hatch at night time, and we are hoping we will see them. We were told there has been a big one sighted the last few nights but not until around 3 am. We are given red light and it is the only light we can use. It takes over an hour to get to La Flor Beach even though it is only 22 km, it looks like it's beautiful although we can only see a little with the moon. The reserve is committed to protecting the turtles and half of our excursion cost goes to the reserve.
They were 2 nests that had hatched near end of day and the reserve collected them in baskets likely in case there weren't any hatching that night, so we would still be able to see them...they did release them after we found two nests. It is the most incredible thing to see them coming up out of the sand and make their way to the ocean. It was a little scary too since we were afraid to step anywhere in case we stepped on one. OUr little red light was kind of dim, but Andrew named our turtle "YUrtle' and we followed him until he got to the sea. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! Our group found 4 nests altogether but we didn't see the big one. These turtles are on the endangered species list. I don't remember the exact stats, but so few of all these babies ever make it to adulthood.
We made it back to San Juan after 1 am. It was very informative and we had a great time. The cost was $30 per person with half going to the reserve through the Casa Oro...you could pay $12 and hitch a ride out to the reserve yourself. We had wanted to tent there, but with the mosquitos etc, we were glad at that point in the trip to just do the tour.

Chillin

2009-01-08T09:58:00.000-08:00

Our ride back to Managua is pretty uneventful, except we got to have a mochachino in Chinandega. We've only been gone for a few days, but it's felt like weeks!
After washing up all our clothes in Managua we went to bed early!
When we woke up the next morning, I discovered my body was covered in bites. Andrew had a few mosquito bites, but I was covered and they were different than mosquito bites. Hopefully it's not to serious.

With it being New Years week, and nothing booked we're not sure where to go, but decide to go back to SAn Juan and if we can't find something, George has offered for us to tent out at his beach property.

We spent Sunday at George and Liay's and Andrew was stoked to get some fresh coffee.

We set off early down to San Juan. I think the lack of sleep got to me since my compassion for the Nicas ran out. I just got stressed with all the people, smells pushing shoving and deceitfulness. 5 different people told us 5 different places to catch the bus...where we had caught it previously, they said the bus no longer went from there.
So finally we get on a bus that is supposed to be an express that will take us direct to San Juan, but when we start stopping every 5 minutes shoving more and more people in, I suspect we've been had again. Sure enough we make it to a small town and they tell us we're on the wrong bus and we have to get off, this one is heading for the border.
They do take us to another bus and tell us there will be no charge and this one will for sure take us to San Juan. When we get on the bus of course they want more money, anyway we saw the guy pay him and Andrew stands ground and finally he gives up. We get to San Juan hungry, hot and I;m a little grumpy and worried we won't find a hostel.
Lunch takes almost 2 hours before we get our food, but we finally waddle off and try a few places only to discover everything is booked up. We end up at Hotel Isabella which is beautiful but really expensive for down here. Not caring at that point we book in for the night hoping we'll find a backpacker spot in the morning. It is beautiful hotel and for once we get a real good night sleep.

Hotel Isabella came with breakfast and it was fab! Fresh fruit local coffee and banana pancakes!! Yum
We went over to Casa Oro and Andrew booked in for surfing and I booked us into the turtle excursion. It's going to be a long day, but We're pumped for some rnr.

We took the truck out to Playa REmanso where Andrew had surf lessons and I vegged on the beach. Beautiful, and hot.
I hadn't paid much attention, but I started noticing a pack of locals wandering around eyeing us up, suddenly there were a couple of police with AK machine guns and they trailed them all afternoon. We found out later this beach is known for muggings at machete point. Anyway the police were all over it.
Met some cool people and made plans to hang out the next day at Maderas beach.
Our truck was supposed to pick us up at 6pm but it never showed until 6:30...so it was a mad dash when we got back to make it in time for our turtle bus. I grabbed some bread and nutella to make sandwiches for supper and we were off for the turtles.

El Obraje Cntd

2009-01-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

If anyone is reading this...sorry we were out of internet for a bit and then ran out of time. We're actually home in the cold now but I'm going to continue where we left off.

We are up early again with breakfast of beans tortilla and cheese. I absolutely love the cheese here...We're in for another big day of hiking and visiting. The people here are very concerned for me...they think Archie and Benigno are barbaric for allowing me to tag along...es Largo they keep saying which in Nica means very far! Anyway we're geared up and off we go by 7:30am which is nice since it's somewhat cooler.
Flori is going with us some of the way today...we're going to see her sister and she wants us to meet her mom. We make 3 stops spanning likely 5 km before lunch and it is +40 by 10 am. We have run out of shade and any little bit we see along the trail we are all headed for it for a moment of cooler air. We arrive along a dusty trail to a river...I have NEVER been so excited to see water...it is actually a river here too...there are lots of barely there creeks that are called rivers here, but this one looks like a real one. As we geared up for crossing, I seriously considered swimming clothes gear and all, but we still have a lot of ground to cover, so it's a quick crossing. Flori is concerned for me and keeps trying to hold my hand...it's hilarious how fragile they think I am...They have never seen a white woman before, and I guess I'm quite a bit smaller than them. as a side note, I'm very surprised at how big the people here are...not overly tall, but many are quite chunky...I suppose it is all the carbs and sporatic eating...
Anyway we arrive at Flor's sister's house and We get cafe negre and some cookies...I'm getting great at ignoring the bugs etc in the food and drink and just swallow!
We go to Flori's mom's place and meet the bunch there...we find out one of the daughters husbands works in Costa Rica and sends money home which explains our treat of pop with ice, oreo cookie and a chocolate! We were so shocked and Archie confirmed this was the first time he has ever been served this in this area.

We hike back to our main stay home and drop Flori off and continue on to another place over the mountain. We hike straight up and get amazing views of the valleys all around. IT is hot and dry and gatorade has never tasted so good. We pass through sesame fields on the mountain side where they are stooking them...very interesting. I have a moment of elation when I think I see a orange tree, but it turns out to be a gourd tree that has no fruit value whatsoever...it grows on very infertile soil...we did find some wild papaya though...the first fruit we've seen here.
The home we arrive to seems much more industrious than any other we've seen so far. There is tile on the porch...everything is stacked neatly in the home...we have a visit while the chickens and pigs fight furiously the whole time...we're served some chicken and tortilla and off we go home.
The last part of trip home is in the dark on the trails, but it is blessedly cool!!!

We arrive back exhausted but the day isn't over yet...they are all waiting for us and nobody can believe that I'm still walking on my own! There seems to be a lot of people waiting. The people asked me to speak tonight...I;m not sure what exactly to tell them, but they have never heard from a white woman before...anyway the evening is wonderful and ends on a somewhat emotional note. They keep asking when we'll be back, we want to say a date, but the reality is we have no idea...we may never get back here again.

It is an amazing clear night and we find it hard to sleep mesmerized by looking up at the stars from our tent and talking about our trip so far.
Also I'm incensed by all the bugs in our tent. We've had to put our pack inside our tent during the day and I think all the creepy crawlies came in with it and multiplied.

We manage some sleep and are up at 4 am to hike out to catch our 6am bus.

El Obraje

2008-12-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

We are having some trouble sleeping...between the fireworks, the roosters and the church sleep is a scarce commodity around here...I´m a little worried since we are going to be hiking...we´ll manage I suppose.

We were up and ready for breakfast at 6 am again with little sleep...Archie has been sleeping in their kitchen where there is an extra bed while we sleep in his room.
We´re out the door where we catch the local bus to the market in Managua for the express bus to Chinandega connector to Somotillio and our last bus into El Obraje...no man´s land.
It started out pretty good until we found out Andrew´s seat was going to be on the floor of the little combi to Chinandega...someone was getting off right away...but when asked who, nobody was getting off...so off we pile with much talking, us having no real clue what was happening, 2 people got off and suddenly we´re all back on again with me front row and center...actually our driver turned out to be very good and our 2.5 hours to Chinandega were great...amazing views and country side! Somotillio is close to the Honduran border and we took another combi there passing peanut plantations...interesting!
Somotillio is a hot smelly place! We had lunch in some place that was the most edible...it was about 38 degrees...from there we caught the local bus! These old school buses were worn out before they got here...this one was special though...they had to push it to start. Once we got going, all 85 or more of us on the 30 passenger bus were jammed like sardines all smelling rosy of course...The boys stood for the 2.5 hour bus ride on an absolutely horrific road with the bus only able to go 15km an hour...I lucked out with a seat...2 smaller locals squished over and insisted I sit with them...the kids are so cute here and we had fun learning a few words in each others language!
We arrived in El Obraje sweating and dehydrated but were off to an older couple´s home for a quick visit some pictures and hot cafe negre!
Then we set off on our 8 km hike into the mountainous region to the family´s home that is hosting us.
Setting up our tent is a bit of a dilemma to stay out of route of the animals as they are all around...we decide on a spot under the tree only to discover later it is the chicken´s roosting spot...we did manage to dodge the flying poo though!
The tent raising was the event of the year up maybe even their life as no one has ever seen one before...people from all over began to appear and the ¨viewing¨ went on over the course of our stay...a little eerie to be watched so intently but fun all the same.
They loved our ¨pretty¨ house!
We ate beans, rice, some cheese and fresh tortilla for supper a little visit and off for our ¨bath¨ (in the creek) and to bed...we were so looking forward to a good nights sleep, yet again at about 11pm, the rooster announced himself on the hour till morning...

Finca!

2008-12-27T12:58:00.000-08:00

Our new friend George Adams from Anaheim and his wife arranged to pick us all up at the boys bach for 8 and off we went. Truck was full of new faces eager to pick some coffee!
I was surprised to learn that coffee grows on a tree 6-10 feet tall similar to saskatoon bushes when they reach full potential, and the beans are red and yellow when ripe and look like a berry. The finca had coffee plants, bananas, lemons, grapefruit and we spent the day harvesting them all...Andrew was pleased to put his newly found machete skills to use slicing down bananas! It was incredibly hot, but surprising not too bad for picking as we were mostly in the shade...now I understand shade grown coffee...anyway we decided we´d keep our day jobs since 5 gallons of coffee only yields about $1usd to pick!!!
Lunch time was sandwiches and chips with a little surprise meeting for George´s friends...First time I was in a meeting with pants on and obviously the first time in a Finca! Seemed all emjoyed it without too much of a stir...
Back to the bach to prepare for our camping trip....

Tortillas and Pig Liver!

2008-12-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

The day starts here at day break where the daily tortilla making begins. Thinking I would go in and help, I quickly found out I will not be making fresh tortillas at home! Essentially the only thing I was useful for was grinding corn...they are delicious if you don´t think about how they´re made...The kitchen here is similar to what we saw in Peru, maybe even more primitive here and certainly as dangerous to one´s health. It is incredible with all the smoke that these wonderful people are not sicker than they are...Perhaps this is the cause of Don Juan´s perpetual cough???? Poor man...I don´t think he has slept for days.
Today we are in for a big day.
For our big send off we were asked if we like fish...well of course we love fish! But sardines for breakfast??? DEfinitely stretching my comfort zone here and it is one of many times I am thankful for my wonderful hubby who kindly took pity on me and finished up my share when no one was looking...the eyes and heads crunching were getting to me...I did eat all my beans and rice though...
Off we set for a big day of visiting different folks in this hot mountain range...we had a few stops along the way and finally we ended up a family´s home way out in the middle of no where...seems strange since we´re in nowhere already, but there are houses around this place was the only one for quite a while.
When we arrive, the man of the house asked if we were in a hurry, we weren´t so not knowing what he meant we hunkered down for a rest. So hot and dry. Draining our water and no sign of anyone, Archie suggested we go fill up our bottles. We arrive at the water source for this family to find a naked boy hurriedly dressing when he spots us...he just finished his bath and is finishing his duty of cleaning out the water hole. It is a fair size hole dug out of the rock to let the water come in. Very cool. They actually have a line running to their house too and have a somewhat clean gravity fed line. A novelty back here for sure!
As we are finishing filling up we hear distant screams from what sounds like a pig.
Sure enough we´re in for a treat...while we missed the actually pig killing, we arrived on scene to witness the final time of death...
For once it was our turn to stare! The afternoon was wittled away watching the man and his sons skin the pig and slice it up for our lunch. This was Christmas day and this would be a large event to kill and eat this pig as they would mostly live on rice and beans with the odd chicken...
Andrew got some cool picks of the pig slaughtering event, but missed the look on my face when I took my first bite and discovered I got a healthy portion of liver!!!
The meat was done with a local plant that is red...it gave it sort of a peppery flavour, but not too spicy...it wasn´t too bad if you got past the huge chunks of fat and liver etc.
We finally decided since we were eating in a seperate room from everyone else that I would be the one to make the run for a ziplock bag and deposit the unwanteds to take home for the dog...I just finished when the lady of the house returned to check on us!
Truly they were wonderful...I hope this blog isn´t seeming too complaining since we feel small that they are sharing food with us that clearly they need. It is simply to give an idea that life is very different than we know it to be.
We are greatful that they are so open and curious about us...they have only seen workers of course, so we are definitly a novelty here..I believe we are likely the only white people who they have ever seen...many of them have not even gone into a town nearby..only the little village of El Obraje where they would get a few items at the ¨store¨.
We were escorted out after a little meeting by one of the younger sons. It was dark when we made our way back home about 5 km over the decently rough terrain.
The people of the house felt sorry for me...it´s one of the few places I have received so much attention and sympathy! haha
Everyone is very concerned that Archie is going to have to carry us home because I have fainted from the heat, frail thing that I am!!!:)
Another meeting and off to bed.
Although we are Simply exhausted, a bath is much appreciated...now we know where the ´sardines¨ for brekky came from...the creek seems to be loaded...best not to think about it considering the garbage, animals, clothes etc that are washed in the creek.
Anyway we´re off before the rooster crows!
Adios!!!

Niquinomo

2008-12-26T12:46:00.000-08:00

So it´s up early with the boys for a breakfast of porridge and eggs and ready to meet our truck at 8am for the ride out to Niquinomo where we are to meet an older couple and spend some time there for the day.
George the american shows up with a big diesel dodge ram with 14 people piled in the back with chairs and misc stuff...7 people in the front.
We travelled about 2 hours up over a smallish mountain with amazing views of volcanoes and lakes around...we picked up miscellaneous beings along the way and ended up on a road that was half dug out along the side of it, not sure whether they were building ditches or what the story was, but we pretty much were scraping the fence to avoid derailing. We arrived to an older poor couple´s farm and were welcomed in.
We were served a traditional Nica lunch of fried pork rinds, yucca, coleslaw and rice.
There were some animals kicking around that looked half dead...unbelievable the starvation! As the afternoon was quieting down, the young boy of the house appeared with a largish iguana for us to inspect...as Andrew was gearing up to take a picture after petting it, the boy suddenly got a rock and smashed the poor critters skull! Apparently it´s quite common as this would be supper for this family...we were a little surprised and Andrew actually got a picture of the fatal blow!
We were back to the batch iwth George doing the full round of drop offs and made plans to head to his coffee plantation for the next day!
Hope you are all well and safe!

Managua!

2008-12-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

This city of danger has 3 million people that are accounted for and who know how many more...
True to form, I miscalculated our departure time, thinking our return bus was 4pm, when it was 4am! So when we discovered this at noon yesterday, we realized we would be taking ¨local¨ transit...84 person capacity buses with 130 people at least plus luggage and people on the roof...hanging off the back door...¨no such thing as ¨full¨ down here!!!
Andrew was stoked of course for some local culture, but I just haven´t settled into this country the same way yet and was very apprehensive from the get go as the bus collectors were ripping my pack off my back before we´d even negociated a price...not a good start! Oh well as Andrew says...we´re not in Kansas anymore Toto¨ This has been the trip moto so far...
We actually secure a seat and we´re off to Rivas wheere we will connect to Managua.
Of course we are pounced on at arrival and finally one kind local points us in the correct direction to Managua...amongst the many telling us there is no bus, but the y will take us for the small price of $40usd (a $2us bus ride) tin Taxi.

As the bus finally arrives, we´re off and away, only the bus collector won´t give us our tickets when we pay...with a sinking feeling, I suspect trouble since everyone else has gotten there´s...after much ignoring we decide to chill and figure it out in Managua.
When we arrive our bags won´t be given to us until we pay basically our fare twice to him...so this cheaper local version ride has cost us much more than anticipated but we are happy to be away with our bags and getting the heck out of there!
We landed earlier than expected but were happy to wait for a few hours at Archie´s...safe and sound! We enjoyed our lovely Nica meal with ARchie and BEnito from the street for supper...plantin, beans, rice and chicken...Yum!
Thinking of you all and hope you are all well.
Cheerio
AnK

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS....

2008-12-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

Well we have arrived...
It all started with a nice -30 send off and no taxis availble from Calgary. Bl I hope you found the car ok!
We landed in Managua Nicaragua on Thursday...All I did was go to the washroom before going through customs and when I came out, Andrew had made friends with everyone in the line up of course, bt one particular man was going on about how we were ¨personas¨ and how we need to stick together etc...he tells the custom agent we are with him...I still don´t know anything more than this and I am a tad frantic as they are searching his bags...then he´s shouting for us to wait for him, wait for him. But he appears to be a local. I´m an frantically trying to ask Andrew under my breath what on earth is happening...turns out he is a native Nicaraguan turned Canadian for the last 20 years! This kind man takes us to meet his family and they shoo us over to the truck and we pile in the back...¨personas¨ we stick together us Canadians and help each other out!
They give us curb side service to Huembes Market where he helps negociate some exchange money and off they go...leaving us grateful and somehwat exhausted from the ordeal!
Our bus is a ¨decent¨ greyhound type that takes us direct to
San Juan Del Sur. The ride is noisy, smelly as per expected...as we near San Juan, the collector on the bus pays a visit...from what we can make out he wants money for his friend...our white skin is becoming a detriment to us here already! One can hardly blame them, but htere is a certain unease that we haven´t felt before....

San Juan turns out to be a lovely tourist town, we have wonderful fish and chips and gringo food in the market across from our simple and barely clean hostel. We find out from the locals that the turltes aren´t here yet...maybe tomorrow...maybe tomorrow...it was still ¨maybe tomorrow¨ when we left...maybe we will try to get there again before we leave.

We did go to the Da flying frog canopy tour...17 platforms 2.5km of cable...not as exhiliarating as you would think, but beautiful views of this magnificent land scape...it was fun all the same and we flew down the mountain side in our harnesses and stylish helmets 300 feet above tree tops in record time!

Our couple of days in San Juan have come to a close...

Final Touches

2006-12-30T17:25:00.000-08:00

Well we are spending our last night in Peru in Lima.
We have enjoyed every minute to the fullest and in some ways it feels like we´ve been here a year and wonder how we will fit into life back home.
So we left off in the last blog entry, in the mountains...well the ¨job¨crew got finished and with all the eating, everyone was glad to be working it off. Our time in the mountains has left us without words...how can we put what we feel into something you can understand??? We´ve decided you just must come and experience it for yourselves!!!
Time is so different here. The people as a whole have time for each other. Time to help, time to talk, time to love, time to visit, time to play, time to rest, time to be silent. The love and peace we have felt is most overwhelming. Of course the tears have been flowing, (katrina as per usual) but it´s just in awe of the love that unites us altogether. Heart friends we´ve made in moments!
So when our last day arrived, it dawned with heavy hearts. How could we ever communicate our gratefulness for all we´ve shared that went so much deeper than the natural provisions!
Well Peru woke us up again and reminded us that it works on its own time! The ride we´d arranged took off early...and with no other truck in sight, we decided to start walking down and see about catching a later truck. Well as the hours passed, we finally made it back to Chota...slipping down the rocky mountain trails 22km later!
It was wonderful tho, the feeling of stepping back in time where everyone still greets each other and visits on the trails. (we were some of the only ones on foot...most had horses or mules)
A warm shower and hot lunch and we were off for the night! A bus that left on time and we were off to Cajamarca. It felt like I would never stop crying...
We had a restful night with the Alvites in Cajamarca and up early for our morning bath at the banos de incas! Steaming natural hot springs pumped into sterilized private bath houses...well it was a bit to get Andrew to go but with high pressure since it is the thing to do in Cajamarca, he finally conceded...with little choice really...but it felt wonderful since there really isn´t such thing as ¨hot¨water!
So the final touch...we´re back where we started...at the Inka Lodge. It feels like old hat!
We look forward to seeing you soon. There is so much to share...
We hope you have enjoyed Peru. It has been most special for us and we´re so grateful for our privileges here.
Take care.
Hasta Luega!
AnK

Close to Heaven

2006-12-30T16:46:00.000-08:00

Buenos Noches!
We arrived into Llajas via ¨full¨ car! Toyota Corrolla station wagon...four in the back seat, three in the front seat, trunk full with luggage, plus one man curled up ontop of luggage! No car leaves until it is at least this full and if Donna hadn´t insisted on no more and paid for an extra seat, they would still be filling the car!!!
We arrived to the bach in Llajas with a warm supper waiting by Consualos. (not sure of proper spelling) it means comfort in english anyway. What a dear heart! The best supper ever! Omitas...fresh corn and fresh made cheese wrapped in a corn husk! Consuealos owns a bakery and so u can imagine how spoiled we were! We got a personal tour early morning and were sent off with goodies from the bakery! After a great sleep we headed into to Chota to catch the truck up the mountain to head to Coyunde where we were to help with some jobs at a home ontop of the world!
Trevor and Scott arranged to have the truck come by the house, and we were lucky it wasn´t that full...11 people in the bed of the truck, 7 in cab plus baby, 2 men on roof of truck, plus everyones luggage, produce, 4-100lb bags of potatoes! All in a toyota tacoma! Good advertising for Toyota!!!
It is only 22km up the mountain from Chota but it took us an hour 45mins! All winding up hill on a gravel road! It is the most beautiful country we have ever seen! Lush, green, thin mountain air 10,000feet!
As we arrived to the top, the hearty mountain people came from everywhere to help us...we were in awe of the 360 degree view of the Andean mountains! Trevor said Welcome to Paradise...this is as close to heaven on earth as one can get! (this statement became truer for us than ever before as the week went on!)
After being shown around the grounds, we settled in for a hot andean meal! Andrew and the boys got busy and started the jobs we had come to do. Katrina got started on mountain living as a woman...wow! No wonder these people are tough as nails! They work sooo hard! Hand washing clothes in wash tubs of just cold water and soap! Drying clothes is a tactful art...dodging the intermittent rain showers.
It´s not hard to sleep in the peaceful, clear, mountain homes after a hard days work!
(Starts for most farmers at 4:30am)
We´ve had all the traditional andean foods...guinea pig, omitas, tamales, potatoes (lots), fresh chicken, purple corn drink, purple corn dessert etc. Oh and lets remember the chickens and guinea pigs running around your feet as you dine! Katrina felt the fur of the guinea pig on her legs, a little nerve racking at first after all the rat talk!!! Anyway we got used to it of course and our fellowhip has been so sweet even tho we don´t always understand what´s being said!
Most everyone has dirt floors with mudbrick walls and tin roof. Not very rat proof, but these beautiful people love life and know how to be amazingly hospitable!
We have so much to learn from these people!
A mother or a child dies every 20 seconds in third world countries due to inefficient stove venting in the homes. Staggering stats...one of our friends, Ben (www.SocioAdventures.com) is doing a tremendous job to help lower this deathly number!
Well we have many more stories to share, but will let this be all for now.
Hope all is well in your world
AnK

Moutain Scenes

2006-12-28T16:27:00.000-08:00

So what have we been up to??? Well the most exciting thing that happened in Mancora was that everyone in our hotel got held up at gun point and all our belongings were stolen! Ok just kidding...we had a fantastic 5 days relaxing, fighting off pitbulls, watching spectacular sunsets, drinking fresh juice, walking the beautiful beaches and the swimming in the ever changing ocean. It was a much needed and much appreciated rest! The biggest decision we made every day was what to eat...and with little spanish, it was a chore at times...altho we are understanding lots...the speaking is slow!
So after our posh ride into Mancora, we got the shock of our life when we learned there was only one bus out of Mancora to Chiclayo...the El Dorado. Of course it´s over charged, but what do u do!! Anyway our pricey bus turns out to be the smelliest rattle trap u ever saw!!!! Everyone in Peru gets on to sell you something, screaming their sales pitch at the top of their lungs to be heard over the loud music while falling all over you as the bus jerks and turns up the sand cliffs to climb out of Mancora.
Making it Piura, we met up with some fellow travellers and we banded together to keep sane, and of course all eyes on our luggage as we changed buses!!! Travel stories shared around, and felt lucky that we hadn´t lost anything when we heard their tales.
Got a bus from Chiclayo to Cajamarca, which seemed like a cadillac after the previous ride, and I saw my first rat!!!! It was about 8 inches long plus the tail and took a liking to us canadians!!! Thank goodness for Andrew´s quick thinking and shooed it away b4 I saw how close it was to running over my feet! It was 11:30pm, and dark, so it was only when it ran into a hole in the wall behind me that I got a good look at it. Our dear friend Trevor came to meet us and took us to a warm bed!!! After a rough nights sleep (more altitude sickness katrina) we explored the beautiful mountain town of Cajamarca (3000m)in the pouring rain. Finding our way to our canadian friends home, we had a hot shower and a peaceful rest...hard to find in the noise of the cities here! They have hot mineral springs pumped into their pool...it was cleaning day tho, so we missed out! Left early thurs am to make the trip back into the Andes further for a week in Coyunde. 6 hours of breath taking scenerary ranging from 10-12000 feet on a rough gravel road. Straight down to the valley with no guard rails...it is one of the better mountain roads in Peru tho.
Buses here are so fun! 60 people on a 40 passenger bus...andrew had a few visitors on his arms, people sitting on buckets on the floor, produce everywhere...it is quite the scene! Everything gets hauled from tubs of octopus to live chickens in bags!!!
Ooo and the places they stop for eating!!! Dirt hut with all kinds of fresh skinned animals hanging on hooks between tables...chickens, guinea pigs dogs at the feet of the table looking for a scrap! Oh and we´re getting used to the ¨no privacy¨ thing here in Peru...anywhere is fair game for relieving oneself!!! Finally arriving in Chota safe and sound, we´re off to Llajas for the night!
Ciao
AnK

Beach Bums

2006-12-14T10:50:00.000-08:00

Buenas Dias Amigos
Well our plan to relax in Paracas got tossed! We had a wonderful morning at the marine reserve and were glad we came South if not just for that! They had baby penguins!!! It was sooo cute! Hundreds if not thousands of sea lions (different types too)...sea birds...( we managed to avoid the flying pooh, but others on our boat were not so lucky!!!)
It was amazing altho I´m sure not even close to galapogos...none the less we were glad to have gone. We thought we had also booked the tour to the national reserve, but found we hadn´t so instead went diva style to rich mans hotel!!! It really was worth the money to stay at Hotel Paracas (not much by canadian standards, but top for peru) if not just for 24 hours of peace and quiet. We instantly felt better when we walked through the gates. Don wasn´t kidding when he said Paracas wasn´t attractive and we were glad for an oasis, even if it was a man made one.
Somehow we just haven´t had the heart to take pictures of what the Peruvians really live like...it is too heartbreaking. It is nothing more than run down shacks! There is also concrete and mud brick, but mostly these fallen down shacks!
After a great rest, we decided to head North...so back to Lima and on to Mancora. We caught the 4:30pm bus which actually left an hour later stuffed with baggage, chickens and who knows what else...ready for our 19 hour bus ride North. The coast from mid chile up to Ecuador is mostly desert...but the cliffs with the surf crashing below is fabulous! Our bus ride was actually quite posh...big roomy leather seats that laid almost right down...so dandy long legs here was happy, and they served us a pretty good supper!!
We arrived to what looked like Paradise...well Peru´s paradise anyway. The waters are clean here...we can actually swim if we choose to! We got a mototaxi out to our beach bungalow...it is heavenly! (the mototaxis are a riot on 3 wheels!!!) 125cc bombing up narrow rabbit trails on the cliffside! It is just what we needed and every minor frustration with the language, smells, poverty etc have all been worth it to see this part of Peru! There was a shoving match at the bus station between the mototaxi drivers as to who was going to take us...we didn´t know we were so popular!!! only in peru! haha
So here we plan to stay for at least 5 nights...but u never know u may have to come here to see us again!!!
Cheerio...until next time!
AnK

Relaxing in Pigeon Land

2006-12-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Paracas
We are in what seems like a shanty town in the desert. It´s right on the ocean with about 100 people living here. We plan to go to ¨poor mans galapogos¨ tomorrow and dodge the flying pooh pigeons! Really tho it is supposed to be beautiful and worth it...
We received our battery from our partying friend in Cuzco, so we have a live camera for the trip tomorrow...bonus! We arrived back in Lima for Saturday and spent the day with some friends in the market. Sunday was an all day affair of eating with some more new friends! We decided since Trevor got delayed with paperwork, we would take this week to veg out and catch up on some sleep. He is hoping to be ready to go north with us early next week where we will trek through the Andes. Trevor has put over 75000 miles on his feet trekking thru the Andes in the last 26 years! So he knows his way around!
THe Peruvians are interesting people...on top of a maze of roads filled with crazy drivers, no schedules for anything, garbage everywhere, polluted waters, they seem to show a genuine zest for life! We are constantly amazed at how patient they are with us being so new at spanish. Our taxi rides are most interesting!! There are of course the peruivans who are out to take gringos for everyhing they can...and we are honed into them! Thank goodness for Andrew...I can´t imagine being here by myself!
So we´re planning to hang out here for a few days...we found an oasis of a hotel...it´s beautiful and we find ourselves needing some serious relaxation this week...so we´re going to!!!
Hope this finds you all well
Andrew and Katrina

Altitude Sickness Round 2

2006-12-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

Hola
Well so much for being fine...we got back to our smelly hostel room and we were both wiped. Andrews headache intensified into 100 monkeys playing bongos in his head...unable to sleep a wink all night...we tossed and turned in our sleeping bags..mid night, I started feeling sick to my stomach...it came in waves the same as in the restaurant. Unable to get my stomach settled, we were quite the pair. Near early morning I finally threw up and began to feel better...meanwhile the monkeys settled down in Andrews head. We got a total of half hour sleep and up at five to get ready for our tour guide to show up with our tickets. We half hoped she wouldn´t show so we could go back to bed!
Anyway wonder of wonders...there she was right on the dot with our tickets. Of course our host at the hostel tried to slip a few more soles out of us...but wé are catching on and wising up!!!
Off to the train station...after trying to give us some fake money for change we were finally on the train and off to the magical Machu Picchu. Who knew it would take so long just to get out of Cuzco! The rail system is quite dated and the switchbacks intense. People are early risers here and we got to see more of Cuzco...I can´t imagine how annnoying the train blowing at 6am every day must be...altho they are up and working it seems...
It is a 4 hour train ride through the Sacred Valley and it wasn´t long before we were glad to pay every penny we did for this amazing trip. It is how we imagined Peru! Lush green land, with backdrop of the Andean mountains looming over head...we are entranced at the beauty! The Andes make our Rocky mountains seem like foothills!
The train makes a slow chug all the way through with a few stops along the way enbling the mountain people to sell their crafts to all the gringos! As we were taking pics of the chaos at a stop, our camera batteries died!! Our spare also!
So without a camera going to world famous machu picchu......
As we arrived into Aguas Calientes, we found our Canadian friends Leah and Janessa. They were heading up to Machu Picchu just for the day...it was nice to see them one more time b4 they continue on their world tour.
We found our hostal in the small villge...right on the river...it was beautiful...and off for a sleep!
We woke starving as we were taking it easy on the food, and off in search of a great restaurant. We chose a small french peruvian restaurant and we both agreed it was the best we have ever had. The french know how to cook! We had a 5 course meal with fresh juice for $30...it would equal to a $200plus meal in Canada!
Feeling stuffed, we waddled up to the hot springs for relaxing dip...it was beautiful right next to the river...palm trees, andes as backdrop, lush tropical flowers!
After a great sleep, we woke early to pouring rain. Our plan was to arrive b4 all the tour buses and experience the Machu Picchu with as much quietness as possible. As we were waiting for the 5;30am bus, we began to think we were in the wrong spot since the bus didn´t come and it was getting on 6am. We started down the hill thinking we were at the wrong bridge and a little old Peruvian lady came and asked us what were doing. When we told her we were waiting for the bus, she took off down the hill at a run motioning for us to follow her....she took us to where all the buses were. Andrew asked the bus driver when the first bus left and he said at 5;30am, turns out our alarm clock was set one hour ahead...I must have bumped it when checking the time in the middle of the night!!! Oh well...no chance of being late anyway!
When we arrived through the gates, there was an eery quietness with clouds creating a mist all around. There are no words to describe the feeling when you first glimpse this magical hidden city of the Incas. Can´t imagine what Hiram Bingham felt when he first discovered this city in 1911. With mouths wide open, we managed to use up a disposable camera b4 all the yellow raincoats arrived! We had a tour thru the ruins and were amazed at this 1300´s architecture! Hard to believe all this work to build this phenomenal city, only to live there for 172 years!
We met some fab people in our group and climbed together to wanupichu the mtn behind the ruins and got some more great photos, and visits,
As the hords of people began arriving around noon, we decided to head down for lunch and catch the train.
Back to Cuzco in search of a battery charger and a better hostel! Finding a better hostel was easy, finding someone who would charge the batteries was not!! We did manage to find someone...only when we went to pick them up there was only one ready. It is festival day here...not sure what festival but looks religious and everyone is celebrating...so we were promised they will deliver our other battery at 8pm tonight! We hope so since we leave early morning to head back to Lima.
Hope this finds you all well. We are having a fab time even tho we are saddened by the children following us everywhere asking to buy whatever wares they are selling so they can eat. How can we help them all??? It is very thought provoking. They do know how to play on emotions...altho when it is for their survival, we give them credit for their cleverness. We have supported them of course, but feel helpless since we know their plight will only continue....
Please give thanks tonight for all that you have...there are so many without!
Sobered, happy and grateful...
Andrew n Katrina

Altitude Sickness

2006-12-05T16:51:00.000-08:00

Buenas Noches
We had a wonderful day with Trevor yesterday. He is a fountain of knowledge and most wonderful tour guide!!! We started out the morning walking through the streets of Miraflores to the Indian Markets. It is so fun just to walk the streets and observe the culture! We bargained at the market and got some local goodies...it was fun (also have our eye on some things we will go back for). We had dinner down near the President of Peru"s quarters, in a traditional peruvian restaurant. A 3 course dinner for the three of us cost $5...our papaya drink had an interesting surprise...a napakin!! it was quickly whisked away and of course a "clean" fresh drink arrived!
We made our way in the little combis, smaller than a minivan filling 25 people, to Donnas batch where we met up with our friends b4 everyone flew out on to other arrangements. What a wonderful afternoon! Fresh strawberry juice and we discovered the secret food of Peru...mangoes!!! THey are out of this world!! So after gorging on mangoes and visiting with all we headed back across town from the batch to our hotel in a larger bus. We fell in love with the smelly dirty buses...they feel much safer than taxis and we get to experience the people...the beautiful music they play together in the back of the bus with whatever they have.
We arrived home to our hostel dirty, tired and craving more mangoes...so down to the corner market to get more!!!
WE booked our flights to Cuzco and called it a night...of course after licking up mangoes!
Early morning rise to catch our flight to Cuzco...1 hr flight instead of 30 hr bus...we decided the extra $ was worth it!
Cuzco seems more friendly, safe...more policia everywhere. Got sucked in by the travel tour guides in the airport and got escorted to a hostel. It is more like Peru than our last one...although seems pretty safe. The "tour guide" wanted us to pay her bunch of usd up front without showing us any tickets or anything...so we said if she came in the morning with the tickets we would pay her. She was very cranky and wanted us to pay her $10usd (3 days worth of wages here)right now.. feeling a little uneasy about the whole thing we paid her the $10 and decided it wasnt much to us if she doesnt show up. So we may be going to Machu Picchu Thursday instead...but thats ok. We will motorbike the sacred valley tomorrow if she doesnt show and we cant get on the train in the morning. (sorry about spelling, havent figured out how to fully use the spanish keyboard)
So after the exchange we decided to go find something to eat, inquire to see how much the "tour" guide was over charging. It seems she was pretty close to what the going rate is...so will see if she shows in the am.
WE found a great little restaurant to eat in and were glad to sit down as we have been feeling somewhat woozy being at almost 11000 feet. One of the higher cities in Peru. After ordering our fresh lemonade drink I (Katrina) started feeling like throwing up, all of a sudden everything got "fat" and I could not hear...everything got really far away. Andrew got me to put my head between my knees to get the blood back to my head and after awhile I was fine...avoided passing out. Apparently this is quite typical symptoms this high up...so feel fine tonight although Andrew still has a headache.
We plan to be back in Lima on Sat to stay at the batch...looking forward to that too.
Hope this finds you staying warm in Canada!!!
It has been 28c here!!!
Ciao
AnK

The Eagle has Landed

2006-12-03T17:41:00.000-08:00

Hola
Well the last week before leaving seemed to fly. We thought we were ready, but when Thursday rolled around, I sure was glad to have the afternoon off...muchos gracias Carol!! My boss was a god send that day! At midnight we were still plogging along as though in slow motion...there seemed so much to do and being tired slowed the process. We did get 1.5hrs of sleep b4 leaving for the airport. We had clear sailing with the exception of some extreme turbulence close to Toronto. A wonderful day with the Hazelnut family...laughter, food and dad jokes...what more could we ask for?!
Saturday dawned way too early, even for us excited gringos. Aaron escorted us off to the airport in lightning speed and we were off!
I have always had a passion for flying and one of the highlights for me is meeting the people on the plane. The most interesting conversations take place in enclosed areas where no one can move!!! Andrew got a seat in the Exit aisles, so his legs were happy for the part of the trip to Miami. I met a wonderful man who owns gold mining companies in South America and he shared much knowledge about Bolivia and Peru.
Andrew was happy that his customs experience went much smoother this time, than his last venture to Florida!! We had a lay over in Miami and me the John Wayne of South America...(not officially, but wow...interesting people leaving Miami!!)
Our plane had some ¨technical¨probs and we were delayed by 1 hour...cranky pants appeared on many of the passengers!
Our friendly peru companion (in the seat next to us) spent the whole 5.5hrs warning us of the dangers of Peru...I began to wonder what we had got ourselves into...visit from the butterflies in my tummy!
Landing in Peru Airport is an experience in itself. It is beautiful, but the custom lines were horrendously long!! After an 1.5hr in the line up we were finally granted our visa and clainmed our luggage. As we went thru the gates out to the street, we realized quickly that our space was no longer our own!! It seemed like 50 cabbies were pulling and screaming at us to come with them...we must have looked like dinner with our caught in the head-lights look! Finally a man with a sign saying Katrina Harrison found us and took us to his Taxi.
We survived!!! You cannot imagine how they drive here....¨loco¨!!! Crazy, crazy, floor it all the way, 3 lane roads with 6 lanes of traffic, blaring horns, bumping and nudging each other is no big deal...keep on going and heaven forbid that someone should ever beat you off the lights!!!
There is garbage everywhere...all cement, cinder block bldgs...8 million people, (peeing everywhere) the smells are hard to get used to. Never drive anywhere without locking the doors!
We were so glad to arrive to a beautful hostal. Dark hardwood floors, not a speck of dirt anywhere...we know we are in the ¨tourist¨district. Such a difference from how the real peru is! The people are warm and friendly, although one must keep your wits about you!!
This morning we woke early and had fresh buns with home made jam and Andrew´s fav...black strong local coffee!
Our host got us a taxi (walk in2 middle of street and flag one down) and sent us on our way downtown Lima. It was to be 10 sols (approx $3us) pricey for locals, but par for tourists. Screaming people, horns blaring, taxi man yelling in spanish...I got flustered and we realized later that we over paid the taxi man...so Taxi man hit the jackpot today!!! ´Good lesson for us gringos...altho we are not sorry to see it go to someone working and are glad it went to him and not a thief!!
Tomorrow we head to the markets with our new friend Trevor (he´s been working in Peru for 26 yrs)...Looking forward to it all! Hope this finds you all well.
Hasta la Vista
AnK

Cold Front:Counting days till sunshine

2006-11-26T23:10:00.000-08:00

Well it is late Sunday night (Nov 25) and we are down to 5 sleeps until we leave. It is -25 today and we are salivating over warmer winds on the peruvian coast. After much hassle with the Quebec government (they are now their own nation...whatever that means) Andrew finally got his birth certificate. Apparently Canada no longer recognized his birth certificate as valid proof of canadian citizenship. So as the French say...c'est la vie!!
WIth perisistence and rusty french, he was able to locate and get his new birth certificate.
With barely weeks to spare, everything came through and we received our passports without a hitch.
We have both been working like crazy...I believe the protocol is "My name is Andrew Harrison and I'm a workaholic" LOL Anyway it has been fun all the same, planning, dreaming and discussing what we're going to be doing on our new adventure.
To date we've got all the gear...how am I to survive with one pair of shoes and only 3 outfits for the entire month??? We'll see how sexy Andrew thinks I am after 4 days of body perfume and "odorized" clothing!!! The tests of marriage!! (If only they were all this fun!!) :) We just booked our hostel for the night in Miraflores District...the Inca Lodge...comes highly recommended..exciting!!
So three days of work...then off to Ontario for a night and on to Peru!! I hope what awaits us is as fabulous as our dreams....
Cheerio all...until next time!