If we recall correctly we left u a hop skip and a jump ago somewhere in the middle of Colombia. Since then geez we guess you could say a lot has happened (as per usual though right?)
So after the charming tale of Brett versus dog in Capurgana and a few days spent waiting for rabies injections in Medellin (just to be sure Brett didn't turn into a Werewolf), we made our way to the
Melbourne-esque Bogota. Filled with trendy cafes, alternative city folk and some tasty delights we slipped right into the Bogota way of life. We managed to find ourselves in town while a world cup qualifier
between Colombia and Uruguay was playing. With the city streaked with the red blue and yellow Colombian colours and some diehard soccer fans, we joined in the festivities in a local pub and we're quickly accepted as some of Colombia's own. Of course it being such a small world and all we stumbled into our new Texan friends we met in the Northeast coast of Colombia, random!
Later in the evening we wormed our way into an exclusive rooftop pre-party for German DJs Tiefschwartz who were later playing in a nearby club. A few friendly drinks later we cruised into Salon Continetal (nightclub) somewhere after midnight and upon entry asked a local when Tiefschwartz was to come on, to which he replied "they're on now, this is some serious german techa". We were certain the skinny girl behind the decks at that time was NOT 2 manly German dj's, but how would we know?
Post Bogota we scooted on down to Cali and paid a visit to our special Colombian mother (Luis' mum) and were spoilt rotten with tasty dinner, good company and great spanish practice! We were of course sad to leave but alas the Galapagos Islands were awaiting!!
So after realising our budget was going swimmingly we decided to dip our feet in the cool waters of the Galapagos Islands. And what better way to spend a few extra pennies than being surrounded for a week by the largest abundance of wildlife one could imagine! We landed in San Cristobal and in our first afternoon found ourselves overwhelmed with hundreds of sea lions and marine iguanas of every size! Our second day involved a day trip to a few places nearby which included, swimming with sea lions (kinda looks like a shark when it comes at you all of a sudden!! Ok, I'm exaggerating but it is kinda frightening at first), searching for reef sharks, and giant tortoise spotting. Crazy currents and huge above and underwater volcanic rock (named Kicker Rock) and Giselle decided to take the situation head on...literally. While
snorkelling and attempting to make space for the other people in the water and trying to avoid being carried out to sea by the current, Giselle decided she would show Kicker Rock a taste of its own medicine
and gave it a good old headbutt (it was some serious WWF moves believe us). A few squirts of iodine to the skull and shoulder and she was back in the water again chasing the fish and showing them whose boss!
The following day a little drizzle couldn't hold us back as we hired bikes to ride to the middle of the island where stunning lagoon views and giant land tortoises were the objective of the day. Of course it was Brett and Giselle on bicycles and we all know what that means by now right? Shocking brakes and gears, relentless rain and HILL after HILL for 25 odd kilometres (Giselle is seriously starting to notice a pattern here, Brett should just tell her if he thinks she needs the exercise!). On the up side we managed to check out some awesome wildlife and the return journey home was all downhill, phew! After a few days checking out the scenery on San Cristobal we fast-boated over to Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz did not disappoint and included trekking through lava tunnels (they're like, huge!) much more wildlife (including the token blue footed boobies), reef sharks by the pier, a day trip to nearby Island Floreana and bumping into our Texan friends again! Brett managed to squeeze in 2 dives (this time minus a dog bite) and scored himself upclose views of a hammerhead shark, rays, and thousands of barracuda. To say he was thrilled would be an understatement!
We were fortunate enough to experience all this without being on a tour and in turn also saved a few more pennies than we were expecting. Doing the islands independently seems to be on the rise and there was
certainly enough to keep us entertained for the week we were there.
We sadly departed the islands and bussed into the quaint and chilled out town of Cuenca, Ecuador. Set up nicely staying in the home of a lovely Ecuadorian lady, we began another week of spanish classes.
Mornings spent grilling ourselves in class (but enjoying it immensely) and afternoons eating tasty local delicacies at the many markets and we were pretty content. Getting to practice our spanish in the
evenings meant a lot of mental exhaustion but also some satisfying improvements with our knowledge and ability to converse in Spanish!
At the end of the week we bid farewell to our Ecuadorian mother and hoofed it by bus alllllllll the way to Huaraz, Peru. (And we mean hooooofed it! 40 hours straight, 3 different buses makes Brett and
Giselle rather wacky we've since discovered.) Of course we cannot omit the joys of border crossing between Ecuador and Peru. Our lowsy bus dropped us in the middle of a town called Huaquillas Ecuador, and left us to fend for ourselves to get across the border (despite being promised by that same bus company to be dropped off and picked up again at immigration). We managed to get ourselves to immigration however were then greeted by a 5 hour wait for the next bus that would take us into Peru. (This all being at about 10pm at night mind you, great times!) Nevertheless we arrived in the wee hours of the morning in Huaraz and passed out quickly in a comfy bed in an attempt to recover from the lack of sleep.
We were kindly rewarded for our long transit with ridiculous views of snow capped mountains from our rooftop terrace, being able to basque in the morning sun with free breakfast at our hostel, and for the
first time in months - HOT SHOWERS! Never underestimate the power of a hot shower. We took a day or 2 to acclimatise to the 3000m height of Huaraz and organised a 4 day trek to Santa Cruz in the nearby
Cordillera Blanca mountain ranges.
Full of excitement and optimism we began our hike with 6 others and little by little covered 50kms including a pass of 4750m. We were spoilt rotten with 360 degree views of snow capped mountains, jaggered mountain sides, many many glaciers, silly lamas just being funny in general, picture perfect natural waterways, tiny rural towns with friendly locals, truly diverse landscapes every hour and crazy torquoise lagoons in the middle of the mountains. Despite all this Giselle thought it necessary to give herself the ultimate test and see if she could trek for 21kms (roughly 8 hrs) with a friendly case of food poisoning on the third day. She would be lying if she said she was chipper and in good spirits for the whole of that day but can honestly say there was a smile and a laugh for the majority of the day. And hey, she was just leaving her mark and getting back to nature and all that jazz right?
We returned to Huaraz feeling humbled and relaxed (ok and keen for a shower) and chilled out for a few days before embarking on the next set of mammoth transits.
2 buses and around 16 hours later we scrambled into our hotel room in Nazca, Peru - home of the famous Incan Nazca Lines. Fortunately there were no major hiccups and we boarded the small 6 seater plane the following day and viewed those outrageous and mysterious lines that are on most peoples South American agendas. The lines did not disappoint and after a quick 30minutes in the air the fun was over,
and we returned to our hotel to wait out the 10 hours until our next 15 hour transit-from-hell. Once on the bus, unluckily for Brett his body decided he was only allowed a few hours sleep and Giselle's body decided she fancied motion sickness which all together made for a fun journey! (Not!)
Finally we arrived in Cusco which will be our home for the next few days while we excitedly await Brett's mum Michelle and Giselle's friend Kassie's arrivals. Brett being image conscious felt that a burst of food poisoning might help his figure before his mum arrives. Luckily he managed to chuck up in a plastic bag this time -much to Giselle's disappointment of not getting to clean up vomit from the floor again!
Highlights:
1) Returning to our hostel each evening in San Cristobal, Galapagos only to find sea lions had taken over the town. They were found lounging on the steps, along the boulevard in hoardes and seated on the park benches, there were honestly more sean lions than people!
2) Waking up to gorgeous mountains views, sounds of nature and coca tea while trekking near Huaraz, a truly magnificent part of the world.
3) Brett (on the Huaraz trek) deciding that just admiring the glacial lagoons from the edge was simply not enough and having a quick dip in the icy water(approx 7 degrees in the water)!
