¡Hasta Luego Sur America!

We pryed ourselves away from Samana Chakra in Mancora, Peru and made our way to Quito, Ecuador. We arrived midday and found an interesting cabbie to take us to our hostel. After an overnight bus and a solid afternoon of travel, we found a great Chifa restaurant (South American Chinese food) and stuffed ourselves silly for $3 each! The next day, which happened to be Mother's Day, we scurried off to the Mitad del Mundo, the equator. There was a great cultural festival with music and dance, which made for a great afternoon. We bus-hopped our way home, never knowing exactly where we were going, but got back to the hostel in time to call our mothers :) Keeping up with our tight schedule, we were out of Quito that night and headed to the border of Colombia. Our guide book told us the border was open 24 hours a day, but when we arrived at 9:50 p.m. we found out it closed at 10 p.m. We found a dumpy hotel across the street, had dinner and passed out. Talking with some of the locals we found out that 1 gallon of RUM is $10!! Andrew was pretty bummed it wasn't available by the gallon at the local corner store. The next morning, off we went to the Colombian border, fast and easy. We headed to the terminal and got tickets to Cali and ended up spending another 12 hours on a bus. The Colombian countryside is absolutely gorgeous, making up for the long ride. Cali didn't have much to offer the travelling tourist, most activities required you to leave the city and we only had the day. Andrew's only friend in Cali just happened to be in Bogotá that day, so we had to fend for ourselves. We walked the city, shopped the black market, ate delicious fresh fruit, made some fruit juices and that night caught a bus to Medellin. Regrettably, we didn't stay in Medellin and grabbed the 6:30 a.m. bus to Cartagena, the Caribbean coast. We spent a whopping $98,000 Colombian Pesos (about $50), our most expensive bus ticket to date. 20 hours later, Cartagena's sticky, wet weather greeted us with a smack on the face as we exited the freezing cold, air conditioned bus. Without a clue of where we were headed, we took a city bus to the center of town and found a basic and cheap hotel. Cartagena definitely wasn't what we expected, with high-rises stretching right up to the sand, looked like what we thought Miami would look like. We made the most of it and explored the beautiful historic center and lounged carelessly on the beach while being bombarded by relentless vendors. Apparently, no trip to Colombia is complete without being offered Cocaine by 20 people a day. To find the gorgeous beaches we sought, we took a detour to Tayrona Parque Nacíonal. These beaches are the ones you dream about-- white sand, crystal clear waters, palm trees on the shore by the hundreds, and lots and lots of sun! We stayed at a local campground and did a lot of nothing while enjoying the view. We could have stayed there forever, but we didn't bring enough cash with us. So, Monday we grabbed the next bus to Bogotà and here we are, our last destination. We've gone to the Fernando Botéro Museum, gone bowling (inwhich Andrew beat me twice for the first time ever, Bravo!), finished our shopping, had too many cookies for breakfast, met up with Andrew's cousin's husband's younger sister (random), and are printing our boarding passes for tomorrow's flight as I type this. We thought we might write a little list of things we will miss from down here and things we will be happy to leave behind...

WILL miss

-giant mercados (markets) with fresh anything you can think of, for CHEAP
-random fresh fruit juice stands on every corner
-surfing in Peru (Andrew), tanning on the beaches (Hillary)
-la gente (the people)
-being able to not have a car
-MANGOS!
-carrying our lives on our backs
-mmMmmm street food (empanadas, and papa/arroz rellenos, in particular)
-meeting new and interesting people daily
-catching a whiff of fresh bread in the morning
-not being dependent on a cell phone
-being able to buy literally whatever you need on the street (IE. I really need a hammer right now, oh look there's a guy selling hammers across the street)

will NOT miss

-taxis honking at you in hopes of a new customer, even when riding a bike in the opposite direction
-the Argentine double L (jahh)
-24 hour bus rides!!!
-paying to go to a public bathroom
-paying more for being white, aka Gringo
-flavorless beer
-carrying our lives on our backs
-the smell of burning tires/trash and open sewers
-wondering if what you are eating will keep you up in the bathroom all night
-Peruvian folklore music
-streets that sell only one item all at the same price (Andrew)
-roads that are literally called 'Death Roads' with crazy bus drivers
-needing to carry toilet paper wherever we go
-police walking around with huge automatic weapons (Hillary)
-Andrew's obsession with his mustache (Hillary)
-being away from family and friends <3

Thank you all for keeping up with us on this amazing and incredible journey! This was the experience of a lifetime. Although this trip ended up being completely different from what we had originally planned, we wouldn't take back any part of it for anything. If you were ever questioning visiting South America, don't. Just go!

Vamos muy rápido!

So, here we are-- the last few weeks of travelling in amazing South America. Unfortunately, you will notice that there are no more pictures. You can give thanks to someone who maybe confused my camera with... uhh my camera, and took it as their own. Instead of buying another camera down here, with only 2 weeks left, we decided to go BD (before digital) and bought 4 disposable cameras. We'll get some interesting photos, I'm sure. Where we last left off, in Sucre, Bolivia, we made our way to La Paz, the capital. This city has a reputation of CRAZY. We didn't do the party scene here, but still heard stories of some crazy nights from people we met along the way. From here, we did a jungle tour through the Amazon in Rurrenabaque. We heard amazing things about this tour and were anxious to start- first we needed to take the 20 hour bus ride on Death Road to get there. Yes, they call the only road from La Paz to Rurre Death Road. There are many reasons for this-- the road is meant for two cars, but was built for one, one side is a sheer cliff down to the river, there are very many turns and tight corners (we're in a very large, double decker tour bus, mind you), children and locals alike use this same road to go to school, the next town, work, etc. The list goes on, I'm sure. Nevertheless, this is the only CHEAP way to Rurre (you can fly for 6x the price). After very many 'I'm getting the hell off this bus' call outs, we made it to very humid, very gorgeous Rurrenabaque. The city itself is not the site to see, it's the hub for the many amazying and interesting tours outside the city. We choose a tour that took us into the pampas (the savannahs), which has a diversity of animals and plants. We saw pink river dolphins, macaws, parakets, stinky turkeys, aligators, went in search of anacondas, and saw some pretty amazing scenery. After 3 days we made our return to Rurre and then back to La Paz... but of course it wasn't that easy. Remember that Death Road I mentioned? Well there are a lot of people that live along that road and they also use the road day to day. They had set up 3 road blockades and weren't letting ANYONE through. We had a choice: stay on the bus until the protest was done with (they were saying 5 days), or grab our bags and start to walk and pay different types of transport to get back to La Paz. We choose the latter and so did 3 others. We made it back to La Paz, 80 Bolivianos later, and for all we know the rest of the bus could still be trying to make its way to La Paz. From La Paz, we were ready to head back to Peru and finally make our way to Cusco and Machu Picchu! I am so sorry that I don't have pictures to post, because what a site to see. It's obvious why so many people come to Peru JUST to see that. After 2 days, we took a very budget bus 24 hours to Lima, in order to make our way back to northern Peru, in Mancora- where we worked in January. From Lima we had to take yet another 20 hour bus to Mancora, and here we are! We are fortunate enough to be able to be staying as guests at Samana Chakra, free of charge. The owners there have treated us so well and we are so grateful for all they have done, we can't say it enough! Tomorrow we leave on a 15 hours bus to Quito, Ecuador. We'll most likely be there for one day and make our way on another bus up to Colombia. Good news-- we've changed our flights so that we come home the 20th, instead of the 27th. We're missing home, family and friends, a simple normal life, and getting tired of travelling and being on the go- also spending money all the time, instead of making any becomes expensive!! haha. So, until Colombia :) Love, Andrew and Hillary

Buenos Aires, Uruguay and the start of Bolivia

So it has definitely been a wild adventure since our last blog. We camped on a delta north of Buenos Aires called Tigre and were pretty much eaten alive by mosquitos. The place was pretty interesting in that it was a series of hundreds of islands only accessible by boat. To move people to and from the mainland, they use boat-buses that make their routes at each place picking people up. That was fun and unique, but sort of a pain in the ass because there are docks on the rivers´ edges at the foot of the different properties where people wait to be picked up...imagine a bus stop every 25 yards...it gets old. We also left our campsite (on one of the islands) and headed into the mainland town for the afternoon to run errands and do the tourist thing. We left with clear blue skies and arrived in the town of Tigre 20 minutes later with one of the heaviest downpours we had ever seen. Sure it doesn´t sound like a big deal, but we left our tent open to air it out and had our sleeping bags and other clothes hanging on branches outside. We returned to find everything drenched. Then of course, who loves the hours after rain more than mosquitos. It sure was a lot of ¨fun.¨ We returned to Buenos Aires and really just took the intimidating big city in strides. We left the downtown center area and headed out to a different barrio (neighborhood) called Palermo and stayed there for two days and enjoyed the more relaxed scene of the city. We ended up walking about 12 miles that afternoon covering a lot of ground. We then had to move back to the downtown area and stayed in a fun little hostel about five blocks away from the Marriot where my parents were headed and just waited for them for a few days. As soon as Hillary and I hit the huge comfortable bed at the Marriot, we felt like we could have slept for days...but with only ten days with Roger and Cindy, we left hardly any downtime. After receiving our requested peanut butter and girl scout cookies, we headed out to a ¨local¨ arts and crafts fair about 40 blocks away. It was a little late and things were closing down so we left to get some pizza and beer. We ate and traded stories and had fun, and then we received the bill which charged us 15 pesos for serviettes and the bread and butter basket the waiter so kindly left on our table...because obviously we were supposed to assume that the bread the server brings you while you wait for your food costs extra - no need to inform us. The next day, we took the local bus to La Boca, another barrio just outside the downtown area. There we saw live tango shows, looked at more arts and crafts, saw the famous Boca soccer stadium and of course got a Boca Jrs. soccer jersey. We then walked for the next few hours to another street fair that stretched as far as the eye could see. There was a sea of people all making their way along the busy street shopping for antiques and art - defintely quite a sight. The following days we took a flight up to Iquazú to marvel at the beautiful waterfalls there. We arrived at the hotel within the park and the first sight we saw as we walked through the lobby was a tropical green background with thunderous waterfalls in the background and looking left over to Brazil. As soon as we arrived, we went straight out to look at some of the close falls as we did not have enough time to go and explore everything else. Although the rain was coming down rather thick, it certainly did not deter us from checking out the falls. Aside from one other visitor (a Ryrerson grad oddly enough) we were pretty much the only tourists walking around the falls area because it was so late and rainy out. We ended up taking another local bus out of the park and into the town of Iguazú and walked around the quiet little pueblo. We got some bread and veggies from the market and of course loaded up on fresh cold beers for the night. The next day we were up early and prepared for yet another long day of walking. Actually, it wasn´t that bad. We sat in the back of a open truck for a jungle tour, and then rode around on insane speedboats that ram right into the falls. This was by far one of the most exciting things Hillary and I had done on our trip so far. The boat takes a quick cruise up the river towards the falls, slows down for some photos, lets all the local pushy Argentinians do their thing, and then charges full-speed into rapids and waterfalls. Thank God we had Hillary´s waterproof camera because we were up to our knees in water. Simply put - one of the most adrenaline rushing experiences. Later that evening we enjoyed a bottle of wine from the bar while playing cards, Dad decided to take the empty bottle from the table, run upstairs and pour the wine from our room into THAT bottle, and enjoy our second round while the unhelpful staff scratched their heads as to how four people could be sharing one bottle of wine for that long haha. We arrived back in Buenos Aires the next day later in the afternoon and just puttered around town and walked around Puerto Madero where we enjoyed some chips and beer and some delicious empanadas later for dinner. After that, we made a day trip out of the city to a fair-sized town of La Plata. It didn´t have too much to offer, but there was an impressive neo-gothic church on hand. We were able to put down some ¨Super Panchos¨(hot dogs) for lunch and walked through the confusing streets of intersections containing six to eight different streets webbing from them. We returned back to Buenos Aires exhausted and prepared for the long day to follow. The following morning we left early on the ferry to Uruguay - a country my parents can still not accurately pronounce :) Yet another day of walking for miles upon miles. Once across the river, we walked into the historical district and straight for the Yacht club. There we met two of the friendliest and hospitable gentlemen. They truly were excited that Americans came all the way from California to see their yacht club. After walking around a bit more and checking out the local artisan fair, we were beginning to lag and needed some food and beers to refuel. We decided on a local hamburger stand for some street food and local beers. The burgers were the size of our heads and came complete with beef, slices of ham, and of course the fried egg...delicious! Then, being the true backpackers my parents are, we took another local bus up town to some gorgeous white sand beaches along the river. That´s where we found ¨Washington¨a stray dog that followed us for the better part of what seemed like 2 hours along the beach. Once we got back to town, we lost him. However, as the sun was setting and we were on a patio quenching our thirst with some beers, we saw him again, trotting around the grass. After a fantastic sunset, we headed back to the ferry and set sail for Bs As. The next day, as if Dad didn´t get enough yacht clubs, we went on a mission to find Yacht Club Olivos. It was a bit of a search, but we found it and exchanged birgies. After lunch, we took the local train back into town and settled down for a little afternoon ¨siesta.¨ The week had begun to take its toll on our bodies and we all crashed, except for Dad of course. We woke up and headed out for one of Buenos Aires´ world famous ¨Parilla´s¨ or BBQ place. We found the restaurant that we were looking for rather easily, although we weren´t really prepared for the two hour wait for our table. They did however, keep our nerves on ease with free endless refills of champagne while we waited. Once at our table, salivating for a delicious steak dinner, we were able to relax and enjoy the restaurant. The dinner was nothing short of perfection and the steak seemed to melt in our mouths like butter. We got the check and left at 2:30AM. We were glad to hear that the buses were still running and shocked to see it packed with young people getting ready to go out for the night. We were even more shocked when we found out we were on the wrong bus and got lost. All went well however and we made it home safe and sound. The final day together, we sort of woke up slow and enjoyed the morning ritual inclusive breakfast upstairs. Then, after doing some research and homework, we found out that a ¨local¨ Buenos Aires soccer team was playing that day and that we could go no problem, just for the sake that it was completely across town and off any map that we had. Taking a 45 minute bus across every street in the city, we arrived in Velez Sarsfield and purchased our tickets - half price for women by the way. This was half of the mission. Every single person told us wrong information about where to buy tickets. We thought we would grab a bite to eat before the game started so we walked down the street a few blocks and found some hotdogs. We wanted some beers as well, but unfortunately the owner couldn´t serve us...seeing as it was game day and all and things get a little rowdy. The game was typical....a scoreless zero-zero tie with some pretty sloppy playing, but it was still fun to see. As to why the riot police were keeping us locked in the stadium and not permitting anyone to leave was beyond us...seemed like a better way to START a riot rather than prevent one. After the one and a half hour local bus ride home from the stadium, zig-zagging every street possible, we got dropped off literally right in front of the hotel. For our last dinner together, we decided on the classic pizzas and beer and just enjoyed ourselves. The past week was certainly a highlight of our trip and I got to see another side of my parents that I hadn´t really known about them. I know it´s been said a hundred times, but thank you again for making the trip all the way down to the bottom of the world and giving us such a memorable few days together!

We are now in Sucre, Bolivia. The last 4 days have been spent in the gorgeous countryside of Southwest Bolivia. We went with a tour agency and meet some really great people- in fact we all traveled to Sucre together. The tour inculded a jeep with driver/tour guide and a cook, 3 meals a day with snacks, places to sleep out in the middle of no where, and a lot of fun with amazing scenery! . We ate llama tamales while lunching with the llamas, got blown away by incredible winds, explored towns that you'd think are abandoned, froze at night in 0 degree Celcius weather, woke up way too early to see amazing sunrises, drove up to crazy heights of about 15,000 feet (can you say altitude sickness?), drank some good local Bolivian beer, visited actual live volcanoes, saw 3 species of flamingos living in the random clear blue lagoons, warmed up in natural hot springs, kept far away from boiling hot geysers, explored crazy rock formations from some now inactive volcanoes, ate very very very well (thanks Nilda!), slept in a salt hotel (yes the walls, beds, chairs, tables, floors, etc. are all made of salt!), visited a great arts and crafts market, and saw the highest, largest salt flat in the world-- what you might think is snow in the pictures is all SALT! Yes, the first 5 days in Bolivia have been amazing and we're excited for the next week and a half. Until next time... :)

Also, I have too many pictures and they are taking forever to upload on these slow computers. I will post them ASAP.

¡Viva Argentina!

After Malargüe we went to a small town called Santa Rosa. We spent some time camping and exploring what the city had to offer, which wasn´t much. After a short stint in Cordoba (which, yes, was just another city) we were excited to get to some greenery and took ourselves to a small German town called Villa General Belgrano.
After three and a half months of ´Bud Light´-similar beers we were excited to get here! They actually had beers called Roja (ambers) and Negra/Stout (dark beers). And, yes, they were good. Not the best, but we didn´t know otherwise since it has been so long! We did some beer tastings, camped at a great little hostel just outside of town and even took a day trip into Alta Gracia to the Che Gravara Museum, which was the best yet. After Belgrano, we made our way to Rosario. We´ve heard this city is very similar to Buenos Aires, just smaller and not as busy. If this is small and not very busy, then I´m afraid to see Buenos Aires!! The weather was crazy as well. One point it would be hot and humid and the next it would be storming with thunder and lighting for an hour, then back to the sun. We went to the ´beach´(river beach) one day with some people from our hostel and enjoyed some panchos (giant hotdogs with yummy toppings) and papas fritas (fries). Later that night we went to a Newell´s Old Boys fútbol game! Our first professional soccer game. Let me tell you, if you think football fans in the US are crazy you obviously haven´t been to a South American fútbol game. These fans are nuts! So nuts, in fact, that they are required to separate the home fans and the visiting fans. The visting fans are let in first through a completely different entrance and also let out after the game before the home team. All the fans jump up and down, play large drums, chant their home team songs, wave gigantic flags-- the entire game! It was an amazing experience. We will be hanging out in and around Buenos Aires until Easter, when Andrew´s parents will be here! We can´t wait to have a piece of home with us here in South America.

I´ve finally had time to upload ALL the pictures from Argentina so far. Here is Mendoza and Malargüe:

http://www2.snapfish.ca/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3671932009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/

Here is from Santa Rosa to Rosario:

http://www2.snapfish.ca/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3671932009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishca/

from Chile to Argentina

We´ve made it to our third country: Argentina! Right now we are in a small town called Malargüe, after a short stint in Mendoza. This is big wine country, folks! The scenery is beautiful, the weather is amazing and the Malbecs (our new favorite wine) are flowing. After leaving La Serena, Chile, we made our way to Santiago. We visited the city´s center, which is more structurally stable than the surrounding towns. There wasn´t too much evidence throughout the city that there was such a severe earthquake. Although, some of the old cathedrals and momuments did have minor damage. We, by no means, saw the devastation of the earthquake. --Speaking of earthquakes, we literally just felt a tiny aftershock-- After exploring the gigantic and beautiful city of Santiago, Chile, we decided we were ready for Argentina! We took a bus over to Mendoza, which is widely known for it´s wine! It´s what Napa Valley is for California. We set up camp about 6 kms outside the city at a great campground. We took the local bus into town daily to explore the city and, of course, wine taste. We rented bikes and went to a couple great wineries in Maipu, and also tasted some great olive oils! We discovered Malbec, which contrary to what I thought, is it´s own grape and not a blend. We have fallen in love! We got to Malargüe two days ago and are making our way outta here today. Like I said, the town is small and quaint, but there isn´t a whole lot to do. Today, I have no idea where we are going, what time we are leaving, if we are camping or staying at a hostel, or which bus company we are riding. In fact, Andrew is at the bus terminal right now deciding and purchasing our tickets to our next destination. For anyone who knows about me and my need to plan-every-little-detail, should know this is HUGE. But, if this trip has taught me anything thus far, it´s that things cannot always go as scheduled, no matter how much planning is put into it!! We are planning on travelling around Argentina, until Andrew´s parents meet us in Buenos Aires on the 3rd of April (which we are so excited for!!). Also, we have set in stone our date of return to California-- May 27th, 2010.--And another aftershock, can you believe they´re still coming??-- Sorry I coulnd´t upload more pictures into the blog. My internet connection is incredibly slow at this cafe. Make sure to check out the rest on Snapfish.com. Until next time...

I will upload the photos from Argentina so far when I have more time on a computer, right now here is the rest of Chile:

http://www2.snapfish.ca/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3567887009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/

Chile so far and Arequipa, Peru--

Hey everyone! First off we just want to let everyone know that although we are in Chile, we were completely unaffected by the devastating earthquake. The only effect the quake had on us was that we could not find a south-bound bus from the Northern Chilean town of Iquique - which in itself is a completely invalid complaint given what the Southern regions are enduring right now. We took a night bus last night and have found ourselves in the coastal fishing city of Antofagasta (just below the Tropic of Capricorn.) We left our backpacks at the bus terminal and walked the 45 mnutes into the town center only to find 3/4 of the large city still shuttered up given that it is a Sunday. We actually just woke up from a nice nap in a shady park in effort to escape the heat.

However, it was only about a few weeks ago that we were in the Andean city of Arequipa, Peru surrounded by volcanoes and huge mountains/ deep canyons. The city of Arequipa was easily our most favorite in Peru (as far as big cities go.) It was nice to not be honked at every two seconds by taxi drivers asking us if we want a ride while walking a mere five blocks down the street. The high altitude also made the air much clearer and therefore not as polluted as Lima.We made plans to be at the bus terminal at 5:30am to head out to Cabanaconde, where the start of an amazing trek through the Cañon de Colca, deepest canyon in the world starts, but we decided to move a little too slow and got there at 6am and were unable to get to Cabanaconde at a reasonable time to start the trek. Instead we just took the next bus to the town of Chivay, which was on the way to the canyon anyway so we figured we´d just go that tiny little village, have a quiet night, then head to Cabanconde the next morning. While waiting for our bus, we met another American traveler from Michigan ho decided to tag along with us. Once we got to Chivay, we were greeted by a kind, sweet, quiet girl who told us we could set up our tent at her hostal for the night. Once we got there, the American guy didn´t want to pay for a room so he slept in our tent with us. Not a big deal considering it was raining and freezing...not unlike the last trek we did in Huaraz. This time we were prepared with the plastic tarp we purchased from a hardware tienda and the rain was no match for us. We heard that there is a little party going on that night being Carnival and all. We decided to go check out what we were expecting to be a few locals hanging out only to find the enitre public square filled with women dressed up in festive dresses and all the men whaling on drums and blasting flutes. They were also dancing around Uculuptus trees that had been erected into the concrete of the plaza and decorated with such wonderful gifts as tupperware, old scarves, and ribbon. After asking the locals, we found out that the local government pays for four or five trees to be chopped down, brought into the city square, decorated, and placed upright along with endless cases of beer for everyone to have access to. They also do this three nights per week for the month of February. So of course we were having fun just dancing with the folklore villagers and soaking it all in when all of a sudden a guy bursts through the cirlce of girls who are holding hands and dancing around the tree carrying an axe and begins to take five chops at the tree. After the whacks, everyone cheered and saluted the man as he was forced to drink a mug of chincha a corn beer that is traditionally fermented in someone´s mouth, then a beer, and then a pisco drink. Then he just ran back into the group of men playing flutes and banging drums. All the while, kids are chasing everyone around with compressed spray cans of soap foam and blasting people in a little war. It really got exciting when the tree was at it´s last ends, about to topple when whole familiies decide to stand right where it´s about to fall, watching and waiting with full attention. We could only look at eachother and ask ourselves (are these people idiots? A 30-ft tree is about to fall right on top of them and their just standing there singing and chanting. But neither of us could have anticipated what happened once the tree finally toppled. It was a mad dash of fifty people sprinting to grab the goodies off the tree!! Then they pick it up, throw it over their shoulders, and run it out of town. It was pretty amazing.The next morning we set off for the trek into the Cañon de colca. Once on the bus, a group of officials walked right up to us because of our Gringo skin and started demanding that we pay a 35 soles tourist ticket for the canyon and that it´s the law. After a valiant effort and countless threats by them, we held strong in our refusal to pay and continud on the trek anyways. The first day was just walking down hill so it was fairly easy. Once we got to the bottom of the canyon, we met a lady walking her donkeys and she told us we could set up our tent at her place for free and spend the night there. She was also proud that we didn´t pay the officials the money because the villagers don´t see a dime of it anyways. It was pretty fortunate for Hillary because that American guy that traveled with us didn´t have a pack so he simply carried hers in exchange for some of our food and a free tent. The views were absolutely amazing and we did not get rained on which made it all the better! The last day was ridiculous because of course our first day was all down, the last meant the way up and out of the canyon. It was a strenuous few hours, but we handled it like champs. After getting back to Arequipa, we set up our plans to go to Tacna, the border city in Peru just north of the Chilean border. We then took the 5am train across the border and into Arica, Chile. We got there and had no clue where to go or what to do, so we just hopped on a local bus that told us he was going to the beach. We got there and just set up our camp right there on the sand. It was totally free and there were no hassles. After Tacna, we went down to Iquique which was pretty much a night and day difference between anything in Peru. There were huge high-rise apartments and hotels overlooking the water and a bike trail/boardwalk along the beach. When we first arrived, some local fruit vendors greeted us and could not have been more helpful towards us. He waved down a collectivo cab for us and told him exactly where we wanted to go and everything. Once we got to the hostal, we knew we made the right choice as it was merely steps away from the beach. We rented bikes from the hostal and went exploring through the beautiful town and had an amazing few days there. That brings us to where we are now. Chile is definitely 100% different than Peru. But probably the most difficult thing is the language. They cut off every word, use the craziest slang, and speak lightning fast. Also, the currency is extremely inflated which means everything costs tens of thousands of pesos which makes for doing math on purchases a little difficult at first, but we´ve gotten the hang of it.

We appreciate eveyone´s concern for our safety and are so fortunate to have so many friends and family members caring for us. Until next time...

Love Hillary and Andrew


Pictures from Arequipa, Peru:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3501837009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Pictures from Chile so far:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3535421009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Huacachina y Chala...

Buenos Dias! In the last couple days we´ve done some great stuff! In Miraflores, we did some routine errands and relaxed in the sun after some bad times in the rain. We then took a 4.5 hour bus down to Ica to get to the very small town of Huacachina, which is famous for it´s sand dunes and sandboarding. We went out for dinner that night and explored ´the oasis´ of a town the next morning, trying to escape the heat. Around 4pm our sandy adventure commenced. These dune buggies aren´t anything like I´ve seen before-- they fit about 10 people! Once we were over the dunes that walled in Huacachina, mountains of sand were all you could see. You could easily get lost out there without your guide! And the ride out to sandboarding was more similar to, say, a rollercoaster and so much fun!! The driver would charge up and down dunes that you´d think were vertical walls of sand!! Ahh! The act of sandboarding itself can be compared to snowboarding, but it´s not as easy to carve through sand as it is snow, though we both got down a couple dunes, no problem. On the final, gigantic dune we decided to lay on top of our boards... you go so fast! Pushing the limits, made for a great memory. One of the best yet! The next day we headed out to Nazca to see the famous Nazca Lines but quickly decided we weren´t that interested in it and took the next bus out to Chala-- a very tiny beach town on the way to our ultimate destination, Arequipa. We made it to the resort called Hotel Puerto Inka, which is located in it´s own private cove and is literally the only thing around for about 20 minutes! We camped right on the beach with a gorgeous view-- reminded me of a small beach in Cabo San Lucas. Luckily we bought food before getting a ride in, because the prices are pretty exspensive, by Peruvian standards. Though we did spend the most we´ve ever spent on a meal thus far for Valentine´s Day dinner, spending 80 soles, which is about $28!! We´re crazy!! haha. We are now back in the main city of Chala waiting for our overnight bus at 10:30pm to getting us into Arequipa around 6:30am. Arequipa is known for it´s canyons and gorgeous scenery! We can´t wait! One more thing-- my windows program has pooped out on us! Therefore, we do not have access to a computer as much as we´re used to-- even though internet is widely available, we just have to pay for it now!

Pictures from Huacachina and Chala:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3463325009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Huaraz, Peru... and then some

So, we’re back where we started, Miraflores… but it wasn’t an easy journey. Leaving Samana Chakra was bittersweet- bitter because we knew we’d miss the great accommodations, company and food; but sweet because we were ready to get back on the road! We took an afternoon bus out of Mancora to Chiclayo, which should have been about a 5 hour ride. Between delays, bus switching and our bus breaking down in the middle of nowhere, it ended up being about a 10 hour ride, landing us in Chiclayo around midnight. The next day we took a bus from Chiclayo to Trujillo, assuming that there’d room on the next bus to our ultimate destination- Huaraz. What’s that they say about assuming?? We had to stay in Trujillo for the night and take the next overnight bus out, which surprisingly went smoothly. Arriving around 5am there was a shock of cold weather, something we haven’t really experienced here yet. We arrived at our hostel, slept for a couple hours and woke up to have breakfast to one of the most beautiful views- the Cordilleras Blancas. We explored the city by walking through the local markets and buying what would be our meals for the next couple days. Later we walked about 2 and a half hours uphill to the Wilcahuain Ruins. The walk up was interesting, forgetting that it’s Carnaval and for the month of February the local kids like to start water fights… with everyone. Three times we had water thrown at us! Not just a little squirt gun, buckets of water! Luckily we caught on early and made sure to keep an ear out for giggling children laughing at the Gringos. At one point, in order to pass a group of kids with squirt guns and buckets of water heading straight for me, I had to huddle against one of the local women and use her as a shield, with her permission of course! The view at the top was great, but unfortunately the ruins were just okay. Then next day we got ready to do the Santa Cruz trek through the Andes. We meet six others that were on the same page and wanted to finish the ‘novice’ trek in three days. The ride to the trailhead is one we’ll never forget, something similar to a turbulent flight for 3 hours. The start of the trek was great, we were all in high spirits, and nothing could bring us down! Except for maybe the altitude, about 4 hours into the trek it really started to kick in, along with the weight on our backs- mostly food for the next couple of days. It started to rain and it was nearing on 7pm (yes, 8 hours of hiking), as we began to unpack our tent the rain really started to come down. Once we lay down to get situated, we realized our beloved tent we bought to save some money on hostel stays is not waterproof. We ended up shacking up with another couple that had made it as far as us, four people in a two person tent. Theirs was a little more waterproof than ours, but did not prevent us from being wet, cold and unable to sleep for the entire night. The next morning, our entire backpacks and everything we brought with us soaking wet, we decided it’d be best to head back in time for the next bus down the mountain. Regretfully we turned around, but later found out from the rest of the group that we missed nothing but snow, rain and foggy views of the lagunas and glacier capped mountains. To be back at the hostel, with hot water, dry clothes and a warm bed couldn’t have felt better. The rain wouldn’t seem to let up, so we took an overnight bus from Huaraz to Lima. We are taking a few days here to get some errands done and relax after a stressful couple of days. The south of Peru is calling our names from here. If you haven’t heard, there have been major floodings in Machu Picchu, Cusco, Aguas Calientes, and Puno. Machu Picchu being probably the biggest tourist attraction in Peru has set a lot of people’s trips into a whirlwind. Entire trekking trails have been swept away, along with the rail system and bridges to get into Machu Picchu. The government of Peru has declared it a state of emergency for 60 days, and hopes to be up and running in the same amount of time. You never know though, Peruvian time runs a lot slower than what we’re used to. Hopefully, within the next 5 months of the rest of our trip we’ll be able to visit the ruins. But now we’re focusing on southern Peru, Chile and Argentina— not bad :)

Here is the link to the last pictures in Mancora, Peru:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3195456009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

All the pictures from Huaraz:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3418251009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Lost in Mancora

Hola! Buenos Dias! Que tal? Todo esta bien aqui :) (Hello! Good morning! What's up? Everything is good here.) We're still working at Samana Chakra and really enjoying our time here. These last two weeks have flown by! The first five days or so Andrew and I were the only ones helping out the kitchen and were working A LOT-- almost all day, 7am - 9pm. We did have separate shifts but wanted to help each other so we would stick around. Now another girl, Kathy, is also working with the kitchen and shifts are split up so we have more time off. We've only had one day off! But most of the time, when it's slow, it doesn't feel like work-- like right now I'm technically working :) hehe. If it's slow we're able to lounge by the pool, take a dip in the ocean or go for a surf (in Andrew's case). The guests here are all really easy to get along with and, also, the staff is a lot of fun! We're becoming friends quickly, which is going to make it hard to say goodbye to this place! But we don't have to do that until the end of January, possibly mid-Feburary. When we're not working we're either reading on the beach, going out for meals, body surfing, napping, walking into town, or cooking! In fact, I'm watching Andrew out body surfing as I type this. We still really want to try out kite surfing, which looks like it wouldn't be too difficult if you know how to wakeboard. Mancora is a perfect spot because of how windy it gets in the afternoon-- similar to Maui's west coast. We haven't been practicing Yoga as much as we'd like. Our first few days here, we did participate but there was an Arco Yoga (Acrobatic Yoga) Retreat here for about ten days and had reserved the Yoga room. One night, they did invite us to 'fly' and it was incredible. There is another retreat going on until the 21st, so we will have more time for Yoga before we leave! :) Again, we've taken the initiative and made a minor change in plans! After our stay here, we plan on making our way back towards southern Peru, but go through the highlands, not the coast. We should be heading towards Huaraz for some camping and hiking! The weather will be a big change as the mountains there have snow caps. We'll gradually make our way to Ica, Arequipa, and Puno, which is in southern Peru. Then go through Bolivia to get to Argentina, taking our time. By the end of March we'll head back up to Cuzco and Macchu Picchu to (hopefully) meet Andrew's parents. Then up north to Ecuador and Colombia, and on up to Central America and into Mexico and back to the States... that's pretty far from now, but it's hard to resist some sort of planning!!

Remember to check out our photos. I added more to the Mancora, Peru album:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3195456009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Our new -temporary- home!

So, a couple things have changed in the past week... we're not doing as planned, but I'm learning that's alright :) First off, we ended up staying in Lobitos for the New Year instead of making our way to Mancora. We had heard that Mancora was going to be a giant party that lasted until the wee hours, plus we wouldn't have known anyone. So, we decided it'd be better to stay where it was familiar with people that we liked and had gotten to know over the past 8 days of staying at Los Muelles Surf Camp. We made an amazing dinner as well: giant hamburgers with roasted potatoes, salad and of course pisco! After dinner, we sat around the table and talked, having a great time. Then fifteen minutes til the New Year we grabbed our bottle of champagne and lit some sparklers as we made our way to the end of the pier. Once the New Year arrived, we celebrated with the champagne and jumped off the pier! What a great night! Second change of plans, on New Year's Day we decided to make our way to Mancora, to kick off the journey to Ecuador. When we came to drop off some things to lighten our loads at Samana Chakra, Johanna had asked if we could start that day, instead of the end of the month. We hadn't bought our bus tickets, so we thought, why not?? We're here and it's been a great time. We are working in the restaurant on site, helping in the kitchen, grabbing drinks for people out by the pool-- basically making everyone feel comfortable during their stay. There are three of us working in 4-5 hour shifts- breakfast, lunch and dinner. In a couple of days there will be a group here for a yoga retreat and things will begin to get a lot more busy. It's a nice calm right now while we learn the tricks of the trade around here.
Johanna and Gary are the couple that own this place and they couldn't be more sweet. They're very understanding and laid back. The rest of the staff is really awesome as well. Working in the kitchen is interesting, as Lupe only speaks Spanish. It's a great way to brush up on our Spanish though! So, the Ecuadorian Adventure has been put on hold, but we're having a great time here, hanging out and, best of all, saving some money!

Also, I have uploaded all our pictures onto www.snapfish.com and will continue to throughout the trip. I hate picking and choosing a couple pictures here and there and want to immerse you all in the entire adventure! All you have to do is copy and paste link into your web browser. You might have to make an account to view the albums-- but it's completely free!

Here are the links to all the pictures we've taken, starting with the most recent:

Mancora, Peru-- the beginning :)
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3195456009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Lobitos, Peru
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3187607009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Pacasmayo/Huanchaco/Piura, Peru
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3187607009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Huanchaco/Miraflores, Peru
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3172057009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Miraflores, Peru
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3169267009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/