So it's been a good few months since I last properly updated this, when I was in Brazil...
Since then I have been back into Argentina, then into Chile to the Atacama Desert, into Bolivia by jeep and accross the Uyuni salt flats, summitted 3 peaks mountaineering a few hours out of La Paz, been to see Machu Picchu with 48563738 American people, been to a terrible psytrance festival in an old monastry somewhere near Cuzco, did some more mountaineering in Huaraz, Peru, done my last bit of rock climbing of the trip and posted home 26 kilos of equipment which I am hoping will soon appear, spent 3 weeks in the Amazon, 5 days in a hammock on a cargo boat getting out of the jungle and travelling through the remoteness of Peru's northern highlands crossing into Ecuador, and now finally arriving in Quito. I have more photos than I know what to do with so have tried to select the better ones for this blog, but as you can imagine its a real pain in the arse to sort through all the rubbish ones and duplicates which is why I have put it off for so long.
There are 3 seperate posts below with about 100 photos in total. Click the photo to enlarge it.
I am now heading west to the coast of Ecuador to finally sit on the beach, read, drink cold beer, swim in the 22 degree sea, kitesurf, and decide what I am going to do in Colombia. I'll try to update this a bit more regualrly again now...
Monday, 8 August 2011
Peruvian Amazon.
The Amazon - best 3 weeks of my trip so far I think - up there with climbing in Frey, Argentina and 2 weeks in Rio, Brazil.
I was in the Amazon region of Peru for just under 3 weeks, up until crossing into Ecuador on the 4th August to head to Quito, where I am now. During that time I spent a few days in Iquitos getting used to the 30 degree heat again after coming directly from climbing in Huaraz and camping on ice...
In Iquitos I was violently ill for a good solid 24 hours, fluids flying out of both ends. That was nice. After that, I went to the market where I had Piranha, rice, and boiled banana for breakfast at a competitive £0.80, went to an animal sanctuary, visited a little village, and lay on my straw bed in the £2.20 'hostel', sweating. I also found a guide to take me into the rainforest for 4 days and stay at a small very basic lodge, and camp, about 3 hours by boat from Iquitos.
I then spent 4 days in the rainforest, looking for wildlife, swimming in the poo brown river with pink and grey Amazon dolphins, went fishing, paddled around in canoes, and hung out in hammocks.
Then I left Iquitos (which is not connected to the rest of Peru by road, only river or flight) on a cargo boat which I thought was going to take 3 days. It took 5 after it got grounded on a sand bar for a day. I ran out of water and didn't have anything to drink for 26 hours which was fairly unpleasant. I was close to drinking the river water and putting up with liver/kidney/stomach failure and cholera. The boat was cool though, I was the only gringo/westerner/English speaker, and no-one could pronounce my name, so I was just called 'el gringo'.
After this, I went to the house in Tarapoto of someone I met on the boat (Casper), before heading out to his grandparents/family farm in a small village about 2 hours from Tarapoto. Incredibly kind people (as was almost everyone I met in the Amazon region), who fed me and looked after me for 4 days. Also had a good night out in a nearby town with Casper and some people he knew. Visited a indigenous town called Lamas with Casper and his friend Sergio in his tuk-tuk. 64km in a tuk-tuk in a day is something I never want to experience again.
I then started a 'back-route' journey for 3 days through the arse end of nowhere to a tiny border crossing into Ecuador, using jeeps, collectivo taxis, and combi vans.
Iquitos plaza de armas at night
Hammocks at the lodge
Swimming in the previously mentioned poo brown water, from the same platform we were catching Piranhas from. Apparently it is fine to swim with them so long as you do not have any open cuts as they smell the blood/flesh.
Heading upriver at dawn, the best time to see birds. I saw a flock of Blue and Yellow Macaw parrots, some Tucans, Kingfishers, and a few million other types. Sick to death of Parakeets and Parrots now.
Iquitos
Up the river at dawn again
Small tarantula, not poisonous according to the guide (who called himself Falcon...). An Isreali girl found this in her boots after having worn them for a couple of minutes and screamed for just as long after pulling this out. Was then shaking and couldn't talk for a few more minutes after that...
Swinging on vines
Probably my favorite photo form the past 7 months...
Fishing with bamboo rods. So many fish and so easy, that it got boring fairly quickly after catching the first few piranhas and catfish. They were all small and looked the same.
Small catfish.
Locals heading back to their village
Village football match
Carrying boxes of fish back to the village in the evening
Chilling by the river in midday heat.
The chap on the right is seen here modelling the classic 'bowl cut' haircut.
Room with a view for £2 in Nauta, the night before I got on the cargo boat.
The boat. Hammocks everywhere with about 30cm of space either side of you maximum. All locals.
The village Etcha-Sketch being put to use.
This guy was on the boat with his pet parrot that sat on his shoulder most of the time. What didn't manage to capture in the photo as I thought it was a bit rude was that he only had one leg. This meant he looked much like a pirate.
After this whilst travelling to the border, a surprising amount of people also had pet parrots that they carried around with them.
Dinner on the boat, same as lunch. A bit of stewed meat (or fish), rice, a lump of potato and a boiled banana. Breakfast was some hot, sugary, gloopy liquid which was foul, so I skipped it.
After leaving the Amazon, I am sick of cooked banana be it boiled or fried (fried banana chips are actually pretty good, similar to normal chips).
Apparently there are 52 different types of banana someone on the boat told me, and only 4 types are the sweet yellow skinned ones we are used to normally. The rest are green skinned (like a very unripe sweet one, which get boiled fried or bbq'ed).
Sunset at dinner
Rain cloud moving across the Amazon. The sunsets were like this every night. Incredible.
Typical riverside local community that the boat stopped at to load and unload supplies and cargo.
Chilling on the roof of the boat
At the farm with Casper, heading off to harvest Cocoa.
Apparantly an incredibly fatal spider. It was about the size of a hobnob biscuit.
Beers in the village
Wake up morning view from my hammock on the boat
Oranges starting to rot. Fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges picked that day, every day. Lovely.
Grandma 'in' the kitchen. Fire on a big lump of stone, under a reed hut.
Family. Thay were much happier than they look in the photo...! Grandpa was out working on the farm. Good old boy.
This is a stick of dynamite, which apparantly cost 15 Soles (£3.50). I found it casually left on the coffee table where the glass is. I asked what would happen if I lit it in the building and was told that the whole building would be destroyed.
Moyobamba
Harvesting Cocoa beans which Casper's Grandad sells to Wonka chocolate in the States.
On the farm they had oranges, banana, cocoa, coconuts (drunk lots of coconut water), peanuts, tobacco, rice - all sorts.
A tiny border crossing from Peru into Ecuador. 'Immigration' on the Peruvian side was a man, without a uniform, sat in a cafe (one of 3 tiny shacks) with a stamp. The barrier over the bridge was a log propped between two sticks, and there was no-one to stop you from going between the two countries. Remote to say the least.
Driving through nice scenery for 3 days before getting to civilization in Loja, Southern Ecuador.
This kind bloke (Manuel) let me put my hammock up in his un-built house, and gave me rice and bread to go with my can of tuna and a cup of coffee, with his family down in his basement. Lucky as I had no Peruvian money to pay for any accommodation and it was dark when I got to this place. Next morning (after taking this photo) I left early to get to the border where I payed for my combi with Peruvian Soles after changing them over the 'border' in Ecuador. Manuel thought it was hilarious that I was a gringo, and was laughing pretty much the whole time I was there, and even video'd me eating my sandwich in his kitchen.
7 in a tuk-tuk. Unfortunately I didnt have my camera when I saw 8 in one. Very safe...
Jungle cigarette making in Belen Market, Iquitos.
Good old game of marbles in Belen village, Iquitos.
Belen floating houses. When the river rises in the wet season (about 2 meters), the houses float up on the logs they are built on. Everyone then gets around on their canoes which they park by their door. Cool.
Nice bit of rain on the Amazon river.
Anaconda at the lodge
Cricket comes to the Amazon
Rat meat for sale in the market. The market was crazy, one of the best I have been to. all sorts of 'meat' and fish for sale. Fresh maggots/grubs on the bbq, rat meat, monkey meat, everything. I had Caiman/Alligator bbq'd for breakfast one morning for £1 - absolutely delicious. Also Piranha, rice, boiled banana another breakfast for £0.80. I also had 2 glasses of juice/smoothie with fruit, condensed milk, raw egg, and dark beer. That was foul and a few hours later was when I was vomiting.
Most of the other juices I had were delicious - fresh amazon fruits blended together for about £0.25p a glass.
I was in the Amazon region of Peru for just under 3 weeks, up until crossing into Ecuador on the 4th August to head to Quito, where I am now. During that time I spent a few days in Iquitos getting used to the 30 degree heat again after coming directly from climbing in Huaraz and camping on ice...
In Iquitos I was violently ill for a good solid 24 hours, fluids flying out of both ends. That was nice. After that, I went to the market where I had Piranha, rice, and boiled banana for breakfast at a competitive £0.80, went to an animal sanctuary, visited a little village, and lay on my straw bed in the £2.20 'hostel', sweating. I also found a guide to take me into the rainforest for 4 days and stay at a small very basic lodge, and camp, about 3 hours by boat from Iquitos.
I then spent 4 days in the rainforest, looking for wildlife, swimming in the poo brown river with pink and grey Amazon dolphins, went fishing, paddled around in canoes, and hung out in hammocks.
Then I left Iquitos (which is not connected to the rest of Peru by road, only river or flight) on a cargo boat which I thought was going to take 3 days. It took 5 after it got grounded on a sand bar for a day. I ran out of water and didn't have anything to drink for 26 hours which was fairly unpleasant. I was close to drinking the river water and putting up with liver/kidney/stomach failure and cholera. The boat was cool though, I was the only gringo/westerner/English speaker, and no-one could pronounce my name, so I was just called 'el gringo'.
After this, I went to the house in Tarapoto of someone I met on the boat (Casper), before heading out to his grandparents/family farm in a small village about 2 hours from Tarapoto. Incredibly kind people (as was almost everyone I met in the Amazon region), who fed me and looked after me for 4 days. Also had a good night out in a nearby town with Casper and some people he knew. Visited a indigenous town called Lamas with Casper and his friend Sergio in his tuk-tuk. 64km in a tuk-tuk in a day is something I never want to experience again.
I then started a 'back-route' journey for 3 days through the arse end of nowhere to a tiny border crossing into Ecuador, using jeeps, collectivo taxis, and combi vans.
Iquitos plaza de armas at night
Hammocks at the lodge
Swimming in the previously mentioned poo brown water, from the same platform we were catching Piranhas from. Apparently it is fine to swim with them so long as you do not have any open cuts as they smell the blood/flesh.
Heading upriver at dawn, the best time to see birds. I saw a flock of Blue and Yellow Macaw parrots, some Tucans, Kingfishers, and a few million other types. Sick to death of Parakeets and Parrots now.
Iquitos
Up the river at dawn again
Small tarantula, not poisonous according to the guide (who called himself Falcon...). An Isreali girl found this in her boots after having worn them for a couple of minutes and screamed for just as long after pulling this out. Was then shaking and couldn't talk for a few more minutes after that...
Swinging on vines
Probably my favorite photo form the past 7 months...
Fishing with bamboo rods. So many fish and so easy, that it got boring fairly quickly after catching the first few piranhas and catfish. They were all small and looked the same.
Small catfish.
Locals heading back to their village
Village football match
Carrying boxes of fish back to the village in the evening
Chilling by the river in midday heat.
The chap on the right is seen here modelling the classic 'bowl cut' haircut.
Room with a view for £2 in Nauta, the night before I got on the cargo boat.
The boat. Hammocks everywhere with about 30cm of space either side of you maximum. All locals.
The village Etcha-Sketch being put to use.
This guy was on the boat with his pet parrot that sat on his shoulder most of the time. What didn't manage to capture in the photo as I thought it was a bit rude was that he only had one leg. This meant he looked much like a pirate.
After this whilst travelling to the border, a surprising amount of people also had pet parrots that they carried around with them.
Dinner on the boat, same as lunch. A bit of stewed meat (or fish), rice, a lump of potato and a boiled banana. Breakfast was some hot, sugary, gloopy liquid which was foul, so I skipped it.
After leaving the Amazon, I am sick of cooked banana be it boiled or fried (fried banana chips are actually pretty good, similar to normal chips).
Apparently there are 52 different types of banana someone on the boat told me, and only 4 types are the sweet yellow skinned ones we are used to normally. The rest are green skinned (like a very unripe sweet one, which get boiled fried or bbq'ed).
Sunset at dinner
Rain cloud moving across the Amazon. The sunsets were like this every night. Incredible.
Typical riverside local community that the boat stopped at to load and unload supplies and cargo.
Chilling on the roof of the boat
At the farm with Casper, heading off to harvest Cocoa.
Apparantly an incredibly fatal spider. It was about the size of a hobnob biscuit.
Beers in the village
Wake up morning view from my hammock on the boat
Oranges starting to rot. Fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges picked that day, every day. Lovely.
Grandma 'in' the kitchen. Fire on a big lump of stone, under a reed hut.
Family. Thay were much happier than they look in the photo...! Grandpa was out working on the farm. Good old boy.
This is a stick of dynamite, which apparantly cost 15 Soles (£3.50). I found it casually left on the coffee table where the glass is. I asked what would happen if I lit it in the building and was told that the whole building would be destroyed.
Moyobamba
Harvesting Cocoa beans which Casper's Grandad sells to Wonka chocolate in the States.
On the farm they had oranges, banana, cocoa, coconuts (drunk lots of coconut water), peanuts, tobacco, rice - all sorts.
A tiny border crossing from Peru into Ecuador. 'Immigration' on the Peruvian side was a man, without a uniform, sat in a cafe (one of 3 tiny shacks) with a stamp. The barrier over the bridge was a log propped between two sticks, and there was no-one to stop you from going between the two countries. Remote to say the least.
Driving through nice scenery for 3 days before getting to civilization in Loja, Southern Ecuador.
This kind bloke (Manuel) let me put my hammock up in his un-built house, and gave me rice and bread to go with my can of tuna and a cup of coffee, with his family down in his basement. Lucky as I had no Peruvian money to pay for any accommodation and it was dark when I got to this place. Next morning (after taking this photo) I left early to get to the border where I payed for my combi with Peruvian Soles after changing them over the 'border' in Ecuador. Manuel thought it was hilarious that I was a gringo, and was laughing pretty much the whole time I was there, and even video'd me eating my sandwich in his kitchen.
7 in a tuk-tuk. Unfortunately I didnt have my camera when I saw 8 in one. Very safe...
Jungle cigarette making in Belen Market, Iquitos.
Good old game of marbles in Belen village, Iquitos.
Belen floating houses. When the river rises in the wet season (about 2 meters), the houses float up on the logs they are built on. Everyone then gets around on their canoes which they park by their door. Cool.
Nice bit of rain on the Amazon river.
Anaconda at the lodge
Cricket comes to the Amazon
Rat meat for sale in the market. The market was crazy, one of the best I have been to. all sorts of 'meat' and fish for sale. Fresh maggots/grubs on the bbq, rat meat, monkey meat, everything. I had Caiman/Alligator bbq'd for breakfast one morning for £1 - absolutely delicious. Also Piranha, rice, boiled banana another breakfast for £0.80. I also had 2 glasses of juice/smoothie with fruit, condensed milk, raw egg, and dark beer. That was foul and a few hours later was when I was vomiting.
Most of the other juices I had were delicious - fresh amazon fruits blended together for about £0.25p a glass.
Mountaineering in Huaraz, Peru.
I spent about 2.5 weeks in Huaraz, mountaineering and climbing, and catching up on missed drinking time.
Having spent the season here last year, Rolf knew lots of people, places to go out, eat, and climb. Very useful, cheers Rolf (the self proclaimed 'party tiger...'). hmmm.
Unfortunately we were not as successful with summits as were were in Bolivia, but it was good none the less. Huaraz is a cool base town, mostly locals, climbers and trekkers. We only managed one summit, Vallunaraju 5780 meters. This almost didn't happen after we overslept and didn't start climbing until 6.15am, just as the first person who summited that morning got off the glacier...
On Pisco, Nick unfortunately was not fully acclimatised and could not continue, so we retreated about 200m from the summit. This didn't bother me much as the weather was poor and visibility zero from the summit. We also depressingly had toretreat from Chopicalqui 6345 meters. Gareth had been ill the week before and wasn't feeling strong, and after breaking trail in shin deep powder snow for 45 mins or so, and having very cold feet, decided he was too tired to continue. We turned back at about 6100 meters and were back at the glacier camp by 8.30am.
About 6100m on Chopicalqui as the sun comes up. Incredible views, incredibly cold. I was climbing wearing every item of technical clothing I had, including my down jacket. Thanks Steve, for the gloves, as I would have no fingers to be able to type this now without.
Another nice 3am start in the tent. Snickers for breakfast as we ran out of fuel melting snow to drink so could not make porridge.
Poor conditions when we arrived at the glacier camp, 5400 meters? Cold and lonely...
Nick climbing.
Moraine camp, 4900 meters, Chopicalqui approach. Ronhills and Koflachs going strong.
Heavily crevassed glacier below the glacier camp.
Lake after crossing the moraine from hell, Pisco approach.
Pisco retreat in poor conditions. Nick suffering from the altitude. About 5200 meters?
Nick taking in the views after dinner.
Base camp donkey.
Having spent the season here last year, Rolf knew lots of people, places to go out, eat, and climb. Very useful, cheers Rolf (the self proclaimed 'party tiger...'). hmmm.
Unfortunately we were not as successful with summits as were were in Bolivia, but it was good none the less. Huaraz is a cool base town, mostly locals, climbers and trekkers. We only managed one summit, Vallunaraju 5780 meters. This almost didn't happen after we overslept and didn't start climbing until 6.15am, just as the first person who summited that morning got off the glacier...
On Pisco, Nick unfortunately was not fully acclimatised and could not continue, so we retreated about 200m from the summit. This didn't bother me much as the weather was poor and visibility zero from the summit. We also depressingly had toretreat from Chopicalqui 6345 meters. Gareth had been ill the week before and wasn't feeling strong, and after breaking trail in shin deep powder snow for 45 mins or so, and having very cold feet, decided he was too tired to continue. We turned back at about 6100 meters and were back at the glacier camp by 8.30am.
About 6100m on Chopicalqui as the sun comes up. Incredible views, incredibly cold. I was climbing wearing every item of technical clothing I had, including my down jacket. Thanks Steve, for the gloves, as I would have no fingers to be able to type this now without.
Another nice 3am start in the tent. Snickers for breakfast as we ran out of fuel melting snow to drink so could not make porridge.
Poor conditions when we arrived at the glacier camp, 5400 meters? Cold and lonely...
Nick climbing.
Moraine camp, 4900 meters, Chopicalqui approach. Ronhills and Koflachs going strong.
Heavily crevassed glacier below the glacier camp.
Lake after crossing the moraine from hell, Pisco approach.
Pisco retreat in poor conditions. Nick suffering from the altitude. About 5200 meters?
Nick taking in the views after dinner.
Base camp donkey.
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