Nazca, Peru

The trip to Nazca started off with a bang, literally. On the bus ride from Ica to Nazca the bus blew a tire. So after a 30 minute pit stop on the side of the highway a few locals had changed the tire and we were back on our way to Nazca. After getting off the bus I went straight to the airport to board an itty bitty 4 seater plane to fly over the Nazca lines. I had been warned that the ride was really ruff so I shouldn't eat anything before I went and to only look at the lines when the pilot tells you too then look back at the horizon so I didn't get motion sickness. I was trying to remember all of this as we were in the air bouncing up and down and taking extremely tight turns so that we could see the lines from both windows. After the first couple of turns my stomach was not longer living in my throat and I was feeling much better. I loved seeing the lines and pondering how they were made so perfect when you can barley tell what they are from ground level. You have to be above the lines to see what they are meant to be. When I was flying I did not think that any of my pictures would turn out because the ride was so bouncy, but luckily a few of the hundreds I took did.

The next day I went on a tour of the Cementerio de Chauchilla and to see a potter and gold miner workshop. The cemetery was interesting, for being a cemetery. It was were the ancient Nazca civilization buried their elders. They mummified them and archeologist are in the works of digging them up to study and restore them. I am not a fan of cemeteries so the flight over the Nazca lines took the cake for this stop on the trip.

I do have to thank God, count my lucky stars, or do what ever it is you believe in that I took my flight on Wednesday. Thursday one of the tourist planes crashed on a sightseeing tour full of tourists. No one made it out of the plane alive. I took a bus back to Lima that night and you could see the plane crash from the road, surrounded by reports and investigators.

Ica, Peru

My next stop was Ica. The main draw for backpackers to Ica is going on a dune buggy and sandboarding trip in the dunes right outside of the town. This was by far the highlight of Peru so far! I took an evening trip into the dunes with 12 other backpackers. Our first stop was a little dune where our driver got out the board and told us how to sandboard. When we asked if he wanted a to borrow a board to show us how to do it, he laughed in our face and told us that he only drives and doesn't board the dunes. So thats encouraging on the safety front, right? Basically there are 3 ways to get down the hill. You can either lie on your stomach on the board and sled down headfirst (the safest option), or you can sit on the board and sled down the traditional way (2nd safest) or for the dare devils you can attempt to go down on your feet like you are snowboarding(the most dangerous way). I tried all three ways on the "bunny" hill but was only successful at the laying and standing sledding options. I fell in style when I tried the standing approach. After a quick practice he took us to a bigger dune where a few brave people tried standing and going down, I decided it would be best if I stuck to sitting. I had a blast going down...but the real fun came at the next stop. We drove like crazy flying over dunes and making sharp turns until we came to our final test of being a sandboarder. The biggest dune I have ever seen in my life. This dune is the 1st picture, I took it from the bottom and the little black specks are the people who did not brave going down the hill once they saw the drop. It had to be around 250 to 300 feet tall. It was so big the the driver told us we were only allow to go down on our stomachs and no matter what dig your feet into the sand half way down, and don't ask why.

Going down was the craziest experience ever! I couldn't tell if I was enjoying it at first because I was so worried that I was going to fall off or give into wanting to scream bloody hell and get a mouth full of sand. (As you can see in the picture) Once I was safely at the bottom I realized that I had just had the most fun and could not wait for the driver to come pick us up and take us to the top to go again. If you ever get the chance to go sandboarding I would highly recommend it. Once the adrenaline rush of going down the dunes was over we piled back into the buggy and did some more 4 wheel driving then stopped at the top of the dunes to watch the sunset. It was by far the best night I have had in Peru so far.

Paracas, Peru

I am on my own for a week, in between friends that I have convinced to come down and visit me. I decided to spend my week exploring the south coast of Peru. My first stop is Paracas. Paracas is home to the Reserva Nacional de Paracas and Islas Ballestas. I arrived Sunday morning on a bus from Lima. I was greeted by the Senora who ran the tourism company, after asking what my name was and where I was from, she went for the life questions.

"How old are you?"

"I am 23"

"How many kids do you have?"

"None"

"None! Are you married?"

"Nope"

"Well you need to find a husband and start having kids. Did you come to Peru to find a husband?"

This conversation was going nowhere good and fast. Thank the lord the other tourists showed up, or so I thought. I was the only non-Peruvian on the tour and the Senora took it upon herself to introduce me as the white, American who doesn't have any kids or husband and is 23. The van couldn't drive away fast enough! It was quite amusing though, there was one little girl on the tour who decided she should practice her English on me and would run by me saying "kitchen" and "teacher." I am guessing those are the only words she knew in English because she kept saying them over and over as she walked by me.

The Reserva was more of a series of lookout points. There use to be a rock arch formation off the coast that they called "El Cathedral" but it was destroyed in the massive earthquake of 2007. There are pictures of what it use to look like. Now it is just a mountain that sticks out of the water. We continued farther down to see the one red beach in the park. The rocks around this section of beach are very high in iron and the currents bring the water into this cove, forming the only red sand beach. The last stop on the tour was a little beach were the locals played in the sand and water. I am not sure how they were in the water because it was FREEZING! I decided to skip the swimming part and have lunch at one of the restaurants. I had a delicious seafood ceviche, and watched the pelicans beg for scraps at the door of the kitchen.

Monday I went on a tour of the Islas Ballenstas also known as the "poor mans Galapogas tour." We first boated by the Candelabra, which has been carved into the rock hillside (pictured). This 150 meter high and 50 meter wide geoglyph is as mysterious as the Nazca Lines. The next stop was the islands. The islands were filled with sea lions who had just given birth to their babies and lots and lots and lots of birds. I don't think that I have ever seen so many birds in one spot in my life. I did see 1 penguin, buts a little bummed because I thought that we would see more. I made it out of the trip with out a single dropping of poop landing on me, however the French ladies behind me were not as lucky.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Country number 3 and city number 8 on the intenerary brought me to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The capital of Tango and beef, what more could a girl ask for? One of my oldest friends, Christina, took a break from Cooperate America in search of some South American fun. We conquered the city in 4 days. We toured the city seeing all the major points of interest:

- Casa Rosa: yep it's called the pink house, good thing there is a female president for Argentina right now, as that is where the president works

- Cathedrals

- La Boca Juniors soccer stadium: the pride and joy of the city

- The Palmero: the neighborhood where Buenos Aires elite rub elbows and also houses their Modern Art Museum and Evita's gravesite

- El Caminito: a colorful street that housed many of the first immigrants to Buenos Aires. All the houses are different colors because the families would use the left over paint from their boats to paint their new house, giving it it's charm. These houses would house up to 5 families sharing common living, dining and bathroom space! (Pictured above)

- Tigre:the bohemian hangout of Buenos Aires. It is an hour train ride out of the city then you have to take a boat to access the picturesque summer getaway. I was thinking that this town was going to be a deserted island type feel but it was more like walking through the canals of Florida.

- Tango show at Cafe Tortoni. Cafe Tortoni is a national historical sight, this is where many artists, writers, politicians and businessmen came together at the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires. A lot of the Argentina literary culture was first pondered over with a cup of coffee here. (Pictured above)

We had a great time in Buenos Aires and I wasn't ready to leave after only a few days. I guess I might have expressed those thoughts because on the way to the airport a flash flood happened. It was just starting to rain as we loaded our bags in the taxi and after 5 minutes of driving we were in a full on rain, thunder and lightening storm. As we continued down the freeway we could see the surface streets under us covered with water. Cars were flooded out and abandoned in the middle of the road. You could tell this was not an everyday occurrence since everyone was standing outside their doors looking at all the water in disbelief. I got my wish and was able to stay 3 hours longer in Buenos Aires, although it was on the runway. Lesson learned, careful what you wish for.

Comdia de Chile

Hot dogs. That is correct, hot dogs, this is the national food of Chile, I swear. Everywhere we went there was a hot dog stand. Now, I have worked in the baseball environment for the last 7 years of my life and was pretty certain that I have seen it all when it comes to hot dogs. Boy was I in for a surprise. Chileans have one upped us with their verison of the hot dog known as the Completo. The completo is a hot dog that is topped with avacado, tomatoes and mayo. They do not skimp on the toppings either. I am pretty sure that I had a whole bottle of mayo on my 1st completo experience ( I had to take it off to make it edible.) I was very shocked when I actually enjoyed the completo.

The completos have made blog status because there is not much else to do in Santiago. It is a big city that is more industrial than touristic. But it was just what the doctor ordered; to rest and spend a few days in Valparaispo before hitting the pavement hard again in Buenos Aires.

Valparaiso, Chile

Today I took a bus from Santiago to the coast to visit a charming hilly town of Valparaiso. Jody and I left the city where it was suppose to be 90 degrees for the coast. We knew it would be a little cooler at the coast, but didn't think that it would be foggy and cold when we got there. Decked out in our swimsuits, shorts, tank tops and flip flops we screamed Tourists as we walked down the streets and all of the local people were wearing wool sweaters and scarfs. I mean it might not have been short weather, but I thought that wool sweaters and scarfs were a bit much. I mean come on, February is the middle of summer here, it would be like our August! Could you imagine wearing a scarf in the middle of August (and not a fashionable one, one that is meant to fight the cold wind.)

We walked around the town center for a while, waiting for the clouds to burn off. In the afternoon the cloud rise and we took one of the many famous elevators that took you up into the hills. Once you are in the hills of the city, the city's charm comes alive. On a clear day you get views of multicolored houses that cover the entire hillside. Today the view was not that good but I could imagine what it would look like. I loved walking around the little streets lined with boutiques, cafes, museums and houses. You could get lost in the streets for days if you weren't careful, which I have decided wouldn't be such a bad thing. There were so many fun things to discover on each street.

I think that I will go back to Valpo when Christina comes in to town. I would love to see the city when it is not hiding under a layer of clouds.

Ciao Brasil

After 2 overnight bus trips we have finally made it back to Rio for our last 2 days in Brazil. I can not believe that it has been a whole month already! We came back to the same hostel we stayed at when we first got to Brazil. It was nice to be somewhere familiar, we walked in the door and got a warm welcome from the staff. We only had 2 days in Rio before we had to leave this beautiful country. On the first day, Jody and I walked to the lake and relaxed there for a bit. The lake was pretty but couldn't hold a candle to the beaches and Atlantic. So the next day we decided to soak up the last bits of Brazilian sun that we could on a lovely beach, Barra de Tjuca.

Being so close to Carnival, all the Carnival bands have scheduled outdoor practices around the city which turn into street parties. We went to one in Lapa, the samba club district, and had a great time meeting locals and dancing to the Funk band. As much fun as we had, I could not imagine being here for Carnival as just a mere tourist. I would recommend finding a Brazilian friend and sticking close to him/her if you ever want to come to Carnival.

I have loved every minute that I have been in Brazil and don't think that I will forget any part of this trip for a long time. I was constantly amazed at the diversity of landscapes and how friendly all the Brazilian were. I haven't even left yet, and I am plotting different ways in which I will be able to come back here. So if after reading my blog, Brazil seems like a place you want to visit let me know and I will come back with you :)

Salvador

After taking a short plane ride down the coast we were at our next stop on the Brazilian tour, Salvador. Salvador is a city with rich history. This was the first port set-up to bring slaves over to Brazil from Africa and the city is known as the African soul of Brazil. In this beautiful beach town the descendants have worked hard to preserve their culture and history. The way in which they honor their history and culture best is through wild street parties that brings the community together to celebrate various holidays.

I am having a hard time putting into words how much fun and culture rich this town is. Let me start by saying the we were only planning on spending 3 days and 2 nights and loved the town so much that we extended our stay to 5 days and 4 nights. The first day, we took our selves on a tour of the old city called the Pelourinho. The Pelo, as its known around town, is the historical center of the city. Our hostel owner sat us girls down and told us of the drug problem they are having in Salvador and that we will just be asking for trouble if we bring anysort of purse, bag or camera with us. We kept our money close to our bodies and left our cameras in the hostel. Unfortunately this means that we have no pictures of this beautiful and historic area of town. Later that night we went back into the Pelo for a cultural dance show. On the cab ride into the city we crossed the streets that the Hostel owner told us to avoid like the plague, and could see why he gave us such a stern warning about our cameras and purses. It was amazing to me how such a beautiful and history rich cultural area was safe, and full of life on certain streets then one block over you had the complete opposite where the drugs ruled the streets.

The cultural dance show, Bale Folclorico da Bahia was incredible! The dancers did an amazing job of sharing their heritage and showing how the different cultural influences of Europe, Africa and the Indigena people of Brazil that lived together in Bahia fused together to create the culture of today's Salvador and Bahia region. My favorite dances were Capoeira and Samba de Roda.

Our last day in Salvador just happened to be the day that the whole town came together to offer their gifts and party in the streets for the Festa de Yemanja. Yemanja is the goddess of the salt waters. To ensure that the ocean will provide the residents plenty of fish to survive on they all gather and give forth offerings to Yemanja which are collected beach side all day then loaded on boats to be placed 6 miles offshore, those gifts which are not washed ashore are deemed accepted. This then leads into merryment on the streets with capoeria circles and funk and samba bands playing in the streets. This is like their warm up to Carnival, is the best way to explain it.

Recife

After a week in the Jungle, the girls and I headed off to Recife to recuperate on the beach. We had a lovely time in Recife but it was made so much better by the lovely hosts we had, the Fongs. Jody has a family connection to the Fongs in Recife. They were AMAZING people who took 3 crazy American girls they had never met under their wings. It was so much fun to see a part of Brazil from a Brazilians point of view and not just the tourist spots. They crammed every minute of our time there with experiencing their culture. We ate the best traditional Brazilian dishes and got to spend the day at an gorgeous beach town. Plus they own a Chinese restaurant, where we had lunch at, it was a great escape from the Ham and Cheese sandwiches that the hostels serve us everyday.

The worse part of our time in Recife was we only had 2 days. We got the Brazilian airpass, which limited us to dates that we could get flights meaning we could only spend 2 days in this wonderful town :( Hopefully I will be able to come back soon and spend some more time in Recife.

The Amazon!

First off sorry it has taken me so long to write. As you can imagine the internet situation was not abundant in Manaus, considering it is a town smack dab in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest.

However, I survived and live to tell many stories of the Amazon. Going into this section of my trip had me feeling both extremely excited and anxious. I remember studying the rainforest when I was in 3rd grade; but other than class reports that we did on an Amazonian animal, I didn't remember much. This allowed my mind to run wild with the idea that I will be sleeping right next to a jaguar and that I better count my lucky stars that he doesn't get hungry in the middle of the night. Well to put your mind at rest we saw no jaguars, although we wanted to see one on land when we were safely in the boat so that there was no chance of attack.

For our 6 days and 5 nights in the jungle we went with Iguana Tours, who planned for us to go camping in the jungle. They picked us up from our lovely Pepto-bismal pink hostel and handed our lives over to Conrado, our jungle guide. He put us into a cab to get to the port, then from there we boarded a boat to cross the rivers, Rio Negro and Rio Slmoes. This was the most interest part of going into the jungle because the 2 rivers are different colors and have a different viscosity from eachother. This causes them to flow side by side for a while before they mix. When the two rivers mix it has a swirling look to them, it was really cool to see. While we were stopped at the meeting of the rivers there was a little canoe that pulled along side of us with a couple in it who wanted to show us their pet sloth and boa constrictor. I have to admit that it was one of the strangest things that I have seen, a snake and sloth sitting on peoples laps getting paddled through the river trying to earn some money. But hey, who am I to say what is normal or not, and I get to say that I have seen those animals in the rainforest. I guess we all win a little (well maybe not the sloth and snake.) After we got out of the boat we got in a van to drive to the next river, where we got in another boat and finally arrived at the Juma Lodge.

We spent our first night in the lodge, which was 5 star in my book for the jungle. We had our own toilet and shower! I was so excited. Then the next day it was off to cook by fire, hang our own hammocks and mosquito nets and camp in the rainforest. I have to say that camping in the jungle is the only way to do it, if anyone is contemplating visiting the Amazon soon. While camping we took canoe rides through the flooded forests, midnight canoe ride (looking for jaguars who came to the rivers banks for water) piranha fished, did a lot of hiking through the jungle, caught and put to sleep caymans, watched our crazy tour guide chase down an armadillo, and the most interesting thing was when we paddled through the craziest rainstorm I have ever been in on our way back to the lodge (which is saying something for a girl from Seattle, I have never been so wet in my life.)

The jungle was an amazing experience that I could probably write a book on! The best part was being able to see all the animals that I have heard so much about but never have seen...until now.
Some of the animals I saw were:
-Cayman
-Macaws
-King Fishers
- Cranes
-Hawks
-Vultures
-Wood peckers
- Grey and Pink Dolphins
-Armadillo
-Frogs
-Piranhas
-Sloth
- Boa Constrictor
- Cappuchin Monkey
- "Old Man" Monkey
-Spiders

I will post some pictures when I get access to a computer that has a USB connection.