Colca Canyon

Last Friday morning 6 of us got up at 3 am to get a bus 3.5 hours or so on a mostly potholed road to the little town of Chivay. After a bleary-eyed breakfast we then bundled back onto the bus for a 1.5 hour drive to Cañon de Colca, one of the deepest canyons in the world. At it´s deepest it´s over 3000m. We stopped of at Cruz de Condor apparently expecting to see condors (we did, but only in the distance so they didn´t appear to be that impressive!) Then we drove another 10 minutes down the road to the head of the trail: A 7 km hike switching back and forth down the hillside...a 7 km steep rubbly slide down the cliff-face is what it felt like in parts! I fell over once in the 3.5 hours it took for us to reach the Colca River, over 1000m below where we had started. After chilling out under the bridge for a bit to wait for the rest of our group (and a little wash of our feet in the river) we then crossed a suspension bridge over the fearsomely fast river and scrambled up over the rocky cliff on the other side. 20 minutes later we arrived at a little lodge that was to be our home for the night. It consisted of mud huts with mud floors and 0 electricity. It was good fun though and we all had an enjoyable evening although we dreaded how much we´d ache in the morning!
The next day we got up at 6.30 ready for the next part of our hike. After a filling breakfast of pancakes we set off in a fairly horizontal line this time (although there was a 20 minute hard, ´cling onto rocks so you don´t fall´ climb at one point). We passed by a couple of villages that are nestled in the canyon and then further down the road, all the villagers doing maintenance on the path (even the woman with a baby strapped to her front). We had another short break to pick and eat prickly pears (like in the Jungle Book!) and then finally arrived at was is called the Oasis after about 4.5 hours of walking. After a swim in the natural pool and lunch we then had to set off again to climb out of the canyon. This, we were told, would take us 3 hours, although our guide had done it in 1 hour and 8 minutes once...I have no idea how. It´s one of the most physically challenging things I´ve ever done. We felt that we would never reach the top. We had to wind our way along super narrow paths with sheer drops to the side (make sure you stand next to the cliff face when a mule comes past!) and up ridiculously steep natural steps. Plus we were going up which meant the higher we got the more effect altitude had. It took us 3.5 hours and for the entire last hour it was a case of: walk ten steps, break a minute. But eventually we made it (mostly with smiles on our faces!). 4 of us managed and 2 decided on taking the mule (a scarier option in my opinion!)
After a night in the little town of Cabanaconde, where the women wear fabulous richly embroidered clothes, we set off home the next day...tired and with really dirty hair but contented. We stopped off a couple of times to see the famed Inca style terraces that stretched for miles in a valley, a quick jump in some thermal pools (39 degrees centigrade), and to see llamas, alpacas, and the cutest of them all: vincuñas. We were meant to stop at the highest point on the road (4910m) but unfortunately we were driving through clouds so couldn´t see anything anyway!
We arrived back in Arequipa at 7.30 on the Sunday evening with extremely achy, tired bodies.
It was AMAZING!! I have never seen anything like it in my life. We walked 21km over the two days (it definately felt like more!) I would love to do it again one day.
X

Birthday Celebrations!

My lesson plan at school yesterday did not go to...erm...plan! I thought that writing stories would take up an hour and a half but it only took half an hour. So then I was stuck with no ideas as to what to do for the next hour. Shows me that I should be prepared!!! Thankfully the planned egg and flour throwing that is apparently a tradition here did not happen because someone forgot the eggs. But when we came back from school and I was happily sitting stuffing my face with Peruvian delights one of the other volunteers decided that it would be amusing to through two and a half litres of water over me! It was okay though because I dried off in the sun. Another volunteer bought me a gorgeous cake and then we all went out for crepes in the evening. It was great. My host family also got me some presents, although the day was slightly marred by my host uncle being knocked off his motorcycle and having to go to hospital.
Today there are bus strikes which are apparently turning a bit nasty so we're not going out to school, which is generally a good thing seeing as I was supposed to be teaching multiplication of fractions, something that I don't understand at all!!
So it's looking like it's going to be a lazy day of sunbathing/ice cream eating! :D
X

Beach break and First Day of School

This weekend 8 of us got in a suprisingly luxurious bus and made the 3 hour journey to the town of Camana to go to the beach. It was all good fun. We were the only gringos in town and got stared at a fair bit, the beach was a little dirty, the sea was super strong and the lifeguards mostly wore speedos and preferred posing to enforcing beach safety! It was good, but I wouldn't really go back to that beach again.
Yesterday I had my first day of school which was great. I'm working mostly with 10-13 year olds and yesterday we were doing maths. I did try to help them but mostly seemed to get the answers wrong though. The kids are really lovely and affectionate. As soon as I arrived they were asking my name and calling me senorita anastasia and giving me hugs. It's mostly because they don't get much affection at home that I think they are so affectionate with us-we give affection back. Their parents mostly work in nearby fields. But the settlement is literally built on a hill of rubble so if there was an earthquake i really think the whole hill would fall down.
Today we actually had a day of school because of a strike of transportedores so we went shopping to a little craft market where I bought myself a couple of early birthday presents! And we sunbathed a bit...but not too much because the sun here is way too strong.
This weekend I think I might be going trekking in Colca Canon...a canyon that's twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. And there are hot springs and condors and all sorts. YAY!
X

Spanish Lessons and the History of Arequipa

In my spanish lesson yesterday my teachers took me and another volunteer out into the city to go look at a museum and some churches. It was nice to get away from the 4 hour solid classroom work that we do every other day. In the museum there three mummies which were super creepy. The Incan tradition, similar to that of the Egyptians, was to bury people with all their belongings so that they had a good afterlife. But interestingly the way they buried people here was to put them in the fetal position so they´re all curled up and I kept feeling like they were going to jump out at me any minute! It´s weird because all the mummies still have some skin and hair and perfectly preserved fingernails. It´s weird!!
Last night the guy who owns the hostel which acts as our base invited us all over to make this Peruvian cocktail which has Pisco, lime juice, sugar syrup and lemonade in it. It was really nice...can´t remember the name though!
And then today he took us on this sort of walking tour of the city and to eat some traditional Peruvian dishes. Walking about the city was really interesting. We went into all these little places called "tumbos" which are basically where the old city boundaries used to be. You go through this tiny door that looks like nothing from the street and down these steps into a gorgeous courtyard where you can´t hear the city at all. Apparently when people used to come and visit the city they would stay in the downstairs parts of these houses and the family would live upstairs at street level. It was really cool.
This weekend I think we´re going to the beach to soak up some sun. Should be good!
X

I´ve arrived!

I left home the day before I was supposed to because of all the snow and then on Friday I went to the airport super early to change my flight so that I didn´t miss my connection in Madrid. All the flights worked although they were far too long and I don´t want to see an airport again for a long time! There were four new volunteers starting with me on the same day which is nice because we all hang out together this week when we´re doing our Spanish lessons and hteo ther volunteers are at school. There seem to be a lot of volunteers here many of which I haven´t met yet.
I met my host family yesterday and there are a lot of them. I have a mother, an aunt, and uncle, a grandmother and two sisters. Plus there is also a lovely greek lady staying with my family for 3 weeks to learn spanish as well. It´s nice but I think it´ll be quite hard work because of having to speak in spanish all the time. But at least there are lots of other people who can sympathise.
The weather is really nice most of the time although today it is a little cloudy.
I´m still a little jetlagged and seem to wake up at 4.30 am on the dot every day which is a little annoying but I´m sure I´ll adjust soon.
The city is really nice and so Peruvian...cars don´t stop, wolf-whistlers are everywhere and service in restaurants is really slow!
All in all it´s been a good if overwhelming few days.

The journey begins...almost

I am leaving the UK in 3 days to embark on a 5 month adventure to South America and I am nervous, excited, scared, apprehensive...and many other adjectives that I can't even think of right now!
First stop will be the city of Arequipa in Southern Peru where I will be teaching 3rd grade students for 10 weeks. Then I have 2 weeks travelling. After that I fly up to Quito in Ecuador where I meet my next project which is 5 weeks conservation in the Amazon rainforest. Finally I have left 3 and a half weeks travelling at the end of that for doing whatever I feel like. Both of my projects have been organised by the company GVI, who so far have been extremely helpful in preparing me for my trip.
I am busy trying to do last minute shopping and seeing all my friends before I leave. Not entirely sure if everything is going to fit into my pack but I'm going to try!