Rio Verde - Baños - May 27, 28, 29, 30

We left Punta Sal at 5.00 a.m. on Sunday morning and set out for Rio Verde in Ecuador, about a 14 hour drive. We drove up the Peruvian coast, and the scenery continued to be bleak and barren, but as soon as we crossed the border into Ecuador around 9.30 a.m. the landscape, the people, and the cutures changed dramatically. The border crossing was similar to some of the others we have experienced where you exit one country, then maybe about 20 minutes later go through the border control into the new country. We crossed the border from Aguas Verdas to Huaquillas in Ecuador.

When you drive through the South American countries, there are lots of police road blocks, or police controls, which you have to pass through. Depending on the particular control, depends whether you drive through with no problems or with some problems. A couple of times, we have been glad to have Tony as a driver. I think it was in Argentina where they wouldn´t allow meat, vegetables, fruit, etc. through the control. At one of these they confiscated a huge roast we had purchased for dinner. Tony spat on it, and threw it to the ground and stomped all over it because he wanted to make certain the policemen didn´t keep it for their dinner! Once in Ecuador, we stopped in the grounds of one of these controls for lunch. Apparently, there is always an ambulance sitting there together with some medics. While we were having lunch a battered old green VW beetle smelling of burning gasoline, screeched to a halt, all the doors opened and a young women and a guy got out. The woman was crying hysterically. After a few lazy moments, a white-coated doctor appeared, and a person was dragged out the car, laid straight on the road and examined. After a few more lazy moments, the ambulence drove around and some medics got out and the body was lifted onto the stretcher and raised into the ambulence which put on its siren and drove lazily off. There always seems to be something happening around us.

We stayed at a small rustic hotel just outside of Rio Verde which is about 25 minutes from Baños. We were actually supposed to be camping in the little campsite immediately in front of the hotel, but once again we upgraded to a room. It wasn´t that we mind the camping, but I really wasn´t feeling that great stomach wise - and afterwards we were glad we made that decision because it poured heavy rain for 2 of the 4 nights we were there and the tents got really flooded inside.

From the hotel "Pequeño Paraiso", we took the bus into Baños. Now this was fun. The narrow 2-lane road winds along the side of a river canyon with a fair number of S bends, steep drops, and 5 tunnels through the solid rock before arriving in Baños. The bus, which was equipped with TV, and beautiful blue cotton curtains with yellow tassels, was full of sleeping, baseball-capped, Ecuadorian men. We squeezed in behind the reclined coach-seats of the row in front, so that we literally had the head of the chap in front in our laps, and suffered the rank body odours that some of the men gave off. However, the drive kept us on our toes as I think the bus drivers must have a competition as to who can do the run the fastest. We flew along at great speed, around the corners, and the S bends, passing anything that got in our way, hooting at everyone and everything on the road. It was great fun, but we were glad we made it safely to Baños. On another trip, I met an American who was living in Puyo and he told me that this was the new road, built over the past four years. The old road was, I think, something like the most dangerous road in Bolivia that we biked down. He told me the road was one lane and when the buses met one had to back up, often ending up with one wheel off the road and hanging over the edge of the canyon. He said, when this happened, he would get out of the bus, and wait for the other bus to pass and his bus was safely moving forward before he got back on! Life is literally lived on the edge here.

Baños is a small tourist destination about 1,820 meters above sea level which is nestled among the soaring green hills of the Andes which are literally wrinkled with waterfalls. Its known for its thermal baths, but compared to the baths we visited in Pucon, Chile, they are not nearly as spectacular; so we didn´t bother going. The town itself is really quite sweet. The people are very friendly and helpful, and the narrow streets in the town have a nice mix of locals and tourists.

On the second day of our stay in Rio Verde, we went canyoning. Another new experience. I was terribly nervous and had a horrible night´s sleep the night before. In fact, travelling to the location in the truck in the morning, I almost changed my mind. This was after we had been fitted out in our wet suit, plastic nappy (to protect the wet suit from the rocks), harness, shoes, life jacket and helmet and had our practice at abseiling in the grounds of the hotel.

We arrived at the drop off point and had a short walk through the rich vegetation to a narrow, rushing, stream with a deep pool of water where the guide dunked us under and our adventure began. We waded down the river, over the rocks, sliding down small waterfalls, then doing a 3 meter jump into a pool of deep water below. Next we abseiled down about 12 meters, then were immediately hooked up to a zip line to fly across the canyon on the "Flying Fox". We continued our walk in the river bed to the next waterfall where we abseiled down beside a water fall for about 25 meters. Then we did some more river walking to the next abseil which was straight down right beside the falls for about 15 meters. It was so neat, hanging out there on the rock face and looking between the water of the falls and the rock behind. When we arrived at the bottom, we swam behind the waterfall, then across the pool of water to the next smaller falls which we went over face first. As a finale the guide tried to get us to repeat this last drop with a somersault. Ray tried, one of the other girls did, and everyone else, myself included, just bombed it.

It was all so much fun, and I am really glad I went after all.

Our third and last day in Baños, I went for a 4 hour horse back ride with Robin, Nikki, Gemma, and Sam. It was supposed to include a lot of cantering and be a fast ride along the side of a canyon. The horses were really crappy, but none the less we had an incredibly picturesque ride, and Robin and I managed quite a bit of cantering. We took the horses up the side of the river valley, then followed along and came down over a suspension bridge to the opposite side where we rode back along narrow paths with steep drops to the river below. We crossed back over the river on a pretty covered bridge. Along the way we met a few really cool local people all of whom were so happy to see us. One gentleman even shook hands with each of us.

The countryside in Ecuador is absolutely beautiful. The Andes are rich in vegetation, the snow capped peaks of the higher ranges peeping through in the background. Everywhere is lushly vegetated with many palm trees, banana plantations, and tons and tons of impatiens lining the banks and acting as ground cover under the trees. The people too are very sweet. They have wonderful smiles, are truly pleased to meet you, and go out of their way to help you, such as the young lady who walked with me in Baños to show me the way to the supermarket. But all of this aside, the way of life is very simple. We are told there is a lot of family abuse, mainly caused by drinking, the women have babies by different men, and corruption is everywhere. We have had many discussions about sorting out the social, economic, and political problems we have been exposed to, and other than education, we have not come up with any answers.

Punta Sal and Horseback Riding in the Moonlight - May 25, 26

Punta Sal is located along a small road leading off the Panamerican Highway, somewhere around Km 1187. It is a tiny, sleepy, seaside resort on the northern beaches of Peru. The wide, white-sand, beach stretches for miles along a very controlled Pacific Ocean, making swimming there very safe - and the ocean is reasonably warm as the effect of the Humboldt has disappeared. The town is located at the foot of a bleak, barren, hill range which leaves room for a very narrow dirt road leading through the town, paralleling the ocean on both sides of which are an eclectic mix of homes, some obviously quite rich, and others quite poor, but all with a quiet Peruvian charm. There were no shops and only the odd beach vendor selling jewellery and sun-hats. A number of small fishing boats were anchored off the shore but they never seemd to move while we were there.

We stayed two whole days at the Hostal Hua, which allowed us to pitch our tents on the beach. Waking up in the morning to the sound of waves beating on the shore and the sight of the sun rising over the ocean is one of these mind-clearing, soul-feeding experiences that most people need more of in their life.

There wasn´t much to do in Punta Sal except chill. So, we walked along the beach playing with the numerous red crabs that were scurrying away from us to safety, swam in the ocean, lay on the beach, and sat in the shade of the Hostal reading.

We also took a taxi into the nearby town of Mancora which was a 30 minute, 30 soles ride. Mancora is a trendy surfers beach town which is said to rival some of the north-eastern Brazil beach towns with its safe swimming and extensive sands. We were doing some food shopping for the Truck and also trying to buy "papel aluminio" (tin foil). We must have tried 10 to 15 stores, including the local market, and had half the town helping us, including our taxi driver who was driving us from shop to shop. We eventually did find it and with our request for 7 rolls depleted thier supplies. Mancora was larger than Punta Sal and busier with lots of little tourist shops on the main drag and the local shops and market behind, and street vendors mixed in.

One night we cooked a pig on a spit for dinner, a process which took most of the day with each of us taking a half hour shift in which we had to turn the spit three times. We set the spit up on the beach using the metal sand mats that Tony has on the Truck to get it unstuck should it sink in the mud or sand, as the uprights in which the spit was placed and then placed this over the charcoal which was in a pit dug into the sand. As the pig began to cook, the delicious aroma spread out over the beach and by the time it was ready everyone was starving.

The coup d´etat of our stay in Punta Sal was a horseback ride Robin and I did along the beach. We left about 4.45 p.m. with our guide VictorHugo mounted on three beautiful, 15 hh, Peruvian horses, with long flowing manes and slim withers, who were quivering with energy and excitement and foaming at the bit in anticipation. With a mixture of walk, the most comfortable sitting trot ever, and long canters, we made our way for miles along the deserted beach. We passed outcroppings of rock, areas of beach which were scarlet with crabs, white herons, and on the whole two and a half hour ride only three other people. We rode through the brilliant red sun setting, and finished the ride by the light of the moon shining on the water and glistening on the rocks to show us our way back to the hostal - and dinner - and another night sleeping beside the swelling ocean.

Lima to Punta Sal - May 22, 23, 24

On Tuesday morning, Tony brought the Truck to the hotel in Lima so we did not have to take taxis to the Truck Park. We sadly said goodbye to Iain, Lynne, and Nic which leaves 18 of us in the Truck plus Tony and Diana. We had a sleepy drive through the bleak and barren countryside in a light fog and stopped around 5.15 p.m. by the side of the ocean for a rough camp. A local guy had some van problems on the road beside our camp site and asked us to keep an eye on his van while he went into the village for help. He also warned us that it was dangerous to camp outside the town! So, just as a precaution, we were careful to make sure that none of our valuables such as the camera were in the tent but that they were safely secured in the Truck.

We woke safely the next day, Wednesday, and left early in the morning and after driving for about three hours arrived at the Huacas del Moche archeological site. On the way, we passed a town called Chimbote. This has to be one of the worst cities we have visited anywhere. It apparently used to be a quiet fishing port, but now it is a busy, ugly city of about 159,000 full of unfinished adobe houses, piles of garbage strewn all over the streets and wastelands, and in some parts, dirty-looking people, unusual for Peru because people are generally spotlessly clean. It also stank of fish due to the over 30 fish packing factories and Chimbote accounts for over 75 per cent of Peru's fishing related activities. I think a lot of the "ugliness" in some of these towns is the result of the many earthquakes which leave piles of rubble staggered throughout the city. For example, almost every building in Chimbote was either destroyed or damaged by the 1970 earthquake.

We arrived at two adobe pyramid structures standing in the desert-like landscape 5 km south of Trujillo located by the side of the Rio Moche. These were Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna - i.e. the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon. These are believed to be the capital, or most important ceremonial and urban centre, of the Moche culture at its peak between 400 and 600 AD.

The Huaca del Sol is not yet excavated and is not open to visitors, but you can see a massive, very weathered, adobe, pyramid which rises about 50 metres out of the desert. Apparently, this is only about 30% of the original structure.

The Huaca de la Luna on the other hand, located about 500 metres from Huaca del Sol, is much smaller, but more impressive due to the number and quality of the painted friezes. It consists of a complex of interior rooms and interconnected patios decorated with the friezes. The friezes are original and the intensity of the vivid colours is outstanding. The pictures depict nature and the things that were important in the life of the Moche, for example, ray fish (representing water), pelicans (representing air), and serpents (representing earth). It is also believed that human sacrifices were carried out at this site because of the 42 skeletons of sacrifical victims that have been found.

We spent about an hour and a half at the site listening to the information about the life, culture, and legends of the Moche and looking through the naturally preserved ruins.

It is a very sad fact about Peru´s ruins that most of them have been looted - either by the Spanish or by locals, and probably both, thus making it very hard for the archeolologists to be certain of the facts surrounding the various cultures.

After visiting the ruins, we drove into Trujillo, and went to the supermarket to individually buy our lunches and for Cook group to buy the incredients for dinner - spicy lentils and mashed potatoes.

We then drove for another 20 minutes or so eating our lunch as we went, until we reached the ruined city of Chan Chan. This was the capital city of the Chimu Empire in about 1100 AD. The site is enormous and we were told that about 25,000 people lived there in its heyday. The city had 9 temples. Apparently each time a king died, he was burried in the temple and the new king had to build a new temple. There are 3 parts of the site that have been excavated, restored, and preserved, and are open to the public. Of these, the Tschudi temple-citadel is the largest and most popular to visit. We spent another hour and a half going through this site and learning about the ceremonies that took place in the public square, the private life that the 100-200 inhabitants of the temple lived in the private quarters of the temple, visiting the huge well system on which they boated and caught fish, and ultimately about the burial of the king. Unlike the Moche site of the Huaca de la Luna, the colour in the frescoes has been lost due to the fact that the site has been exposed to the weather, whereas the previous site was covered by sand and dirt. Neither the Chimu nor the Moche could write so there are no written records to tell us about day to day life. The Moche however, left graphic descriptions from which archeologists have drawn out information, but the pottery of the Chimu was black and there are few graphics depicting their story.

We couldn´t help but contrast the civilization of the Chimu in 1100 AD vs the civilization in Europe at the same time. Just thinking how much more we know of life in Europe and how much more of this life still remains today compared to the now extinct civilizations that existed in SA. But that is probably not an educated comparison. In any event, it was pretty marvellous to be exposed to so large a site, and to visit such well preserved ruins of a culture that was so very different from our own.

After leaving Chan Chan, we drove west and north up the bleak coast to Huanchaco and the Hotel Bracamonte where we styaed the night.

Huanchaco is about 12 km west of Trujillo and is a small resort on the ocean which is turning into a surfer´s haven due to the huge rollers crashing into the beach. It is also a fishing town and you can see hundreds of fisherman riding the waves in their tortola reed caballitos del mar. These are made from four cigar shaped bundles of reeds tied together into a tapering arc at each end. The fishermen kneel, or sit, at the stern and paddle kayak-style while they drag their fishing nets through the ocean to make their mini-sized catches returning to shore around 3 to 4 p.m. daily.

Huanchaco is a neat little town that could provide a couple of weeks relaxation or surfing as desired. The weather however, was cold and misty, probably due to the influence of the famous Humboldt currents that are still prevalent in this part of coastal Peru.

The hotel Bracamonte was quite unique. It was built into the hillside on a small street close to the ocean. On the roof, it had a small camp ground which could support about 10 tents and provided a nice camp kitchen, dining area and lounging area with hammocks. Camping was about 3 soles a night each. Across the narrow street, the second building of the hotel supported more bedrooms, the lobby, restaurant, and internet room. We upgraded for 35 soles into a double room which at least had private bath, hot shower sometimes, and was very clean.

Thursday was another long driving day through the northern desert of Peru. This really is stark, barren, and desolate coastal desert with scattered rural communities such as Chiclayo, Lambayeque, and Piura (commercial centres). Nonetheless, despite its bleakness in landscape, the region is rich in archeology and history including pre Inca, and Chimu as well as a number of pre-Columbian cultures which have provided a wealth of archeological sites and led to gathering an abundance of information about life in the region thousands of years ago.

Peruvian tourism is trying to establish the "Circuito Nororiental", which is the route from Trujillo, through the Moche Valley, archeological sites around Chiclayo and the northern beaches like Mancora (where I am writing this from), and Punta Sal, where we are staying as well as the ancient citadel of Kuelap. This would be an exciting and interesting trip for anyone who is interested in Peruvian cultures.

Lima, Peru : May 20, 21

We had two full days to see the sights of Lima. We decided, that since this is a city of 8 million people, we would take a city tour which started at 9.15 on Sunday morning. On the second day, we wandered around on our own, did some washing, updated the blog on the internet, sent some emails, and tried to confirm our Galapagos trip for June 7. It was nice just to have time to ourselves and accomplish some of the admin stuff we needed to make the rest of our journey comfortable.

Lima is a big city. It has a couple of nice areas, Multiflores and San Isidro, where the rich people live and some of the houses and parks are truly spectacular. However, it is also a city that has grown very fast, and therefore there are a number of areas or shantytowns where the majority of the poor population live which are not too pleasant to see. Surprisingly, one of the major problems is unemployment, which we find hard to believe because the city seems very busy, lots of building, and we also met an accountant from PWC in Lima who told us how healthy the economy is. Something doesn´t add.

There is also the colonial Centro where the old Spanish buildings are being fixed up and looked absolutely spectacular, especially at night when they are all lit up.Our hotel is very near the Plaza Mayor which is one of the two main squares. The cathedral, government palace and city hall are all located in this square, and all are very distinguished buildings. This morning, we watched the changing of the guard at the palace which was a rather sleepy, noisy procedure that brought out a ton of riot police, a couple of tanks, a water truck, and hundreds of additional police, police dogs, etc. Quite an event. This happens every day at noon.

We have visited the San Franciscan nuns convent and went down into the catacombs where all the bones and skulls of the 25000 dead people buried there have been separated out into containers labelled with each type of bone. A little gruesome.

There have been several earthquakes in Lima and a big one in 1746 destroyed 70% of the colonial buildings, but these seem to have been rebuilt in the 1800s and then recently restored as much as possible. None, or very little of the Inca buildings remain, as the Spanish destroyed them all before building over the top of them. We did see an archaeological site dating back to the Lima Indians who lived 200 to 700 AD. It is currently being restored in Miraflores. We also went into the Banco Central Museo which was quite fun as it was an old bank complete with vault in the lower level and cash cages on the first floor. Here we saw an explanation of all of the South American cultures leading up to the Incas, and there are many of them depending on which part of the continent you are in. We also saw splendid examples of Inca gold jewellery and other artifacts. The Inca prized sea shells more than gold or silver, and so most of the ceremonial jewellery is made of seashells.

Lima also has a large China town, which we saw the outskirts of.

There is a strong European influence in some of the buildings, mainly Italian, and French, as after the WWII many Europeans moved here for safety. We learned that the Spanish have big doors so that people could ride right into the house to take their horses to the courtyard behind. Also, the Spanish loved processions, and so all the houses have tons of balconies so that people could stand on the balcony watching the procession.

We also stepped into the Postal Museum and saw myriads of beautiful stamps from around the world, let alone a beautifully restored colonial house. One of the lovely things about the people here is their enthusiasm. The security guard who ushered us into the Museum was so anxious to have us visit. He was so excited to show us in and tell us where things were. This spontaneity and enthusiasm are definitely missing in the service areas in Canada. Just like the restaurant we had lunch in today. It was a small little typical cafe and when we walked in the waiter was so delighted, he took us upstairs, smiling all the time and treated us like kings. There is no subservience about their attitude, it is just one of genuine delight.

Late yesterday afternoon, we went out to Larco Mar in Miraflores which is a suburb of the city situated on the coast, and sat high in one of the restaurants on the rocks above the sea shore watching the sun set. We had quite a ride getting there. The cab was very broken down. No shock absorbers, a half chewed back seat, the dashboard was stripped, and the cab stank of petrol. We had agreed on 10 soles for the ride. The cabbie couldn´t find the restaurant. He tried to ask a young chap on a motorbike delivering pizzas but the young lad wouldn´t even stop to speak to him. Then we stopped a Miraflores security policeman,and he directed us to a restaurant. The cabbie let us out just around the corner and another concerned citizen took us to the cafe. However, it turned out there are two in Miraflores and we had the wrong one. So we had about a half hour walk to the shore to the correct restaurant. The view was perfect though looking out over the Pacific Ocean. We also saw the statute to the Lovers. Two lovers kissing. Apparently on Feb 14 there is a kissing contest to see who can kiss the longest. It has to be a Peruvian kiss, a French kiss is not acceptable!!

The people in Lima are generally very friendly and helpful and get a big kick out of you trying to speak their language. But it is still a little racy, although we believe 10 years ago, it was a lot worse, and the door of our hotel for example, has iron grills in front of it which are closed all the time and the security guard has to let you in and out. This doesn´t give you a very good feeling. We were also warned not to walk on the streets at night in the Centro area. This really makes us feel very limited in what we can do after dark as Ray and I both like to walk a lot. Anyway, its really only another big city. I do hope the economy continues to pick up and that way the City will be able to develop into a safer environment.

While in Lima, we learned that Penny, one of the truck group who left us in Santiago had been travelling by overnight bus and someone had crawled under the seat in front of her, slashed her day pack and taken out her passport, travellers´cheques, money, and some other items. It seems that all of those who left us and continued their journeys on their own have had major items stolen. This confirms to us that one of the major advantages of travelling overland on a truck is the security and safety issue and we just don´t have to worrry about those sorts of things happening during our travel time. Means we can sit on the Truck and sleep in peace as we journey!

Early tomorrow morning we are off on the next stage of our journey. We have 9 nights of camping, five in Peru and then we enter in Ecuador. We also have 3 nights at Punta Sal, a beach resort on the Pacific which we are all looking forward to. So stay tuned, but bare with us if we do not get pictures or more text updated for a while. Not every camp site has an internet, and we do have a couple of rough camps thrown in for good measure.

Trains, and Boats, and Dune Buggeys ' May 18, 19

On Thursday, May 17 we drove from Ariquipa to Nazca through barren sandy hills covered with alluvial deposits from the volcano activity which occurred in this region thousands of years ago. At Nazca, we camped in one of the best camp sites yet. There was a fabulously clean swimming pool, a restaurant, bar, internet, and hot showers. The next morning, Friday, we were up around 6.00 a.m. to be ready to start our plane flights over the Nazca Lines. The flights started early so as to avoid turbulence which seemed to build up later in the day. The Nazca Indians are thought to have existed between 200 and 600 AD. Many mysteries surround their culture, including why they disappeared, however, they are the tribe that is reputed to have constructed the Nazca Lines.

We, Ray and I, John and Lynn, Robin, and the pilot, took off in the 6 seater Cesna 182 from Nazca Airport, directly opposite the campsite, listening through our headsets to the pilot pointing out the 13 shapes we would see on our short, 15 minute flight. Takeoff was smooth and we climbed steadily to about 1000 feet. Numerous other small planes filled the aire space around us, but we had learned that due to some previous accidents, each plane was now given its own altitude to fly at, and thus able to avoid mid air collisions. Then, unexpectedly, the pilot banked the high winged plane so that it was almost perpendicular on its right side, then very quickly banked to the same position on the opposite side. As the blue sky whizzed above me and to the left and right of me, I tried desperately to steady my swirling stomach and find my equilibrium. Needless to say, I totally missed seeing the first shape ' the whale. Thank goodness none of the other moves were quite as violent, and when we compared notes with others in the group, this seemed to be an automatic first move. Perhaps it was purposely done to set us up for the rest of the journey, which although we seemed many times to be flying perpendicularly while the pilot identified the shape ¨at the tip of the right wing¨ for example, none of the other moves were as alarming. The flight was very smooth and our Peruvian pilot very slick.

The ground below us was a continuation of the sandy desert like alluvial landscape that we had become accustomed to in the Truck the day before. It was hard to make out the lines and shapes because of the numerous other visible lines and car tracks over the ground, but when we did, it was an amazing sight to distinguish the perfectly formed shapes of triangels, an astronaut, a monkey, a dog, a condor, a spider, a hummingbird, Alcatraz, a parrot, hands, and a tree. We are quite concerned about the preservation of this wondrous site, as at present, it seems to be totally unprotected from money grabbing tour operators.

What do these lines mean? Since they are only properly distinguishable from the air, how and why did the Nazca make them, if in fact they did? There are many theories including: ancient gods, a landing strip for returning aliens, a celestial calendar created by the ancient Nazca civilization -- putting the creation of the lines between 200 BC and 600 AD, used for rituals probably related to astronomy, to confirm the ayllus or clans who made up the population and to determine through ritual their economic functions held up by reciprocity and redistribution, or a map of underground water supplies. There are about 300 hundred figures etched in the surface of the desert pampa sand made of straight lines, geometric shapes most clearly visible from the air. The shapes have survived due to the almost non existent rainfall in the desert area which minimizes the effects of the wind so that there is no rain to wash the lines away, or blowing sand to cover them.

All too soon, our flight was over, leaving us with more questions than answers about this strange phenomena in the Peruvian desert.

We stayed around the camp site at Nazca, after the flight, sitting by the pool, eating lunch and relaxing and about 1:30 p.m. loaded up in the Truck for our 3 and half hour drive to Huacachina. Here we left the comfort of the Truck for a dune buggey. The buggeys were weird looking vehicles wtih a strong roll bar mechanism built on top of a 4 wheel chassis. I thought I was embarking on a sandboarding trip with an overnight stay under the stars in the desert.

There is a strip of desert in Peru that stretches for about 177 kms long by 57 km wide. The desert is created because of the Humboldt currents in the Pacific. These are areas of cold water which create a cold atmosphere above them and do not allow any rain to fall on the land. Occasionally, the effects of El Nino will counteract this, and torrential rains will come causing substantial flooding and damage to the area.

The settlement of Huacachina is about 5 km southwest of Ica. There is a myth that says the lagoon was formed when a princess stripped off to bathe and noticed in the mirror that a male hunter was watching her. Startled, she dropped the mirror which turned into the lagoon. The settlement only has about 20 houses, but in the 40s it was an exclusive resort, surrounded by sand dunes, palm trees and the curative powers of the lagoon. Then the subterranean source of the water became eratic and the water now is pumped up from Artesion wells. The curative powers of the lagoon still attract people. The mud from the lake is said to cure arthritis and rheumatism, and the sand is said to help chest problems such as asthma or bronchitis.

We set off in our sturdy dune buggesys straight into the desert. And then the fun started. The dunes are huge and stretch as far as you can see. Our drivers determined to give us the ride of our life. We were racing across the sand, then headed straight up the highest dune only to shear off near the top and head straight back down again. Another trick took us flying across the desert, straight up the dune to the peak, a moment to level out and straight down the opposite side flat out, just like a roller coaster. Ray and I were sitting in the front seat with the driver. Ray loved it. I sat gripping the bar on the dash with one hand and the other hand held on to the seat. I should aslo mention that I was strapped in with a waist belt and another belt that came up between my legs and over my shoulders and connected somewhere around my tummy button. I guess this should have alerted me to the fact that this was not going to be a normal ride!! I was also wearing protective eye glasses... but no helmut. I am not quite sure how I made it through. I remember slipping further and further down into my seat trying not to let my tummy get ahead of the buggey. Ray said the concern on my face showed all the fear I was feeling. Having analysed it, it wasn´t fear ' it was dread of the terrible reaction I was trying to hard to control in my tummy.

After about 30 minutes of whooping and hollering our way through the desert like a bunch of kids on the Thunder Mountain roller coaster at Canada´s Wonderland, we stopped for some sand boarding.Relief, bliss, now I was in control. Because we had no experience, instead of riding the board like a snow board, the guides suggested we lie on them and head straight down the sand dunes, face first. Now this was fantastic fun sliding down a hundred foot sand dune on your belly. Unfortunately, one of our young guys, Duncan, who was taking the steepest and longest dune standing up, got going too fast and crashed, breaking his wrist in two pieces. Once again, Diana and Tony came quickly to the rescue and had Duncan into the medical clinic, x'rays taken, casat fitted and back to the join the group for dinner around 7.30 p.m. We do really have to complement the medical services here. For 400 soles )about $US 135 he had x'rays, consultation, cast, medication in the swiftest time imaginable.

After we finished sand boarding, we drove through the desert to a protected area, in otherwords a dune valley, where we stopped for the night. Our buggey drivers turned into chefs, and barbecued a brilliant meal of chicken and sauseage, potatoes, and vegetables over the charcoal fire which they built well into the sand. After supper, our by now multitalented drivers, struck up a band with a guitar, a beer bottle and spoon, and the speaker box out of one of the vehicles as a drum. And, so we spent the evening, sitting around a camp fire, drinking a few cervezas, chatting, some singing, some dancing. Around 10.30 p.m. which seemed like the middle of the night because it had been dark for so long, some of the group, including Ray and I wandered from the fire to find a flat spot where we blew up our air mattresses, opened out our sleeping bags and curled up inside our sheets in side the bags, well protected from the cool desert air. We lay staring up at the starts in wonder, until slowly, sleep carried us into a peaceful, desert induced oblivion.

The next morning, I woke up at daylight, I think I was the first awake, and lay listening to the quiet and marvelling at where we had spent the night. Slowly, bodies came alive and crawled out of their sleeping bags shaking sand out of hair, ears, and clothes. There was a moment of excitement when Gemma was showing us the scorpion she had squashed under her sleeping bag, and suddenly it got up and ran across the sand. You can imagine how quickly we all scattered!!

Shortly after 7.00 a.m. we climbed back into the dune buggeys for our thrill ride back to town. It ws then I knew I hated it and that I would never knowingly put myself in that situation again!

Back in Huacachina, we had breakfast then drove 1 and a half hours to the Paracas National Reserve. This is an area established in 1975 to protect the marine wild life of the 117,000 hectares of pampa that surround the coast. Here we boarded a 24 seater motor boat which whisked us through the swell of the Pacific Ocean to the Ballestas Islands, sometimes referred to as the poorman´s Galapagos. These islands are heaving with birds and sea lions and covered with guano or bird droppings. Every inch of flat space was taken up by birds of all kinds including cormorants of numerous varieties, boobies, terns, pelicans, penguins, etc. Our guide told us that they harvested the bird droppings every 6 years. The smell of all the droppings was quite ripe!! This boat trip was about 2 hours and a half. When we arrived back to shore, we had lunch in a small restaurant on the front and then drove another 4 hours to Lima where we stayed at the Kamana Hotel. A very pleasant hotel, with a spacious room, TV, phone, ensuite and hot shower that seems to work all the time.

That night, we had a farewell dinner for the 3 people who are leaving us in Lima. I have to admit to not feeling very well, suffering from cramps in my tummy and the odd bout of diahorrea. However, since I have been totally fit and well for the rest of the trip, I think I have got off quite lucky.

Arequipa, Peru - May 15, 16

We have spent two full days in Arequipa, which is a UNESCO heritage site and about 2335 meters in altitude. Population, around one million, it is the second largest city in Peru next to Lima. The City was founded by the Spanish in 1540, but because of the amount of earthquakes suffered over the years, a lot of the colonial architecture is not original. The last earthquake was in 2001 and damaged the beautiful cathedral in the main square. When Arequipa was founded, it was the main centre where silver from Potosi was transported to the port on the coast for shipment to Spain. Arequipa is the capital of the region, and sits in a valley surrounded by the extinct volcanoes Chachani, Misty, and Pichupichu. It is also known as the "White City" because many of its churches, convents, and mansions are built out of the white ash rock from the volcanoes.

Yesterday, we spent about 3 hours in the Santa Catalina Monestery. This is a fabulous colonial building which has been restored to demonstrate the life of the Dominican nuns over the years. Apparently, there are still 30 nuns living in the convent. Today, we took a 4 hour tour in and around the city. This included a visit to the Founder´s house outside the city, and old mill which has been operating for over 300 years, and various miradors and other interesting sights. The main square, Plaza des Aramas is quite beautiful with the white cathedral at one end and arches around the other 3 sides.

Arequipa seems like quite a nice town. It has a bustling street life which seems to close down around 11 p.m. Food is generally good and there are many restaurants. People are friendly, but you do have to watch yourself from the point of view of theft - much like any other city.

Tomorrow we leave here and head for the Nazca Lines, Huacachina, and Lima on May 19, 20, 21. Since we are camping for a couple of nights, we may not be in touch until we hit Lima.

Colca Canyon - May 13, 14

Following hard on the back of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu, we had a trip to the Colca Canyon just outside Chivay, Peru. We left Cusco on Sunday, the day after arriving back from the Inca Trail and drove for about 10 hours before transferring to another coach and driving into Chivay in the Colca Valley. We stayed overnight in a fabulous hotel called Inkari Eco Lodge (www.inkariecolodge.com) and set off at 6.00 a.m. the next morning on a tour of the Valley.

We drove along the canyon where corn, potatoes and other crops were grown on the terraced sides. People in traditional dress worked in the fields, and donkeys, llamas, cows, horses, and sheep grazed in the fields or travelled along the roads interrupting the traffic. We saw some hanging graves in the white volcanic ash rock where many years ago the dead were burried in graves dug in the side of the mountain. In the background jagged snowy peaks peeped above the moss green lower mountains. Flowers of purple, orange, and yellow grew freely in the scrub by the side of the canyon, and eucalyptus trees grew up the sheer sides of the yellow, orange, and grey coloured rock. Along the way, we passed many small, quaint, towns where the main occupation is farming and tourism. These included Achoma, Maca, and Pinchollo. There were was one area the guide pointed out to us where there were no roads, only paths, and the inhabitants of the village had to trek for 5 hours down the mountain to get anywhere.

Once inside the national park, we got off the bus and did about an hour's trek along the edge of the canyon. There is some dispute, but Colca Canyon (http://www.go2peru.com/webapp/ilatintravel/articulo.jsp?cod=199888) claims to be the deepest canyon in the world - even deeper than the Grand Canyon in the States. Anyway, we didn´t see it at its steepest, but it still looked very deep, and our walk was very pretty, going through clumps of beautiful blue, purple and yellow flowers in the sunshine and under pure blue skies.

The main attraction of the trip was seeing the condors, and we were lucky, they put on a wonderful show for us. They are huge birds with a wing span of over 3 meters which soar high in the sky. They live to about 50 to 70 years and are carion birds. We got lots of pictures of them, but of course they were very difficult to capture adequately.

Chivay is a small town, maybe about 6000 or 8000 people. It is the capital town in the region, and was built in the 1500s. It is very pretty, but is also very touristy which does not go down well at all with our group. In fact, our poor guide had a really hard job knowing what to do with the group, because at any of the "contrived" tourist attractions, we all just refused to get out and participate.

The first part of the drive from Chivay to Arequipa was very beautiful, and we drove through volcanic scenery surrounded by some 9 volcanic peaks. The highest point we reached was 4,900 which I think is about the highest we have been on the trip. Fortunately, we all seem to be acclimatized to the height and except for shortness of breath, suffered no ill effects.

We arrived in Arequipa around 5 p.m. on Monday.