South America 2011 and 2012: Summary

Rebecca
Highlights:

• Day 3 of the Inca Trail, it was a moderate walk, through the Clouded Forest

• Swimming with the Penguins in the Galapagos
• Seeing the Macaws at the clay lick in the Amazon

Recommendations:

• Take two swim suits for the Galapagos - this was by far the best advice I got and I'm glad I took it!
• Be prepared to get wet on the Inca Trail - we were rather lucky, but most people we met had horror stories of days of rain
• All we heard about Tahiti was how expensive it was. Reality for us, living in one of the most expensive cities in the world was that it wasn't really. The food/drinks in the supermarket was cheaper than home. Shop there for basics. Local restaurants were moderate cost if not inexpensive, eat where the locals do. Finally if you eat in the Hilton in Sydney you will pay $30+ for a hamburger, it should not shock you then when a hamburger in the Hilton Moorea is $30+.
• It's nature not a zoo

Favourite Photo:

Machu Picchu, Peru - the end of our 4 day hike

The 7 Explorers - Rapa Nui/Easter Island

Favourite Meal/Dish:

• I loved being able to eat raw fish/ika mata/ceviche everywhere!

• Our dinner at Zig Zag in Arequipa was fantastic

• As was dinner at in Rapa Nui

Low lights:

• South America is a huge continent, there was just no way we could see everything

DH
Highlights:

• Seeing Machu Picchu after the 4 day Inca Trail

• The stunning Iguazu Falls - from both sides
• Galapagos Cruise

Recommendations:

• Avoid western chain restaurants - they always disappoint and we should know better by now!
• Pre-plan with medication - you might not need the altitude sickness meds, but if you do you need Diamox it's better to have it then use the local version
• Don't be disappointed if things don't go according to plan - go with the flow, you never know what you might experience

Favourite Photo:
It's hard to pick, but this one of the Devil's Throat is hard to beat

Favourite Meal/Dish:

• Zig Zag, Arequipa

•  The raw fish/ceviche was also good

Low lights:

• TGIF - give western meals a miss, even though everything else was closed we would have been better off eating in the hotel

South America Day 14: Inca Trail Day 3 (the clouded forest)

December 2011

What a way to spend new years eve, walking 16 km on the Inca Trail. Up at 4:45 am and on the track by 6 am. The first 2 hours are straight up, with a nice break at a Inca ruin, Runkurakay, about half way.

We continued on a flattish path, with DH and some others stopping at another Inca ruin and myself and one of the other girls continuing through the clouded forest. This was definitely my favourite part of the whole Inca Trail, the path was moderate (up and down) but it was so peaceful and beautiful.

We stopped for lunch at a peak, where there were Llamas grazing.

We walked another short distance to another Inca ruin, before continuing downhill on unsteady rocks for the remainder of the day (my least favourite part of the trail).

We got to camp around 5 pm, making it a very long day of walking. We were surprised with a cake that the cooks had made at lunch on the trail that day, before celebrating New Years Eve with an early nights sleep.

South America Day 13: Inca Trail Day 2 (aka Dead Woman's Pass)

December 2011

Woken up at 5 am with coca tea and breakfast at 5:45 am. We left the campsite at 6:15 am and started our walk uphill. The group separated at about 7:30 am, each person setting their own pace, for the accent from 3,300 meters to 4,200 meters. DH and I walked alone at the back of the pack.

We reached the last store on the trail about 9:30 am for a snack break before continuing the accent. The walk up to Dead Woman's Pass is slow but scenic, it means you can also see every step you still have to take in front of you, but I would choose a spot and that would be our next aim, breaking it into manageable chunks.

We made it to the top of Dead Woman's Pass about 12:15 pm to horrifying weather - wet, icy and windy. We took a few pictures and started our decent to much warmer weather.

It took us about 2 hours to reach camp, all downhill, the last 30 minutes in pouring rain. But we were glad for lunch  (soup, stuffed chicken with pasta bake and mashed sweet potato) and a nap at 3,600 meters.

All in all we walked 10 km (6 km up and 4 km down), acceded 900 meters and descended 600 meters. Definitely the toughest day of the whole trail.

South America Day 12: Ollantaytambo to km82 Inca Trail

December 2011

We left Ollantaytambo by bus in the mist and arrived at km82 of the Inca Trail at 9:30 am. We organised our packs and walked to the checkpoint, to show our passports and get on our way.

You start at an altitude of approx. 2,650 m and progress to your first camp, about 12 km away at 3,000 m. We walked for about 3 hours, stopping for snacks and drinks along a moderate to easy track.

We stopped at Patallaqta Inca site view point before stopping for lunch. Like I said in the previous post, we did the Inca Trail with g adventures and our lunch today (as everyday) was set up in a large tent (and it poured during lunch so we were very glad to be out of the elements) and we enjoyed soup, and fish with rice.

We continued on our walk at about 2:30 pm to the next checkpoint, and then onto our campsite (the last km was the most difficult today).

We set up our things (our tents were already put up for us) and we enjoyed dinner in our tent (chicken soup and chicken stir fry) before heading off to sleep, with the upcoming Dead Woman's Pass in our dreams...

The lowdown on the Inca Trail

I struggled to find a lot of information online about other peoples preparation and experience on the Inca Trail. Sure there's comments here and there about it being the hardest thing that people have done, but nothing too useful. So here's my attempt at giving you something useful...

Guides/Tour Operators

You cannot do the Inca Trail as an independent hiker. That said you can get a guide, so it's just you and the guide. We did it with g adventures. You can choose to do the Inca Trail as part of a larger tour of Peru or you can do it for Inca Trail only. Either way you end up in a group.

Some operators pay their porters poorly and basically skirt around the rules. Many operators don't they do the right thing. Make sure the operator you are choosing belongs to the second group, and remember porters aren't your pack horses, they are people, many older than many of the hikers, weight limits are there for their safety, don't abuse those weight limits, or hire porters outside the system i.e. along the trail.

Training

In Australia there is no where to train at altitude, definitely not at 4,200 m! So the basis of our training was cardiovascular fitness and leg strength (for all those steps). About a year before we did the Inca Trail I had not exercised in over 4 years, so I started out slow, but for 9 months of the year our training plan was:

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Run
Wednesday - Walk
Thursday - Run
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Cross Training - weights, cardio and stretching
Sunday - Every second Sunday we did a hike, we started off on easy 5 km, and worked towards difficult tracks of 8 to 12 km

The last month prior we had a lot of rain so I cut out the running/walk mid-week and did stair climbing in the hotel I was staying at (10 flights up, 10 flights down for 30 min total, working up to 1 hr total by the end).

We also did the Bay of Fires Walk in Tasmania in April 2011 and this gave us a great point to assess where we needed to improve or learn e.g. we started training on our Sunday walks with weights in our packs

Gear

Pack as light as possible. At the end of the hike you will smell, you will be dirty and it will be obvious at Machu Picchu who did the trail and who came on the train/bus. g adventures supplied the tents, basic sleeping mattresses (air ones were extra and worth the cost) and all food.

• Good hiking boots with ankle support are a must, it seems obvious but they should be worn i
• A good goretex jacket - keeps the wind off and keeps you dry
• Thermals - it will get cold overnight
• Gloves and beanie - I couldn't figure it out at first but I was glad I brought them
• Fleece jumper
• Fresh socks
• Hiking poles (we also rented these through g adventures)
• A cover for your pack (something I missed and used a poncho instead)
• Water container for 1.5L (I should have brought a hydration pouch for my pack)
• Camera

On the Trail

The best advice I stole from an ex-Australian marathon runner (sorry can't remember which of the Steve's), which was along the lines of when your running a marathon and struggling to keep going, choose a point on the horizon and aim for there. That's basically what I did on day 2 (which is the toughest), going up that hill to Dead Woman's Pass I chose a point and walked to it, then stopping for a breath or a drink or simply choosing my next spot on the horizon (or the next corner).

Basically take it slow and steady at your own pace, don't rush, don't push yourself to keep up with the group, just keep going.

Enjoy the time at Dead Woman's Pass. The weather was crappy for us. It was cold, it was raining, we were tired, but I wish we had spent more time appreciating where we were.

Enjoy Machu Picchu. You walked 45km, the weather may be bad when you get there, the view from the Sun gate might be non-existent, but at the end of the day your there once, enjoy it and don't go back to town too early.

South America Day 11: Cusco to Ollantaytambo

December 2011

We were up with the church bells and off at 7:30 am heading towards Caccaccollo. This is a small town where the town is based on farming and traditional weaving.

From here we drove to Pisac, to see the Inca ruins, which are some of the finest and largest in the area.

After stopping for lunch, we arrived at Ollantaytambo and the spectacular Inca ruins there.

We checked into our hotel, brought snacks for the Inca trail starting tomorrow and after a rest headed out for dinner, this time at Blue Puppy. I had the beef quesadillas and DH had the avocado and bacon wrap.

Stay
Tika Wasi Valley, Ollantaytambo

Eat
Inca Coffee Shop, Ollantaytambo for milkshakes and snacks
Blue Puppy, Ollantaytambo

Do
Caccaccollo to pick up some truly hand woven items
Pisac Ruins
Ollantaytambo Ruins

South America Day 10: Amazon to Cusco

December 2011

We rose early again to take a trip up the "tower" to see the forest canopy, awesome view.

We had breakfast, packed and then caught the boat back down the river to the town to catch our plane.

Surprise, surprise the plane was delayed again, so we didn't get back to Cusco to late afternoon.

We walked around the main square again and intended on checking out the famous last supper picture in the main cathedral (where the meal is guinea pig), but there was no way we were going to pay $US15 each to do so (a decision I regretted until we got to Arequipa and there was a similar painting and we could see it for free).

That night we headed out to dinner at Fallen Angel. This boutique restaurant also has accommodation attached and we were able to check out some of the very funky rooms.

Dinner was fabulous, and we enjoyed the Peruvian raw fish for entree, I had the Andean cheese tenderloin with potato cake and vege stack (below), while DH had the pork and potato cake.

Stay

Corihuasi

or you could stay at Fallen Angel

Eat

Fallen Angel

Do

Amazon Canopy tour

Main square, Cusco

South America Day 9: Amazon, Peru

December 2011

We woke up early to rain (considering we were in a rainforest it shouldn't have been too surprising..).

We had breakfast and the boarded the boat to head to the river. After a quick walk through the forest we boarded another boat on the Chimbadar Lake to do some wildlife spotting and piranha fishing (catch and release only). We saw the giant river otter, which is quite rare, the Hoatzin or stinky bird, and DH nearly caught a piranha.

On the way back through the forest to the river we spotted some Saddleback Tamarins and other monkeys.

Once back in the lodge we had a quick snack and spotted some Brown Agouti's.

We then walked down to the clay licks do see the Macaws. We weren't expecting much because of the season, but it was phenomenal.

After lunch we took the boat back down the river to the botanical gardens and to visit the local shaman, trying one or two of the herbal potions.

Once back at the lodge we had another buffet dinner, before enjoying a night walk to check out all the critters.

Stay
Posada Amazonas Lodge