Lake Titicaca is this gorgeous sapphire blue lake that borders on both Peru & Bolivia & is easily the largest high-altitude body of water in the world. It’s also very sacred Incan land as they believe the sun & the moon were created on Isla Del Sol. Copacabana is the Bolivian town on Lake Titicaca closest to Isla Del Sol & the best spot to explore the lake on the Bolivian side. In general I’d heard the Bolivian side was more charming & less touristy & I specifically read Copacabana was much more alluring with better ambience than its Peruvian counterpart, Puno. So we cruised right through Puno on the way to the Peru-Bolivia land border crossing to access Copacabana & Isla Del Sol, which was certainly the highlight of the Lake Titicaca trip.
As a quick aside… I was a tad nervous hitting the border crossing. If you heed the US State Department’s advice, you MUST have a visa prior to entering Bolivia. I looked into this prior to the trip but it was going to take 2 months & that was time I didn’t have (yes, I’m still a procrastinator). So I did some online research to find that before the rule changed (US citizens apparently used to be able to get visas upon arrival to Bolivia but that changed in 2015), plenty of folks got in just fine. For the life of me, I couldn’t find a single example of someone who successfully crossed after the rule change. So we were rolling the dice a bit. But I wasn’t that worried as I was convinced all they cared about was us paying the $160 visa fee which is a reciprocal fee to what the US charges Bolivian citizens to visit (no one else needs a visa, only Americans bc our government makes it really difficult for foreigners to visit so some countries choose to do the same to US tourists; can’t blame them really). I was (fairly) certain they wouldn’t turn away tourists who not only want to visit their country & spend money but also are willing to pay a hefty sum to enter. So turns out I was right. We gave them some of the documents “required”, didn’t provide them with others (proof of exiting country, hotel res) but they didn’t seem to give a shit. They cared most about closely inspecting those US bills in exchange for a 10yr visa (woot woot!). Thankfully so bc that really would’ve sucked to be rejected at the Bolivian border… or just another adventure.
Isla Del Sol was the highlight of the visit. We took an early morning boat to the N side of the island, visited the famous Incan temple & altar (where the sun & moon were created & birthplace of the Incan dynasty; no big deal) but the the best part was hiking from the N side of the island to the S along the central ridge of the mountain with spectacular views on both sides. There are some more massive snow capped mountains over yonder The southern village & end of our hikeCopacabanaThe main strip in Copa lined with shop, restos & barsSince this place is sacred ground to the Incans & Isla Del Sol is the birthplace of the Incan dynasty, of course the Spanish come in & impose Christianity upon everyone. They take it to a higher level & build this massive basilica that houses the Virgin of Copacabana, a famous statue never removed for fear of triggering floods, that Christians go crazy for & still flock to Copa twice a year for religious ceremonies. Given all the religious nutjobs that descend in hordes on the city to pay homage to the virgin of Copacabana (the Brazilian beach was named after this shrine), how could I not enjoy a Judas beer?!?!! (It actually wasn’t very good but perhaps I deserve that)A lovely rainbow on the bus ride from Copacabana to La Paz. I feel the excitement of a little kid still when I see them. Especially one so clear I thought I just might be able to see both ends at once.An hour into our 4hr bus ride from Copa to La Paz, the bus stopped & passengers exited. We followed but lingered a bit as we asked the driver what to do. He yelled at us & told us not to lose the rest of the group. So we hurried after them, bought tickets to board a rickety wooden boat to cross this little part of Titicaca & waited while our bus separately crossed via a REALLY rickety wooden “ferry” (the very one we were watching locals bail water out of 10mins before). Hilarious.
I hadn’t even heard of Rainbow Mountain prior to visiting Cusco. It’s not in the guidebooks. Malene heard about it from a couple guys in her hostel. It was “discovered” in 2016 (yeah right, just like MP was discovered in 1911… what about all those locals who knew about it?). Okay, so Vivicunca mountain was “discovered” by someone who could monetize it for tourism in 2016 & dubbed it Rainbow Mountain for the various mineral deposits found in one place & arranged so beautifully in a sort of “rainbow” painting atop a mountain. But the tour involved a 3am pickup, 3hr one-way bus ride, difficult 7-8hr hike at 5000m (WHAT!?!) & a return at 8pm. Due to the early wake up call, altitude, difficult hike, schedule & the fact we were taking a night bus that very night at 10pm to Lake Titicaca, Amy wisely bowed out. But Malene & I were on board because the photos were phenomenal. I had to see it.
It was a tough day. I’ve never been in altitude like that – it’s difficult to breath at 5000m (15k feet US folks – & the hike starts at 4800m so it’s all day long!) much less hike for 7 hours. We got some assistance on the latter. Locals & their horses lineup to help the tourists get up the mountain because we definitely need help as the hike is no joke. The horses of course can’t take you up the steepest parts but they can give you a break in between those to try to catch your breath. Of the 3+hr hike up & back, half of it was probably spent on the horse. It was worth it as I was still suffering from a deep nasty chest cough that further complicated my breathing.
But the journey & the reward were both stunningly beautiful. The actual Rainbow Mountain is located in this vast valley surrounded with glaciers over 6800m. Team Lucky brought the good weather on the hike in as it started off sunny & blue skies, requiring nothing more than a long sleeve tee. Weather can change on a dime & by the time we were descending from the peak, which was freezing cold due to heavy winds whipping past those glaciers, it had begun to hail & then snow. On the way down, that snow turned into heavy rain. But I’ve never seen anything like this & I felt really blessed to visit. It also felt special to be seeing something that not too many others have seen. So many folks venture to Cusco for Machu Picchu, but not many yet for Rainbow Mountain. I suspect that changes once word gets out & the guidebooks print their next edition. While Machu Picchu is obviously the most popular attraction in Peru & perhaps even all of South America, Rainbow Mountain was by far the best experience for me & certainly tops my list of trip highlights so far (on land so excluding the Galapagos). But you’re not going to make me rank them right?
It was sunny at the start of the hike The hills you pass in this lush green valley provided a glimpse of the crazy colors we’d soon seeThen out of nowhere pops this snow-capped beauty… Ausangate MountainStill only wearing layered SS & LS tops on the ascent. Still sunny.This was my horse, Corre Camina (Run Walk… hehe), quite possibly the smartest, fastest & strongest horse on the mountain. I tried to capture his owner’s, Joaquin, sandaled bare feet. Joaquin was maybe the fastest, smartest & oldest horseman on the mountain who flew up quite muddy terrain wearing nothing but sandals. What I failed to capture was his mouthful of coca leaves. Ahh coca. For those who don’t know, coca is the plant from which cocaine is extracted using all sorts of ugly chemicals. But in its natural state, coca is a safe stimulant that’s much better for you than caffeine. So all throughout Peru (& now Bolivia), I’ve eschewed coffee in favor of coca mate (tea) every morning. And on special days such as this where I need a little extra burst of energy, I chew on a couple leaves (takes 15 mins to feel it). But I certainly don’t chew on a full mouthful. But then again, Joaquin got up that mountain a helluva lot faster than I did… his larger lung capacity helps as I’m sure does the coca. If only it were legal in the US (even the UN considers it illegal but that’s driven by the antiquated US). Oh wait. It’s legal in the US for one company… Coca Cola so it can make its billions of dollars a year. But it’s illegal for everyone else in the world to use or chew even when it’s been part of the SA culture for thousands of years. I am so tired of the US’ hypocritical fucking laws. So unfortunately, I won’t be bringing any coca leaves back with me.You can start to see all of the colors… The payoffBelieve me, there’s a massive 6800m high glacier in the background It’s so beautiful I can’t even stand it
If you want to dork out like I did, here’s videos at the top of the 360 degree views:
As an aside, if you’re considering doing the hike, make sure you spend a lot of time at high altitude before doing the hike. And don’t be too proud to use the horses. We had been in high altitude for a decent amount of time & still used the horses. The altitude, hike & changing weather is no joke. Several people in our group hadn’t climatized & refused the horses’ assistance & ended up severely ill (vomiting) from altitude sickness afterwards. Not a fun way to end a spectacular day.
I finally get what all of the fuss is about & I see now why so many online dating male profile pics include the conventional shot in front of Machu Picchu. It’s unbelievably stunning. This crazy little town sits like a saddle connecting 2 mountains in a valley full of mountains as far as you can see. We didn’t do the 4-day Inca trail hike in as we were visiting in rainy season & that can be a bit risky. One benefit of visiting in the low season? No prebooking necessary. We bought our MP & Montana tix 2 days before in Cusco. That’s great for me as I am not a planner on these backpacking trips. It’s tough to change your mind & your route when you do that.
So we took the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (or Machu Picchu Pueblo), where we stayed the night & awoke before dawn to catch the first bus up to Machu Picchu in the morning (park opens at 6am). You can choose to walk from AC to MP & I’d be tempted if the walk didn’t take the exact same route (uphill, naturally) as all of the buses. On dry days, you’re walking in a dust storm. But on a morning like ours, it’s a muddy mess. That’s because when we awoke at 4am, it was pouring rain. It wasn’t going to slow us down so we geared up, caught the bus & luckily found that upon entrance to the park at 6am, the rain had ceased, the clouds were dissipating & it would turn into a beautiful day. Team Lucky in the house!
The train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo)
Downtown Aguas Calientes. For those following international events, this river through the middle of Machu Pueblo Town (& around the base of MP) flooded one week after we were there, forcing mass evacuations (of the tourists anyways). We were pretty lucky as far as timing goes.A futbol field near the top of AC & near our hostel for the night. I happened to take this shot of kids playing & then saw a week later on the news this is where the tourists gathered for evacuation by helicopter. Nuts.Clad in rain gear waiting for the bus at 5am.After entering the park in tapering off rain, this was our first view. A bit cloudy.
But by the time we climbed up to el mirador (15 mins), this was our lovely view.The weather was constantly changing throughout the day. Thankfully no rain but clouds moved quickly in & out. All of this meant the views of MP kept changing throughout the day so I felt the need to take a thousand photos of the same thing. I wonder why my blog gets behind. In addition to poor wifi, I spend a lot of time deleting needless photos. Better now than after my trip!
Chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool Malene & I discussed the only thing that could make the day better? Llamas! Specifically, llamas in the photos with MP. Wish granted.
I find that most travelers gloss right over Cusco as their primary destination is the nearby Machu Picchu but it’s quite a lovely city. We also toured the nearby Sacred Valley including various Incan ruins before heading to Aguas Calientes to tour MP. I went caption heavy on the photos below so I’m keeping this brief. You’re welcome.
Cusco – I feel like tourists bombard Cusco for Machu Picchu but it really is a beautiful fun city. I could spend a lot of time here. Cusco city flag is the rainbow flag Chinchero, a town in the Sacred Valley with Inca ruins. Lotso Inca ruins in these parts.Amy & I w the kick ass Dane, Malene. We coined ourselves “team lucky” bc everything we did together, ever tour, every snorkel trip, every unofficial snorkel trip, every trip to MP during the rainy season in Peru, turned out f’g fabulously.Incas built the tiers to grow food. They’re everywhere. Including Machu Picchu. Incas gotta eat.The Maras Salinas salt ponds, in use since Incan times. Different families own each salt pond & it’s operated as a cooperative. Apparently I’m somewhat obsessed w salt everything in SA (blatant foreshadowing).This llama popped up on Malene’s Snapchat (I say that like I know what that means) & we kinda fell in love w it. I’ll spare you more FAKE llama friend pics.Weird that these salt ponds are so far from the sea & at 3300m right? An underground salt spring feeds all these salt ponds. Super cool.
Folks think this circular tiered planting system in Moray was an Incan agricultural experiment. I look at it & see a fantastic live music venue. And this was before the chicha. Our driver / tour guide asked if we wanted to try chicha. “YES!!!” So he stopped at this cute little old lady’s house & bought a glass for the equivalent of 30 cents. He knew she made & sold it bc there was a mini flag pole outside her door with a red ribbon. Really.So chicha is this drink made from fermented yellow maiz. I met this PHD anthropologist in Bogota who was giving a graffiti tour & he did his dissertation on chicha (bc crazy Incas have been drinking it for awhile) & said he spent 2 years out of his mind. He warned me when I tried it to start with a very small portion indicating a shot glass size. So this glass seemed a bit large. We drank it, or most of it, & went on our way. It put both Amy & Malene asleep & I was close until I felt the impact & thought I’d stay awake to see it through. Definitely not a drunk feeling. More like a mind altering stoned feeling. Or so I would imagine.Ollantaytambo was our final stop of the day for standout Incan ruins & to catch the train to Aguas Calientes.
Arequipa, in Southern Peru, is a city in the Andes near a string of active volcanoes, known as the White City due to its stunning architecture & offers a lot in terms of culture & food. The things I read & photos I saw urged me to visit but the number 1 thing I wanted to do was to get to Colca Canyon, outside the city. So on day 1, we spent hours in tour agencies trying to sort through potential trips. We ruled it out as day tours left at 3am, returned at 5pm & 12 of the 14hrs were spent in a bus driving. No thanks. I’d have been quite open to multi-day treks to the area but there wasn’t time for that given our somewhat rushed schedule given Amy turns into a pumpkin & has to head back to the states on the 25th of March & we still had a lot of ground to cover & big sites to see in Peru & Bolivia. Next time.
So instead, we lazed about relaxing & wandering the city, trying to find lookout points for El Misti, the imposing volcano overlooking the city, & failing as it was cloudy which is the risk you take when visiting in the rainy season. But I enjoyed the city in & of itself. It’s very quaint, nice shopping with hippies making my macrame & stone jewelry that I keep buying (takes up no space & adds no weight!) & lovely ponchos as Arequipa is known for its textiles. And we ran into the women’s march on International Women’s Day & joined in which was simply incredible.
We had a morning flight to Cusco & intended to sleep but the view from the plane was unreal. While we didn’t visit the Colca Canyon, we flew right over it as the plane tracked the Andes all the way to Cusco. Saw massive 7000m volcanoes right outside my window. The view only solidified in my head that I will return & I will get there.
Arequipa’s main square, behind which you can see the imposing El Misti volcano if the clouds had behavedKinda like this. Damn. Oh well. Rainy season.
These 2 were trouble (& fun). While waiting for their buddy to finish making my necklace – earlier in the day I had picked out a stone from Colca Canyon & macrame thread for a hippy necklace – they made me do a couple of shots w them but not before I give blessings to the pachamama, the earth goddess revered by indigenous Andes people. They credit her with all food & drink so before you drink or eat, you must give back. Even when doing shots, I had to flick a little alcohol on the ground first. I loved my necklace but it broke 3 wks later. Perhaps my hippy artist was imbibing a bit too much. I have the stone & necklace, just need to find another macrame hippy to fix it.Women’s march in Arequipa around the main square on international women’s day. Of course we joined in after I had to document on video. Pretty cool.
In Southern Peru, there’s this tiny little town halfway between Lima & Arequipa, that is well known for one thing. The Nazca Lines. They are massive, some as big as a futbol field, & feature shapes including triangles & trapezoids as well as renderings of animals such as a spider monkey & hummingbird, all executed by one continuous line created by removing rocks, brush & debris revealing the light sandy dust below. No shape is repeated and experts believe they date back to 500 BCE to 500 CE.
But it’s one of the greatest mysteries of the world as no one knows why. The world’s top scientists & archaeologists have worked on it & theories abound… from landing strips for alien spaceships to some kind of agricultural calendar aligned with the constellations above. It’s seriously fascinating. These shapes & renderings are massive so the only way to properly see them is from the air although we did climb up a viewing tower & got a decent view of 3 of the animal shapes.
From the viewing tower, which is just off the PanAmerican highway, you can see the renderings from a distance of 50ft & I was quite surprised to find the lines were relatively thin (maybe a ft) & lacking depth (maybe 5cm). I wondered what was stopping winds from blowing debris over them & I figured there had to be some sort of human maintenance. Those thoughts were quickly debunked by our tour guide as he indicated there has never been human maintenance & furthermore, tornadoes hit the area moving debris & rocks & disrupting the lines but that the winds at night strangely serve to cleanup the shapes. Freaky.
The shapes are in a desert valley surrounded by 2 rivers but the rivers circumvent the valley allowing the shapes to survive. It’s all very odd & fascinating. So we were really looking forward to the flight to get an aerial view. I had read reports that many people get sick on the flights but as I’d never suffered from motion sickness before & have traveled extensively including in small planes, I wasn’t at all worried. Perhaps I should’ve been as I couldn’t have predicted the sharp figure 8s the plane took in its 30min flight to ensure folks on both sides of the tiny 6-seater Cessna could view the lines. The plane’s wings are essentially perpendicular to the ground when making these turns in strong winds causing sudden drops & my stomach was in my throat. It made for an awfully long 30mins, spent clutching the barf bag & fanning myself with a map when thankfully the pilot noticed & then proceeded to fly with one hand while he propped open the window with the other. Safety be damned as that fresh air prevented me from vomiting. We landed & quickly hopped off the plane to find that Amy & another passenger were similarly suffering. 3 of 5 passengers. Oh well. I still find the Nazca Lines fascinating & am thrilled I saw them but I would caution against the flight unless you’re positive you have an iron stomach.
The bird, viewed from the lookout tower The tree, viewed from the lookout tower The evil plane Triangle Man / alien waving Hummingbird Spider Condor
Flight time
Huacachina is a tiny little desert town featuring a center lake, whose water supposedly holds curative properties, immediately surrounded by massive steep sand dunes (normal colored sand… not red like Punta Gallinas, Colombia). The thing to do here is play on the dunes. So we took a crazy rollercoaster-like ride in a dune buggy to remote dunes where we strapped on boards to sandboard. Unfortunately, the Velcro straps acting as bindings had lost their stickem so sandboarding on your feet was fruitless & we resorted to screaming down the steep dunes on our stomachs. So. Much. Fun. It ended with a perfect sunset over the dunes & brought to a close a perfect day that started with tours of pisco & wine bodegas in Ica, a nearby town. We stayed only 2 nights but I could hang in the tiny Huacachina for a few more days doing the EXACT same buggy tours over & over again. But alas, traveling often involves constant movement & non-stop action so we were off to the next place.
This is all there is to Huacachina View from rear of hotelI couldn’t say it better myself
For the kiddos – Videos of me sandboarding & dune buggy rides
I admit that Lima wasn’t at the top of my list given the city of 9+ million is omitted from most “top places to visit in Peru” lists, so we (now down to 2 weirdos as Kristin parted ways with us) decided to limit our time here to 2 nights & after a late arrival on night 1, we planned to cram everything into one whirlwind day tour of Lima before getting on to the fun stuff in Peru. I absolutely love it when expectations are blown away. I was pleasantly surprised by the city & its central plaza, Plaza Mayor, is a showstopper in all of its gold-hued splendor.
We took in the changing of the guard outside the presidential palace on Plaza Mayor but it wasn’t really like any changing of the guard I’ve ever seen guards didn’t seem to be replaced, but rather a military marching band, rocking long faux mohawk braids & an intense straight leg kick marching technique, performed various tunes as a backdrop to a lengthy 30 minute ceremony in the suffocating hot sun. We felt as if we deserved a break so snuck inside afterwards to the “museo de pisco”’which was really more of a bar but it served fantastic pisco sours which was the point – by far the best ever which makes sense since Peru is the birthplace of pisco. Amy even got behind the bar to learn from the very sweet Jose Luis how to make one. Fighting the urge to sit at the bar all afternoon, we wandered down the pedestrian shopping district between the main Plaza Mayor & Plaza San Martin, which is apparently home to most of the city’s political rallies (no such luck that day).
Continuing our search for the best pisco sour in the city, we found a place oft blessed with that ranking, located just off Plaza San Martin. While the drink didn’t quite hold up to the museo / bar we left 2 hours prior, the scene was great. Despite the notoriety of its pisco sour, the place was jammed with locals for the lunch special & we deduced that lunch special very obviously ended with a dessert of red jello as every table was littered with these glass serving dishes containing jello remnants. Never did I ever anticipate red jello being such a hit with the locals.
After lunch we toured around again, this time heading out of the tourist area to the local mercado. It reminded me quite a bit of SE Asia’s big city markets as the mercado consisted of similarly-themed storefronts with all of their contents spilling onto the street. For instance, we very clearly stumbled upon the gift card & hair product supply blocks. It was a Friday afternoon around 3pm & the area was hopping. Vehicle traffic had long since stopped & the streets were filled with locals out running errands & socializing. Amy & I were thankful we went in search of the area… that’s where you see the real heart of the city. We were so pumped so of course what did we do? Wandered through the market til we circled back to the museo de pisco for a couple celebratory pisco sours where we got props from our new bartender friends for checking out the mercado as “most tourists don’t venture there”. It’s true perhaps that wouldn’t be a great spot at night (in general, guidebooks advise you to NOT stay overnight in central Lima due to security reasons) but it was fabulous & thrilling during the day.
We decided to leave our new fave bar around 5pm & head back down south towards the coast where we were staying. We went directly to the Barranco neighborhood where we discovered it’s a hip neighborhood (an apt was blasting Andersen Paak’s “Come Down” while we passed) with a chill feel & small dope restos & bars, houses & small apts vs the highrises of the more well known & developed Miraflores, where we were staying. Miraflores was great for the brief time we were in Lima but when I return for a longer stay, I will definitely stay in Barranco. That after all is where we happened upon a little park atop the gorgeous bluffs that overlook Lima’s coastline just in time to watch a glorious sunset & all of the massive waves lining up as far as your eyes could see.
We then found this hole in the wall eatery that served 17 different types of fresh ceviches – & nothing much more – & proceeded to have the best ceviche yet on the trip (which says a LOT bc we’ve had incredible ceviche) as some chopped peppers added an incredible kick. That served as our appetizer & then we hopped in a taxi to Miraflores to what we thought then was one of the best restos in Lima (Central Restaurante) but found out the very next day that it has actually been voted the best resto in all of Latin America for the 3rd year running & is actually known as the 4th best resto in all of the world. Imagine our surprise then when we show up without a reservation at 8pm dressed in the same jean shorts & tops in which we toured the city, begged for a table & were thankfully rewarded & enjoyed delicious & inventive takes on classic Peruvian food. It was already a very special night when we were inexplicably invited to take a private tour of the resto & be paraded around – still dressed as schmucks – including the rooftop herb garden where we were invited to sample the fresh herbs, a stunning display of the 50+ unique Peru-based ingredients used in the kitchen, the vast wine room where Amy the sommelier went a tad nuts, & of course the kitchen where the cute bearded staff was still very hard at work. It really was a special ending to a stellar day in Lima. Those top ten Peru lists be damned. I can’t wait to return.
***As an aside one month after I wrote the above… I’m following the devastating floods in Peru, including Lima & Machu Picchu, as close as I can & I’m just heartbroken. The rains started in Lima perhaps a week after we left Peru. My heart hurts for all of the lovely locals we met & the beautiful cities we visited. I hope it recovers shortly.
Plaza Mayor The changing of the guard ceremony outside the Presidential palace. The pisco museum (bar) Pedestrian shopping district Plaza San Martin El mercado
Barranco sunset The most amazing ceviche ever in a shack in Barranco Central Rooftop herb garden Wine room Local ingredients The kitchen staff
The weirdos are one down as Gina had to return to real life after the Galapagos so the remaining crew headed to Cuenca, Ecuador’s 3rd largest city with only 400k in the Andes with a small town feel. I was super excited to visit as I’d heard great things AND our visit was timed with Carnival as it was the Monday & Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. So we all thought we were in for a great time. We arrived late after a flight delay from the Galapagos so were anxious to hit the city on Monday, only to find the city empty. Nearly all businesses were closed which made it quite difficult to find some good food. There was no party. The city was dead – no locals out & about, no cars on the street. A ghost town. We wondered if people were recovering from a crazy night of Carnival celebrations but when we arrived in the city at 1:30am the night prior, we noted it also was quiet. We wandered the city & since there was nothing else to do, hit up nearly all of the museums my book recommended. We found one winner that featured a small collection of modern art by a local artist (Dawi) which I loved but that killed only 30 minutes. Otherwise, the Rough Guide’s “can’t miss” museums featured weird & slightly terrifying masks, fake people in full costume in fake street scenes & uninteresting photos & relics. So Cuenca was a bit of a bust on day 1 although I think it would have been a completely different experience had it been alive. Apparently the city just shuts down during Carnival & while locals insist there are celebrations, they must take place outside of the city center. There were exceptions to that rule. The lone bright spot that kept us laughing all day is we became targets while wandering for projectiles fired from passing cars. Me specifically as I was the only one hit repeatedly by scarce Carnival revelers. First with a water balloon to the head. Then with foamed blue paint spray & finally by more water balloons at my feet. It must’ve been fun to target the lone tourists & I was always squarely in their crossfire (or more likely not paying any attention as I was taking in the city).
The good thing is we had a decent hotel where we could catch up on some sleep given the sleepy city. That didn’t exactly pan out as we were awakened at 3:30am the first 2 nights by obnoxiously fake loud sex (to clarify… the sex was real but her carrying on about it so much was certainly not). It had to have wakened the entire tiny hotel. Kristin joked she at first thought it was a bird or wounded animal as we’d spent the last 10 days in the Galapagos. We laid in bed laughing for awhile but when it became clear that one session was turning into more & we wouldn’t get any sleep, we decided we had to take action. Convinced it was a native Spanish speaker making all the racket due to some “aye aye ayes” overheard, I crept out of the room to discover the offenders were our next door neighbors (who had a child of maybe 5 staying with them… lovely), mustered up my best dramatic Latina telenovela scolding tone & loudly proclaimed “POR FAVOR… (dramatic pause)… CALLETE!!!” to the door & then quickly snuck back inside to shield our muffled giggles. That shushed them for awhile & allowed a bit of shuteye.
We needed some sleep as we were headed the next day to Parque Nacional de Cajas to do some hiking. We negotiated w a taxi driver to drive us the 45-min there & back, waiting 3 hrs for us to hike, as the only other method of return is hailing down buses screaming through the winding mountain passes & those buses are apparently infrequent (1xhr) & don’t like to stop as they’re screaming down the winding mountain passes. So we thought we were pretty smart. We checked in at the park office & discussed our route options. I had read about a relatively easy hike around Laguna Toreadora that takes about 2 hrs. I think that’s what I thought we were agreeing to when we selected to take route 1 that takes 4 hrs. As we promised our taxi driver only 3 hrs of hiking, we discussed an alternate ending of the hike at a parking lot & the park ranger made sure our taxi driver knew where to meet us. Off we went. It was just a stunning place to hike among mountain peaks covered in cloud forests, surrounded by multiple lakes, with beautiful trees & vegetation. Only it wasn’t exactly a “relatively easy” hike. That would’ve been the one-lake option that we unknowingly turned down. Instead, we were hiking up & around peaks & 3 different lakes. Some steep inclines. And a lot of mud. Which was only made worse by the pouring down rain. And the cold temps. I’m confident saying we all thought it was a bit more difficult than anticipated. Don’t get me wrong… it was an awesome time. But the only worry was the 3 of us escaping without injury as the mud & rock on steep inclines & declines made for lots of opportunities to slip & fall. And that we did, several times. So we got a bit muddy but the pouring down rain just rinsed that mud right off so no big deal.
Add to the mud the fact that we had to ford 3 rushing rivers / relatively large streams by balancing in the muddy rain on slippery rocks oftentimes NOT placed closely together (the trail, outside of the river crossings, was very well marked but we were on our own for determining the best way to cross the rivers). In the end, we made it safe & sound, allbeit wet & muddy, & we all agreed we loved the hike. We also felt really smart that we had arranged for our taxi driver to meet us at the end. Until we got there & he was nowhere in sight. So then we walked another hour searching for him until we gave up & headed down towards the park entrance. There we found shelter at the park entrance by the park ranger, a sheriff & a hitchhiker who had been waiting 2 hrs for a bus (yikes!). We explained our situation & they graciously invited us in for a much-needed seat while we waited for a new taxi they called from Cuenca on our behalf after convincing us our hired driver had already abandoned us. The hour waiting was spent chitchatting with them & specifically, me fending off date requests by the cute & sweet park ranger who had decided that he wanted to be my boyfriend, was coming to visit me for 10 days in Chicago in September, wanted to marry me & have one child – girl or boy doesn’t matter as long as it has my eyes. Oh boy. Since he was saving our asses, I graciously & jokingly played along but kept insisting on “primero, cafe” to try to slow him down a bit. A lot of laughs & an hour later, our taxi finally arrived to return us to Cuenca & we all agreed the adventurous ending to the hike definitely made the trip.
After hot showers to stave off the freeze, we decided to treat ourselves to a great meal at a nice little restaurant overlooking the city, which was now alive & teeming with people. We were very glad we spent the day having a blast at El Cajas & then returned to this bustling city… it saved our view of Cuenca.
Immediate aftermath of guerrilla attack with foaming blue paint.The start of the hike Brining my Ecco hiking boots on this trip was the best decision ever. Despite the rain, my feet were dry. It’s not the first time. Love them. And they look cute w jean shorts & dresses too on travel days.
Hike video
If doing the Galapagos again in the future, I’d recommend the following:
Definitely book a cruise. 5 nights is probably the right number for me before I go stir crazy. I highly recommend the Nemo III as we all agreed it was the best, most comfortable boat out there (much of it due to the extra width of the catamaran). Ideally the cruise leaves straight from Baltra after landing at its airport. That way you can avoid hitting Santa Cruz more than once as the cruise will most likely stop at Puerto Ayora to see the giant tortoises & Charles Darwin Research Center. With the exception of one cool street that transforms from nothing during the day to a thriving cheap fresh seafood scene at night as tables & chairs crowd the street, we found Puerto Ayora to be stifling hot & offering little more than shopping, a shitload of tourists (relatively speaking bc it’s still a little city with less than 10k population) & day trips from the main port. Hopefully with the cruise, you can knock out some far off islands that are not accessible by Santa Cruz daytrips. Few cruises include Genovesa & that was important to us & turns out we had one of the most incredible snorkeling experiences ever in Darwin Bay.
Definitely visit Isabela. Even if you’re lucky enough to visit Isabela & Fernandina on the cruise, head back to Isabela to stay on the island. It’s an easy 2hr boat ride from Puerto Ayora & worth it.
Consider flying out of the airport in San Cristobal, accessible via boat from Puerto Ayora as well. Or stay in Puerto Ayora if you want to knock out other day trips. Gina & I spent a couple days here before the cruise & enjoyed the hike to Tortuga Bay on day 1 where we saw a gorgeous beach, a bunch of marine iguanas & swam with our first sea lion & marine iguana as well as a day trip to Santa Fe Island where we saw our first blue footed boobies, I realized birds were really cool too, we snorkeled with sea lions & watched jumping manta rays. I certainly don’t mean to be negative about Puerto Ayora; rather, my preference is overwhelmingly in favor of Isabela.
I inexplicably caught a head cold in the Galapagos so unfortunately was unable to dive. While disappointed at first, I then saw such incredible marine life snorkeling (& freediving) that I felt as if I wasn’t missing out too much. However, next time I will dive. And the best dive trips are run out of Puerto Ayora as well as one out of San Cristobal.
The Galapagos isn’t for everyone. And it’s expensive so it eliminates most of the backpacking crowd. You need to be really into exploring nature & marine, bird & wildlife in an environment that’s been highly protected & regulated since the 1960s. Due to the regulations, a naturalist guide is required to do just about everything on the islands. Two exceptions are the hike to Tortuga Bay in Puerto Ayora & the amazing snorkeling on Isabela in Concha de Perla. As a result of these protections, the wildlife doesn’t seem to feel threatened & are oftentimes quite curious & playful. It made us wonder how much better the world would be if everywhere had the same common sense environmental protections. I found it to be absolutely amazing & this is one place where I know I’ll return within 5 years.
amusemusings 