Stacey’s 30th Birthday Extravaganza

I think I’ve been slacking a bit on one of my favorite things lately…lists.  So, I’m going to kick things off today with a couple of lists about the differences between Ecuador/Peru and Chile.

3 Things I Miss About Ecuador and Peru

1. The prices.  While still cheaper than North America, Chile is noticeably more expensive than Ecuador and Peru.  I guess I got spoiled with my $9 per night with private bath the past few months.  Of course, the higher prices seem to come with a bit more law and order than exists in E & P so I guess that’s a good thing…
2. Clear, easily understood Spanish.  I might as well be speaking Swahili here in Chile for all the good my Spanish is doing me.  I was warned that Chileans are difficult to understand but I was definitely not prepared. 
3. Friendly people.  Chileans strike me as a bit more reserved population than other parts of South America.  Not unfriendly, per se…just not chatty like Ecuadorians and Peruvians.  But maybe that’s OK because I don’t understand a word they’re saying (see #2 above). 

View of Valparaiso with Ascensor in the foreground

3 Things that Make Me Over the Moon to Be in Chile

1. Napkins that do not resemble 1 square sheet of one-ply toilet paper.  For real…the napkins in Ecuador and Peru are virtually useless.  My greasy fingers could not be happier.
2. The return of yellow lemons.  For reasons that continue to confound we foreigners traveling through Ecuador and Peru…there are no yellow lemons to be found anywhere.  Indeed, “limon” to Ecuadorians and Peruvians are actually limes and when you ask for a yellow lemon they stare at you blankly like they’ve never heard of such an outlandish thing.  We don’t get it and it’s an endless source of confusion…but I’m here to tell you that in Chile…we have yellow lemons!!
3. Hot showers.  After a month of cold showers in Arequipa…enough said.
4. Cheap, good wine everywhere.  Hallelujah…my ship has come in!
5. Sea critters.  Those who have been keeping track know that my entire time in Peru was spent high in the mountains…which means no sea critters (aside from the excellent lake trout…which is more of a lake critter?).  If you consult the map of my current location you will see that Chile in its entirety is bounded by the sea.  Sea critters and wine…how could I be so lucky?

So I’ve gotten a few e-mails from people lately wondering about the 30 hour bus ride (but interestingly, no blog comments.  Are everybody’s fingers too frozen to type?).  The bus ride proved to be not so bad as it turns out that Chile has some fancy “sleeper” type buses that recline almost completely.  Therefore, I spent about 30 hours laying in a “recliner-type” position which is, quite frankly, very relaxing.  Upon arrival in Santiago I caught a one hour bus to Valparaiso on the coast which is where all of these pictures are from.

Well-kept mansion

Appears well-kept from the front but on the side is disintegrating rapidly

This one is also crumbling rapidly…and is for sale.

Lots of visitors to Valparaiso think it is a beach resort when, in fact, Valparaiso is actually

a very busy Naval base and shipping harbor.  The main attraction in Valpo is the interesting architecture and brightly-painted buildings of years past.  The city is built on a series of hills (cerros) which are connected via ascensores (elevators) similar to those you may recall from way back in Pittsburgh at Mile 3510.  It’s may be hard to tell in these photos but some of these grand mansions are in very sad shape…frequently you can even see cracks in the walls from the earthquakes.

Other than wandering the old streets packed with mansions and slums there isn’t much to do other than a super cheap tour of the harbor (US$2).  Of course, the guide´s Chilean Spanish was nearly impossible to understand so I got few of the details…but some pictures are included.  The tourist office does a good job of organizing some self-guided tours through the streets….the one I like the best went along the rocky coast ultimately ending up at a (fairly rundown) beach but nonetheless, the scenery is beautiful.

A couple days rest and I’m ready to move on.  I’m currently in Santiago again as I wait for my bus heading south.  My first stop is Puerto Montt in the southern lake district and the Island of Chiloe.  Not sure how the internet situation will be on Chiloe as it’s less touristy than other parts of Chile so don’t be surprised to see a bit of delay in the Extravaganza.  My best to everyone and stay warm!   

Perhaps the most important tourist attraction within the city of Arequipa itself is the very interesting Santa Catalina Monastery which covers several city blocks surrounded by a high wall.  The Monasterio de Santa Catalina is a cloistered convent located in the center of Arequipa. It was built in 1580 and was enlarged in the 17th century. The over 20,000-square-meter monastery is predominantly of the Mudejar style, and is characterised by the vividly painted walls. There are approximately 20 nuns (aged 18 to 90) currently living in the northern corner of the complex; the rest of the monastery is open to the public.

The founder of the monastery was a rich widow, Maria de Guzman. The tradition of the time indicated that the second son or daughter of a family would enter religious service, and the convent accepted only women from high-class Spanish families. Each nun at Santa Catalina had between one and four servants or slaves, and the nuns invited musicians to perform in the convent, gave parties and generally lived a lavish lifestyle that included luxurious English carpets, silk curtains, porcelain plates, damask tablecloths, silver cutlery, and lace sheets.  Each family paid a dowry at their daughter’s entrance to the convent, and the dowry owed to gain the highest status, indicated by wearing a black veil, was 2,400 silver coins, equivalent to US$50,000 today. The nuns were also required to bring 25 listed items, including a statue, a painting, a lamp and clothes. The wealthiest nuns may have brought fine English china and silk curtains and rugs. Although it was possible for poorer nuns to enter the convent without paying a dowry, it can be seen from the cells that most of the nuns were very wealthy.

In 1871 Sister Josefa Cadena, a strict Dominican nun, was sent by Pope Pius IX to reform the monastery. She sent the rich dowries back to Europe, and freed all the servants and slaves, giving them the choice of remaining as nuns or leaving. In addition to the stories of outrageous wealth, there are tales of nuns becoming pregnant, and amazingly of the skeleton of a baby being discovered encased in a wall. This, in fact, did not happen in Santa Catalina, and there are rumours of the same story in the nearby Santa Rosa convent, as well.

The convent once housed approximately 450 people (about a third of them nuns and the rest servants) in a cloistered community. It was opened to the public in 1970, when the nuns opened their doors to tourism to pay for the installation of electricity and running water, as required by law.  The interior of the convent includes several streets and covered walkways, open-air plazas, living quarters with kitchens and laundry areas as well as a cemetery, church and confessionals.  Since the convent is cloistered the women had almost no contact with the outside world and when needing to receive or exchange goods would do so via these revolving shelves to the outside and behind the screens below:

Also included is a picture of a typical cell for a nun living in Santa Catalina:

And a picture of a small portion of the communal kitchen area complete with traditional cooking tools.

The kitchen

This is the former laundry area…a series of large earthenware tubs with running water from the city of Arequipa.  The water is still running though the tubs have not been used in many years.

Since today is my last day at the orphanage I thought I’d give a little update on what’s been going on there:

1. We got a newborn of 5 days old last week putting our infant count at a total of 3 and getting me permanently assigned to the baby room since they seem to think I can handle 2 or 3 at a time. 
2. One of the other volunteers, Kathy from Canada, collected donations from her family and friends at home and was able to purchase a new stove/oven for the orphanage as the before they were cooking for 20 people a day on 4 gas burners of questionable safety standards.  In addition, they previously did not have an oven and were renting oven space from a neighbor for 5 soles (US$1.60) an hour.
3. Emerson (baby of 4 months old) is getting adopted!  We don’t know by who…Peruvians or foreigners but he should be getting new parents in the next couple of months.  Congrats to Emerson and to Peru for not letting him languish in an orphanage until it’s too late.

And with that…we here at the Extravaganza blog are signing off from Peru.  It’s been a good 7 weeks or so but now we are off to bigger and better places..or rather longer and skinnier places…the oddly shaped country of Chile followed closely by Uruguay and Argentina where the Extravaganza will finally wrap up.  Think of me in the next couple of days as I’m enduring a 30 hour bus ride to Santiago.  Until then…   

View of Colca Canyon from the rim

Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru. It is located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Arequipa and is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. However, the canyon’s walls are not as vertical as those of the Grand Canyon. The Cotahuasi Canyon to the northwest (also in Peru) is a deeper canyon at 11,488 ft (3,501 m). Since they are such major features of the landscape, the Colca and Cotahuasi canyons are both easily recognizable in even low-resolution satellite photos of the region. The Colca Valley is a colorful Andean valley with towns founded in Spanish Colonial times and formerly inhabited by the Collaguas and the Cabanas. The local people still maintain ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces.

The oasis at the bottom of the canyon

One of the major attractions in and around Arequipa, the Colca Canyon is must-see for anyone in the area.  There are lots of different tours available including standard bus-in/bus-out and various lengths of trekking tours.  Fortunately for me, the group that I’ve been volunteering with is partially run by a local tour guide who is well-known in the canyon and who runs very interesting trekking/cultural tours to the villages in Colca.  Jonathan, one of the other volunteers was planning to do a four day trek with his father and Luis into Colca and fortunately they let me tag along. 

As we just learned above, Colca is the second deepest canyon in the world…though I suspect not quite so awe-inspiring as the Grand Canyon as the walls of the canyon are not so vertical (not sure on this as I’ve not yet been to the Grand Canyon).  The GC is about a mile at its deepest point while Colca is 3000 meters (9,842 feet).  Another interesting phenomenon of Colca Canyon in the prolific number of Andean condors cruising around.  Unfortunately we were not visiting during the best season for viewing condors but we did see a few in flight. 

So back to the trip…on Day 1 we took a 5 hour bus ride into the valley of the Canyon and commenced with walking down to the floor of the canyon from the rim which took about 3 hours.  The walk was not strenuous though I was having flashbacks to all of those stairs on the last day of the Inka Trail.  At the very bottom of the canyon some rather enterprising Peruvians have developed an oasis complete with natural swimming pools and bungalows for sleeping.  We rested up for a bit at the oasis then prepared for another hour and a half hike up to the village where we’d be spending the next two nights…the village of Malata.

As I mentioned, Luis is well-known among the Canyon crowd as he is working to develop more eco-friendly and culture-friendly tours that allow the local villagers to earn money from tourism without being exploited…hopefully allowing them to keep their traditional agrarian ways.  One family in the village of Malata has developed a very basic-style hostal where part of the experience is learning about the traditional ways of the villagers…like gathering bugs to make dye for wool and working in the fields using the ancient tools of the Incas.  It was in this family…Doris and Modesto…that we got to experience life as Incan villagers.

Hostal Malata

On Day 2 we were up early in the morning headed for the cactus fields where we were to collect the cochineal insects which are dried out, ground into a powder and added to crushed geranium leaves to make a bright red dye for woolen goods made by the village ladies.  We weren’t able to collect a huge amount as the recent rains had washed away many of the bugs, but I’ve included several pictures here of the process…from the cactus, to the scrapings, to the final powder product.

Spoon and pan used for harvesting cochineal

Jonathan squishing a bug to see the red color

   

Powder from dried, crushed cochineal

In the afternoon of Day 2, we returned to the house to help Doris make the dye (shown here below)…of course the dye process is women’s work so that’s what I did.  Jonathan, Luis and Jonathan’s dad were busy scraping the wool from the hide so that I could spin it into yarn.  Well, that was the theory at least.  My yarn-spinnning did not go so well…it’s a bit harder than you think and my yarn looked more like rope with tufts of fur sticking out of it.  It seems I’m not cut out for a career in textiles.

Crushing the geraniums for the dye…

    

Using broken glass to remove the wool

   

The final product

On Day 3 we got up early and prepared to head out to the fields with Modesto.  The preparations were extensive as it is customary before tilling and planting a field to make an offering (or payment as they call it) to the gods.  Here is Modesto putting together the offering which includes seeds of various grains, tiny slivers of gold and silver foil, alcohol of some variety and a few other items that are escaping me at the moment:

Preparing the offering

After doing the ritual blessing at the house, we carry the tools:

to the field and set the bundle with the offering on fire in the corner of the field.  We also passed around an animal horn full of a local spirit before commencing with our field work.  First off…clearing the field of weeds by hand.  As a woman, I was not obliged to work on this task but I pitched in anyway.  After the weeds were pulled, it was time to plant the wheat (which is apparently a woman’s task) and I set about tossing the grain over the field.  After I completed this task, the men were obliged to use their ancient tools to turn the dirt over onto the newly sown seeds.   I followed along after them with my spade breaking up the clumps and flattening out the soil.  Some pictures of this process are below.

The men…preparing the offering at the field

   

Setting the offering on fire

  

Women’s work…

  

Expedition Colca

  

 

After the work in the fields we were treated to the local delicacy…cuy (pronounced cooey)…or guinea pig…freshly slaughtered that morning and prepared by Doris.  I’ve had cuy a few times and while it’s OK I find it something like ribs…a hell of a lot of work for not so much meat.  Because of the pending rain we set out for the canyon floor right after lunch where we were met by mules that would be taking us up the same path from two days ago to the rim of the canyon.  Now those of you who were with me back in Ecuador may recall the debacle that was the horse-back riding incident.  Needless to say, I was not especially thrilled to hear I would again be riding on the back of some renegade four-legged animal.  We made it to the top though and I have the following to say about riding mules:  Riding mules is better than riding horses…but they both still suck.

We spent our last night in a hostal in Cabanaconde where I had my first hot shower in about 3 weeks followed by several glasses of wine.  Heaven, in my world.  Early the next morning we were off to the Cruz del Condor in hopes of spotting more of the famed birds…alas, we had no luck so opted for a post-lunch dip in the hot springs at Chivay (highly recommended) before our return to Arequipa.  All-in-all a good trip…and a great alternative to the standard trips to Colca Canyon. 

Original Inca terraces in Colca Valley

View of Lake Titicaca and other island from Taquile

A standard inclusion in the two day tour of Lake Titicaca is a traditional dance held on the island of Amantani with our local hosts.  I guess since there is no electricity they need a way to entertain the tourists in the evening…so a party is it.  We all got dressed up in traditional gear and headed off to the community center for some cervezas and dancing.  I’ve included a couple of photos from that (moderately cheesy) affair.  I especially like how the costume is worn over my cold weather gear…adding about 30 pounds to my person.  The tiny Amantani woman in the picture was my host for the night…Mariluz.  She was really nice and despite the fact I’m not especially crazy about dancing in my own clothes, in my own country to music I recognize…a good time was had by all.

Stacey, freezing her A-S-S off at the highest point on Amantani

The next morning we were off to another Quechua community on the island of Taquile.  People of Taquile speak the same language as those on Amantani but their dress is somewhat different.  Unfortunately on this island we needed to pay the people to take their photos and I was fresh out of small change so you won’t get to see the differences.  Truly the greatest thing about Taquile is the absolutely amazing scenery.  I’m a little light on content today so am just going to post some of the great photos from Taquile and give you all a weekend break from the blog.

A good look for me, no?

Amantani dancers

Me and my host Mariluz

As you read this I am likely in Colca Canyon touring around so pictures and tales of that trek are soon to come.  This week coming up is my last in Arequipa and the orphanage as I will soon resume my travels heading south through Chile and Argentina.  As always, the blog should pick up a bit once I’m constantly on the move.  Enjoy the photos and the weekend!  -Stacey 

The Uros Islands, Lake Titicaca, Peru

A month or so ago a fellow traveler actually asked me if Lake Titicaca is an actual place…I guess because the name is weird?  I’m not sure really, but I can assure you that Lago Titicaca is indeed a real place…and a really interesting place at that.  Straddling the border of Bolivia and Peru, Lake Titicaca is the largest lake by volume of water in South America as well as the highest commercially navigable lake in the world at an altitude of 3,812 meters (12,507 feet).  The lake is fed by both rivers and melting glaciers and is home to 41 different islands…including the very interesting manmade Uros which are floating islands made of reeds (that you see above in the picture). 

Demonstration on how the islands are formed

Green reeds are the newer layer, brown reeds the older layer

The Uros Islands

Yes, man-made islands.  Very strange indeed.  The islands are constructed with a type of

reed known as tortora which they also use to make boats, houses and consume as food.  Originally the floating islands were developed as a defensive maneuver as the islands can be moved (and consequently need to be anchored during storms on the lake) at will.  The first picture above shows the demonstration they gave us on how the islands are constructed…there is about a meter of soil that holds the roots of the tortora plant, then a layer of reeds is set atop the soil, then another layer of reeds is set in the opposite direction and finally a third set of reeds is set in the final layer.  Every couple of months a new layer of reeds needs to be added and you can see in the second and third pictures the different layers of the reeds.  Walking on the islands is somewhat strange as well as you sort of feel like you’re walking on a gigantic sponge.  The reed houses and boats each last about a year before they need to be replaced.     

Farewell dance by Uros-dwellers

Example of boat made of reeds

There are currently a few hundred people still living on the islands…about 10 families on each of the larger islands and 1-2 families only on some of the smaller islands.  Little kids go to a floating school in the islands but the older kids row themselves to nearby Puno on the mainland every day for school.  The Uros people depend largely on fishing and the selling of their handicrafts to tourists for their incomes. 

After the Uros islands we headed to another island known as Amantani.  This island is about 6 square miles and houses 800 families in 6 villages.  There are no hotels or restaurants on Amanatani (and consequently, no jobs) so tourists stay overnight with local families in their houses…eating traditional food and existing in a world where there is no electricity and the women still cook on a hearth on their dirt floors.  I’ve included a picture below of the house I stayed in…my room was on the upper floor on the left.  The building to the right is the kitchen/dining room area where I also took a picture of the cooking area so you can see how primitive things still are.  Apparently there is a generator on the island that used to provide electricity for 3 hours a day…unfortunately the fuel required to run the generator got too expensive so now everyone relies on candles and battery-powered flashlights as well as solar-powered radios, etc.

My house on Amantani

Village pathway

Kitchen of Amantani family

Kitchen of Amantani family

The woman I stayed with was Mariluz who is 29 and just recently married so no kids yet.  At the time I stayed with her her husband was off in Puno getting supplies so it was just she and I muddling though our Spanish…since Spanish is a second language for both of us…her first being Quechua.  The pictures below include a welcome-to-the-island dance as well as a weaving demonstration.  The pictures of the three women demonstrate the different way their clothing is worn depending on marital and social status.  The woman on the left is married, the woman in the middle is single and the older woman on the right is the wife of one of the island’s leaders.

Amantani weaving demonstration

In the afternoon we headed up on a hike to the highest point on the island at about 4,200 meters where a temple could be found…as well as the much needed warmth provided by hot tea and fresh donuts made by a local family.  After dinner it was off to a traditional dance party with our local hosts…pictures of which will follow in Part 2 of Lake Titicaca.  Until then…  

View of Lake Titicaca from my bedroom window

Vamos a la playa! 

Ah yes…the moment we’ve all been waiting for.  Finally, we get to meet the kids.  I thought I’d better get this post out soon as since I’m consistently getting e-mails that say “I can’t wait to hear about the orphanage.”, “What’s the orphanage like?” and “How are the kids?”.  So here we are…everything you ever wanted to know about the Hogar de Luz Alba. 

For starters, here’s a picture: 

Yep, just a normal house in a residential neighborhood here in Arequipa named Alto Selva Alegre (upper Happy Jungle).  The orphanage exists entirely on donations and volunteers…in fact, the four women who live there permanently are all unpaid volunteers.  I’m not really sure how that works…I guess if your room and board is paid for you may have little need for other money?  The house itself was donated and consists of space for 4 babies in cribs and 14 beds for older kids.  I’m not sure what age ranges they accept but our current age range is 4 months old (they got him as a newborn) up to 9 years old.  When I first started volunteering there were only 12 kids but now we’re up to 15.  So let’s meet them, shall we?

Mauricio, age 2

Jhon, age 2

Jose, age 6 with Jhon

Eydan, age 1.5 and Josep, age 5

Claudia, age 9

Yenifer, age 9 (on her birthday!)

Beatriz, age 8 with Marisol in background

Rosa, age 4

Jhonekerr, age 5

Carlos, age 5

Marisol, age 8

Julio, age 2

Yazmin, age 7 months

Emerson, age 4 months

Eydan, age 1.5

The four women who live permanently in the orphanage consist of Lillian (the director), Sonya, Eugenia and Gladys.  The 3 women aside from Lillian rotate major responsibilities every month…the three areas are: babies, niños and cooking.  Lillian runs the show and the volunteers such as myself pitch in wherever needed.  Usually, a 4 to 5 hour shift for a volunteer includes some time with the older kids, some time with the babies, ironing and washing dishes.  Normally there are 1-2 volunteers in the morning and 1-2 volunteers in the afternoon though the week between Christmas and New Year’s I was the only volunteer all day so was staying from 9 until 3 every day.  I’m sure you can imagine how nice it is to have more hands around to help out.

From left: Eugenia, Yenifer, Lillian, Gladys (hiding in back), Sonya and Carlos (a very frequent Peruvian volunteer)

Just after New Year’s, Lillian rustled up enough money to take the kids on a day long out to the beach at Molliendo which is about 2 hours from Arequipa by car.  Wrangling kids near the strong Pacific currents is a daunting task so she asked me if I’d be willing to come along.  I was happy to oblige though started to reconsider once she told me that we had to leave at 4 am.  Why would we need to leave at such a ridiculous hour, you might be wondering?  Well, just to give you an idea of how things are done here in Peru…we had to leave at 4 am to avoid the police checkpoints on the highways because our van driver did not have authorization to drive his vehicle outside the city limits of Arequipa.  Seriously.

Fun en la piscina!

But, we made it and the kids had a blast.  I was put in charge of the 3 two year-olds which is pretty much a full-time job as you might imagine.  I only nearly lost one of them…Julio…when he took off down the beach chasing a guy selling churros.  I was already holding a sleeping 2 year-old (Jhon) who screamed every time we tried to lay him on a blanket.  Not surprisingly it took me a minute to get up and by the time I went looking for Julio…he was gone.  Heart attack city let me tell you…fortunately a woman from Bolivia I had been chatting with earlier knew he was with me and saw him take off down the beach. 

Gladys and kids

So off I go running…running…carrying a sleeping baby in one arm and chasing after another who acted like he hadn’t been fed in his entire life (we had just had a snack).  I finally got to him, picked him up and trudged back carrying both of them.  I’m sure I was quite the spectacle on the beach…tall, blond, pale gringa toting two Peruvian toddlers.  I’m happy to report, however, that we all made it back in the proper number of pieces and the kids had a great time…they’re still talking about it over a week later.  I’ve included some pictures here…I wish there were more but frankly I was a little tied up with the “triplets.” 

Yenifer and Julio

By and large the kids at the orphanage are well-supplied and well taken care of.  Occasionally the volunteers and the ladies at the orphanage disagree on how things should be done which is largely a function of some cultural differences.  Obviously, we do whatever they say we should do but sometimes they care about stuff we don’t and we care about stuff they don’t.  Probably the thing that drives us all the most insane is their insistence upon wrapping the babies in about a hundred layers.  Now, as we learned in Peru 8…Arequipa is in a desert so only really gets cold at night.  During the day there is little need for 3 layers of clothing plus a blanket.  In fact, the babies are usually so hot and sweaty that we just want to undress them.  Sweaty people make for chilled people…but that fact is lost here in Peru so we just roll with it. 

Feliz cumpleaños Yenifer!

Aside from the beach outing we do get to take the kids on other outings sometimes.  When we have enough volunteers (and for whatever reason, Lillian specifically requires at least one man) we can take them to a nearby park and usually once a month Jay and Luis organize a bigger outing on a Saturday to one of the larger Arequipa parks.  They also do proper birthday parties for the kids too…as you can see in the pictures.  This one is for Yenifer who turned 9 last week…all the kids get dressed up and she gets cake and a present and a grand entrance.  It was really nice and really fun.

More birthday fun…

How the orphanage acquires the children is somewhat of a mystery to me.  Some of the kids have parents who visit or are at least somewhat involved in their lives (though I haven’t seen a parent yet).  Some get taken (or voluntarily surrendered) because their parents can’t (or won’t) take care of them.  Some parents are on drugs…some are abusive.  I know some of the kids’ stories…Rosa and Julio were pulled from their home after I arrived for abuse by their parents.  Emerson was abandoned at the hospital by his 15 year-old mother.  We have several sibling groups: Jose and Jhon, Josep and Mauricio, Rosa and Julio, Beatriz and Carlos.  Claudia is actually not an “orphan”…her mom is Sonya…one of the live-in volunteers…it sounds like they had a bad situation at home which is how Sonya and Claudia came to Luz Alba.

Jhon, Jacqueline (volunteer from Australia) and Stacey

And that pretty much sums it up for now.  Hopefully I’ll get some more pictures of the kids before I go so these won’t be the last that you see.  Coming soon…lots of interesting stuff from Puno and Lake Titicaca.  Type to later!

Volcano Chachani at sunset

OK, so I know everyone is getting impatient waiting to hear more about the kids in the orphanage.  I´m still working on making sure I get pictures of all of them and have almost succeeded…I just need to get a few more this afternoon and tomorrow and then everyone’s curiosity will soon be satisfied.  Until then…let’s talk about my current home…Arequipa, Peru.

Plaza de Armas

Arequipa, located in southern Peru, is that nation’s second largest and most important city. It is also the capital of the Arequipa Province, and is 633.8 miles from Lima. The city lies in the highlands at the foot of the snow-capped volcano El Misti. El Misti is currently inactive, but erupted strongly between 1438 and 1471. Several smaller eruptions have occurred since then, most recently in 1784. Arequipa has over 80

volcanoes which can be found in the Valley of Volcanoes. Arequipa has many fine colonial-era Spanish buildings built of sillar, a pearly white volcanic rock used extensively in the city, and from which it gets its nickname La Ciudad Blanca (“the white city”). The historic center of the city was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000, in recognition of its architecture and historic integrity. The city is located at an altitude of 2,380 meters (7740 feet) above sea level. El Misti is

located besides a bigger volcano Chachani “the Beloved” and the pike Picchu Picchu “Top Top” – both named in the Quechua language of the ancient Inca Empire. 

So that’s what Wikipedia has to say about Arequipa.  Adding my two cents:  Arequipa couldn’t be much more different from Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas.  Cusco and environs, while also being high in the Andes is very damp, lush and green.  Arequipa, on the other hand, is smack dab in the middle of a desert.  It is flat, (though at a high altitude) except for the aforementioned volcanoes surrounding it.  I’ve included some of the great pictures of Misti and Chachani taken at sunset by my friend Karen.  She lives a bit out and above town and right in front of the volcanoes which gives her the best proximity for taking photos…especially the cool ones at sunset.

Arequipa is referred to as the “White City” because its colonial era buildings are constructed of a white volcanic rock known as “sillar.”  The sillar is very beautiful…but it is also very porous and fragile so it sometimes escapes me how the building manage to not disintegrate…I’m guessing largely because Arequipa gets very little rain.  Everything in the center of the city is made of sillar and it is so fragile that you can literally break a piece off of the walls when sitting in a bar or restaurant in the middle of town.  And don’t brush up against it or you’ll have what equates to “chalk marks” all over you clothes.  Still, as you can see from the photos, it makes for a beautiful city.

Karen and Stacey

Originally I planned to do my volunteer work in Huancayo, Peru in the central highlands but decided that since I have a friend in Arequipa and wouldn’t have to backtrack once I headed south again…decided to find a volunteer organization here in Arequipa.  In addition, Arequipa has a good location for things to do on the weekend…for example, this weekend I’m headed to the city of Puno as well as Lake Titicaca and the famous floating islands so stay tuned for that.  The other major attraction near Arequipa is the Colca Canyon which is the 2nd deepest canyon in the world.  I’m still getting the details of that trek worked out but you’ll be sure to be seeing lots from Colca in the coming weeks as well.

Plaza de Armas

Plaza San Francisco

Here in Arequipa I’ve volunteering with the organization “Traveller Not Tourist” and living in their volunteer residence apartment about 4 blocks from the main square.  TNT is a volunteer organization run by Jay and Luis (an English and Peruvian couple) here in Arequipa.  The current projects include the orphanage I’m volunteering in and a education/basic health project in a rural community out by the Volcano Chachani.  So far the experience has been great and I can recommend it highly.  Of course, there will be more on the specifics at the orphanage in my next post and lots to come from Lake Titicaca as well.  Type to you soon…

El Misti

Volcano Chachani

Name: Manu Adventures

Location: Cusco, Peru

Address: Plateros 356 – Cusco – Perú
Phone: +51 84 26 16 40
+51 84 22 41 00

E-mail: manuadventures@terra.com.pe

Website: www.manuadventures.com

Review: So you want to go to the Peruvian jungle? If you’re in Cusco…or going to Cusco…the standard two jungle options are to take a plane to Puerto Maldonado and then go by boat up the river. Or take a bus through The Sacred Valley of the Incas descending through the cloud forest and ultimately into the rainforest of Manu National Park. The basic difference between PM and Manu is that there are more people in PM and better (read: more luxurious) lodges. Manu, on the other hand, is less visited and therefore you are more likely to see animals such as birds, monkeys and snakes.

After hearing the speeches of numerous touts we were ultimately convinced that Manu was the place to be despite the fact it was a 10 hour bus ride in each direction. No worries…I actually enjoy bus rides as you get to see a lot of countryside while en route to your destination. OK, so next we needed to pick a tour group and by far the best presentation (which included pictures of what we’d be seeing) was at Manu Adventures. In addition, Manu is considered to run the most physically active of jungle programs out of Cusco including mountain biking, white water rafting and a canopy tour (ziplines to most of us). Lots of agencies in Cusco will book this Manu package but I think it’s best to book directly with them…their office is on Plateros just like everyone else so stop in and check it out.

Manu National Park in Peru is considered to be one of the most diverse in terms of species of both flora and fauna in the world. There are 3 zones to the park: cultural (where our tour took place), reserved (very remote and thus very expensive to get to) and the intangible zone (no tourism allowed to protect indigenous communities and only a very limited number of scientists are let in per year). The standard tour consists of 4 days/3 nights which will not be enough if you’re really into jungle species and enjoy taking extensive walks. For most of us, 4 days/3 nights would do it.

The first day consists of a longish-drive to the first lodge including several interesting stops along the way. The second day starts with an early viewing of the famous Cock of the Rock birds followed by an optional mountain biking tour. Those not mountain-biking will do an hour-long hike ultimately meeting up with the bikers in a nearby village where the whitewater rafting takes place. You then do a short rafting tour (speed depending on the level of the river) and ultimately take a boat to the final lodge, Erika Lodge.

For the next couple of days you’ll take several hikes (including at least one at night), a boat tour to see the parrot clay licks and of course do the canopy tour (ziplines) through the jungle. The lodges are both pretty basic with proper toilets and cold, freshwater showers. The food was, again, excellent and plentiful. There is also ample time for just relaxing in the hammocks and under the protective roofs watching the river go by. Our trip proved to be quite adventurous mostly in the transport as our vehicles broke down in both directions. My only complaint with this company is that I wish they would do better maintenance on their vehicles and/or provide their guides with cell phones for situations that go array. Otherwise, a great tour and a good time was had by all. Our cost in December of 2007 was US$375 for 5 days/4 nights all inclusive (except for guide/worker tips).

Would I book with them again: Yes

Name: Peru Treks

Location: Cusco, Peru

Address: Calle Garcilaso 265, Office 11, 2nd Floor, Cusco, Peru (2 minute walk from Plaza de Armas)Telephone: 00 51 84 505863 (from overseas), 084 505863 (from in Peru), 505863 (from in Cusco)

E-mail:  info@perutreks.com

Website: http://www.perutreks.com/

Review:  When looking for a company with which to do the guided Inca Trail it becomes overwhelming very quickly.  Certainly the Machu Picchu Inca Trail has become much more expensive over the past few years but do you really want to scrimp on price?  After doing a bit of research I decided that while cost was, of course, important what was most important to me is the treatment of the many porters that do all of the hard work on the trail…and to that end, the company doing the best work for porters’ rights is Peru Treks.

True, Peru Treks isn’t the cheapest company in Cusco (nor is it the most expensive) but it’s reasonably priced (under US$400 in 2007 though the price appears to have gone up for 2008 largely due to the weakening dollar).  I slept better knowing that the Peru Treks porters were being paid the union contract wage of 164 soles per 4 day trip (about $50).  Yeah, I know.  That is practically nothing by Western Standards but as the information on the website states, including tips a porter going on just 4 trips a month is making nearly the same as a college educated teacher in Peru…and is working fewer days.  The worst thing is that it is estimated that only 20% of the companies operating on the Inca Trail pay the required wage.  Why don’t the porters complain?  Well, this is Peru and things don’t run the way we’re all used to.   Most of these uneducated porters are happy to have any job at all so tolerate the unfortunate conditions under which they work.

OK, speech over.  Aside from the importance of porter welfare in their operations, the trek itself was very good and well organized.  We had a full group of 16 persons (plus 22 porters/chef and 2 guides).  The tents and sleeping bags were of high quality and the food was excellent.  Anectdotally we heard that the food in other companies was terrible but we felt like were eating gourmet…it was truly amazing what the chef could prepare with just a single gas burner.

Our main guide was good and spoke excellent English.  Our second guide was less good and spoke almost no English.  Which is fine…except they advertise both guides as English speakers and the second definitely wasn’t.  In fact, we couldn’t quite figure out what his function was as he didn’t do much at all near as we could tell.  Aside from the second guide, the trip was great.  I can’t recommend Peru Treks enough for their Inca Trail service.  Pay a little extra for the good of humanity and have a great trip.  Oh, and hire an extra porter to carry your stuff…it will make the trip so much easier and more enjoyable.  Also, bring small change and coins in soles for the tips at the end…makes everyone’s life slightly easier in a process that could use some improvement. 

Would I book with them again: Yes, definitely

Greetings blog readers! Sorry I’ve been slacking again…the kids at the orphanage plus my Spanish classes are keeping me extremely busy so my time in the Internet cafe has been limited. I’m back now and will try to drum up some blogworthy material here in the coming month..the blog is always a bit more of a challenge when I’m stationary somewhere and not traveling. Rest assured that I am always thinking of you…my faithful blog readers.

So after Lindsay headed back to the States I hopped on a plane going south to the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa. Way back when I was in Ecuador I attended Spanish classes with a girl from NYC who was planning to volunteer as a nurse in a clinic for a year in Arequipa. Originally I planned to just pop in and visit her over the week between Christmas and New Year’s as I originally planned to volunteer in an orphanage in the central highlands of Peru…further north in Huancayo. Arequipa is a known stop on the gringo trail as there is lots to do in and around the city…plus I didn’t really feel like backtracking up to Huancayo so instead I sought out a new volunteer project in Arequipa. And here I am.

The boys singing. From left:Jhonekerr, Jose, Carlos, Josep

Mauricio

The volunteer project I’m working in is coordinated by the newlywed couple of Jay (England) and Luis (Peru) and the current two projects are helping out in the orphanage as well as working with kids in a local, rural community. I’ve opted to stay in the shared apartment in the volunteer residence of the project but my room wasn’t available until the 27th so instead I went and spent a few days with Karen at her volunteer residence.

Karen is working with a very cool priest in a Catholic Mission program here in Arequipa that includes several projects…a clinic, nutrition and food program, social work and child sponsorship by foreigners. Father Alex was gracious enough to let me crash their very nicely appointed volunteer residence so I spent about 4 days there with Karen and the other two volunteers…Susan, a physician’s assistant from NYC and her husband Dennis.

As luck would have it, the Christmas party for the orphanage was being held on Christmas Eve and Jay and Luis invited me to attend and meet the kids. Karen opted to come with me and we spent a fun-filled afternoon with the 12 kids at the orphanage. They were so cute…they all got dressed up in their best dresses and their little suits waiting for us to arrive. I’ve included some pictures here but don’t worry…you’ll get to see lots more pictures of the kids and hear all of their stories in the coming weeks.

People who know me well will be surprised to hear that I spent my Christmas Eve at a Catholic Mass. While the service was long it was interesting and much more fun than the masses I’ve been to previously. Father Alex is quite the entertainer and Peruvians love to sing so he got out his guitar and played a few tunes for us. Another defining feature of Christmas in Peru is the prevalence of extremely elaborate (and in some circles we might say tacky) nativity scenes. I’ve included the enormous one in the church here…but in reality the nativity sets in people’s homes are just as big and include some rather interesting characters (eg. the nativity in my landlady’s house includes a rather graphic model of a sheep giving birth).

Christmas Day was fun and relaxing and included a lovely restaurant that Father Alex took us to for lunch followed by a homemade eggplant parmesan for supper and the obligatory viewing of “It’s a Wonderful Life”. And while it didn’t feel much like Christmas to me without the snow and tree…a good time was had by all here in the desert of Arequipa.

Jay and Luis

Jay and Stacey

Jonathan and Sol

Richard and Fiona

For New Year’s Eve I went out on the town with some of the other volunteers including Jay and Luis, the fun English couple of Fiona and Richard (who are wrapping up their two year around-the-world-trip), Jay’s sister Sol, volunteer Jonathan and Jay and Sol’s dad who has been visiting from the Canary Islands. Off we went to a local club for some drinks and dancing following by the obligatory New Year’s Day hangover and exhaustion. Again, a good time was had by all for the holidays here in Peru.

As promised I’ve included a bunch of the extra jungle pictures that I didn’t get a chance to include in Peru 5 and 6. They’re thumbnails so if you want to see them more closely just click on them…and if not, then just ignore them. Coming soon…a guided tour of Arequipa and you’ll all finally get to meet the kids at the orphanage…