Claire takes on the world….

Some people thought it couldn’t be done. And well, maybe some people had a point. My mother came out to celebrate her 50th birthday (hope that wasn’t a secret) and I’m sure on some level to see her tree hugging daughter too.

The plan was to see Peru in 11 days. And we sort of did. Got to all the major tourist things – Machu Picchu, Lake Titticata, Colca Canyon. I was going to give a day by day account but I’m sure I can squeeze this into one post.

The mothership arrived the day after the earthquake, she always did have a thing for timing, with her good friend Deirdre in tow. They heard about the quake just before leaving for the airport but still decided to get on the plane. Maybe they didn’t know of the existence of aftershocks, maybe they’re just thrill seekers.
I however, had spent my day trying to calm the hell down and stop freaking out every time a car drove by and the ground shook a bit. After leaving Stephen and Jenny at the airport myself and Aisling went walking around checking the earthquake damage. We arrived at Kelly’s house around 6.15am to see how things went there. She had been on her own with her cousin’s kid Flavia when it happened. And, I’m not one to boast or anything but the kid was heard screaming my name during the earthquake! Her house seemed fine and after many hugs and overly dramatic ‘I’m glad you’re okay” type exclamations, we headed home for one whole hour of sleep before it was time for work.

I thought the whole place would close down after a shake like that, and most of the places did, but not where I work. We were in work at half eight as usual when everyone else slept off the previous night’s events.
First stop on the whirlwind Peruvian tour was Cusco, former capital of the Inca empire. This trip was very different from my last trip to Cusco. No trekking up a hill, gasping for air, just to get back to the hotel. And this hotel even had running water, I was well impressed. This was my first experience of an organised tour. I like doing things the fun way and getting lost and ripped off. But with the mothership we decided to play it safe and go with Condor Travel. I finally got to see Machu Picchu. I was in the dentist in Cusco when my friends went up in July so I was very excited to be heading off on the train this time. We stayed in Ollantaytambo, beautiful place, pity about there being nothing to do there, and then headed up in the morning. I couldn’t believe how much of Machu Pichhu has been recontructed. I felt a little cheated. But it’s still quite a sight. When I asked about the shrine that was taken away to make a helicopter landing pad, the guide side stepped the question nicely. I’ll have to investigate that one more. I got a text soon after Machu Picchu from someone who said something like, “You thought it was just a load of stones didn’t you?” And well, yes, it is a fine collection of stones, but a pretty neat bunch of stones. Next time I’m trekking it!

Next stop was Puno, a little place we reached after a mere 10 hours in a bus. Once you get on a boat and start sailing away from Puno it’s a great place. And that’s what we did. Our first Puno tour was to the amazing Uros Islands. These islands float around the place and are made of only reeds. These people use these reeds to make their islands, their homes and their dinners, and after tasting it I have full respect for those people. We sort of half invited ourselves into one of the huts which are so small you have to crouch down to fit through the door and we were quite shocked to find these people have televisions. The guide told us they used use candles but if one candle went wayward the whole island could light up. So the government gave them presents of solar panels, and they now have lights and televisions in their huts made of reeds. I had my fun for the day trying to run across the island, it’s like running in dry sand. We sailed across to another island on our reed boat and found a one roomed school. Now, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say we were probably not the first tourists to have visited this school. The children were lined up at the door and we were almost thrown backwards onto the reeds with the loud “WELCOME VISITORS”. They sang songs in just about every language I could name, which is about 5, and then kissed all the foreigners. When we were all well acquainted we left the island and headed back to Puno.

Next stop after Puno was Arequipa, the white city of Peru. I had been wondering why it was called that but I discovered that it is, in fact, because a lot of the buildings are white. Imagine that! I was still recovering from my earthquake experience, dreaming about them and imagining tremors. For such a recovery Arequipa is not the place to go. I was informed casually by our guide that that city has between 13 and 15 earthquakes a day, but very rarely is one big enough for us to feel. I sure as hell felt them, I must have high earthquake sensitivity now. The city is also surrounded by a few active volcanoes, just to add to the fun.

Our main reason for being in Arequipa was to visit the famed Colca Canyon. Which is the deepest canyon in the world according to some experts, and not according to some more and the Lonely Planet. Either way, it was big enough for me. At one stage we were 4,700 metres up and then descended into the valley. The main attraction down there are the condors. I wasn’t too sure what a condor was starting out but turns out it’s an eagle-like bird. We drove 5 hours down the valley to our base for the evening so we’d be there ready for the birds the next morning. Some of our fellow travellers had cameras so big I thought they should have their own bus seat. I was determined to get just as good a photo as them with my Argos camera. I checked with one German guy, and no, I absolutely did not get as good photos as them, their birds were a lot less blurry. The early morning drive brought the total driving time for these birds to 7 hours! I’ll post a photo see if you think one should sit on a bus for 7 hours to see a bird, which by the way one has also seen along the way in much easier to reach places!
The last stop on the Mothership Whirlwind Tour of Peru was Lima, my adopted hometown for the last two months. We had one day checking out the posh sights in the city centre and Miraflores, and I should mention had the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. We were allowed try every flavour before we chose what we wanted to eat. I almost had to say “Sorry, estoy fullo” after all tastes we got but I struggled on.

Day two in Lima we headed north to where I worked in San Martin de Porres. I was trying to be cool and act like a local, showing my mom and Deirdre around, but we got lost on the way and Kelly, my Peruvian buddy, had to get a taxi to where our taxi was lost. We started our tour in the Casa Del Ninos, and they were shown around, brought to all the different departments; drama, dance, computers, creche, games, carpentary, library, art, psychology and given the history of the place. They were told how hundreds of children go there every day as it is the only place to play for a lot of them and a place where they can get books they need for their homework but can’t afford.
Next up was Casa Hogar, the house I lived in. This is the place children at risk are put until their own homes are deemed safe again. In the ten days I’d been away 2 news kids had arrived. It’s the only house of it’s kind in Peru, and a much needed service.

Lastly we headed to the Escoilita (hardest word to spell I tell you). This is the school for children with special needs or learning difficulties. In Peru, you have to pass a year to proceed, even in primary education. And if you fail the one year three times you’re out. This school was constructed to ensure these kids don’t fail three times, so when they do fail, they go there for a year to work on their weakness and then the plan is to get them back to mainstream education. An Australian couple paid for the school to be built and pay for it’s upkeep. The school is amazing and my mother was saying how there’s nothing like it in Ireland for children who need an extra bit of help.

After a walk around Tres de Mayo and a visit to Kelly’s house, the Mothership Whirlwind Tour of Peru came to and end. My mother and I parted ways, unsure when we would see each other again and so my trip around the world really sort of started. Now I was out on my own to see some places, do some stuff. Unable to think of any places to see or any things to do I headed straight for Kelly’s couch. Suppose travelling can wait another little bit….

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 15th, 2007 at 5:47 pm and is filed under 2 - Peru. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.