Happy Birthday H!

It's my niece H's 5th birthday today - if you ask her how old she is, she says "I'm a handful!".

I came late to the birthday party (work) but just in time to put together the giant marble run that she got from her mom and dad. I now understand why my dad didn't want us around when he was putting things together - it's hard to concentrate when kids are climbing over you and trying to play with it already!

Heading back Home

Our last day in Edmonton was another quiet one. Dad and I picked up some groceries for Oma, then had a hot lunch with her. Our flight left in the evening, so we brought along some buns for supper which we ate while waiting in the airport.

I enjoyed my time in Alberta, meeting up again with a lot of the family members. But unfortunately, the cousins see each other so infrequently that we don't have much to say to each other. We all seemed to realize that after the 3 questions (Where are you working/going to school? What are you planning to do? And who's your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse?), we ran out of things to say. At a reunion where we spend a few days together, we can get into deeper conversations, but when you haven't seen someone for years, it's harder. The next reunion is planned for 2012, and that's probably the next time I'll see most of the family.

Edmonton - The Partying Keeps on Going

The family got together one last time for church at my Oma's church. It's a very orthodox church, and since there was communion, anyone who wasn't a member of that church had to meet with the elders and fill in a form stating that they were a member in good standing of their home church. The list of names is then read by an elder at the start of the service - the poor man who got stuck doing it that day had 35 names to read! (Normally it's only two or three)

We had soup and buns in the basement after the service, then got to say our goodbyes to everyone. Back at Oma's, we had tea then went out for a walk. Supper was at R and C's - a nice light supper of soup and salad. Then it was off to my uncle's house for coffee and more goodbyes (to the same people!).

Edmonton - The Family Party

Dad and I had an awesome breakfast at C's - her husband R made up poached eggs, hash browns and homemade bacon (home smoked pork tenderloin). Amazingly delicious! My dad headed back to Oma's while I went shopping for drinks and snacks for the cousins' get together in the evening.

After getting changed at Oma's, I headed out with mom and dad to the hotel to help set up the room at the hotel, where we had a cocktail reception for just the immediate family (78 of the 115 made it). There were a few speeches and lots of stories about Oma, the graphs of the growing family that I put together were presented by my dad (in 10 years, there will be about 350 of us!!!), and of course, there were a lot of emotional family members. There was a wide selection of hors d'ouvres, which were brought out at intervals - a nice break from the stories when we could mingle with relatives we only see every few years.

Oma went out with 11 of her 12 children and their spouses for dinner while the cousins got together at one of the houses for pizza. After eating, we played a game of guesstures (a bit like charades) - boys vs. girls - and I'm happy to report that the girls won!

Edmonton - Day 4

We had a quiet day - visited my dad's brother in the morning, then went grocery shopping. We had supper at Oma's with my mom's sister and her husband and two of her kids, and another of my mom's sisters.

Edmonton - Day 3

I spent the day with my cousin C, who used to live in the same city as me, so we wanted to spend some time together and catch up. I got a tour of her new house, then we headed off to downtown Edmonton ... by a rather indirect route. Our first challenge was to find a parking lot that would let us pay! At the first two lots, our credit cards didn't work and we didn't have enough change, but the third lot had a person who could take cash.

We had lunch at Three Bananas - a cafe right near city hall. The food and atmosphere with both great. We then hiked to the Shaw Centre and down along the river. Edmonton isn't the most scenic city (especially in November!) but it was nice to get some exercise after all the coffee, cake and cookies!

I had supper at C's, along with her husband and her parents, who were also in town for Oma's birthday. We had a Korean barbecue - strips of marinated beef, grilled and wrapped in lettuce with grilled garlic. Delicious, but loud - the smoke detector kept going off! Her husband got plenty of exercise running around opening doors and windows and fanning the alarm.

Edmonton - Oma's 90th Birthday

For Oma's birthday breakfast, my mom made pancakes with berries and whipping cream. After cleaning up, my dad and I walked over to the mall and grocery store, returning "late" for lunch - my mom hadn't told us that we had to have lunch so early! While my mom and aunt set up the common area for my Oma's open house, I sat upstairs with Oma making a spreadsheet of all the family members and the years they were born. (My dad and uncle had decided that they wanted to see a trend line of the family growth and put me up the job of making it happen.)

The open house was CRAZY! There were over 100 guests, so many that we ran out of mugs and had to keep asking people if they were done so we could wash and reuse them. Oma really seemed to be enjoying herself, she was talking so much she hardly even got a chance to drink her coffee!

We had a quiet supper with Oma, my aunt, and one of my cousins who wasn't able to make it to the family celebration on the weekend, and a couple of uncles came over after for coffee.

Edmonton - Day 1

After having breakfast with Oma, we went and got the car washed to remove the "driving down a gravel road" evidence off the car. (If you read the fine print on car rental agreements, they usually say no non-paved roads!) I then attempted to make a package of soup.

Oma doesn't cook very often (or maybe ever) anymore, but still has packages of soup mix, cake mix, etc. in her pantry. I found one without milk in it, minestrone, opened it (it looked ok), smelt it (smelt ok) and then added water and started cooking it. My mom wouldn't let me taste it until it had boiled for 10 minutes - just to make sure anything that might have been living in there was good and dead. It didn't taste right, so we tossed it and went on to soup #2, chicken noodle. This one tasted fine and we added some meatballs that my mom made and a package of dried "soup vegetables" that Oma had in the pantry - they had either passed their expiration date 2 months ago or were going to expire in 2 weeks, so we decided they should also be used up! Soup #2 was pretty good! After lunch I headed down to Leduc to visit with a cousin and discuss airplane things (he's a pilot), then back to Edmonton for supper. The three of us then drove up to St. Albert to visit another cousin - I drove, my dad was using his GPS, and my mom a map. We normally have no problems navigating, but we got messed up pretty quickly on this trip - road names had changed, my dad said left, my mom right ... things just weren't working! We finally decided to just use the GPS and found the street, and when my dad asked mom what the house number was, her reply was "This isn't the right street!" Turns out that she had grabbed the wrong map printout and was directing us to a totally different place in St. Albert! That explained a few things.

My cousin put out a HUGE spread of food for us. Apparently they first were planning on having wine and cheese and remembered just that afternoon that my dad and I can't have milk, so quickly added a bunch of meats and fruit! But at least my mom got to enjoy her cheese (she doesn't get to very often).

Rocky Mountain House

My dad and I really enjoyed our stay in Rocky ... or Romoho as my dad always calls it. The boys have made a trail from their property and onto the crown land that's behind it, going past an old cabin to the North Saskatchewan River. After walking around the camp with my cousin C and her boys (all 6 of them!), my dad and I went out with the oldest three. My dad recorded the hike on his GPS, and the kids where happy to get all the waypoints - I think they're planning on making a map from it.

After a delicious lunch, we got back on the road and headed up to Edmonton. We had supper at Oma's and Catherine and Rob dropped in in the evening!

Out into the Wilds of Alberta

After church and a quick lunch, we packed up the cars and headed out to my aunt and uncle's property about two hours north west of Calgary. My dad went with my uncle in his truck, while my aunt, the dog and I went in our rental car. The drive our was awesome - the property is at the end of a road and backs onto crown land so it really is in the middle of nowhere, and the views of the mountains from the highway were great! It was a "fun" experience trying drive the last 100m of road before their property line though - thick mud! My aunt and I paused about 30 seconds to debate wether or not to just walk the rest of the way, but figured we'd just go for it. She was a bit nervous though as I almost went sliding sideways into their gate! (Front wheel drive cars are not made for this sort of thing!)

My dad and uncle where at the property before us and went ATV-ing, but were back pretty soon. We then walked around the archery range my uncle had made - a bunch of 3D foam animal targets. Even though he has all the distances memorized, he still got me to determing the range before firing. My dad and I tried to pull his bow, but with a 75 lb draw, we didn't get too far!

Our next weapon demonstration was the riffle - a 7mm Remmington something or other (he told me, but I can't remember these things!) I got to go first, aiming at the gap between 2 trees ... can't miss that! My third shot was at a stump - I'm not sure if I hit the stump or something else, but a piece of wood came flying up from somewhere.

After my dad did his shots, we headed back to the 5th wheel to warm up while my uncle went off searching for a deer (though I would have been surprised if we hadn't scared them all away).

The next activity was driving the rhino (ATV) around the property. My uncle made a trail around the edge of the property, including 2 bridges over ditches (cut down a tree and split it lengthwise). He told my dad to keep the edge of the wheel 1" over from the edge of the bridge - my dad had interpreted that as 1" of bridge showing, but I interpreted it as 1" of wheel hanging off the side. At the first bridge, my dad kept asking me to make sure I was only an inch over because when he looked down, we were hanging over by at least 2" ... which means that he was probably hanging over by 4"! The first bridge also has the nice characteristic of DROPPING on the right side just as you get all the wheels on the bridge! I think it needs some reinforcement.

It was dark when we got back to the trailer and figured out what the dog had been doing while we were out - she must have done a lot of climbing and jumping to get on top of the stove and to our loaf of bread ... and eat half of it! We ate the rest - it was still delicious. Along with that we had some fruit and barbequed white tail buck that my uncle shot last year on this property.

My dad and I left just after 7pm to head up to Rocky Mountain House, but first, we had to get the car our of the gravel. I was sure that I had parked on hard ground, so was a bit surprised when my uncle called us to say that my dad was stuck (he was turning the car around for me). It was only after a bunch of pushing that only seemed to move the car sideways and my dad getting out and pushing, that I noticed that he hadn't taken off the parking brake! (Explains why we couldn't get it to rock!) The rest of the drive was uneventful.

We found my cousin's place by GPS coordinates (easier than looking for road signs in the dark) and were able to spend a bit of time with her husband before heading over to their awesome guest cabin. It isn't quite finished yet (no door nobs, etc.), but had everything we needed plus more!

Calgary - Hiking and hanging around

After sleeping in again (vacations are great!), I went with my aunt for a hike around Weasel Head. It was a nice walk through the river valley but there were a few icy patches on the path. On the way home, we stopped at a bakery to pick up some dairy-free (for my dad and I) and gluten-free (for an aunt and some cousins) good for my oma's birthday celebrations.

Back at her house, we worked on a photo album of our family that my aunt is putting together for my oma. My oma can't see very well, so this way, she can put the pictures of us under her magnifier and see what we look like. To avoid the trick-or-treaters, we went to a fantastic Thai restaurant for supper, then went back and relaxed at home.

Calgary - Kitchens and Guns

I slept in pretty late this morning (my dad and uncle had left for their meeting by the time I got up), had breakfast and then went with my aunt to look at kitchen showrooms - they're renovating their kitchen soon so we were looking for ideas. We stopped for lunch at an awesome Lebanese restaurant while searching for the right cupboards, counters, and taps.

Another one of my cousins teaches at the school across the street from my aunt's house and we were planning on surprising her their but ended up being on the other side of the city at the end of school, so called her and went there for tea, instead. She's been married over a year, but I still have never met her husband and won't on this trip either!

After getting dressed up at home, my aunt and I drove to meet dad, my uncle, the rest of the group they were in meetings with, and their spouses. It was interesting to meet the people I had heard about from my dad, and also to learn more about the organization he has been doing so much work for.

We were home late, but somehow when we got home, the conversation turned to my uncle's love of big game hunting and his "hunting room" in the basement. He has several sets of antlers, including a huge set from a moose! We also got to check out his variety of bows and guns (along with descriptions on how they work and what animal they are used for) and got a lecture on how to make your own ammunition (assembling the brass, bullet, gun powder, and primer). Only in Alberta!

Edmonton to Calgary

My dad has meetings in Calgary this weekend, so after eating breakfast in our suite (mom was eating downstairs in her mom's apartment), we drove down to Calgary. It isn't the most exciting drive and November is probably the ugliest time of year - no leaves and no snow, just dry and brown.

I dropped my dad off at the offices near the airport, then made my way to my aunt and uncle's place in the south-west. My dad's directions didn't include on the the turns I was supposed to make and later I was in the wrong lane to turn where I had to, but the city is pretty much a grid of numbered streets, so I found my way with no major difficulties.

I spent the afternoon relaxing with my aunt, looking at each others pictures of Peru (she and my uncle went two months before I did), before heading back across the city to pick my dad up. One of my cousins (from a different family) joined up for supper - lime dill chicken with rice and stir-fried peppers. Mmmm - my aunt is a good cook!

Off to Alberta!

My Oma (my mom's mom) is celebrating her 90th birthday on November 4, so I'll be in Alberta with a lot of family to celebrate for almost two weeks. My mom flew out yesterday and my dad and I had a late flight this evening from Toronto to Edmonton. Nothing too exciting really - just normal airplane stuff. I did buy myself some noise-cancelling headphones this morning and they worked great! They made flying a lot more comfortable.

We got into Edmonton just before 11pm and drove to my Oma's place. We rented a suite in her home (she's in a retirement residence), so we have our own space, including a little kitchen. I'm sleeping on a lob sided cot, but it will do!

Camping at Valens and African Lion Safari

My sister M and I had decided in the spring that we should take her two oldest kids (her daughter H, 4 1/2, and son N, 3) camping sometime this fall. The original plan was to head up to Algonquin for a few nights, but M didn't want to drive that far, so after tossing around some ideas, we decided on Valens Conservation area. We didn't bother booking a site because seriously, who camps in the middle of the week at the end of September? And anyway, there were only five other occupied campsites the night we where there.

M picked me up with the kids just after lunch on Wednesday afternoon and after filling the cooler (I was in charge of food for the trip), we were off. There were a few sprinkles of rain as we drove, but nothing major - it was actually the last rain we would see until we left! After setting up M's massive tent (it sleeps 8) and giving the kids a snack, we dragged them around the campground on a hike. It was a challenge to keep N out of the mud puddles, they're like magnets to 3 year old boys! I was the only one who stayed clean - H tripped and got mud on her knees, and while M was carrying N around a giant mud puddle, she tripped and poor N got a face full of mud. The kids seemed to like the boardwalk the best - playing with the reeds, looking in the water. It was work for M and I though, trying to make sure they didn't fall in.

Back at the campground, we collected wood from some other campsites and started a fire (another thing we had to keep N away from, he kept wanting to touch sparks!). For supper, we made sloppy joes, or "woppy woes" as N calls them, and tried to make s'mores for desert. I gave N a roasted marshmellow, but he didn't like getting his fingers sticky, so spit out what was in his mouth (which then went down his chin and jacket) and started smearing the marshmallow goo from his hands onto his pants. Neither kid wanted to try a s'more, so M and I finished off the chocolate (which didn't melt - it was too cold!) and graham crackers.

After treking to the washrooms, we got into the tent, put the kids in as many layers of clothes as we could, and bundled them up in their sleeping bags. M and I told the kids a few stories, then read by our flashlights while they slept.

Everyone managed to sleep until 8 am (so the kids got about 11 hours ... not quiet enough, but not too disasterous either). M got the kids showered (and used up all the hot water!) while I made the batter for the poffertjes. The first batch of poffertjes got a bit too crispy, but once I figured out what size flame I needed on the stove, the rest worked great. The kids ate some poffertjes, but mostly jsut the peach slices. After cleaning up the sticky mess that kids always make, we made sandwiches for our lunches and drove to the African Lion Safari.

We had a great time at the park - feeding the llamas and the goats (and being jumped on by them), riding the boat and train, taking the bus around the reserve, watching the shows, and playing in the balls! It was funny how H would be studying the animals while N was more interested in the vehicles - boys! Sigh.

Back at the campground, I was put in charge of roasting the hot dogs over the fire in the "popcorn cage" (not sure what it's actually called), but the kids didn't want to eat the cooked ones, only raw hot dogs. They must get that from their dad! We made the meal a bit healthier with some carrot sticks.

Around sunset, we drove to the "fishing bridge" to take a short walk along the lake ... well, mostly just over the bridge and back again. Both M and I had forgotten to take our cameras out of the van and the view with the setting sun was awesome, but H didn't want to let us go back and get a camera for a picture. Even after M told her that we needed a picture for daddy, her response was, "Daddy doesn't need a picture. He's seen lots of sunsets".

There was an old man fishing of the bridge - we watched him a bit and then went to check out the other side of the lake. As we were coming back, he finally caught a fish, so called us over and let the kids pet it before releasing it. H and N were walking a bit ahead of us when he said something else to us, we turned back to the kids 2 seconds later, and there was N, 2/3 of the way through the railing with H hanging on to him. We have to keep an eye on that brother of her's!

Back at the campsite, we made some popcorn and watched the raccoon keep tying to get close to us - while M was putting the kids in bed, he even jumped up on the table behind me! It was another cold night, but we all slept well.

Our last morning, we made French toast for breakfast, then packed up the tent while N tormented his sister with a large stick he kept swinging around. Everything was in the car and we were dropping of our garbage when it began to rain again - and it didn't stop for a week!

Leaving Lima

I was all by myself today, everyone else was either home already or making their way home. I took my time getting ready and packing up in the morning, then after I had checked out of the hotel (they held by backpack for me) I caught a cab to the centre of Lima.

I got my driver to drop me off at Plaza San Martin so that I could walk up Jr. De La Union - a pedestrian shopping street. Even though it was already later in the morning, many of the shops were still closed. I was also surprised to see many of the same stores in different spots on the street. The road ends at the Plaza De Armas (the central plaza) which is surrounded by colonial palaces, cathedrals, and the government palace.

I wandered around taking some pictures of the balconies, then made my way to Covenento De San Francisco. After walking around the edges of the inside of the church (there was a service going on for some saint) I took a guided tour of the catacombs beneath the monastery. The catacombs were filled with skulls and femurs, all neatly sorted and arranged. Until the early 1800's, everyone from Lima was buried in this catacomb, and about 100 years ago, archaeologists sorted the remains - only the skulls and the femurs were still intact. Photography is prohibited, so I wasn't able to get any pictures. As I left the church, a procession came out the the church, banging drums and leading a dressed up saint around the courtyard. The church was covered in pigeons, and when the banging started, they all took off and started orbiting the square in front of the church - I'm surprised I walked out of there clean!

I went back to the main plaza around noon to watch the changing of the guard. Before it began, the police guarding the government palace closed off the road in front, moved everyone across the street, and donned their riot gear. (It made me wander what they were expecting!) After the band had marched out and played for about half an hour, other guards finally started marching around. It was a bit slow and difficult to watch through the fence, so I walked off to explore the surrounding streets after a while.

After lunch at McDonald's (I had to try it once before I left - every country tastes a bit different), I got another cab back to my hotel. The original plan was that I would meet up with V that afternoon and go see a park in Lima that has some impressive fountains, but because the lady at the front desk left and didn't tell her replacement about me, I missed V's phone call and didn't get the message until I was leaving for the airport. I was pretty tired of traveling and sightseeing by this point (I'm always done on my last day and just want to go home), I didn't mind spending the rest of the afternoon surfing the web, sending emails, etc. I didn't want to walk around by myself in the dark, so got supper at the airport - I figured that it was a good way to kill some time, too. The flight home was uneventful, I tried to sleep but couldn't (typical), and mom was at the airport waiting for me (dad was driving the car around instead of paying to park) ... actually, she was the only person waiting for anyone!

All in all, it was a great trip, and while I probably won't go back (I always want to go somewhere new), I definitely recommend it. It was interesting to drive from the desert, up into the high mountains, and fly into the amazon. The country has a lot of history and culture, and the food was great!

Lima

Today I was basically on my own - the Germans and the Danes were on the same afternoon flight, and K was flying out in the evening (and spent the rest of the day sitting at the hotel, still sick). I ordered a cab and then went out to see some of the museums.

The first museum that I went to was Museo de la Nacion (the National Museum). There were several rooms displaying pottery and weavings, but there weren't many signs indicating what the artifacts were or what they were used for. After half an hour I had seen everything, so found a cab and left for museum number two, Museo Larco. This museum had a lot more signs (and most of them had English translations) and the overall quality of the displays was much better. I spent almost two hours wandering.

I caught a cab outside the museum and tried to get back to Parc del Amor, but ended up in Parc de Lamour (or something like that). It was still in Miraflores and I knew that I was close to the coast, so walked the rest of the way. I had watched the paragliders the first day I was in Lima, and today decided to try it - I figured that if I hurt myself today, it didn't matter as much. I had to wait a bit for the instructor to get down (I had a 10% off coupon, but only for two of the instructors), and then it was quickly sign the papers and get the harnesses on. It was probably for liability reasons, but there was a guy taking pictures of everything - how every buckle was connected, how my helmet was put on, how the parachute unfurled ... everything! We had to change the first parachute, because one of the lines was cut, but after the new one was found and connected, we were off and running. It took about three attempts for the parachute to fill properly and then we were off and running.

We were airborne well before we reached the edge of the cliff, so it wasn't anywhere near as scary as I thought it might be. There must be a set course for everyone to take - everyone goes the same way! We went south as far as Larcomar (the mall set into the cliffs) and then back north as far as the lighthouse. The first time we headed south and inland, we got pretty close to the buildings, but after that, gained some altitude. After about 15 minutes soaring, we landed softly back at the park - a much smoother landing than from skydiving!

I walked back towards the hotel and was getting pretty hungry by this time (it was about 3 pm). I ended up going down pizza street for pizza (what else?). After paying the bill, the waiter, who had earlier told me he had one month of English lessons (but he sounded like he had a lot more), asked what I was doing the next day. I told him that I was going to explore downtown Lima, and he asked if I wanted to get together with him so he could practise his English. Uh ... NO. I don't think so! I just said no, and got up and left quickly.

By this time I had seen everything that I wanted to see in Miraflores, so walked back to the hotel and found K on the free internet. After watching some TV, we walked down to Larcomar and had supper, then back to the hotel to watch more TV (luckily there was always at least one channel showing a non-dubbed American show).

Amazon to Lima

This morning we had the long trek out of the jungle and back to civilization. We packed up our duffels before breakfast and after we had eaten, got back into the canoes one last time. We saw some more parakeets and macaws flying over us as we crossed the lake, and a few monkeys as we hiked from the lake to the river. According to the guide, we saw all four species of monkeys in the area (don't ask me what they were!). The hike back was much easier than the hike in - most of the mud was dried up. We could tell that it was going to be a hot and muggy day! The canoe ride back wasn't exciting, the only interesting part was the couple sitting beside and across from me seemed to argue (in Spanish, so I can't tell for sure) most of the way to port.

Our plane was late getting in from Cusco, so while K and I stayed in the airport, V took the rest of the group into town to pay a phone bill. The airport needs to work on their PA system - the echos made them almost impossible to understand (even for native Spanish speakers) and they liked to broadcast two announcements at the same time!

I was looking out the window for most of the flight back to Lima - looking at jungle change to mountain and then to desert. We had a short stop over in Cusco (never left the plane) so got to experience the add feeling of landing at an airport without the cabin pressure changing and the super long take-off roll. Back in Lima, we relaxed at the hotel for a while, then took a couple taxis to V's apartment (except for K who had stomach issues and just went to bed). We just hung out there, eating pizza, and telling her room-mate about the trip. Then V drove us back to the hotel, all of us squishing into her 1970's pink VW beetle!

Sandoval Lake

This trip did NOT allow us many days of sleeping in! We were woken up early (before sunrise) this morning and after a quick shower, jumped onto our catamaran (two canoes with a raised platform between them) to be paddled around the lake like royalty. We saw many types of birds (macaws, parakeets, "stinky birds", etc.), some caymans, and a family of giant river otters. It was awesome to watch the otters playing around with each other and eating their breakfast. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any really good pictures - it was still fairly dark, all the animals were under the trees where it was even darker, we weren't allowed to use a flash, and they and I were moving. Sigh.

We returned to the lodge for breakfast and were given some time to relax before our first hike of the day. Since most of the animals hide during the day, this hike focused more on the plants found in the area - the medicinal trees, plants used for make-up, and others for food. The guide showed us how to open a termite mound and get termites to eat - he and V ate a bunch of their finger, and I tried to eat one, but by the time I got it to my mouth, it had moved and ended up walking over my lips. I ended up having V flick one into my mouth. They supposedly taste like mint, but I had just brushed my teeth (and I only had one tiny termite), so I didn't taste anything. I wasn't brave enough to try more than one!

Our next demonstration was Brazil nuts - we were given a nut (the size of a softball) and a machete and told to try open it. We were each given three attempts. K went first (only a small nick), next was D (still only nicked it), then C (it flew off to the side when she hit it), and then me. I looked at how the open nuts had cracked and hit it that way - I got the blade in on the first stroke and it finally split on the third try. Girl power! The next step is to break the edible part of the nut out of its smaller shell. There was a nut press on the table and the trick was to hit it hard enough to crack the shell, but not too hard to squish the softer nut inside. Lots of fun - they didn't taste quite right though, a bit like dirt (but it wasn't the season for them).

After V made us all up with "make-up" (red lips, purple eyes, and a white ? on my cheek), we ate a jungle orange (more like a lemon!) and headed off into the woods. It's amazing how disorienting the jungle is - I never knew which direction the lodge was in. Good thing we had a guide! He pointed out lots of different types of trees - "garlic" (it smells like garlic), quinine, and even a walking palm tree! The palm tree walks by growing new roots out from the trunk (which starts about two metres above the ground) in the direction it wants to travel and cutting off nutrients to the roots on the other side so that they die and fall off. It can travel up to two metres per year!

We had lunch back at the lodge and were able to either watch a nature video about the otters living on the lake or just relax. I watched the video then wandered around the grounds, taking pictures of the plants. Later in the afternoon, we hopped on board a canoe to go to the other side of the lake for a hike. The best part of this hike was swinging on a vine that was growing down from a high tree - not something you can do every day! It was hanging off a tree with large buttress roots, so I climbed up those and grabbed the vine. The first swing I didn't go very far, so pushed off the root for a better swing. I was planning on stopping myself after two swings, but my foot slipped and banged my shoulder into the tree instead. On my next attempts, I was able to get back onto the root (still not very graceful!) and hop back down to the ground. Back in the canoe, we could see a large group of monkeys swinging in the trees and then as the sun set, we paddled back across the lake. We stuck close to the shore and were able to spot the caymans hiding in the shallows - if you shine a light at them, their eyes shine back as two red dots. Very cool!

I sat near the look out and watched the stars with K for about an hour, then we went back to the lodge for supper. We didn't do anything besides play a board game that evening - we had to get up early for our flight home the next morning so couldn't stay up too late (and the lights go out at 10 pm).

Cusco to the Amazon

We got up pretty early to head to the Cusco airport and fly to Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon jungle (near the boarders of Brazil and Bolivia). It was a weird experience to take off about 11,000 ft - it took FOREVER for the airplane to rotate and it was going FAST by that time! Also, there was no decrease in cabin pressure as we climbed out, if anything, it actually increased!

Since there was a cold wind blowing down from the Andes, it was unseasonably cold in the jungle - only about 15 degrees and drizzling. We boarded a bus to the office of the lodge we would be staying at and had some time to find a pair of rubber boots and repack our things into duffel bags they provided. Since we were still waiting for a few more groups to arrive, we wandered around the town a bit. Puerto Maldonado is home to mostly miners and loggers, and the town looked pretty muddy and desolate - not the type of place you would want to spent too long in (but it could have been the weather). After the others arrived, we all climbed back onto the bus and drove 15 minutes to the port.

At the port, we made our way down the slippery and muddy stairs into our boat. The boat is narrow and not very stable, so we had to make sure that we sat down in pairs opposite each other. I was seated near the back of the boat which turned out to be a good thing - the people in the front got pretty wet from the rain and the waves. What was really strange was that the water was so warm, almost like a bathtub! (I'm used to lakes and rivers being cold!) And since it was such a cool day, it was steaming like crazy. The lodge supplied us with lunch on the boat - a rice dish cooked and served inside a banana leaf. After an hour and a half, we reached our dock.

The boat was unloaded and we began our hour hike into the jungle. It was still raining so I was glad to have my dollarama poncho - of course, it made me look like a giant yellow blob (my backpack was under it), but at least I was dry and warm (some of the others didn't dry out until we left). The trail was extremely muddy in parts so it was a good thing we were wearing our boots. I feel sorry for the porters though, who had to push and pull a cart with all out things through the mud - it must have been a tough job!

We got to the end of the trail and after the porters bailed out the canoe, we climbed in and they started paddling us down a channel and across the lake. It took another hour to cross the lake (still raining!) and get to our lodge - Sandoval Lake Lodge. We were greeted with tea and hot chocolate and shown to our rooms. All the rooms are connected by a covered veranda, and the front and back walls are large screen windows. The walls between the rooms don't go all the way to the roof, so you can hear everything going on in the rooms around ... not too much privacy! But it was a great room, my favourite on this trip. There was electricity in the morning and the evening, and they put a pitcher of drinking water on the bedside table.

After dinner, we went on a night hike. Because of the cold weather, most of the insects were hiding, but we did see a tarantula, some other spiders, ants, moths, and even a crab! It was a dark, quiet, and cold night (I used both of the quilts they provided and was still a bit cold).

Cusco

The night before, C, D and I decided that we would tour around the ruins outside Cusco together, but we would sleep in first! We ordered our first cab using the hotel, and it only cost us S/. 10 (about $4) to drive 20 minutes up to Sacsayhuaman, a temple to the sun. The view of the city from there was amazing, and the ruins were interesting to walk around, but we not interesting enough to keep us there for more than half an hour. During Inca times, Cusco was built in the shape of a puma and Sacsayhuaman was the head. The zig-zaging walls were the teeth of the puma (according to C's German guidebook). Most of the rocks were removed by the Spanish when they were building Cusco, so it isn't as impressive as it once was.

We left the park and wandered around the parking lot trying to find a cab to drive us to the next site. A cab stopped along the road and it looked like the couple inside were getting out, but instead, we joined them in the cab up the road to Tambomachay for S/.15 (the other passengers continued on). The driver tried to raise it to S/. 15 / person as we were getting out, but we could tell by the smirk on his face that he was just trying to rip us off.

Tambomachay was an Inca "resort". According to legend, if you drink the water flowing out of the fountain, you'll have eternal health and beauty. We decided that you're more likely to get nausea and diarrhea from it. A few people from another tourist group were actually giving it a try ... I wonder how they felt for the next few days.

We crossed the road and walked 200 m to the next ruin, Puca Pucara. It was a storehouse, but there wasn't much left of it compared to some of the other ruins we had seen. We knew we wouldn't be able to catch a cab there, so walked back to Tambomachay. All the cabs sitting there were waiting for their fares to view the site, so we stood along the road waiting for a cab to show up. One came pretty quickly, and we all squeezed in (there were already 2 people in there). This cab took us down to the city, but wasn't able to take us back to the main plaza. He was nice though, and had called another cab to pick us up where he was dropping us off.

C and I went into the main cathedral to look at the amazing collection of paintings while D went back to the hotel to get something. We met back together in the plaza, then they went to look at a market while I went in the opposite direction to see a few museums. The museums weren't the greatest - not much on display and no English, of course - so it didn't take me long to get bored of them. I walked around a few of the streets and then, since it was looking like it was going to rain, I headed back to the hotel to relax and watch some TV.

That night we went out to a really cool restaurant, "The Fallen Angel". Its three rooms are decorated as heaven, hell, and in between. We ate in the "in between" area and our table was a bathtub filled with water and plants with a glass table top over it. Very cool! After dinner, we were shown the guest rooms upstairs - six fancy rooms (each with a theme) that cost a couple hundred dollars per night.

Inca Trail - Day 4, Machu Picchu!

We were woken up at 4:30 am this morning, had a quick breakfast, and raced to stand in line (in the dark!) at the checkpoint at 5 am letting us onto the final two hours of trail. Four of us were in the bathroom when our guide lead the other four to the checkpoint to save a spot in the line for us, and another guide got pretty mad at him when he led us to where the rest of our group was waiting for us! His group ended up RUNNING to Machu Picchu so they passed us pretty quickly. At 5:30 am the checkpoint opened and the "race" to the Sun Gate began.

The hike took us across a steep mountainside through lush, humid cloud-forest of giant ferns and broad-leaf vegetation. Suddenly we crossed the stone threshold of Intipunku (Sun Gate) and encountered an unforgettable sweep of natural beauty and human artistry – a backdrop of twisting gorge and forested peaks framing the magical city of Machu Picchu. It was amazing to see it - I think it helped that we had put so much effort into getting there!

The Sun Gate was crowded with people waiting for the sun rise. It was pretty misty though, so it was hard to get pictures without some clouds in the way. We stood there for a few minutes, then took off down the trail again. We completed the final leg down the royal flagstone walkway, past outlying shrines and buildings and into the heart of Machu Picchu, where we spent the rest of the morning exploring Machu Picchu. It was a much different atmosphere once we got through the gate, probably because we started meeting people coming up the trail towards us ... people who didn't have four days of dirt, sweat, and bug spray on them! A few times I heard their guides tell them that we (the dirty people carrying backpacks and using hiking poles) had just hiked for the last four days - most of them looked suitably impressed.

V met us as we entered the city (K, L and H were already on a tour of the site) and took our pictures with Machu Picchu in the background - the picture every tourist takes. I was amazed that that picture is actually taken in the middle of the ruins! I always thought that they were standing on an over look and the whole site was behind them.

After exiting the city, getting a final stamp in our passports, and giving our poles to V to deal with (they aren't allowed on the site), we rejoined our guide for a tour of the city. It was interesting to learn about how they constructed the buildings (splitting stones, attaching grass roofs, etc.) and see all the temples and alters to the various gods. After two hours with him, we took off on our own to meander through the area a bit more.

C, D and I were pretty exhausted (day 4 is the hardest!), so soon took a bus down to Agua Calientes. There wasn't much to see in the town, so we found a coffee shop, relaxed, and checked our emails. We were supposed to meet the rest of the group at 1 pm for lunch, but by 1:30, no one had shown up! We finally called V and figured out that they were just getting on the bus heading down from Machu Picchu. Lunch was in a chifa (Chinese restaurant), then it was to a different restaurant to collect our duffels and onto the train back to Ollantaytambo. The train ride was impressive, rolling through the Urubamba valley with great views of the rapids. We were met in Ollantaytambo by our bus driver who brought us back to our hotel where we could finally scrub off some of the grime - those showers always feel fantastic!

Inca Trail - Day 3

Today's hike was the longest on the trek - about 16 km. That wouldn't be too long a hike normally, but when it's a lot of ups and downs at high altitude, it's a lot of work!

We started the hike picking up an Inca stairway and ascend again past the small Inca site of Runkuracay. As we reached the second pass, the landscape opened onto spectacular new views to the snowpeaks of the Pumasillo range. We descended to the ruins of Sayacmarca (Inaccessible Town), an intricate labyrinth of houses, plazas and water channels, perched precariously on a rocky spur overlooking the Aobamba valley. The Inca trail, now a massive buttressed structure of granite paving stones, continued along the steep upper fringes of the cloud forest through a colorful riot of orchids, bromeliads, mosses and ferns. At the third pass (where we stopped for lunch), pinnacles topped with Inca viewing platforms overlook the archaeological complex of Phuyupatamarca (Cloud-level Town).

Pausing to explore the wondrous maze of Inca stone towers, fountains and stairways that spill down the mountainside here, we began a long descent through ever-changing layers of cloud forest. An Inca stairway partly cut from living granite (as in, it was there and carved, not put there when they built it) lead us finally to our camp by the ruins of Wiñay Wayna (Forever Young), the largest and most exquisite of the Inca Trail sites.

This day was the day filled with Inca ruins and awesome views - my favourite day of the trek! We were given a small snack bag in the morning and had our lunch about one and a half hours past where everyone else was stopped. This meant that for that piece of the trail (a REALLY nice piece of trail!), there were no other groups around and no porters running past us on the trail!

The campground was again terraced, but this time the terraces were narrower and separated by trees and shrubs as well as the drop. There were showers, but no one in our group wanted to wait with the 100+ other hikers waiting to pay to use two showers, instead, we scrubbed down with our buckets of warm water. There was also a bar at this campsite - it's amazing what some people will pay for a bottle of beer and some chips (it was at least 4 times as expensive here). We were at the bottom level of the campground and had a great view of the valley, it was also the warmest (and lowest) of our campsites. The stars that night were amazing!

Inca Trail - Day 2

We were woken up by our assistant guide and a porter, who gave us hot tea in our tents! A few minutes later, they came by with a bucket with warm water so we could wash our faces. We got dressed, packed up our duffel bags, then headed to the meal tent (where the porters sleep) for a not so good breakfast of porridge. This ended up being the only meal on the trek that I didn't like. At breakfast, one of the older Norwegian ladies told us that she thought she should go back - her chest was hurting a bit and she had tingling in her left arm ... not what you want before climbing up a mountain pass! We took a couple pictures with our guides, cooks, and porters, and then our group split up - the lady went down the way we had come the day before with the assistant guide and one of the porters.

Most of today's hike was climbing up - we started with a climb up the steep-sided Llullucha valley past a rushing stream and through enchanted native polylepis woodland. After crossing the rim of a small plateau, we found ourselves in the puna, the treeless grasslands of the high Andes. The trail traversed an open slope opposite mighty mountain crags as we ascend to the first and highest pass, Warmiwañusca (13,776ft). Here we encountered spectacular views of the trail ahead to the second pass, and could look back to the sweeping snowpeaks and valleys of the Huayanay massif. The trail then went down to the floor of the forested Pacaymayo valley, where we made camp.

Resting while waiting for lunch.

Like on day one, R and I were usually at the back of the pack, resting and taking pictures (well, I was taking pictures!). We had lunch part way up the pass which allowed us some much needed rest for a couple hours. The last part of the climb, R and I actually passed the two Norwegians and the Brits, making it to the top just after C and D - I guess taking it easy for most of the day paid off in the end! The view from the top was amazing and we stayed up there for close to half an hour before starting down the other side fuelled by the lollipops that our guide gave us. I was definitely the slowest going down. I had sprained my ankle really badly two months before leaving on the trip and it still wasn't completely healed, so I didn't want to wreck it any more than it already was. I found that for the large steps, I had to go one at a time, making me take at least twice as long as everyone else! But I made it without hurting myself too much!

Our campground for the night was a terraced dirt area with everyone camping close together. The bathrooms were up a bunch of uneven rock steps (not something you want to do in the pitch black night by yourself) and the group behind us was pretty noisy, so this was my least favourite of the campsites we stayed at.

Inca Trail - Day 1

C, D and I got up VERY early this morning to meet our guide at 6 am and drive to Ollantaytambo where we met the rest of our hiking group. We got to Ollantaytambo early, so the three of us wandered around the town, found a free bathroom, and got a cup of coffee. The others finally arrived and we were off to kilometer 82 where we began our trek.

It took a while to actually start the trail - the porters had to gather all the stuff together. We were finally off after about half and hour of standing around and walked down across the train tracks and took the requisite picture under the Inca Trail sign. After another ten minutes of walking, we got to the first check-point. This was the only place we were required to show our passports to verify that we were registered to walk the trail. (Only 500 permits are given out for each day and over 60% are used by the porters and guides.) I now have a stamp in my passport to prove that I hiked the trail!

After crossing a footbridge, we hiked for two hours down the Urubamba canyon, and were able to see the Inca farming terraces and the settlement of Llaqtapata on the banks of the Cusichaca side river. We then climbed a short way up the Cusichaca valley to Huayllabamba, the last inhabited village on the trail, where we camped. If the hike had been at a lower altitude it wouldn't have been much of a challenge (there was only one big hill), but I could definitely notice the high altitude. R and I tended to be at the back of the pack, taking our time (and a few more breaks). At least by stopping, I was able to get some pictures of the trail. The assistant guide was laughing at me for it, but hey, I figured "It's my trip, so I'm going to enjoy it!"

The trail goes through a few villages, each with a stall set up to sell snacks and drinks to the hikers. We stopped for lunch near a stream (all the porters clapped as we came in and one handed us a glass of juice) and were able to use the "toilets" while we waited for our meal. It was my first time using a real squat toilet, which is actually easier than squatting over the toilets without toilet seats. After being given a basin of water and a bar of soap to wash our hands, we had lunch - soup for starters and trout for the main course. I was amazed at how fancy the food was - I was expecting something simpler to make!

Our campsite for the night was just outside a village, so the chickens were roaming around most of the evening. Our tents were already set up by the time we got there and our duffels were inside. A porter came around with hot (well, luke warm) water for us to wash ourselves and to blow up our mattress if we wanted. At 5 pm, we had "tea" - tea, hot chocolate, crackers, popcorn ... it was great! We relaxed a bit more before supper - a few people went an bought themselves a beer to reward themselves for a hard days work. Supper was soup, a main course, and then desert (I can't remember what we ate, but it was all very good), then after the guides had told us some stories about emergency evacuation off the trail (they CARRY you on their backs either to km. 82 or Machu Picchu, whichever is closest), we were off to bed.

The Sacred Valley

We had a free day to spend exploring Cusco and the area, so D, C, H, L and I went on a city tour - though it was more of a Sacred Valley tour! Our first stop was at a zoo that takes in injured and abused animals. Because of how they have been treated, the animals would not survive if they were released into the wild. It was sad to see some of the things done to the animals (eg. the feet of a bear were cut off), but it was nice to be able to see the animals close up. My favourite part of that experience was when we were allowed into the condor cage and they started feeding them - I didn't realize how big they were until two of them swooped down close to our feet to collect their chicken carcases. We continued down the road, then up a narrow, steep, winding dirt road (with a VERY deep drop-off) up to the Planaterra weaving project. GAP runs this project - supplying alpaca wool to the women who then dye, spin, and weave the wool into items for tourists to buy. The items were very nice and I bought a scarf, but all of us had seen so much of this type of thing before, that we wouldn't have minded skipping it.

We finally entered the valley and made a quick stop in the market at Pisac. They had more arts and crafts, as well as a few t-shirts and instruments. I picked up a pan-flute - I've always thought that they sound really cool. (Now I just need to learn to play it!) We drove up from the town of Pisac to the Incan ruins on the hill behind the town. Hundreds of years ago, this is where the bodies of the nobility were prepared for burial, and they are buried in the caves in the cliff behind it. We walked part way to the lower ruins before going back to the van and driving to the upper ruins. Our guide didn't want to tire us out, but we insisted on exploring the ruins and trying to find our way to the top. I think he was happy about this - he seemed to enjoy racing through them, trying to lead us up! It felt like we were in an Indian Jones movie! Somewhere along the way, we lost D and L (they must have stopped to take pictures), but we were able to see them from the top and met up with them after we made our way back down. We all had snacks with us, so decided to skip lunch so that we could see a bit more of the valley. The next stop was Ollantaytambo which was FULL of tour groups! Unfortunately, the sun was setting behind the ruins so it was hard to get decent pictures of it. It was neat to see how they built their walls - none of the stones are rectangular, they all have curved edges yet fit together perfectly! We still had a bit of light left, so convinced the guide to take us to Chincero - ruins of another temple. These ruins were mostly destroyed by the Spanish who built a church on them. The Incas believed that humans came to existence out of a rock on the site - there's a large red patch on the rock that looks a bit like a, well, hmm, ...., you know, ...., so it isn't that hard to see where they might have got that idea from. We got back to Cusco well past dark, but looking out at the night sky was impressive - so many stars were out! It helps to be up high with no humidity!

After supper, it was time to pack for the Inca Trail. We were given duffel bags to put our things in - the trick is, it isn't allowed to weigh more than 6 kg! That isn't much stuff! The sleeping bag, pad (which I rented) and duffel back together weighed 2.5 kg, so after adding all the medications that I brought from Canada (just in case!), there wasn't room for much else. It took a few trips to the hotel lobby to weigh the duffel before I got it right - I was actually underweight the first time so could add a bit more.