Tag Archives: Wilderness

The Lost City – Ciudad Perdida, Sierra Nevada National Park, Colombia

December 9, 2013 Keyman 2 Comments

In the jungles of northern Colombia there’s a magical city known as Ciudad Perdida – ‘Lost City’ in spanish. Believed to be built around 800AD (650 years before Machu Picchu in Peru) the site is said to be the central city of the Tairona people, connecting the many small villages around it. Originally home to between 2,000 and 8,000 people the city is said to be four times as large as Machu Picchu and far more spread out. Abandoned around the time of the Spanish conquests and the city was only rediscovered in 1972.

There are now regular jungle hikes to the site taking between 4 and 6 days. It’s considered a moderately difficult hike and since I was in the area I decided to do it.

Day 1
I was picked up from my hostel at 9am with just my little pack. I’m not used to carrying so little and I almost felt like I didn’t have enough with me. But then I usually don’t go on guided treks, preferring to walk alone with all my own equipment.

After a ten minute minivan ride from Taganga – the beach town where I’m staying – I was dropped off to the tour company’s office in Santa Marta where I was to meet the others in the group. I’d figured I wouldn’t be alone on this fairly popular trek but I didn’t expect to be one of 19 plus guides. With so many others hikers it was difficult to find the serenity of nature I enjoy when hiking alone. But I did my best.

By 11am, we were off in a pair of 4x4s heading towards El Mamey, the village that serves as the hike’s trailhead. An hour later, we left the sealed highway and headed along a rough dirt road suitable only for 4x4s, motorcycles and horses. A further hour later and we arrived at El Mamey where we were provided with lunch.

After lunch and once we were all ready we headed out along a dirt road, crossing a pair of rivers as we went.

It wasn’t long before we began to climb in the muggy heat. While the steep climb was not at altitude like my previous few hikes, where lack of oxygen slowed me down, the somewhat oppressive heat stripped me of my energy, having a similar effect. As we worked our way slowly up the tree covered hill, the clay of the trail seemed to capture the heat and send it at us from all directions. Sweat ran from everywhere and I was soon soaked completely, a state I was to be in for the entire four days of the hike.

We had reached the top of the hill and were walking along a ridge line when the afternoon rains finally arrived to cool us down.

We took shelter at a small cabaña until the shower passed but it was not to be the end of the rain for the day. As we continued, low clouds began to move in around the hills, bringing a much appreciated cool breeze.

We continued along the cloudy ridge until it dove down a long steep clay and mud trail before crossing the river to another village. Finally, we climbed a smaller hill to the cabaña where we’d be staying the night.

Under a wall-less tin roofed building there were line upon line of hammocks covered with mosquito netting.

One section of the wall-less hut was a massive kitchen where the guides prepared our dinner of chicken, potatoes and rice. As we ate the rain returned, this time very heavily and accompanied by long peels of thunder and brilliant flashes of lightning. After dinner and a couple of beers – no South American hike would be complete without beer at the camps – I headed to bed in preparation for the next day.

Day 2
It rained heavily for a large portion of the night, well past the time I’d gone to sleep. Sleeping in a hammock was a first and quite comfortable using a blanket as a pillow. I used a second blanket briefly early in the morning when it grew a little cooler and I was thankful for the protection of the mosquito nets.

At 5am we were up and given breakfast. It was an early start to avoid the oppressive humidity later in the day. It was still hot, a wet heat that made it difficult to regulate my own temperature. But this was only a problem when I was climbing, which was much of the morning following the dirt trail through the endless trees of the jungle. During the climb we paused from time to time in various villages to get our breaths back and to take photos.

The trail dove down hill again for a long period and at the bottom we were forced to remove our boots to cross a river. Wading across, the water came up to our thighs in all its cold and gloriousness.

With only 30 minutes to our evening’s cabaña, most of us stripped down to our shorts (or to bikinis for the girls) and went for a swim. It was difficult for us to leave the river, but we eventually tore ourselves away, dressed and walked the 30 minutes along one bank to the cabaña.

After lunch it was shower and relax time as we waited for the afternoon rains. We are only 1km away from the steps leading up to the Lost City. So close we could hear the buzzing of mosquitos.

Day 3
Many of us were woken by the breakfast crew at 3.30am, not because we had to get up but because they were being noisy. I managed to get back to sleep and at 5.30 was up and having breakfast. Then we were off along the bank for the 1km to another river crossing where we again had to remove our boots. Even first thing in the morning the cold of the river was refreshing. On the other side we found the 1,200 or so steps that lead up to Ciudad Perdida.

The ancient tribes must have had small feet as the steps are tiny. Still, it didn’t take us long to get to the top where we emerged into the city’s market area covered in sweat. After reapplying insect repellant, I zipped on my leggings and rolled down my sleeves as defence against the mobs of ravenous insects.

We spent three hours walking around Ciudad Perdida…

From the market, we headed up the hill by steps…

…that led to the rich quarter of the city where the best views could be had.

There aren’t any buildings left from the day of the city builders, as unlike the Incas, the Tairona built houses from bamboo, wood and mud. A few natives do live here but their buildings are recent.

In places around the city are gun toting soldiers, protecting visitors to the city for the last decade. The last kidnapping in the area was ten years ago in 2003. Next we headed down a long flight of steps to the poorer quarters.

After some history lessons we climbed back down the main steps, very slowly and eventually made it to the river where the boots were off again as we crossed. 30 minutes later and we were back at our last nights accommodation for lunch.

Next was a long ten kilometre hike back along the trail to our final night’s cabaña at the bottom of a very long downhill. In the heat of the afternoon, and still drenched with sweat, we were thankful to arrive at the camp. It didn’t take us long to get out of our wet clothes and into the cool river. On the far bank a waterfall feeds into a grotto behind a huge rock. There’s an elaborate technique for getting across, the last of which is to power swim through the strongest current. A couple of us made a chain to catch some of the less strong swimmers as they were being swept past.

That evening we relaxed under the beady eyes of many Cane Toads enjoying the rain.

Day 4
The final day was simply returning along the trail we’d walked on our first day – up a steep long climb, back along the ridge line and down a very long climb. 15 minutes before we arrived back at El Mamey, we stopped at the river for a final swim – they couldn’t have stopped us if they tried! Then after 30 minutes in the water, we were back on the trail for the final short walk to the village, where we stopped for lunch before being transported to Santa Marta and the end of the adventure.

Overall, the 4 day jungle trek was a great adventure, and while the constant sweating and dripping wet clothes left me covered in a heat rash, it was worth it to get to the Lost City and my final adventure in South America.

The Lone Trail Wanderer.

Hike, South America

El Altar, Sanjay National Park, Ecuador

October 14, 2013 Keyman 4 Comments

Nearly two years ago, the government of Ecuador changed the laws regarding multi-day hikes. Because so many people were getting lost or dying, all hikes in the national parks now require a certified guide. Peru has a similar law, although it doesn’t police it as stringently as Ecuador does. And at US$50-80 a day for a guide, my dreams of doing a multi-day hike in Ecuador came to a screaming holt.

My companion and I caught a bus to Riobamba, a city six hours south of Quito and set about finding a hike we could do without a guide. After some investigation we found one – El Altar – an overnight hike into an area of mountains only policed one day a week.

Day 1
We were up early and waiting for the taxi. A crazy drive through the mountains followed to Hacienda Releche, the ‘trail head’ of the hike. We met the owners of the hacienda who quoted us 5-6 hours to their lodge in the mountains and at $12 per person per night it’s far cheaper than a guide.

We began climbing along a dirt track following a gully. On either side was a thin line of trees and beyond were fields; one containing rows of flowers, the other grazing cows.

For the first two hours of the walk the trail climbed steeply up the side of the hill with the occasional short area of boggy mud. While the skies were cloudy there was no rain. A look back along the valley gave great views of the surrounding hills. By the deep green of the hills, I’d suggest it rains here fairly regularly.

As we continued climbing, the trail grew less steep, but the mud increased dramatically. As the easiest way to get to the lodge is by horseback, this churns up the mud. In many places, it was difficult to pass without squelching our way through. Luckily, waterproof leather hiking boots have no issues with mud and we waded our way through, trying to fall over as little as possible. This is only a problem if the mud is soggy and wet, which for the most part it wasn’t.

We stopped for a late lunch with a view of a road across the valley, before marching on. As the afternoon wore on, the rain began, and we decided to rest out of the rain for a bit, so following a short path we found a pair of large pine trees as shelter.

While we were waiting, we heard hooves on the track. I went to have a look in the rain and discovered around ten large horned, cows trampling along the trail. When they saw me they stared for a few moments before bolting back up the trail. A few minutes later, we heard hooves again, this time it was a group of riders leading the cows. Two of the cows had climbed the bank and charged through the area where we were sheltering, scaring the wits out of my companion.

By this stage, we’d already walked 5-6 hours with no sign of the lodge. We continued on, crossing through gullies and the occasional stream. As darkness began to fall, we still hadn’t found the lodge and my companion began making suggestions of roughing it, as we didn’t have a tent with us. So under the light of our head torches we kept an eye out for sheltered spots but continued walking.

An hour and a half after dark we rounded a hill and could just make out buildings ahead in the vague moonlight. We reached the buildings and found the first one open. It was a dorm room with bunk beds and a bathroom. We dropped our packs and investigated the other four buildings. Two were locked dorms while the others were dining areas with kitchens and fireplaces. We found a bunch of candles and set up our room, cooked some dinner and collapsed into our sleeping bags.

Day 2

The next day we were up and after breakfast, we cleaned up the room, packed our bags and stowed them away in a hidden room off one of the kitchens. We then headed out across a stretch of soggy, rocky ground towards The Altar, a collapsed volcano surrounded by peaks. The valley is at about 4000m above seas level, and even with a slight grade crossing it was a struggle because of the altitude.

At the far side was a tough climb up the valley wall. While the sky was cloudy and mist covered many of the mountains, we could just make out a snowy peak above us as we climbed. My younger companion raced ahead while I struggled with the altitude, even without a pack. During one of our regular breaks, we discovered another pair of guys close behind us. This pushed us on and eventually we came over the ridge to see the large crater lake and the bottom of the mountains surrounding it. El Altar.

We waited up there for almost two hours, watching as the clouds came and went. I noticed more than a dozen kinds of wild flowers growing in the area so set about taking photos of as many as I could.

At about 1pm, the sky began to clear and I was able to take a panoramic shot – something I’d not done before on my new camera.

On the way back we passed two other groups of people totalling 10 between them, before arriving back at the lodge to meet the lodge owner’s father, who was also the caretaker. Unfortunately, he didn’t speak english and our spanish wasn’t enough to get across that we had already paid for the previous night. The message finally got across with the help of one of the other guys and we booked another night. This time, we had a more luxury room – one of the locked ones.

Day 3

After breakfast, we packed and headed down from the lodge.

The climb down was fairly uneventful. There was the occasional rain, but nothing worrying. Most of the trail was dry mud but we also passed through several different levels soggy levels of it as we went: dirt, wet dirt, hard mud, soft mud, sludge and water pooled mud. For the most part, we found little of the last two and mainly plentiful soft mud. When climbing down a dirt or rocky trail, it can be hard on your knees, even with walking poles. But soft mud cushions your footsteps without swallowing your boots totally. As we walked, we saw more of the wild flowers…

We finally reached the owner’s hacienda just as the rain began. After a lunch prepared by the owner’s mother, we waited for the bus that didn’t come before talking the park rangers into giving us a lift back to Riobamba. This was ironic because they would have stopped us from doing the trek if they had caught us at the beginning. We arrived back to the hotel we’d been staying at and the luxury of hot showers.

Summary
Overall, the trek was a lot longer than we expected, but we still had an awesome time and saw one of the few sights available without a guide in Ecuador. While the trail was muddy, it made the trek more of a technical challenge than an annoyance. For the views and the lodge, I would recommend this to anyone looking for an overnight and cheap hike in Ecuador.

Next we are off to Cuenca in Southern Ecuador to see Ingapirka, the most famous Inkan ruins in Ecuador.

The Trail Wanderer

Destination, South America

Mindo, Ecuador – Impressions

October 6, 2013 Keyman 1 Comment

80km north of Quito is the town of Mindo, buried deep in the rainforest of North Ecuador.

As one of my friends leaves South America in the next week three of us, who’ve been hanging out in Quito, decided to go away for the weekend to have one last adventure together. Spending $8 in the taxi to the bus terminal, we paid $2.50 each for the 2 hour bus ride!

Mindo is a charming little town with a lot to offer, which is why it’s a common weekend destination for travellers stopping off in Quito. While it’d take a week to do everything on offer here, with only two days we decided to take it easy and enjoy ourselves.

To start with, we found a place that served breakfast and ordered. While we were waiting on the balcony for the food to arrive, Hummingbirds flitted around, stopping to drink from a feeder.

They skit and bob around like insects with their wings blurred and are the only birds that can fly backwards. It was impossible to get a clean photo of them while they were flying as the camera just couldn’t focus on them fast enough. There are 14 different types of them here.

After breakfast, we went for a walk to check out what the town had to offer. 10 minutes later, we were done having seen the bar district and the restaurant district. The town consists of a main street, several short side streets and a plaza.

Next, we decided to go zip lining and walked the 3km up the hill to one of the companies that offered it. There were 10 different lines and on most of them we were able to ‘fly’ while accompanied by one of the two guides. Hanging from our backs we sped along with arms wide, aeroplane style. Overall, it was a most fun two hours.

That evening, we headed out to the bar district for tapas and sangria. We discovered we were some of the only foreigners in town that night, so after eating, we headed back to hostel for our own little party, just the three of us.

We woke late the next day and after breakfast, decided to visit the waterfalls. By the time we headed up there it was early afternoon. To get to the falls, we caught a taxi the 10km to a home-made cable car which took us across the valley. The engine was made from an old van with gears and all…

On the other side of the valley, we walked down a dirt trail in the rainforest for some time arriving at some of the waterfalls. Hot from the walk, two of us donned our swimmers and leapt in, and out again, as the water was as cold as expected. There are 7 sets of waterfalls in the area, but in the two hours before the cable car stopped for the day we got to four of them.

That evening we hung out with a group of new arrivals at the hostel before heading to bed early. While we had only two days in the town, there are many other things we could have done, including canyoning (where you rappel down a waterfall), tubing down a river (like rafting but large tire tubes tied together) and an animal sanctuary, to name a few.

It’s a peaceful change from the city and at the price to visit and stay, it is well worth the effort if you are in Quito with a few days to spare. Just remember to take your Malaria tablets and try to avoid mosquitos, although it was the midges that feasted on us.

Next, it’s back to Quito to prepare for a four day walk around Cotopaxi, one of the world’s tallest active volcanos.

The Trail Wanderer

Destination, South America

Galapagos Islands Cruise

September 28, 2013 Keyman 1 Comment

The Galapagos Islands are an amazing set of volcanic islands just under 1000km from mainland Ecuador. There are several ways to see the islands each with benefits and drawbacks:

Pre-booked cruises are the most popular means to see the Islands and are commonly booked from the mainland. They are perfect for those with only a short vacation time but can also be the most expensive.
Booking a Last Minute cruise when you arrive on the islands is more suitable for long term travellers or those with plenty of available time. The cruises are up to half the price of a pre-booked cruise but there may be some wait before departure day.
Island hopping is possibly the cheapest means of seeing the islands and can be tailored to however long you have available. They take more work to organise and you can’t get to some of the more distant islands the cruises can take you to.

For my trip to the Galapagos, I simply flew to the Islands and booked a Last Minute 4-day cruise. The cruise started several days after I booked it, giving me time to explore parts of Isla Santa Cruz and Puerto Ayora.

Day 1
The day began early with myself and my Uraguayan friend leaving the hostel at 7a.m., having a quick breakfast in town before catching a taxi to the bus terminal. After a 90-minute mixed bus and ferry ride we arrived at the airport where we met our tour guide and some of the other passengers. We were taken to the boat, the Estrella del Mar – Star of the Sea. The boat’s passenger capacity was 16 and my friend and I were the oldest of the group.

Onboard the Estrella del Mar we were given a delicious lunch and as we sailed to our first destination, Isla Bartolomé, had a chance to get to know the other passengers. As we travelled the choppy seas and the rocking of the small boat caused me to feel a little sick, so I took some sea sickness pills I had left over from my Antarctic cruise.

We arrived into the calm waters of Bartolome Island in the early afternoon and donned our wetsuits. We were dropped off on the shore and snorkelled for an hour around the pinnacle – a large piece of weathered rock sticking up at the edge of the beach.

While there wasn’t any coral, there were plenty of fish. As we swam we located several Galapagos Penguins hanging out on the rocks and the occasional Galapagos sea lion doing the same.

There were also plenty of small colourful crabs climbing the rocks so I swum in for a closer look. As I got nearer to the shore, I went underwater and came face to face with a White Tip Reef shark sleeping in a small cave under the rocks. While they aren’t usually aggressive, I was still cautious for the few minutes I watched it. I did eventually get a shot of the colourful rock crab.

After returning to the beach, we were taxied to the boat where we changed before being delivered to another part of the island, to hike to the top of a volcanic hill. There were great views and our guide was very knowledgable about the formation of the islands.

After the hike, we returned to the boat for dinner while it headed north. At about 11p.m. we cross the equator.

Day 2
Our cabin was on the lower level at the front of the boat. So, while we were in motioned overnight, the cabin was very hot even with the air conditioning on.

In the early hours of the morning we arrived at Isla Genovesa, an extinct volcano where a massive sinkhole had filled with water to form a natural harbour. After a large breakfast, we were taken in the zodiacs to the beach, where we went for a short walk around the beach and a small patch of mangroves. This allowed us to see several nesting species of birds, black Marine Iguanas and fur seals, including this cub.

We then changed into our wetsuits on the beach before heading into the water. We snorkelled for about an hour in the fairly murky water. We saw plenty of fish similar to yesterday, but little else. We were taken back to the boat briefly before being taken across the bay for more snorkelling. This is the only spot on our cruise where Hammerhead sharks are commonly seen but after an hour in the water we had no luck. I had fun swimming a little way down the shelf that drops off to a depth deeper than the ships sonar can see, making it more than 350m deep.

Back on the boat, we had lunch and relaxed for a couple of hours. Many of us napped after a long morning of swimming. When we were ready, a small group of us were taken to third spot in the bay for yet more snorkelling. It was calmer and warmer in the water as the sun had broken through the clouds during lunch. We swam along the wall of the bay, the rocks climbing up about 20 metres. We were joined by a couple of sea lions, but they only played for a few minutes before heading back to their rocks. We snorkelled on, but saw little more.

Lastly, after heading back to the boat for a shower, we climbed to the top of the rocky wall and walked through the hardy trees to see more wildlife. We spied the Blue Footed Boobie, a Petrel, a rare sighting of a Galapagos Owl – which actually hunts during the day – and a lovely pair of boobies, Nazca Boobies that is…

After the hike, we were taken back to the boat for dinner and an early night following a very busy day. During the night we headed back across the equator and it was again very rocky aboard.

Day 3
Overnight the rocking of the boat caused me to feel very sick, but only in my cabin, so I forwent my usual evening movie and just went to sleep. And this was after having taken seasickness pills. I awoke in the morning to calm seas and felt much better.

After a hearty breakfast, we set about getting ready for our first activity, a short hike across South Plaza Island to see some wildlife.

We started on the beach where many fur seals were sleeping.

We then walked along the rocky trail stopping for photo opportunities and discussions about the flora and fauna. Among the various species of birds we spied a land Iguana. This one is a metre long.

Then it was back to the boat and off across the strait to Isla Santa Fé where we had lunch and prepared for another walk. We landed on the beach amidst plentiful napping sea lions…

We walked along a rocky path seeing two species of lizard, the metre long yellow land Iguana…

…and the 10cm long gecko.

Then, it was back to the boat to change into our wetsuits in preparation for our final snorkelling session of the cruise. Swimming in the bay at Isla Santa Fé makes me want to buy an underwater camera. Firstly, there were playful sea lions and I finally found my first coral in the waters. It wasn’t very colourful, but some coral is better than no coral. Then, as we snorkelled across the small bay, we were joined by sea turtles and stingrays sucking at the sand on the bottom. All in all, an excellent snorkelling session for our final day.

Back on the boat, we set sail for Puerto Ayora harbour where we dropped anchor for the evening.

Day 4
The final day on the cruise was a little disappointing. When booking the cruise, we enquired if they would be going to either the Giant Tortoise colony or to Charles Darwin Research Station, where they look after the young animals. We were told the cruise would finish at the Research station, so prior to the cruise, my Uraguayan friend and I headed up to see the Giant Tortoises. As it turned out, the group was taken to see the Giant Tortoises. But instead of seeing them again, we called an end to our trip and headed back to the hostel.

Summary
Overall, the cruise around the Galapagos Islands was great. While the islands don’t feel as tropical as other Pacific Islands, the diverse species of animals, especially the ones that are native to these islands were amazing. A most enjoyable cruise.

After a couple more days in the Galapagos Islands, I fly back to Quito.

The Trail Wanderer

Hike, South America

Santa Cruz trek, Cordillera Blanca, Peru

September 14, 2013 Keyman 2 Comments

While there are many hikes in the Cordillera Blanca, the Santa Cruz hike is the most popular, and is usually done with a guide. Hiking with a guide doesn’t feel like true hiking, especially when they carry half of the equipment, set up tents and prepare your food. So, I decided to do it without one. As it happens, four Americans at my hostel were also planning to go guideless. And while I prefer to hike alone, I wouldn’t be totally alone in the mountains… We booked a bus to the start and prepared to leave early the following morning.

Day 1

Not having a good night’s sleep the night before a hike is a bad thing. I discovered this on the Colca Canyon hike and well, it seemed to happen again!

The bus trip to the beginning of the hike is five hours on a local bus. Unlike the five of us lads, peruvians have short legs, so there was not a lot of room in the bus. The cramped first two hours of the trip was on a sealed road and then the last three hours was to be on a very rocky dirt road. Five minutes onto that dirt road, however, the bus gave up and with black smoke pouring out the side, the transmission fell out. The pool of red transmission fluid under the bus is not obvious in this photo, but it’s there…

After an hour the bus was fixed, but only enough for it to return to base leaving us to wait for another one. Three hours later it arrived and we were on our way again. Three hours of jaw rocking dirt road meant no napping for me!

We were delivered to the small village of Yanama and discovered a group of three girls and a french couple who were also doing the hike without a guide. While the french couple were quite typical of many french people I’ve met in South America so far – they treated us like we didn’t exist and totally avoided us – the three girls decided to join the group. With eight of us, and two particularly chatty girls, my hike was going to be noisier than I wanted. So, I let the other seven head off and dropped to the back to walk alone.

The first part of the hike leads out of Yanama and down the hill via a steep dry track, crossing one dirt road on the way and eventually the river via a concrete bridge. I headed left as the trail widened leading through a couple of villages where every small child ran up and demanded bon-bons. Never give the kids bon-bons!

Finally, I came to my first climb of the day. It wasn’t a large one but my lack of sleep caused me to struggle up it. I met the others at the top and stopped for a rest as they headed off again. I was hoping there wasn’t going to be many more climbs as the direct sunshine on top of my tiredness was draining. But there were a few. Eventually, I rounded a bend in the valley and saw a group of tents a couple of kilometres away and figured this was my companions. I set out towards them, making slow progress across some small hills.

I was getting close to the tents when I came across a pair of cows on the trail, staring me down. Did you know that more hikers are killed every year by cows than anything else? It’s true! Google it. Not wishing to be trampled to death for getting too close, I went around, through a boggy area of ground. Exhausting!

I finally made it to the tents to discover it wasn’t my group but a guide and his party. He pointed me further along the trail, so I struggled on. After another kilometre I still hadn’t located my amigos and with the trail leading up some hills, I picked a spot for a camp near the river and set up my tent. After cooking dinner and getting ready for the next day, I slumped into my sleeping bag and slept.

Day 2

From my planning, I was aware that Day 2 was the most difficult day of the hike. From my camp at 3,800 metres (above sea level) I would walk 13 kilometres and climb nearly a kilometre to a pass called Punta Union at a height of 4,750 metres. Followed by a further 3 kilometres down the other side.

While The Choro trek in Bolivia began 50 metres higher, I only had to climb 100m total before descending on that hike. If that 100m was hard because of the altitude, this one was going to be a very difficult day indeed fighting the altitude the entire way.

I packed up and left my camping spot. After a fairly good sleep, I had more energy, so I set off along the trail with more vigour. But while climbing hills was still hard, it was easier than day 1.

After a kilometre, I found the empty campsite where the other seven had camped. I headed along the valley slowly climbing as I went. As the day progressed I climbed higher along the valley. I consider any height above 3,700m to have a thin atmosphere – with less air pressure. Being a large framed, large lunged person, the higher I went the more trouble I had getting enough air and spent a lot of the time out of breath. There was a point where I had to take a break to catch my breath after every 10 steps; but only when climbing.

I climbed slowly over small knolls and past several tarns – small mountain lagoons, with towering snow covered mountains and glaciers across from me. I came over a knoll to see the ridge line I still had to climb, with the small gap at the top that was the pass.

I continued on and the higher I went, the harder it became. Every five steps I had to take a rest to get my breath back. I even took my pack off every 100m or so for a longer break. As I climbed, my rate got slower and with only about 50 metres to the gap I slowed to only 3 steps before resting. Then for the final few metres it was only one step before resting. So…slow… But I did have a good view back along the valley.

When I finally went through the gap, I passed an altitude marker and slumped down on the other side in the sun, taking my pack off and uttering, ‘Thank f**k for that!”

Down was a lot easier and I powered through the switchbacks below a massive white glacier…

…and above an azure mountain lake.

I could see tents in the distance and marched on feeling more energised that I was no longer climbing. I stopped only once before I arrived at the tents 2-3 kilometres from the gap only to find it was another tour group. So, I walked on across the flat river plains following the river.

Eventually, passing another guided group, I found the tents of my group and set up camp.

Day 3

The main part of Day 3 takes only 3 hours, so to extend it most people climb to Laguna Arhueycocha.

We started the day climbing slightly to a higher valley. Slightly is still difficult at 4,000m.

On reaching the valley we left our packs with covers on as it had rained overnight. Even walking along the high valley without packs wasn’t easy and after a couple of kilometres I arrived exhausted at the base of the wall that climbs up to the laguna. The rest of the group decided to climb it, but I opted to stay at the bottom. I’ve seen plenty of glacier lakes in this trip, so decided to save my energy.

There were some buildings nearby, so I decided to investigate those instead. They were only 50m away, up a climb of about 5 metres, but even that was exhausting. The buildings were empty, but looked to have been a camping area with a place for donkeys. While I was there it began to snow a little.

When the group returned, we headed back down the valley – an easier walk – donned out packs and climbed back down to the main valley. For the rest of the walk, we followed the valley and river along, firstly through a dry river bed thick with sand.

Sand is difficult to walk on carrying a pack. We climbed about 10 metres up the other bank and followed the trail that undulated as it went. We passed along the side of a large laguna and took a break for lunch at the other end as we looked along the valley.

We were to pass another laguna, but it turned out to be little more than a marsh. Perhaps it’s larger in the rainy season. Cows, ponies, horses and donkeys were everywhere as we walked along the sometimes sandy, sometimes rocky trail. Eventually I saw the campsite ahead and marched off, arriving to a set of rocky walls at a place called Llamacorral. I pitched my tent as the others arrived and we began preparing dinner when we got a visit from a pony who decided he didn’t want grass for dinner.

Later, we made a fire in a deep rocky fire pit and sat around talking for the evening.

Day 4

The sky was clear the next day, so after breakfast I packed up my things and headed off, walking ahead of the group for a change. Most of the day saw me walking the rocky track along the side of the valley as the river snaked its way through the landscape. There wasn’t much to see as I walked and after 90 minutes I took a short break off the trail. When I was putting my pack back on, I saw the group go past.

I marched after them, I saw a waterfall opposite which marked the halfway point of the day. For the rest of the walk, the trail descended following the river down through the gorge. With the sun high in the sky and the sandy trail, it was very hot. A distinct contrast from the day before with its slight snow.

An hour later, I rounded a bend to find my group stripping down to their underwear at a nice spot in the river. The gingerly got into the freezing water. I was steaming hot, so I stripped down and threw myself into the river. No wading here, boys and girls, the only way into a freezing river is as quickly as possible. I was out just as quickly though and drying on the side.

Then, we were off again and 20 minutes later arrived at the end of the trail after passing a group of larger people heading back the other way. I wondered how they were going to manage the climbing. They were part of a guided group, so weren’t carrying much gear, but they didn’t look as fit as my group, and we struggled at times.

Five minutes after we’d signed out of the trail, we were walking past a house and the owner rushed out offering us cold soft drinks and beer. He told us he’d call a Collectivo – mini van – for us. It would take us to a larger town where another Collectivo would take us back to Huaraz.

As we were driven away in the van, we could see the gap from which we’d exited the hike and the surrounding landscapes.

Conclusion

Because the trek was at such altitude, it goes down in my books as being the most difficult hike I’ve ever done. With day 2 being the most difficult day’s hike, even more difficult than day three of the Colca Canyon hike. Did my week in Lima at a low altitude cause me to lose the acclimatisation I’d previously gained in Bolivia and Northern Peru? Probably. I should have given it a couple of extra days in Huaraz before I did the hike. But these are the things you learn.

Next, I’m off north to the beach city of Mancora in far northern Peru before crossing the border into Ecuador. I’ll see what adventures await me there.

The Trail Wanderer.

Hike, South America

Colca Canyon, Peru

August 26, 2013 Keyman 2 Comments

Colca Canyon is the third most visited destination in Peru and is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. The canyon itself is just a massive yawning gorge in the middle of the vast tall mountain landscape of Peru. It’s an amazingly picturesque wonderland and a great place to spend a few days hiking.

There are many tours into the canyon, most of them visit the same place, the tourist destination of Sangalle, also known as the Oasis. It has plentiful hotels and entertainment for those who wish to pay for a guide to lead them down the massive face of the canyon wall. And for those who can’t or don’t want to climb back out again, there are mules for hire. The Oasis…

But a guided tour isn’t necessary. You can catch a bus from Arequipa to Cabanaconde, the township at the top of the canyon, and from there just walk into the canyon at your own timing and direction.

There’s actually quite a lot you can do in the canyon; numerous little settlements dotted across the other side, several archaeological dig sites, a waterfall high up in the mountains and a set of hot pools right on the river. You could spend a week here exploring. Plus, you don’t need camping equipment, cooking equipment or food, as it’s all available in the settlements (including beer). So, grab a couple of hundred Soles and get down there!

Day 1 – Arequipa to San Juan de Chuccho
Being picked up at 3 a.m. followed by a 7 hour bus ride is a god awful way to start a trek. Trust me on this! Especially when you’ve only managed 3 hours sleep the night before.

The bus arrived at Cabanaconde at 10 a.m. and in the heat, everyone else headed off with their guides to do their tours while I tried to find the start point of my solo hike. With the quality of the maps in general being poor and with no topographic ones at all, this was one of only tow navigation challenges I had. I asked one of the locals and was pointed out along the road the bus had come in along. A few hundred metres outside of town, I waved down a policia on a bike and he pointed me further on. At least I was on the right track. I eventually reached the San Miguel Mirador and looked back at Cabanaconde…

…and across at a couple of the settlements on the far side of the canyon. These two are, Malata and Cosñirwa. These are just two of about ten scattered along the canyon.

From the mirador I continued along the edge of the cliff following the wide trail to a large shelter with no walls. I stopped for lunch out of the heat. While it’s the middle of winter it’s still hot, reminding me of summer in Victoria, Australia, or late winter in Central Australia. Like those areas it’s dry, dusty and the sun shines brightly off the light coloured dust, making it annoying to discover that my sunglasses are broken. Yay! And I haven’t even started yet! Cheap Brazilian rubbish!

The trail is about 2 metres wide here and stays near the top of the cliff for a while. This path was recently closed because of rock slides blocking the path and while it’s officially open again, I’m still cautious.

The trail continues on, always heading slightly downwards and I can see where the trail has been repaired in several places. The direct sunlight is very draining, not that I had much energy to start with. I come across some workman having lunch in a shelter and they point me the right way when the trail forks. The other way no longer functions, I guess.

Soon I reach an area where the trail begins to zigzag down the mountain. I stop for a break and take off my boots to dry my feet – good practice on a hot hike. Looking down, I see the settlement of San Juan de Chuccho, my target for the day.

The trail zigzags steeply the entire way down the canyon wall and is long, hot and arduous. As I descend I see the bridge across the Rio Colca still several hundreds metres below that I’m aiming for with San Juan de Chuccho 50 metres up the hill beyond it.

Finally, after hours in the sun I reach the bridge and take another rest. I see an arrow and the word Roy’s pointing off along the trail, so I when I muster the energy I follow. It heads further along the canyon then begins climbing to eventually come to the small set of clay huts that is San Juan de Chuccho. Roy’s, it would appear, is the name of a hotel here, the first one. I find the owner’s son – perhaps 8 – who takes me to a room. His mother appears moments later and takes me to a better one with a double bed, bathroom, hot shower, and a bay window looking directly across the canyon to the trail I’d just climbed down…

And high up on the trail, the tiny figures of the workers fixing the trail.

The price of the room? 20 Soles or about US$7.50. Less than camping fees in many places in Australia. I bought a large bottle of beer, a large bottle of water for tomorrow and booked dinner, each for 10 Soles. That’s expensive for the beer and water, but they have to carry it in by pack mule, so I wasn’t complaining. It was a couple of hours to dinner, so I took a nap, then after dinner I collapsed into bed.

Day 2 – San Juan de Chuccho to Llahuar
After 12 hours of sleep I was made pancakes for breakfast! Hell yeah!

After breakfast I packed and was off. It was already hot when I left, heading up past another three hotels and onto the trail that would take me the length of the populated canyon face to the hot pools at the far end. The trail meandered its way along the side of the canyon for 30 minutes before rounding a corner and heading up a gully. Along the gully a water channel had been created sending water from the small stream directly back to San Juan de Chuccho. Further up the gully, the trail crossed a bridge and began zigzagging steeply up the bank. I climbed, stopping regularly in the heat. 30 minutes later I arrived at the top and into the village Cosñirwa (the first of the twin towns I showed 6 photos up).

From here a dirt road led through the village, but I don’t see a soul as I walked. On the other side of town, I follow the road up a little to the second town – Malata – a couple of hundred metres further on. I also don’t see anyone until a truck came rumbling up the road carrying passengers in the back. I guess this is the only form of bus in the canyon. I walked on and the trail forks, the road continues on, while an old trail leads up to it. I decide to follow the trail and about half way along, the footing becomes so precarious I couldn’t continue, but instead of heading back and taking the road like a normal person, I decide to climb up a rocky gully instead, about 30m with my 15kg+ pack. This was difficult and took time, but I got there with only a few scratches. I’m thankful for all that time I spent indoor rock climbing. Useful!

The road continued until I came to a small dugout in the rock wall where I was able to take shelter from the sun and again take my boots off. From my vantage point, I could see some of the ‘Oasis’ below and the steep zigzag trail leading down to it…

And while I watched I could see several groups climbing down it, including this laden mule caravan…

Heading off again, I continued along the road as it slowly climbed towards mirador Apacheta, the highest point I’d climb on this side of the canyon. This gave me a view further along the canyon, with my destination down near the river.

After a break, I headed off again down a dusty path that I consider to be rather dangerous, not because of the long fall of the side of a cliff, there is that but because of the potentially painful fall into one of the three varieties of spiked cacti here. Ouch!

As I headed carefully along the trail to a road and then along it, I passed two small communities, stopping at the second one for a refreshing bottle of Coca Cola. After a zigzagging climb down the next short bank, I crossed the river and headed briefly up the trail to my destination, Llahuar – pronounced ‘ya-oo-ar’ with a rolled r at the end. Two Ls together is a y sound, so Llama is pronounced Yama.

I stopped to rest and cool off with a cerveza – beer – before being shown to the aguas calientes – hot pools – belonging to the hostel, where I soaked right next to the river chatting to a solo french trekker who was doing the same. A perfect way to end a hot dusty day of trekking. Tomorrow I climb the zigzagging trail up the 1000m tall bank to the top of the canyon and back to Cabanaconde to end this little adventure. While it’s going to be difficult, being under the constant sun the entire way will make it worse.

Day 3 – Llahuar to Cabanaconde
After another 12 hour sleep, today began overcast and with pancakes for breakfast. I guess it’s difficult to bake or keep bread here… After packing, and donating some money to the French guy who hadn’t brought enough, I set off. The code of the hiker, always help other hikers in need. I climbed back up to the settlement I’d bought the coke from the day before and looked down the valley to the bridge that would mark the beginning of the hardest part of my hike.

I followed the road down to the bridge and found a small natural geyser bubbling away next to the river.

Then it was off up the trail and after climbing for 20 minutes I discovered I was going the wrong way, so had to head partially down again before finding another trail that lead me back up to the right trail. I didn’t need the extra work, but you get that. I began climbing and while it was generally overcast, and I was thankful to not be under the full sun, it was still warm. A way up the trail, I looked back down the valley to the tiny settlement of Llahuar and the pools at the edge of the river.

A short time later, an aging local man casually comes climbing past me like he was walking up a slight hill. The trail was long and hard, and I stopped on many occasions for breaks. At point high on the canyon wall, the trail wound in along a deep gully, the first part that actually went slightly down before crossing a bridge at the top of the gully and again heading up the side of the mountain.

I finally reached the top of the canyon to discover the trail continued on along the top of the cliffs for another couple of kilometres, up and down several small hills before arriving in Cabanaconde. With the town finally in sight I quick marched to the centre plaza and found a hostel. It was a little crumby, but all I needed was a shower and a bed behind a locking door.

After my third 12 hour sleep in a row, I was on the bus and back to Arequipa, stopping briefly for a photo of the plains at the end of the canyon, before heading off again. On the way back, over the highest points – near 5000m above sea level – it snowed and I’m glad I wasn’t still in the canyon.

Colca Canyon is a hikers’ wonderland, with so much to see. It’s not an easy walk, but for the fit there is plentiful places to visit and see, if you don’t mind climbing some pretty heavy trails with just a touch of altitude.

Next, I head north to the city of Ica, where I can gain access to the Paracas National Reserve, the Red Beaches and sand boarding.

The Lone Trail Wanderer

Destination, South America

Aguas Caliente and Machupicchu

August 14, 2013 Keyman 2 Comments

After nearly six months travelling around South America, I’ve finally arrived at the most popular tourist destination on the continent, Machu Picchu. But there’s more here than just the ancient ruined city at the top of a mountain.

Located deep in the mountains, a 3.5 hour train ride from Cusco or 4 days via the Inca Trail, is a town called Aguas Calientes, meaning hot waters, or hot pools in Spanish. With no road leading into the town, there’s no other way to get than walk or catch the train.

Aguas Calientes is a beautiful little town set on the side of the Rio Urubamba and nestled among the mountains. It’s purely set up for tourists visiting Machu Picchu, meaning if the ruins didn’t exist, neither would the town. There are a vast number of restaurants, hotels, hostels and massage places all for the pleasure of the tourist and the tourist dollar. With so many restaurants, the owners fight to get just a few customers in each night.

I arrived by train at midday and set about investigating the town. With a plan to hike up the 2000 steps to Machu Picchu early the following morning, I headed out towards a nearby set of waterfalls only 45 minutes walk from the town. The trail leads you along the side of the train tracks that wind through the valley.

When I got to the house with an arrow pointing at it and the word cataratas (waterfalls in spanish) on a sign I was sceptical as I couldn’t hear the waterfalls. So, I decided to just keep walking along the trail instead.

It was a pleasant walk with no hills, so I just kept going and going until I came to a place called Santa Teresa and decided to start back. The scenery was absolutely beautiful…

What had begun as a 45 minute walk turned into a 5-hour hike. On the way back, I was able to see a single building from the ruins at the top of the mountain.

While a casual 90-minute walk wouldn’t have been a problem, I wasn’t really prepared for the length I ended up walking. I wasn’t wearing the correct socks and managed to gain a couple of blisters, something that rarely happens to my feet.

The next morning I was up at 4.30 and getting ready for the climb to the ruins. The hostel is prepared for this as breakfast begins at 4am.

The 2000 steps climbing up to the ruins were built in typical Inca style, although with the road winding up the side of the mountain for the buses, I’m sure the stairs weren’t built by the Incans.

The stairs were strenuous on their own although I’ve climbed more difficult mountains, but add the altitude and it becomes challenging. (Add blisters and it’s even worse!) I made it just after 7 when the mass of tourists from the buses were trying to get into the city. This is what I’d expected and why I call Machu Picchu the Disneyland of South America.

I finally got in just before the sun rose over the mountains to shine on the city, lighting it up the stone work in the pinkie yellow of first light.

There’s a lot that can be said about the city, but much of it is speculation and not on my part. There are few signs but beyond telling you where the exit is, they don’t tell you anything about the ruins. No-one’s really sure what the full story behind the city is and I was only able to garner a small amount of information by listening in to the many guides around the different parts of the city.

These two mountains are Huayna Picchu (the shorter) and Wayna Picchu. Wayna Picchu has a temple built atop it with a precarious path leading to it. You need to pre-pay to get to these mountains and I hadn’t.

The ruins were discovered in 1911 when a local advised a US American that there was Incan architecture atop the mountain. He scaled the mountain and discovered the overgrown city.

Machu Picchu was thought to have been built as the winter home of an Incan emperor and is said to have been abandoned before the spanish conquests in 1534. This is one of the many speculations of its existence. The house at the top of the tiers is the highest point in the city and the peak of Machu Picchu Mountain is behind it.

The city was thought to be the lost city of the Incas but many think the lost city is another, larger city, several days away in the jungle. Other stories say that this was an Incan Concubine city for the emperor, with 100-200 concubines living here.

Nestled as it is on the top of a mountain, the city isn’t flat, with many terraces and stairs. Corridors were thin or closed off to protect areas of the ruins, meaning it could be slow going with all the tourists trying to get around.

It takes about two hours to walk around the ruins, but even in the middle of winter it’s very warm during the day. There are large open grassy areas, possibly where crops were sown.

At the end of my walk around the ruins, I decided to climb Machu Picchu Mountain. The stairs up the side were even steeper than those leading up to the city.

I got to a spectacular viewing area about half way up (about the same height as Wayna Picchu). With the altitude, the heat and my general state of exhaustion I decided to forego the rest of the climb and headed back down again.

I found my way to the exit and began descending back down the stairs to Aguas Caliente. At 30°C+ it was very hot going and exhausted, I finally reached the hostel and a welcoming shower.

While Machu Picchu is packed with people – 2500 are allowed there a day – that was the only downside of the ruins. The reconstruction of parts were great and the city overall is amazing. I certainly enjoyed my visit and while expensive, it’s something I had to do, unlike the Inca Trail, where the amount of people would have spoiled my enjoyment.

Next, I am off to Arequipa, a southern city in Peru in hope of hiking through Colca Canyon, a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US.

The Lone Trail Wanderer

Destination, South America

Andean High Plains and Salt Flats, Bolivia

August 1, 2013 Keyman 1 Comment

High in the Andes is the Altiplano Plateau at an average altitude of 3750m above sea level. There are many attractions on the Altiplano, the most popular of which is the Salar de Uyuni, a massive salt flat where an inland salt lake drained leaving only salt. While some people just come here for the salt flats, many do the longer tour along the length of the plateau with the Salar as the first day.

I decided to do a 3 day tour, not including the overnight bus to and from Uyuni…

Day 1
The bus from La Paz to Uyuni was comfortable, but the road wasn’t. The ride is 10 hours, the last 7 being over a rocky dirt road. This was an overnight bus, so the last 7 hours were when we were trying to sleep. Strangely enough, plentiful sleep was had by all.

Once the bus arrived in the town of Uyuni, there was over an hour before the tour started, so a quick look around town and half an hour later I’d seen most of it.

There were six of us on the tour and we were packed into a Land Cruiser and taken to our first stop, the train graveyard.

Trains were used for many years as a major goods transport means around this area of South America and Bolivia, but most stopped over 40 years ago. There is still a line running from Bolivia to Chile, however. The graveyard is not that large and is definitely a tourist stop around the old rusting trains. In the car park I counted 30 4WD vehicles. If each had 6 tourists then that’s 180 people starting tours today, plus drivers. This was not counting the 4WDs we saw leaving as we arrived or the ones arriving as we left. It’s the middle of the high season, after all…

Next was a quick stop off at Colchani for some markets, selling things made out of hardened salt and Llama wool. Colchani is right on the edge of the salt flats and is a major refining town.

Then we were onto the Salar themselves, stopping just inside where workers from Colchani were scraping patches of unrefined salt into piles. There are plentiful piles there already and they’re not as sandy as they look but very hard. I stood on one and it was solid. We even tasted the salt but it only had a faint salty taste.

Another 30 minutes away, we stopped at a hotel made completely from blocks of salt. We then drove 80km across the flats to Incahuasi Island, a large rocky outcrop in the middle of the flats. From different places on the island you can see where water would lap at the beaches during wet season when it’s surrounded by several centimetres of water.

We stopped for lunch before exploring the rocky structure of the island with its huge old cacti, some of which have been dated as being more than 900 years old.

Leaving the island, we drove for a couple of hours across the flats, stopping briefly for some photos of the open salt flats…

…before leaving the flats and coming to our overnight destination, Hostel Samarikuna in the town of Villa Candelaria, another building made from salt bricks. Llama chops for dinner!

Day 2
We left Salar de Uyuni early in the morning and drove across the vasty smaller Salar de Chinguana which is less white than the Uyuni salt flats. We stopped under a series of volcanos along the Chilean border on a patch of very white and very strong tasting salt.

Next we drove to the lava fields under Volcan Ollague to look at various rock structures made by dried lava.

The road became rockier as we made out way past several lagoons most of them with their own flocks of Flamingos, some pink and others not so pink.

We stopped at a vantage point over one of the lagunas for lunch.

After lunch, we drove for a couple of hours through the Siloli Desert where no vegetation grew.

The barren landscape is nothing but rocks and sand under the ever present volcanoes, of which there are more than 50 along the plateau. We travelled along the Andes Ranges wall for some time, stopping only to climb a rocky embarkment where I spied an Andean rock rabbit, but it was too quick to get on camera.

Next, we stopped at a large stone forest with the famous Stone Tree. It’s very much like the Remarkable Rocks in Australia, formed by a lava bubble that came up through the surface, hardened and eroded over time.

Lastly for the day, our trip took us cross country another hour to Laguna Colorado, a lake where sediment has turned it a milky red, with patches of floating snow.

Flamingos stand in its waters sifting for food. We were dropped off at a mirador on the lake and walked around it to our accommodations for the night.

Day 3
The temperature dropped to -15°C overnight. We were up at 4.45am and getting ready for the day. After breakfast we were off into the icy darkness along a road which looked to have been plowed. The road itself was clear but on either side a wall of snow sometimes up to two metres tall.

We drove through the icy mountains landscape as the sun began to rise, stopping at a man-made geyser…

…then to a field of natural geysers.

It was so icy we only got out long enough to take a photo before getting back into the warmth of the vehicle.

We then drove to an aguas caliente – a hot pool fed by a natural spring at nearly 5000m above sea level. Three of us stripped down in the icy weather and threw ourselves in. Most people refrained from getting in, but the heat of the water in the cool air was amazing! We finally got out after about 30 minutes when some of the other vehicles had arrived and other travellers had braved the water. Getting out was not as cold as expected, the hot water having lifted our core temperatures enough that the skin chill was not enough to cool us.

Once dressed, we were off again and an hour later was at Laguna Verde – Green Lake. We didn’t stay long in the freezing winds before heading to the tri-border of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. It was here I said goodbye to my five travelling companions who were heading into Chile, me alone with our driver who didn’t speak any english, for an 8 hour trip back to Uyuni.

We took an alternative route back to the Laguna Colorado through a frozen wilderness and a rugged but more direct route towards Uyuni. About ten minutes before we were due to stop for lunch the passenger steering stabilising hinge snapped leaving the wheel hanging at an odd angle. The driver began taking it apart and after an hour had it in pieces. It was going to take him a lot longer to fix so I was squeezed into another 4WD that had stopped and was off again.

The next stop with my new crew was a place called Valle de Rocas with some impressive rocky outcrops and spires.

On our way again, we were 20 minutes from Uyuni when the 4WD got a flat tire on the same wheel as the previous vehicle!! Argh! They didn’t have a spare either, having already had a flat tire on their adventure. We flagged down another vehicle and borrowed one.

We eventually made it back to the Uyuni ready for the overnight bus back to La Paz.

Overall, it was another great experience along an amazing mountainous landscape. Next, after a brief stop off in La Paz, I’m off to Lake Titicaca.

The Trail Wanderer

Hike, South America

El Choro, Bolivia

July 26, 2013 Keyman 2 Comments

The El Choro Trek is a three day trek that’s easily accessible from La Paz in Bolivia. I wanted to do different trek here in Bolivia, but without my own transport, many of the treks are difficult to get to. And while I tend to like hiking alone, the easiest means to do this trek is via a tour. This means I wouldn’t be carrying any food or a tent, as there will be a porter along with us to do that. This is the first time not having to carry all of my own equipment and it doesn’t feel quite right.

DAY 1 – La Paz to Challapampa

The agency I booked through picked me up at 9.30 and I met the two other people I’d be hiking with, a french guy who spoke spanish well and some english, and an argentinian born girl who had been living in New Zealand most of her life. She spoke english and spanish perfectly. The guide with us only spoke spanish and his porter english and spanish. So, spanish became the spoken language of the trek and with my meagre understanding I decided hike alone for the most part.

The trek begins very near the start of the Death Road in a snowy mountainous area at a altitude of 4,800m. It was freezing that high up with an icy wind, so we couldn’t wait get started.

The first 100 metres of the trek climbed to the highest point of the trail, 4,900 metres. This was the hardest 100m I’ve ever climbed in my life. With such thin air, I barely got 10 steps before having to stop and get my breath back, and I was only carrying half my usual weight! Eventually, we crossed over the ridge and the cold winds ceased. Ahead of us along the valley we could see the trail through the valley and a set of ancient Incan ruins at the base of the slope. The ruins were once a rest stop for travellers on the trail. Food and shelter was always offered for free.

The trail weaved down the side of the mountain towards the ruins and it began to slowly get warmer, so we started shedding some of our warm weather clothes. At the ruins we stopped for a rest and watched as a Llama train came by. The Llamas and their master were returning from a delivery earlier in the day.

We pushed on along the trail that from time to time was obscured by low cloud, through fields that housed other ancient ruined buildings and walls.

Eventually, we came to a pair of newer buildings that were being used as farms raising Llama’s and drying several different kinds of small potatoes… We stopped for 30 minutes before pushing on.

Much of the rest of the day was spent walking through the low cloud, so visibility was only several metres, meaning the focus went on the ‘road’ we were trekking along. We were told that it was originally built by the Tiwanaku, a race of people who would eventually become the Incans, and had been repaired by the Incans, so it was difficult to tell which was which. In the clouds, the stones get very slippery.

Our day ended upon reached the very small settlement of Challapampa, where our guide and porter set up the tents and cooked our dinner. From the high point of 4900m, we had descended to 2400m. And while it rained during the night, it was a lot warmer.

DAY 2 – Challapampa to San Francisco

Today we hit the Cloud Forest, a fairly untouched area of the valley which is usually covered in cloud. For only short periods of the day the clouds parted, but for most of the time, we could see the cliff edge, but beyond it only cloud.

The trail meandered along the side of the valley for much of the day, climbing and descending small hills as we trekked along the thinner ‘Incan road.’

The valley disappearing in cloud…

…and opening up again.

One wonderful part of the day was the plentiful different species of wild flowers that were growing along the sides of the trail. My super zoom camera getting great close up shots of most of them.

We stopped for lunch at a small set of huts and rested for a while. Most importantly they served cerveza! Beer, in spanish.

The rest of the trail was fairly straight forward, again with plentiful wild flowers. We eventually reached San Francisco, a tiny collection of huts, where the guide and porter erected our tents and cooked our dinner.

DAY 3 – San Francisco to Chairo
We left San Francisco just after day break and headed away down the hill towards a river.

As we slowly worked our way lower through the forest, we met a couple of wild donkeys who, after being initially fearful of us, just stood there and let us go past as if we weren’t there.

We arrived at the river and crossed on a fairly new wooden suspension bridge. We were alerted to the carcass of a horse in the river under the bridge. We stopped on the other side and prepared ourselves for the climb to come, known as Subida del Diablo – the devil’s ascent.

The Subida del Diablo gets its name because it’s a very difficult climb up slippery Incan paving stones at a fairly steep incline that just keeps climbing.

Once at the top, we stopped for a break at a place owned by an old Japanese man. Stories say he is a war criminal fled to South America after World War 2, but who knows. There is a camping spot at the back of his property next to the cliff line giving wondrous views along the valleys until the clouds again came rushing in.

The trek continued for some time along the trail high up in the mountains. From time to time we could see the river below us, but clouds would race in to cover it quickly. Eventually, we started our decent until we could see the village of Chairo below us. It didn’t take us long to get down to the village where the guide ordered us lunch from the local cook house and we sat eating until our van arrived to take us to Choico, where death road finishes.

We waited in Choico for an hour before catching a minibus back to La Paz. 3 hours later I was delivered to my hostel for a well deserved shower.

Overall, El Choro was a good hike where we spent much of our time climbing down. By the end, our calves were sore from the constant descending. While the low clouds meant that much of the view was hidden from us for parts of the hike, it was still good to get out into the wilderness and away from the city for a while.

Next, I head down to southern Bolivia to the Salar de Uyuni, one of the largest salt flats in the world.

The Lone Trail Wanderer

Destination, South America

Campo Grande and The Pantanal, Brazil

July 18, 2013 Keyman 2 Comments

The Pantanal is one of the world’s largest wetlands. It’s situated in Western Brazil with a very small portion stretching over the border into both Bolivia and Paraguay. I decided to visit The Pantanal for a couple of reasons, firstly it’s known for its animal species and secondly, it was a stop off on the way to Bolivia. The bus ride from Rio de Janeiro to Campo Grande is just under 22 hours. To continue on to Santa Cruz in Boliviawould mean at least another 16 hours. 38 hours on a bus isn’t my idea of fun.

Campo Grande is a city of nearly 800,000 people, but it looks fresh and not run down like Rio. I stayed in the creatively named Hostel Campo Grande, although in all fairness there aren’t many hostels in the city. The hostel looked to be a rather large and nicely set up place, with many rooms and a swimming pool – it gets fairly warm out here in the middle of South America. I did have one major issue with the hostel, though, when I went to cook in the kitchen, I found a single pot, no pans, and nothing else but an old wooden spoon. Thankfully breakfast was absolutely amazing, with fresh rolls, many types of fresh fruit and good coffee.

The thing about Campo Grande is its access to The Pantanel. I was planning a 3 night stay in the hostel, then to make my way into The Pantanal on a tour and hope to get dropped off at the Bolivian border afterwards. At breakfast on the day after I’d arrived the owner told me of a group of English university students who were coming from Foz do Iguaçu and were planning an overnight stay in the Pantanal before being delivered to the border of Bolivia. If I went with them my night’s stay in the hostel would be free. With 90 minutes before they arrived, I raced around packing, buying strong insect repellant and cooking the last of my food.

When the English group arrived we were packed in a van with a bunch of others and driven several hours into the country with a single stop off at a Brazilian per kg buffet restaurant. We were dropped at a road crossing where we boarded an off road truck and driven along a bumpy dirt road. As we drove we could start to see the wetlands beginning around us…

We continued on, driving over wooden bridges that creaked under our weight, until we came to this large metal bridge across the river with riverboats anchored along its side…

A little while later the truck had a flat tire and we hung out watching chickens and dogs until it was fixed. About a kilometre later we sighted the first set of Caimans – members of the Alligator family. There are apparently more than 40 million of them in the Pantanal.

As we travelled along the road the sun went down and the 15 of us on the back of the truck reapplied insect repellant and hunkered down as it went from hot to cool in the space of 30 minutes. In the dark we eventually arrived at a river where we could see houses lit up on the other side. We waited as several boats were sent to collect us and our luggage.

Once we arrived and were assigned rooms, we were taken to the food hall where dinner was waiting: several different salads and Piranha stew. It’s quite strange seeing the mean looking heads looking back at you from the stew… It tasted pretty good though, although it does have quite long bones.

After dinner, we were taken out on a boat in the darkness to see some of the wildlife. We saw several types of birds sleeping in the trees, many bats flying around the river and on the way back, many brief sightings of shiny Caiman eyes.

After a night’s sleep in the heat, I woke to the these views outside my room.

Then back to the main building for breakfast…

After breakfast we were taken back out on the water…

To look at some of the wildlife again… I put some of the features of the camera I’d bought in Pucón, Chile to good use – the 21x zoom and close up mode. This Caiman’s head is only as long as my hand.

We then settled in for a spot of Piranha fishing and between the six of us managed to catch four. Not as awesome as I’d hoped but some is better than none.

We then headed back for lunch and as we’d just come ashore, we were alerted to a Yellow Anaconda that had been spotted near the shore. We were gathered around to look at it when one of the locals walked up in his bare feet and in one swift movement grabbed the snake just behind the head and dragged it onto the land. The Anaconda wasn’t happy and tried to slither back to the river but the local held it by the tail pulling it back so we could get photos.

After a while it was released and slithered back to the water where it just sat there showing off. This snake is only 4 metres long and is as thick as my arm at its thickest. The largest Yellow Anaconda to ever be measured was just over 5 metres and just under 100kg.

After lunch, they deep fried our mornings catch. Very tasty. The English group and I were then driven on the back of a truck further along the rocky dirt road towards the Bolivian border. Along the way we spotted a Capybara, the worlds largest rodent. For perspective this one is almost a metre in length. I’d say nose to tail but they have no tail.

Towards the end of the journey, we drove up into the hills and I could see back towards the Pantanal.

Overall, while my Pantanal experience was rather short, there isn’t really that much out there in the world’s largest swamp. It turned out to be rather cheap, including 2 nights accommodation, saving the cost of another bus from Campo Grande to the border and several meals. However, for every extra night the price would have skyrocketed. I was yet another adventure in my travels.

Next I’m off into the lower plains of Bolivia, to the city of Santa Cruz.

The Lone Trail Wanderer

Cutting a trail around the world, one country at a time…