Chachani

I have a new respect for altitude and trekking poles. I made it to the top of Chachani, but it wasn´t pretty. I felt sick and exhausted the whole way. Acclimating is wise.

Matt and I have eight days left. We plan to hike the Colca Canyon. After that...not sure. In any case, I look forward to seeing everyone for Christmas. It´s odd being down here during this month because, though Christmas is celebrated, there aren´t Christmas songs and decorations around every corner in anticipation of the holiday, and plus it´s warm out. So, it hasn´t been on my mind much.

Love.

Arequipa

Matt and I went white water rafting today. It was wicked fun, though it could have been a little longer...like all day. There was a point in the middle of the journey down the river that we stopped and jumped off some small cliffs into the river on each side. We had to wear wet suits, and I´m pretty sure it´s the first time i´ve worn one. Just a random fact. Anyhow, we are going to hike to the summit of Chachani mountain. It is 6075m tall...which is really tall. I hope we don´t die of lack of oxygen. Love from Peru!

The Inca Trail has been conquered. I wish I could put up some pics...but I can´t seem to get the computer to read the files on my memory card. Anyway, the trip was really great. Challenging but rewarding. The views were stupendous. It was definitely one of those once in a lifetime kind of experiences. We´ll be home soon, so Matt and I can share photos and stories when we get back.
We are in Cuzco right now. It´s the morning after we returned from the hike. We´re likely off to Puno tonight, a town by the supposedly highest commerically navigable lake in the world. There are some famous islands there with some rich Peruvian culture. After that it´s Arequipa and the Colca Canyon providing some more outdoor adventures like trekking and hopefully white-water rafting. Since we´re winging this post Inca Trail part of the trip, we´re not really sure what all we´ll be doing, but it will only be a little over two weeks until Matt and I come home.

Matt and I are still in Pisco, but we´ll be leaving Tuesday to go to Cuzco and hike the Inca Trail. Our time here at PSF (Pisco Sin Fronteras) has been good, more or less. Unfortunately, I have been sick most of my time here. I had some sort of bacteria in my digestive tract giving me acute stomach pains and...other things... I also didn´t have much energy. The bout lasted longer than I expected, so I went to the doctor, and I was prescribed some antibiotics. I haven´t felt 100% but much better.

This weekend a group of us went to an oasis town called Huacachina near Ica in Peru. This town is surrounded by sand dunes, and is a popular place for riding dune buggies and sandboarding. We paid for a tour which included riding in the buggie over the dunes and sandboarding. It was really fun. It helped that I had done some snowboarding, so I was able to ride the sand pretty well. However, the bindings were just Velcro, and I had trouble trusting them for changing from heel-side to toe-side and vice-versa. In any case, it was a really good time. Plus, the sun was setting while we were out there, and the dunes were beautiful. I´ll try to get some pictures up next time.

The day before Matt and I left the orphanage, the boys made a mudpit and literally carried Matt and I out one of the dorm rooms and threw us in. They subsequently jumped in themselves and we had a mudfight. Here are a few pictures.

Later that evening, a handful of the kids did some small skits with a couple posing as Matt and I. The skits were pretty hilarious, and we enjoyed it very much. Here is a picture of Matt with his double, Ariel, and me with mine, Arnaldo (they borrowed our shirts and packs as props for the skit).

Hola! So, Matt and I were in Rosario on the night of the last post, and then we stayed on more night after that. We had a great time there. We walked (and later I ran) along the boardwalk/sidewalk by the river there. I loved it! The area was filled with parks, cafes, walkways right along the river, areas to skate, benches under trees, and lots of people, running, eating, shopping, walking, visiting, etc... Rosario had a beatiful skyline with lots of old buildings, modern building, short and tall buildings, just very rich. Near the river there was a huge memorial built in honor of the Argentinian flag, because the Argentinian flag was designed by a man in Rosario. It was also nice, because by chance there was an annual festival going on by the river called the Feria de las Colectividades (Fair of the Communities). Apparently back several years ago, Rosario was the second largest city in Argentina (next to BA) because it had so much commerce on the river (it´s now the third largest after Cordoba). But back in these thriving days of Rosario´s past, there were many different ethnicities who migrated there. The fair had stations for Germany, Poland, Palestine, various districts of Spain, Ireland, Greece, just on and on... It was huge! And many of the stations had a stage with cultural dances of the said nationality. It was awesome. Matt and I ended up sitting and eating at the Irish one and a guy who runs the Irish Community Club in Rosario came up to us asking if we were Irish. And then we talked to him a bit. In any case it was great fun.

After Rosario Matt and I went to Buenos Aires. We spent a few days there seeing different areas and things of the city such as the Obelisk and ''La Boca'' district (where all the immigrants settled when they originally came tot he city many years ago). After BA, Matt and I split ways for one night. We both left for Lima, Peru, but he had a direct flight, whereas I had an 11 hour layover in Santiago, Chile. Thus, by technicality I´ve gotten a fourth country out of this trip...but it was only for one night. I tried to make the best of it though, and I took a taxi into the city after checking into my hotel. I got to talking to the taxi driver (with my God-awful Spanish) and he agreed to take me around and see some of the city at night and then take me back to the airport. I got hungry while we were out there in the city, so we ended up eating out together too. Therefore, Jose, the taxi driver, ended up being my Chilean tour guide and friend for my one evening in Santiago.

So, after arriving in Lima, Matt and I immediately took a bus down to Pisco. We´ve been here in Pisco working with the organization for about two days now. It´s really great here. It´s well organized with several projects around the town and something to do for everyone. After working it´s all really laid back. We´re free to do what we want, sleep, read, visit, drink, go out, play football (soccer) or basketball, there´s even a circus in town right now. The best part is just visiting with the people here because they´re from all different walks of life with all different futures ahead of them. Most the people seem to be from Australia or Great Britain, but there are people from Germany, Belgium, New Zealand, Indonesia, Ireland, Sweden, and maybe some other places too (there are many people and I´ve only been here two days). The turn around on people seems to be quick. Even though Matt and I have only been here a short while, we´ve seen many come and go. Then again, there are some staple people here too, and I´ve been told that a great number of people end up staying here longer than they originally intend to. Of course, Matt and I have no choice but to leave because we have a reservation for hiking the Inca Trail immediately after our time here.

I´ll put pictures up on the next post! Love yas!

Hey! So, first and most importantly, it´s my sister´s birthday today. Happy Birthday Jana! I miss you a bunch, and I´m looking forward to spending Christmas with you! I hope you have a wonderful quarter-century celebration in S. Korea.
Matt and I are in Rosario right now. We came in yesterday afternoon from Puerto de Iguazo where we saw the Iguazu Falls. WOW! It was huge!!! It made me think of one of those jungle paradise shots...like in the movie Up or something. It also made me think of Jurassic Park but without the dinosaurs. Unfortunately it was a rainy day, but the only day we could go if we were to stay on schedule for getting to BA (Buenos Aires). It really only rained on us nice and hard in the beginning when we went to see the top of the largest fall there called Devil´s Throat (Garganta de Diablo). It was incredibly huge and powerful...and just beautiful. For a moment it was surreal, like I was saying before, like a movie or something. We took pictures and video as much as we could while trying to keep our cameras dry. However, I apparently failed at that, because my camera began to malfunction right after leaving Devil´s Throat. I´m not sure where the problem is but I´m hoping to get it to a camera repair place in either BA or Lima for a quick fix (crossing fingers), and if it´s not a quick fix or we can´t find a place...then I´m not sure. I have a full warranty on the camera, but it´s through Best Buy, and Best Buy´s are hard to come by down here. I might just have to survive on a few disposables...or buy a cheap digital for the rest of our excursion. It´s a bit unfortunate being that I was looking forward to some big landscape shots of the mountains and especially Machu Picchu. Matt´s camera is acting up a bit too, but it´s still functioning. So, we´ll be able to capture a bit of Rosario while we´re here.
Well, Matt and I want to go check out some things here in Rosario while we´re here, so I´m going to get off. Happy birthday again Jana! I love you family and friends! God bless from Argentina.