PERÚ: THROUGH THE LAND OF INCAS

Peru is famous for ponchos, chocolate and musicians in the traditional clothes spreading Peruvian culture all over the world. Long time a go, there was a culture collision: (pre)Inca tribes, Inca people, Spanish colonists, all of them, mixed up, made this country enormously popular. Now, I understand why.

I didn't have a lot of time for sightseeing Lima. Dealing with the broken suitcase, and looking for the dentist who speaks or understand English or, at least, knows to fix my husband's filling. It's not a kind of fun I would recommend. Still, running the daily basis I managed to see that Lima looks like a piece of half eaten panna cotta cake: flat on the top, where the city lays down; scooped on the sids of mountain banks descending to the level where Pacific Ocean stretches. 

Asking for the direction, I met a local who offered us a free tour around the city. He seamed a nice guy: educated, speaking a few languages and well informed about my country of origin. It was Saturday so we accepted his invitation. He showed us part of the city called Barranca. It's very noisy during the weekend: pubs, restaurants, groups of people  trying to entertain the people with different purpose: at one side are army officers calling to join the army, on the other side- hippie group calling, probably,not to join the army, then the beach with huge pebble stones and the sound of waves like a firework. After a long walk he introduced us to ancient Peruvian dish - anticucho a skewer of beef served with boiled potato and corn and chica -drink made of purple corn. After we had a dinner, we took a shot of  Peruvian cocktail made of maracuya, known as a passion fruit. 

That interesting weekend was gone, so was I to see more of this country.

While I'm sitting on the train, I take few sips of a tea (eucalyptus, coca, muña), and at sudden, I see the mountains so green like the brand new carpet spread all around. The clouds are going down and up like the theater curtain. I hear a sound of a horn and a man appears in front of me, in the colorful dress, the feather around his forhead, holding a spear in his hand. An Incan.

- Don't be afraid! He says. I mean no harm to you! Welcome to Machu Picchu!

Why do I feel so noxious?  

-It's the altitude. The tea you took should prevent it. 

The history of my people is written in this mountains, rivers, caves. God of Sun sent his children to raise our country. We live in peace with the nature and the Universe. We build the roads and the houses you will use one day. We don't kill others, we try to teach them our patterns. We work all together in the community and everything belongs to everybody. We help the elders and weak. We produce for ourselves, we don't use the money and we don't kill for money. We exchange our goods for other goods we need. We don't spend our ancestors fortune, we cherish it. Now, some foreign men are coming to take it away from us. They build their homes from our walls. 

Where are other people? Are you alone here?

-They are escaping and hiding in the mountains. My land is disappearing slowly.

Why don't you defend it?

-These men are powerful and they have guns. They bring disease, too. Soon, we'll have to give up on our customs and to take theirs.

-Come now, I want to take you somewhere else, you've never been before.

I find my self in Huacachina, an oasis in the middle of the desert. Climbing all this ascents with the ground not so firm feels so strange. As I'm descending, I leave my feet falling deep into the send. Wondering how deep it could be? What if I drowned in the send? Who would find me? He gives me a ride through the desert and it's like the one on the roller coaster with all ups and downs and my gut turned upside down. Anyway, I enjoy it, as much I enjoy sliding down the dunes on the board. It's impossible to get rid of the send, it's coming out of everywhere. During the sandstorm people who live there don't seem to enjoy the send much. Nobody wants to be lost in here.

-Have you ever heard about people who live floating on the lake?

No, I visited once a floating market but I don't think this people live there.

-Prepare yourself for what you're going to see.

Titicaca lake, between Peru and Bolivia, a place where mountain rivers end up. There are 87 artificially made island, most of them settled by Uros people, speaking Aymara language. It takes a year to make one island. The base of root of totora, a reed that grows in the lake. One part of the plant is edible, the flower is used as a medicine for headache and stomachache and the rest of it is for  "pavement" and houses. Each island has 3-5 families, and it's own president. A couple who gets married can also start a new island. There are three primary school and a hospital on the "waterland". Higher education facilities are on the mainland. The residents eat fish and drink water from the lake. In one of this houses lives Chacho with his family: wife and two sons. He lives from making a handicrafts and every Saturday he goes to the mainland to sell it. 

He has cousins on most of the islands, even in Bolivia. Like every "islander", he uses a Venetian style taxi as a mean of transportation. 

-We can watch TV, he explains, using a solar system to get the electricity.

Who needs a TV here? I ask myself while my eyes are getting soaked in the golden color of the islands perfectly matched with the blue color of the lake and the green color of the mountains. Still I don't want to soak my feet in the lake so I watch every step, but the ground is very firm even if it's made of grass. 

As I walk around, I see parts of the island making like a small waves. It's floating. It won't be a surprise if residents from Peruvian side wake up one day in Bolivia.  

-You've seen everything now. I need to go. My people needs me. Take care. Do me a favor and spread a word about Incas, please. He shakes my hand and vanishes in the distance so fast that I don't have a chance to thank him for the hospitality. 

GALÁPAGOS: MY JURASSIC WORLD

Since I saw the movie Jurassic Park I've been dreaming about time travel back to the era of dinosaurs. Of course, such a thing is not possible (yet) so I'm letting my imagination run wild and I'm pulling out all my vacation fund to get just a piece of it. 

There's one place where there relatives are more interesting than enywhere else in the world. It's the Galápagos Islands, one more World Heritage Sight for Ecuador.  

Galápagos Islands consists of Galápagos Province, National Park and Marine Reserve. This is the place where Charles Darwin started questioning religious theories and launched the most significant theory for the humankind: Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. In his honor, here is Charls Darwin Research Station. 

It's a long way ride to get here. Flights to Galápagos depart ether from Quito or Gyuachill. I chose the last one and I arrived there by bus. I've red on the Internet about Gyuachill, it's a city famous for kidnapping, pickpocketing and mugging. I took a taxi to the airport for my own safety, as suggested on the Internet, even if the ride to the airport takes no more than five minutes. At the airport I was asked for the round trip ticket that I didn't have it because of my flexible schedule so I needed to get one. Traffic Control Card, that all visitors entering Galápagos must obtain, is 20.00$. After landing at the Isla Baltra, an admission to the National Park of Galápagos is 100.00$. The buss transportation from the airport to the water taxi (round trip ticket) is 20.00$. Water taxi from Baltra to San Cristobal, the most settled island is 1.00$. And, finally, the bus transportation around San Cristobal is 2.00$. Get your wallet ready for this kind of fun.

The very first dinosaur I have a chance to see is long-lived Galápagos giant tortoise, different than a green sea turtle. Tortoise lay less eggs than the see turtles, male tortoise weights around 200kg and female around 120kg. They live average hundred years, just like real dinosaurs (my late grandmother lived 93 years, almost joined to the club). When I was young I used to have a turtle for a pet so I'm deeply in love with this creatures. They move slowly and have a good shield as a protection. I compare them to Serbian politicians. Types of giant tortoise is descending, therefore they are brought to the artificial breeding at the Charles Darwin Research Station, to keep them safe from the extinction. Nearby, there are two lava tunnels and , because it's so dark, I take a quick walk inside.

Driving around the island I notice a half of it's sunny, it's raining on the other half and the line between is very fine. 

The next day on Galápagos I went with a tour for a snorkeling, between some smaller islands. Beside the exotic fish that I see almost everywhere I turn around, I encounter sea lions. They are called lions because their group behavior is almost identical to lions. The way they communicate is so expressive that I almost feel the massage they're passing to each other. The young ones, very curious about the floating group with fins and masks, come very close. The elders don't like that so they give a warning to the young ones to keep their distance. Damn, I don't have a waterproof camera, I'll regret it till the rest of my life. I'll need to get it before National Geographic hires me. I meet also: reef sharks (not a dangerous kind, I'm still at one piece), octopus (I hold it,  it feels so sticky), see turtles, stingray. There are, also, a lot of birds around: mostly pelicans and, of course, Darwin's finches, so small and tiny that compered to them Pelicans really look like dinosaurs. 

    Photos by: Fabricio Tamayo

Looking for some beach, I run into iguanas. One of them just shows up out of nowhere and lead me to the beach where the other marine iguanas are waiting for convenient tide to come. The beach is called Tortuga bay (Turtle beach). I don't see any turtles but a lot of iguanas dragging their tails on the sand, taking a sunbath and occasionally swimming. This is the beach I fell in love with: white sand, turquoise color water with a temperature I can't get out. If I stayed in a little bit longer, I would turn into a Little  Mermaid.

One more place where I indulge the swim is a volcanic fracture filled with ocean water, called Las Grietas. The landscape is made of sharp volcano rocks, deep dark cold water and giant cactuses as an accessories. 

There's one spot in Galápagos, not a part of tourist attraction, but more attractive than any tour so far. It's a local fish market. At least some of us is a market but for pelicans and see lions is a meal center or a student canteen. Waiting for a fisherman to bring baskets full of yellowfin tuna, pelicans are waiting in line. And who wouldn't wait for tuna (at) stake?! When nobody pays attention they help themselves. But, they have to be fast. After a while, see lions are coming, and they find the way to squeeze between people and the food so there's no a single chance to go back with an empty belly. Later on, few iguanas approach to get their share. I leave the camera, take off my sunglasses and just enjoy the show. 

In order to preserve the Nature, there are several regulations in Galápagos: to maintain the distance from the animals two meters, to recycle, and to grow only organic food.

Since the island is far from the mainland, blackouts are very common ( can be very romantic, if they occur during the dinner) and the Internet connection is very poor (doesn't seem to bother much my dinosaurs).

I know, mr Darwin wouldn't agree if I call this place a paradise but it is to me.

The era of Dinosaurs is ended but I hope it won't happen to the human kind, at least not soon.

ECUADOR: CROSSING THE EQUATOR

I have to admit that I didn't have any intention of staying in Ecuador for a long, at least not on the mainland, just as long as I find the way to Galápagos Islands. Fortunately, It took me less than an hour to change the entire plan. 

Arriving in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, went smoothly. My Airbnb hosts welcomed me at the airport. For this five month trip, I choose this way of accommodation rather than a hotel or hostel. The room I stayed in was very comfortable and they helped me to get all the information I needed. 

Quito is not an ordinary capital, I would say. It's the city closest to Equator, right in the middle of two hemispheres. It's a city with the biggest amount of radiation caused by vicinity of Equator and I felt it on my skin, when it turned purple. It's surrounded by volcanoes which occasionally "flare-up", what my aunty had warned me about, suggesting me to stay at home because it's safe. And also, Quito is a part of World Cultural Heritage so it's not only geographic position that makes it special. It was obvious I needed some extra time for this destination.

The first day of my arrival, while I was enjoying beautiful Colonial-styled architecture, I saw the parade in the Old Town. The occasion was not my arrival but the presence of the Ecuadorian Government. Watching all these soldiers in the traditional uniforms and locals saluting them, singing national songs to the sound of drums, I realized Ecuadorians are very proud of their national identity. That's probably because of territories and borders lost in conflicts with Peru and Columbia.

Just strolling around, I noticed the streets are full of stray dogs, behaving very friendly to people and people treating them nicely, too. That's not the case in the country I came from.

It takes some space for the population of two million people so the houses are dispersed up the hills around the city. I'm not sure how this urban plan can stand an earthquake or eruption. 

The most exciting panoramic view of Quito is, in my opinion, from the trail to volcano Pichincha. I was reaching higher altitude heaving my head in the clouds, literally. There was no fog so it was possible to see the peaks of other nearby volcanoes too. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to the top because I've been coughing my head off for two months, so I got tired easily. Although I was high enough to have a bird's eye view to the basin that the city lays within.

After this thorough sightseeing, it was time for an adventure. The real one. Tena and Baños, few hours far away from Quito, are the right places to be. I would suggest a local bus to get there. It's cheap and comfortable.

I stayed in Tena for a day and a half. The first thing I visited was the Rain Forrest. It's amazing how this natural environment can sustain not just flora and fauna but also human existence: food, medicines, energy drinks, antidepressants, repellents, tree-shelters, there's no need for all the fake comfort of civilization. For example, I needed some snack and all I had available at that moment was a small colony of ants living inside of some plant. It was a "nature call" and I followed it. The ants taste like lemon and if I added some water, it would be a 100% natural lemonade. Soon after, it was a lunch time. You would never guess what was on the menu: worms, big and thick. I couldn't refuse this gesture either. If ants taste like lemon, worms taste like bacon. And, love bacon. My mom would get a heart attack if she saw me eating that. As a main course I was served a fish wrapped in the "plátano verde" leaves, called maito. Sounds so boring after two previous delicacies.

The dessert I had, may sound ordinary but the taste was extraordinary. It was a chocolate, made of dry cacao seeds. I was able to watch the whole process of turning a cacao into a chocolate: roasting, grinding and tasting (witch is my favorite). I prefer it bitter as it is, than with sugar added. I also was given a chance to harvest and to plant yuca and the drink made of it, called chicha. Traditionally, it's a female job to plant yuca and I was the only one present at that moment. If a female takes a root from the ground without leaving anything behind, she's ready to get married. I left a small piece inside, so it's never too late to stay single, I guess.

Next morning I was off to see some of the caves around Tena, known only to the local people. I saw a lot of caves traveling around, but this experience was different. For the first time in my life, I went all along through it, not just staying on some platform, walking and observing around. The bottom of the cave is very muddy, at some point there is water running, the depth was up to my waist. The walls are very narrow so a plus size person wouldn't go through. It's not recommended for claustrophobic people, either. Wearing rather shorts than a long pants was a big mistake. In order to get out, I had to croll, so I got some memories on my knees from caving. Again, I asked myself and the guide, what would happen if Earth starts shaking a little bit ( my aunty had influenced me more than I wanted). Luckily, I got my way out, safe and sound. The other cave was bigger but less explored. I just got to the place where shaman holds the rituals with all the stones circle shaped. There was some serenity inside, maybe a leftover from some recent ritual.

Ah, tha Baños... I stayed here for a day and the thrill I got, was enough for a year. Everything is located downtown, there are a lot of agencies offering kayaking, kanyoing, rock climbing, paragliding, etc. I chose rafting as the first thing to do in the morning. I had tried it a year ago and hardly survived it, but I couldn't go against. Even the rapids are not highest-graded, I was the only one, out of twenty people, who fell out from the boat, twice. Rafting was exhausting, I keep forgetting that I'm not twenty any more and I chose one more thing to give myself a hard time. It was the reason for my coming here - canyoning or walking down the waterfall (a smaller one, of course) using a rope. It seemed easy, for some people, I'm not very sporty so I stayed hanging upside down for a while. Anyway, I was enjoying the water falling on me while other people from the group were freezing and waiting for me. I almost lost the last bus for the next destination. The scenery was fascinating: forrest, rocks, waterfalls, peaks of the hills in the clouds...

At the end, I can say Ecuadorians are very friendly and ready to help even if they speak few words of English. I've learned some Spanish from people I worked with so I was able to communicate. Also, locals don't push tourists much to by something. Sometimes, it can be really exhausting and it can spoil the impression. 

The food in Ecuador is something I'm really fond of. It's common for the entire Andes aeria: corn, behau leaves, yuca, plátano... I recommend eating at the local places. The gratuity is not a mandatory, around 10% is suggested. I was always satisfied with the service. Fruit vegetable, specially freshly squeezed juices taste amazingly. Some of my favorite juices are tomato de arbol and naranjilla, I couldn't start the day without.

I left the mainland looking it back.