Send off in style
Well I did get packed up and off we went with our favourite taxi driver to the refurbished airport (for the cricket world cup), apprehensive as we had not been able to weigh our bags and feared they were overweight.....However we sailed through and they gave us hardly a glance but they did label our baggage, and us, First Class. Not sure why or where that came from but it was a great way to end our service in Guyana. We had breakfast and newspapers and internet and top notch treatment in soft leather sofas until our flight was called. Recommend it to anyone.
Flight was great and we were met in Port of Spain, Trinidad by our hosts and whisked off to our B&B. We spent the rest of the day wandering Port of Spain and found it an interesting city especially the old colonial buildings and the cricket being played on every square inch of grass. We were amazed at how well regulated the minibuses were after Georgetown and how far we could go for a few cents.
Repacked and left all our stuff except the bare essentials in Port of Spain as we will be going back there in due course, and headed for Ecuador via Caracas and Bogota. Boy were the airports freezing. Had to change money which we didn´t really need to do in order to get hot tea as Mick said my face was blue!!!
Hit Quito and found it a truly lovely city especially the old part which is built on hills with lots of up and down over cobbled streets and a high altitude. Good practice for the Inca Trail. Fortunately we were again met by our hotel and found it well placed for doing our usual walking tour of the city.
The Basilica was extraordinary as it is still not yet completed after several hundred years, but it has a clock tower and you can climb up inside right to the very top of the spire. The view from the top is magnificent. We climbed about 500 steps in all. We stopped for coffee on the way down to revive ourselves especially me, as I had stepped out onto the gargoyle parapet at the very top. Really scary but.......there to be done.
We did not like the New Town so much but enjoyed the large and well used parks with its community games, volleyball etc, and people picnicking or just sitting and passing the time of day. As well there appeared to be several meetings taking place in the park in the middle of the day, although they seemed only supported by the males of the city.
We left Quito for Quayaquil by bus with me sporting a black eye, scraped knees and an egg on my head by the time we reached the bus. I had been saying how great I felt carrying my backpack and coping with the high altitude when I missed my footing and down I went. Fortunaterly nothing was broken and only my appearance the worse for wear. We managed to get an earlier bus despite the trauma so it all worked out OK in the end.
Quayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador and has recently revamped its waterfront so that it seemed to us to be one of the most enjoyable waterfronts we have seen and very safe with security in evidence all the time.
We spent an enjoyable day there and went up the cobbled streets to the lighthouse where everything is still in renovation mode, tastefully and prettily done. This is a city well worth visiting from our point of view.
We had a local evening meal along the way in town and continued back along the waterfront sheltering under one of the canopies to avoid the huge storm that blew in from the Pacific after we had watched the sunset and the families out with their kids.
Then came the Galapagos. A quick flight to Baltra and onto our boat 'Golandria II' with our guide Fabian,
who was excellent and whose English was very good. We visited different islands each day, or at least different parts of different islands, and saw the famed frigate birds, red footed and blue footed boobies,
seals and sea lions and the world´s smallest penguins as well as some turtles and iguanas. The animals there remain wild but are not afraid of the visitors so you can get quite close to them.
The Frigate birds were in mating season and that was a real eye opener to see their huge red pouches all puffed up as they preened themselves for the females who flew overhead deciding which male to choose.
We also met interesting people on the boat from a varity of countries. A great experience but not to be compared with our next one which stretched us to the limit .....The Inca Trail
We arrived in Cuzco with time to adjust to the altitude (3 days) and enjoyed the town with its wonderful Plaza where there is always something interesting happening. One day was a march by the striking bus drivers, the next a demonstration to obtain support for Machu Picchu to be voted as one of the new wonders of the world, and another day a religeous service in the square. We enjoyed breakfasts and coffees and dinners in the many restaurants on the balconies surrounding the square.
Wish Kelowna had such a central unifying place. We did a city tour and a tour of the Sacred Valley .... boy where those Incas advanced in construction techniques.Then we had our orietation meeting, picked up our mattresses and sleeping bags and tried to sleep before the 5.30 am pick up to start the trail. (Please go into www.n7w.com and vote for Machu Picchu to be one of the new wonders of the world)
We found ourselves in a group of young people of different nationalities and we were the oldest by about 35 years!!!.
Day 1 we started with our packs and by then end of the day I did not think that I could complete the trail. The altitude plus the pack made me slow and exhausted. The guide, however, when I spoke to him about it, said that we were only 20 minutes behind the last of our group and SLOW is 3 hours behind, So I didn´t feel so bad but we both hired porters for the dreaded Day 2 which includes crossing 2 mountain passes which are the highest points in the trail. Although it was still difficult I must say that it was not as bad as Day 1 and once it was over I knew I could make it. Mick also improved on the second day and we chewed our coca leaves - this time with the catalyst which releases the envigorating agent. Some say it is cocaine so now I am probably a druggie although the taste is so bitter I´m not lilkley to fall into that trap. It opens the arteries and veins I think and enables you to breath more easily with the increased circulation. The porters en route built up our stamina with three huge carbohydrate meals a day and the guides never left anyone behind but stayed with us offering encouragement, support and even carrying our packs if needed. I couldn´t do that feeeling that I would 'let the side down' but even so I came in making good time at the end of day 2. Thank goodness it had been an overcast day even drizzling some of the time. Day 3 and 4 were well within my level of trekking so no problem. Machu Picchu itself is not the highest point and it is truly a magnificent edifice. The history is fascinating especially what the Incas achieved in the short 300 years of the Inca empire. I must tell you that although on Day 1 and 2 I came in last I was not last on Days 3 and 4 nor was Mick who was well ahead of me by then AND I had not one single ache or pain to complain of other than the Day 1 exhaustion. The youngsters amongst us complained of sore muscles and twinges so I felt pretty good I must say and now it is done. Check
Enough for now. Looking forward to seeing you all. Will try to do another update soon.
Flight was great and we were met in Port of Spain, Trinidad by our hosts and whisked off to our B&B. We spent the rest of the day wandering Port of Spain and found it an interesting city especially the old colonial buildings and the cricket being played on every square inch of grass. We were amazed at how well regulated the minibuses were after Georgetown and how far we could go for a few cents.
Repacked and left all our stuff except the bare essentials in Port of Spain as we will be going back there in due course, and headed for Ecuador via Caracas and Bogota. Boy were the airports freezing. Had to change money which we didn´t really need to do in order to get hot tea as Mick said my face was blue!!!
Hit Quito and found it a truly lovely city especially the old part which is built on hills with lots of up and down over cobbled streets and a high altitude. Good practice for the Inca Trail. Fortunately we were again met by our hotel and found it well placed for doing our usual walking tour of the city.
The Basilica was extraordinary as it is still not yet completed after several hundred years, but it has a clock tower and you can climb up inside right to the very top of the spire. The view from the top is magnificent. We climbed about 500 steps in all. We stopped for coffee on the way down to revive ourselves especially me, as I had stepped out onto the gargoyle parapet at the very top. Really scary but.......there to be done.
We did not like the New Town so much but enjoyed the large and well used parks with its community games, volleyball etc, and people picnicking or just sitting and passing the time of day. As well there appeared to be several meetings taking place in the park in the middle of the day, although they seemed only supported by the males of the city.
We left Quito for Quayaquil by bus with me sporting a black eye, scraped knees and an egg on my head by the time we reached the bus. I had been saying how great I felt carrying my backpack and coping with the high altitude when I missed my footing and down I went. Fortunaterly nothing was broken and only my appearance the worse for wear. We managed to get an earlier bus despite the trauma so it all worked out OK in the end.
Quayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador and has recently revamped its waterfront so that it seemed to us to be one of the most enjoyable waterfronts we have seen and very safe with security in evidence all the time.
We spent an enjoyable day there and went up the cobbled streets to the lighthouse where everything is still in renovation mode, tastefully and prettily done. This is a city well worth visiting from our point of view.
We had a local evening meal along the way in town and continued back along the waterfront sheltering under one of the canopies to avoid the huge storm that blew in from the Pacific after we had watched the sunset and the families out with their kids.
Then came the Galapagos. A quick flight to Baltra and onto our boat 'Golandria II' with our guide Fabian,
who was excellent and whose English was very good. We visited different islands each day, or at least different parts of different islands, and saw the famed frigate birds, red footed and blue footed boobies, 
seals and sea lions and the world´s smallest penguins as well as some turtles and iguanas. The animals there remain wild but are not afraid of the visitors so you can get quite close to them.
The Frigate birds were in mating season and that was a real eye opener to see their huge red pouches all puffed up as they preened themselves for the females who flew overhead deciding which male to choose.
We also met interesting people on the boat from a varity of countries. A great experience but not to be compared with our next one which stretched us to the limit .....The Inca Trail
We arrived in Cuzco with time to adjust to the altitude (3 days) and enjoyed the town with its wonderful Plaza where there is always something interesting happening. One day was a march by the striking bus drivers, the next a demonstration to obtain support for Machu Picchu to be voted as one of the new wonders of the world, and another day a religeous service in the square. We enjoyed breakfasts and coffees and dinners in the many restaurants on the balconies surrounding the square.
Wish Kelowna had such a central unifying place. We did a city tour and a tour of the Sacred Valley .... boy where those Incas advanced in construction techniques.Then we had our orietation meeting, picked up our mattresses and sleeping bags and tried to sleep before the 5.30 am pick up to start the trail. (Please go into www.n7w.com and vote for Machu Picchu to be one of the new wonders of the world)
We found ourselves in a group of young people of different nationalities and we were the oldest by about 35 years!!!.
Day 1 we started with our packs and by then end of the day I did not think that I could complete the trail. The altitude plus the pack made me slow and exhausted. The guide, however, when I spoke to him about it, said that we were only 20 minutes behind the last of our group and SLOW is 3 hours behind, So I didn´t feel so bad but we both hired porters for the dreaded Day 2 which includes crossing 2 mountain passes which are the highest points in the trail. Although it was still difficult I must say that it was not as bad as Day 1 and once it was over I knew I could make it. Mick also improved on the second day and we chewed our coca leaves - this time with the catalyst which releases the envigorating agent. Some say it is cocaine so now I am probably a druggie although the taste is so bitter I´m not lilkley to fall into that trap. It opens the arteries and veins I think and enables you to breath more easily with the increased circulation. The porters en route built up our stamina with three huge carbohydrate meals a day and the guides never left anyone behind but stayed with us offering encouragement, support and even carrying our packs if needed. I couldn´t do that feeeling that I would 'let the side down' but even so I came in making good time at the end of day 2. Thank goodness it had been an overcast day even drizzling some of the time. Day 3 and 4 were well within my level of trekking so no problem. Machu Picchu itself is not the highest point and it is truly a magnificent edifice. The history is fascinating especially what the Incas achieved in the short 300 years of the Inca empire. I must tell you that although on Day 1 and 2 I came in last I was not last on Days 3 and 4 nor was Mick who was well ahead of me by then AND I had not one single ache or pain to complain of other than the Day 1 exhaustion. The youngsters amongst us complained of sore muscles and twinges so I felt pretty good I must say and now it is done. Check
Enough for now. Looking forward to seeing you all. Will try to do another update soon.
posted by Jacky's Update at
3:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home