Category: South America | Page 4

In the Amazon Jungle

I’ve just realised, in reading back through the various postings that I’ve missed out on fair chunks of the history of South America that I want to post.

But I’m not going to do it here. Stuff like that takes a little more preparation because otherwise you can be exceptionally misleading. But I’m dying to do some research on the one eyed, one legged, one armed bloke who helped to defend Cartagena (yes, I know I’ve not been there, but I’ve been reading a lot) because frankly I’d like to know how he managed it!

Then there’s all the background of the pre-Columbian times, the different cultures and tribes that ruled the Andes, and so on. It’s pretty fascinating, but without checking references all I can tell you is that they made a hell of a lot of pots. Lots and lots. I mean, the museums here have so many pots that I guess you pretty much can’t dig a hole in the Andes without unearthing several pots. And a bit of fabric. And maybe the odd skull or two.

So now I’m in the Amazon basin. Hopefully I’ll be spending the next few days in a lodge somewhere, probably being bitten to death by mosquitoes and sandflies but maybe also seeing some cool wildlife like pink dolphins (yes really!) and, erm, butterflies and stuff. Then it’ll be back to Lima, with a couple of days leeway in case of delays and whatever, and on to New York for the final leg of my jaunt.

After that I will actually be happy to get home. Whilst I’ve had a fantastic time I know it’ll be so nice to sleep in own bed again, to be able to listen to my own music, see my friends again, watch English TV… all those things really. The familiar and the straightforward stuff we can all take for granted. Oh, and nice cups of tea!

Sanhattan! Capital of Chile

If I’d woken up and been told that, due to a bout of amnesia I’d been flown to Madrid, then I could easily believe that’s where I’d landed. Seriously – Santiago is a smart, modern city with efficient public transport, occassional traffic jams, and lots of foreigners trying to make a buck. It feels like the most European city I’ve yet visited outside of Europe. Of course, there are parts of Lima and Cuzco that can pull the trick off too, but only in parts.

The only problem and downside really is that Marcela, whose place I’m staying at, has had to fly back to Madrid at short notice. She’s very kindly allowed me to use her apartment and said “treat it like your own home.” Silly girl. But lucky for her, there are no car parts handy for me to strip in the kitchen, so the damage is likely to be limited.

Exploring Santiago

I’ve yet to explore Santiago fully – that’s tomorrow’s job. I tried to find the centre of nightlife in Bellavista, and it seemed ok enough, but not especially attractive to a guy on his own (although there are ruder bars I could try, I decided not to) and so I got a touch bored trying to get drunk alone. Instead I went back to the Metro station and discovered that it’s closed by midnight! Modern public transport yes, but don’t expect it to be open at all hours. This presented me with a tricky problem – the taxi driver had never heard of where the apartment was, nor could I actually tell him about anything nearby. Eventually I remembered the names of a couple of hotels and he dutifully dropped me off outside Hooters.

Well, I had to didn’t I? I’ve heard of this place. Americans talk about these bars all the time. I assumed it was a quasi-religious place, given the reverence some held for it. It’s actually a bar where you are served by busty girls in hotpants, flesh coloured tights (which hide any cellulite – I’ve dated dancers, I know their tricks) and tight, slightly skimpy tops. That really is their only USP – the beer, food and atmosphere is about average. The girls are, I think, trained to look at you and bat their eyelids in such a way as to make guys think they fancy them. But anyone with half a brain will realise it’s an act. But I suppose the regulars are the ones that enjoy this game, and that’s presumably how the firm makes its money. Still, having heard so much about the place it was nice to get it out of my system.

And they played damn Beatles music. Everywhere I go in the world, The Beatles. I mean, good group and all, but it’s like I can never get away from Liverpool at times. I was standing on top of a mountain and got chatting to a guy from Concepcion. And what were his parting words? “You’ll never walk alone.”

Worms!

For a panicked moment I thought maybe I’d picked up worms. Perhaps from a cat, dog or llama I’d been playing with.

Then I remembered, I’d earlier eaten spaghetti. And I’ve not long had a nasty bout of food poisoning. And it takes a while for the digestive system to work properly after being thoroughly purged.

Panic over.

Another high altitude desert – San Pedro de Atacama

I must like them, because I think this is about my third. No more deserts from now, however. My tan is suitably well developed (at least on exposed skin – need to work on my back now) and I think I now understand what dry empty places are about.

The Village of San Pedro de Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama seems to be a hugely popular and successful village. I’ve not seen such a high ratio of tourists to locals anywhere else. Even Cuzco is busy with Peruvians, not just furriners. But it’s a pleasant village, and the international influence means that the food is good (at last!) and the facilities great. On the way up (yet another overnight bus) I’d got talking to a young Brazilian couple after she’d slammed the bus window into my head. Maybe this is the Brazilian way to introduce yourself to others? We ended up sticking together and this helped in finding affordable accomodation in San Pedro, where at this time of year it can be a touch tricky. After searching we got a decent deal in a clean and charming Slovenian run hostel. Though somebody told us off for making too much noise when we rolled in a bit tipsy in the middle of the night.

A trip to the Valle de la Luna showed us a landscape that really did feel lunar. And very dead. There are no plants, animals or water in this part of the desert and it’s said to be a very dangerous place to get lost in. The sunset was a typically beautiful desert sunset, but nothing too amazing. Sometimes the weather just doesn’t play the game.

I’m now at the airport, waiting for my plane to Santiago. I have a business lounge pass and it works here! Free Internet! Free Biscuits! Free Beer! I think I’ll go and enjoy myself now. Ciao!

Sick boy – Arica, Lluta Valley, Lauca National Park

So in Arica, looking for something to do, I found the offices of Raices Andinas (or something like that, maybe the other way round – I don’t have my notes on me) and booked myself on a four day expedition of the local national parks. And this was a fascinating trip indeed, although in the end for some of the wrong reasons. But it was great too and I’d recommend it to anyone.
The tour guide, the tour, and the facilities laid on were great. I have to say that now. We started with a market trip to buy provisions for the journey, before a museum visit to give us some background on the indigenous culture. The one real highlight of this museum was seeing the very oldest mummies in the world, dating back 8000 years. They were tiny, and with the clay plates over the faces, mysterious and eerie.

Continue reading “Sick boy – Arica, Lluta Valley, Lauca National Park”

Tacna-Arica

These two border towns are found on either side of the Peru/Chile border. Reasonably pleasant, they’re popular for their shopping and in the case of Arica the beach. There’s not a huge else to say about them really and my main reason for coming here has been because they provide the highest density of addresses from my father.

Tacna was a disappointment. At one hotel the lady believed she may have seen him in the past, but a check of her records showed nothing. People were, however, sympathetic to my search and have been very helpful – including some new ideas to pursue such as asking the airlines to check their passenger lists (I’ve no idea how keen they’ll be to do this, but maybe I have contacts….) and to also put notices in the newspapers. I’ve also had some ideas of my own. In a year’s time my father’s passport will be due for renewal. I will now send a letter to all embassies and consulates in South America, leaving a message for him. With a little luck one of these may get through. It gives me an opening to try.

For the rest of today I’ll go around the addresses I have in Arica. Who knows – I may get lucky, I may not. But at least I can feel secure in having tried to do something.

The other half – Partying in Peru

When you travel you try and do everything on a budget. It’s expensive, after all, to stay in a hotel every night, eat out all the time, and pay for buses and flights. But for the past few days I was invited to the beach house of the family I know in Lima (names preserved for a spot of privacy!). They have a beautiful house they’ve just had built at a resort about 100km from Lima. It’s that far away in order to make it difficult for trouble to turn up, and it’s also very heavily secured so that people can relax without worrying about crime. Most houses in Limas are like living in a bank – their windows barred and with secure doors everywhere. At the resort you can leave your pushbike outside without locking it, the doors to houses are often unlocked and open… it just feels very safe after the cities.

But of course, after a while you realise there’s not a lot to do other than relax. I took my walks to a boulevard about five dusty kilometres away along a dirt road. I like a little exercise now and then. At the boulevard you had shops full of European and American goods, free internet, and again lots of security and it still felt very safe. It was nice to be able to leave my mobile phone out without worrying about it being snatched, for example.

The nightlife there only existed at the weekends and it was fascinating to see the difference between this place and a typical Peruvian city. It felt like I’d been transported to Barcelona! The hours are similar (ie, it gets going around midnight) and the bars and clubs similar. And the people too – because it’s mostly the wealthy and elite it favours people with more money and spare time and in Peru that’s usually (but not always) people of European or Latino descent rather than indiginous indians who anyway have their own culture and nightlife. So suddenly both the men and women are taller and slimmer and better looking to my European biased eyes. Not representative of Peru, but representative of a fair chunk.

Moving on, alone…

But now I’m looking forward to some more exploring. First I go to Tacna, hopefully today, and then on to Arica in Chile before doing some national park exploring. The current plan is Lauca National Park, Atacama, Santiago and Chiloe.

Donkeys and Condors

Condors are scavengers – that means they only eat meat of animals that have died and died recently…. Now, in the Colca Valley the condor watching is a huge draw, although in reality the spectacular scenery should be enough for most.

So, to keep the tourists coming and to keep them happy it helps if as many condors are flying in the appropriate places. And usually wildlife isn’t nearly so helpful. Well I’ve learned that the locals have a system to keep the condors interested. They buy a donkey every few days, for just 30 soles (about five pounds) and then chuck it over the edge of the canyon, near the usual condor watching areas. This regular supply of meat keeps the condors happy, and the condors keep the tourists happy. Suddenly I don’t feel quite as priviledged to have watched these majestic birds… but I can understand the thinking of the locals too.

Gin Tonic in Lima Central

It was Douglas Adams that suggested that wherever you are in the universe, asking for something that sounds like “Gin and Tonic” will usually give you the same drink. Of course I’ve only been able to test this theory on Earth, but so far it had proven unbreakable. So in a non touristy town in Taiwan a “shintoniic” sound gave me a drink made from gin… and tonic. But if it can be broken, the Peruvians can break it….

Last night our request for two “GeenToneecs”, as listed on the menu, provoked an explosion of confusion with the staff at “Ellens House”, a bar round the corner from our hotel. After a few minutes two large glasses, with about 250ml of vodka arrived.

We pointed out the problem… that a G&T usually has gin in it. And tonic. The glasses were taken away, four bar staff held a conference, and they returned with… two glasses of vodka with a dash of sparkling mineral water. I took a gulp and my taste buds immediately caught fire. Another return… this prompted more confusion and they came back to say they were just nipping to the shops for a bottle of “agua tonica”. Ok… they were getting the idea. And then we got what I still think was vodka, with a dash of sparkling mineral water… and a dash of tonic. We gave up. Angelique had also failed to drink her “Baylez”… a cheap and eye watering version of Baileys.

Peruvian service is often like this. They do their best, bless ’em, but sometimes they’re caught out by their own menus. They then utilise a Just In Time system, as popularised in Japanese factories. This means having stock arrive just in time for manufacture – so saving on inventory costs and storage space. But for restaurants that just means that your entrée may well arrive after your main course because some of the ingredients involved sending a member of staff to the market with a shopping list in his hand. Still, the food at these restaurants is often surprisingly tasty – just don’t arrive hungry….

Peruvian Food

Peruvian food can be quite easily categorised into the following sections:

Salty and meaty.
Egg based.
Dangerous.
Salty and fishy.
Scary.
Salty and vegetarian.
Touristic.

Lomo Saltado is one of the classic dishes – fried and salted beef, served in a big pile with gravy, vegetables and chips – all mixed together. There may be some salad on the side.
Dangerous food can be summed up as pretty much anything raw.
Scary is roasted guinea pig – poor little thing has it’s claws on show still and it just looks wrong. Heart kebabs are also a bit offputting.
Touristic is largely edible, but expensive. It revolves mostly around pizza and pasta, but it’s not bad.

There´s a surprising number of vegetarian restaurants and they vary in quality. There’s a chain called Govinda run by Hare Krishnas and although the food is ok (and salty) the service was slow and the atmosphere utterly non existent. We’ve resisted trying another branch. Other vegetarian restaurants, especially in Cusco, can be excellent.

Breakfasts are a barely understood concept. A fried egg, a couple of rolls of bread and some jam, along with juice and tea or coffee and that’s about it. Sometimes you need more to set you up for the day.