Here we go again! I arrived in Lima on April 12 to begin my last adventure before grad school: South America!
I grew up listening to my Mom’s stories about Brazil. Ever since I watched the Motorcycle Diaries, South America has been my dream destination. It is living up to the hype!
I stated off with a three day stint in Lima. Lima was not my favourite place, but it definitely provided an exciting setting for my acclimatization to the Spanish language and Peruvian culture. Whether I was squeezing into jam-packed collectivos (public buses), stumbling through simple Spanish conversations with locals on the street, or sampling the cuisine of the nearest street vendor, the experience was always exciting and unexpected. It didn’t take me long to receive my introduction to the openness and friendliness of Peruvians. On my first day in Lima I met two locals, Jorge and Lisa, who showed me some of the sights of central Lima and introduced me to Lomo Saltado, a classic Peruvian dish. We also drank the famous Pisco Sour, an iconic beverage here.
The highlight of my stay in Lima was a day of surfing at the Miraflores beach. I had never tried surfing before, so I was a little apprehensive going into it. I found a great instructor named Johnny and he taught me the basics before getting into the water. On my second attempt at surfing I managed to stand up on my board and ride a wave almost the whole way to shore. It was an incredible feeling! My numerous failed attempts later proved that this early success was more a result of beginner’s luck than innate skill. I absolutely loved surfing and did it for nearly the entire day. One of the most surprising things was how exhausting it was. By the end of the day my arms felt like jello. I took a lot a falls that day, but what I will remember is the 4 or 5 perfect rides that I had. I’m looking forward to my next surfing experience in Brazil!
The fun really started after I left Lima and headed to the small city of Huaraz in the Cordillera Blanca of the Andes Mountains. Huaraz is at an elevation of 3100m and is at the foot of the highest and most spectacular mountains that I have ever experienced. I met some great people at my hostel in Huaraz (Kimberly, Crystal, Phil, and Ellen) and we decided to do the 4 day Santa Cruz Trek in Huascaran National Park. The trek was amazing: challenging, physically demanding and spectacularly beautiful. It is one of the coolest things that I have ever done.
The trek took place at altitudes ranging from 2900m to 4750m. My previous highest altitude was 3776m on Mount Fuji, so this was definitely an entirely new level of thin air. The scenery was incredible. It ranged from lush green rolling mountains to huge rugged snow-capped Andean mountains to bright blue glacier lagoons. Most of our hike took place in the mountain valley, so when I wasn’t watching my feet, I was staring up in awe at the mountains that surrounded me.
We had an excellent guide named Leonardo, who, despite being 69, could still out-hike all of us. Leonardo grew up in the mountains and his first language is Quechua, the most common indigenous language in Peru. He taught us a few words, including our favourite—“supesicki”—which means upset stomach. Along the trek, he pointed out many plants to us, many of which the locals use for medicinal purposes such as helping with headaches and upset stomachs. The sophistication of their holistic medicine is quite fascinating. Many of our western medicines use ingredients from these plants. We also saw many animals along the trek, including pigs, alpaca, cows, donkeys, sheep, chickens, and goats. The animals simply roam free here. When we would reach our campsite at night, we would often be greeted by a number of cows that had also chosen to make the campsite home. It was a little bit strange at first staring a bull in the face, but I got used to it pretty quickly. The disconnect between man and nature simply does not exist here. The relationship is symbiotic and respectful.
I had a bit of trouble with the altitude on the first day of hiking, but my body acclimatized fairly quickly and I felt fine after that. Our most difficult hike came on day 2, when we climbed up to Punta Union—our maximum pass of 4750m. The view from Punta Union was incredible. Looking out we saw turquoise lakes flaunted by high mountain ridges on both sides. For most of the trek, we had been looking up at the snow peaks, but at this point we were standing level with them. Standing on that peak was an awesome feeling.
We camped at a new site every night, each of which managed to be more impressive than the previous one. There is no better feeling than rolling out of your tent to a blue sky and 6000m peaks. After we finished the Santa Cruz trek, Kimberly, Ellen and I decided to do an extra one day trek to Laguna 69. Laguna 69 is one of the most beautiful and serene spots that I have ever experienced. It is a bright blue glacier lake at 4600m that is surrounded by snowy mountain peaks. The lake is filled with runoff from the mountains. After a difficult hike up, I decided to celebrate with a quick swim. That was a good idea for about 5 seconds—the water was freezing! Now I can say that I have “swam” at 4600m! Our hiking group celebrated that night with a dinner in Huaraz. Huaraz is a magical place that I will never forget.
After Huaraz, I traveled down the coast to Nazca with Phil and Ellen. We went to Nazca with the hope of seeing the famous lines constructed by the Nazca people about 2000 years ago. The lines and shapes are large and in the middle of the desert, which makes things complicated—the only way to properly see them is from the air! We managed to find a reasonably priced flight over the lines in a small eight-seater Cessna plane. It was an awesome experience!
The flight was my first ever in a non-commercial plane. I was definitely a little bit nervous before we started. Before I knew it our pilot was revving up the engine and taking off. Flying above the lines let us truly appreciate the incredible magnitude and detail of them. Not only did we see the famous shapes, but also numerous lines and geometric figures scattered throughout the desert. Flying allows you to experience the lines as a cohesive whole, rather than a group of individual objects. My favourite shapes were the spider, the condor, the monkey, the astronaut, and the hummingbird. The debate over the meaning of the lines and their method of creation is still going on amongst anthropologists. It was great getting a chance to experience such a mysterious site first hand.
I am currently hanging out in the laid back city of Arequipa and planning a trip to visit the deepest canyons in the world!
Thanks for reading!
-Mitch
