Amazing Amazon

After a couple of days relaxing in Peru´s capital city Lima, I headed up the coast to Trujillo and the small coastal town of Huanchaco where the fisherman still ride the surf in reed boats. The seafood here was truly delicious and in particular the local speciality ceviche. From here we visited the largest mud city in the world, Chan Chan, covering 26 square km and built by the Chimu kings then onto the Huaca del Sol and Huaca de le Luna (temples of the sun and moon) which were quite spectacular and the way the images on the walls have been preserved is unbelievable. From here we entered the the Sechura desert and visited possibly my favourite museum of my entire trip - the Lambayeque Museum, displaying more gold than is imaginable, found at the tomb of the lord of Sipan. After all the culture of the last few weeks in Peru, it was good to get to my last stop on the beach at Punta Sol for a few days where I attempted more surf lessons (I´m told surfing originated in Peru) with Robbie the pro who assured me he would get me standing and he did.  My fishing trip there was very successful although I was not happy landing a large eel in the boat and the stone fish, although pretty, was lethal. There really is nothing quite like the taste of fresh fish (dad, one day you`ll understand....) and later that evening we cooked our catch over the campfire and discussed what a fantastic time we´d experienced through Peru. Relaxed and recharged the next morning we continued north until we crossed the border and entered Ecuador where the change in scenery was notable. The old colonial market town of Cuenca was my first stop, famous for the panama hat and I spent an interesting couple of hours in the factory being shown exactly how they are made. The Ecuadorians love their music and dancing as much as their South American neighbours and I spent a wonderful evening listening to a fabulous local band. Moving northward again, I visited the ruins at Ingapirca where the Incas worhsipped the sun then onto Baños, famous for its hot thermal springs. The adrenaline was pumping again as I spent a day canyoning - abseiling down waterfalls and jumping from great heights into small areas of water, I then finished the day by flying down a zipwire over a canyon, a massive rush. A massage was definitely in order when we got back to the hotel in preparation for my trip into the Amazon jungle. From Misahualli I took a motorised canoe downriver to enter the jungle for a couple of days and I learnt how to surivive by finding my own water and food (including pretty tasty ants) and also how to make myself a rather attractive looking hat from plants to protect me from the intense sun. I just about survived the night in my bamboo hut although the monkeys, cockroaches and a whole host of other creepy crawlies did their best to distract me. Tubing down the River Napo will certainly be another of the year´s highlights for me and it took me back to the jungle lodge before I headed towards the capital, Quito, and back into city life again for a few days. Another round of farewells to some great travelling companions and I headed to the coast and the pretty fishing village of Puerto Lopez. So I am now living in a lovely house here with other volunteers and have started work again on a marine conservation project. This week I have been measuring sharks, searching for turtles to tag and watching fabulous displays by the enormous humpback whales. Next week I can expect more of the same and hopefully some diving with manta rays and a chance to educate local school children on the environment.
So my adventure continues and I look forward to flying to Galapagos in a couple of weeks.

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