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Well we have been very lazy since our last entry from La Paz, Bolivia! Since then we have done soooo muuuuch!!! We did get to do the Death Road mountain-biking (we just had to leave at 6am to avoid the protesters), and stayed on in the tropical town of Coroico at the best South American Accommodation yet - overlooking jungle to huge snow-capped mountains, enjoying the swimming pool, hammocks and sauna - luxury for about $20AUD!
From there it was back to reality with the worst bus ride ever! 15 hours over bumby roads with a bus that had continued maintenance the whole way and a road which was blocked for half an hour by a landslide and the constant threat of over 50m or more of drop off the edge of the road! It culminated in a 5am, pitch black arrival to the Bolivian Amazon town of Rurrenabaque. This place is unbelievable, we did a pampas river tour and saw everything! Monkeys, Birdlife, Capybarras, Turtles, Alligators (literally 1000´s), Caimans, River Dolphins, fished for and ate Piranhas, tracked and found an anaconda and got to swim with all of the above (except maybe the monkeys...) Check out some of the choice photos at our ofoto site!
Then it was a brief visit to Lake Titticaca and some practise hikes before we made it to the Inca capital of Cuzco. What a place Cuzco is - tourist Mecca (ourselves included), free drinks and cheap drugs at every turn, its a very funny city. We partied big before our 4 day Inca Trail! The trail and Macchu Picchu are too much to describe, Fleur will have to add some stuff in here, all I can do is point you to the photos again. What I will say is it is the most luxurious camping ever, tents erected and pulled down, porters carrying everything (each one takes up to 26kg!!) and chefs and waiters in tow....
We had a quick stint of white water rafting after our trek and I found yet another activity that I am no good at - falling out of the raft on grade 2 rapids - oh well.... Then we finally left the Inca and fun capital for Puno and more of the massive Lake Titticaca. Floating reed islands and a homestay with a traditional family... Wasn´t all we hoped, but the Puno celebrations back on the mainland made up for it, with all the locals parading in crazy outfits and fireworks and dancing everywhere!!
Finally to now, we are just about to leave Arequipa after a 3 day trek of the Colca Canyon (yes we love trekking), the worlds deepest canyon is also home to a local condor population. We got to walk down, stay in the bottom and back up - learning about all the local remedies made from various plants in the canyon, and spotted a few big birds circling above too! Tonight we are off to Nazca to see the famous astronomical lines and then North for more of Peru!!
Hope you are well wherever you are and as always we will try to keep a better account of where we are and what we are doing!
Love to all - Chris and Fleur
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