Wow it seems like forever since I've posted a blog and I apologize. We have been without WiFi for a couple of days becuase we were in Colca Canyon. So I finally have a chance to post and I have lots to write about!
Let's start with Ica/Huacachina, we were there on the 16th and 17th of June and let me tell you that was a fun time. Once we arrived, it was a short bus trip, and got settled we got to go Sand Buggying and Sand Boarding! That was definetly 3 hours well spent. We started out by going in the buggy going over bumps, doing crazy sharp turn and going down and back up steep dunes. It was a blast! Once we did that for a while we stopped and got to try sand Boarding. Some people tried standing but they fell lots and went so slow, plus the guides said it was way more fun to go on your stomach so thats what I did. It was so much fun!! We got to sand board down 4 different dunes and they got bigger/taller as we went. One the first one they showed us how to drag our feet for brakes, but I chose not too after the first dune and it was so fun, you basically flew down the dune! To finish off we were supposed to watch the sunset over the dunes, but unfortunately it clouded over so we couldnt.
The next day was just as fun, we had the whole day to hang out becuase our bus didnt leave until 7 at night. So we decided to rent a side by side and drive in the dunes ourselves! We went out for an hour and a half followig the guide around and driving through the sand making sharp turns and going down steep dunes. It was awesome too! That was a pretty fun way to spend some of the afternoon. To finish off the afternoon, before we went to the bus station, we did a workout and had two little kids join in for a little bit, it was pretty cute and funny.
We then had an over night bus trip to Arequipa which was a long trip and I only kind of slept. We had our Colca Canyon tour booked for the same day we arrived and got very lucky becuase our overnight bus ended up arriving 2 hours late and luckily our tour was runnng as well to pick us up, or we never would have made it. It was a very nerve wracking morning.
Our Colca Canyon 2 days and 1 night tour was very cool. There were lots of great sites to see and things to learn. At out highest point we were at an elevation of 4900m. Luckily I didn't get altitude sickness but some people in our group did. I guess lots if water, coca cookies and the coca candies worked well for me, thank goodness. On this tour we got to see mountains, the canyon, lamas, alpacas, condors, Peruvian dance and more. We also got to go to the hot springs which were very relaxing and warm. It was actually quite chilly on the tour so I ended up buying a toque made from alpaca wool. The alpaca wool products are very big here in Peru. I took lots of landscape pictures on this tour becuase there was lots of mountains too look at and they were pretty. I also saw a baby alpaca along the way and it was so cute! I also learned a lot about condors. they are a very big bird, like a vulture but bigger, they have a wing span of 3.2m and can live to be 100 years old, so I think that's pretty crazy.
Once we got back to Arequipa we went and got Alyssa a tablet. It was kind of tricky trying to talk about electronics at the store with someone when they spoke Spanish and we spoke English, but we managed. Now we each have our own device again and we're good to go.
Super last night was quite delicious, and we got to try something new. We tried alpaca meat! It was yummy and so was the rest of the meal. We each got the trilogy of meats and there was a piece of pork, beef and alpaca. We also got a salad and potatoes and I couldn't eat it all, but it was so yummy. We also got the restaurant specialty drink which was served in an ostrige egg! It was pretty cool, but a little too stong. To finish off our meal we got dessert, I have a blueberry tart thing and it was perfectly sweet and a great way to end the meal.
So tonight we take another overnight bus to Cuzco. It's a ten hour bus ride so its a long trip and hopefully I can get some sleep, we have a busy bunch of days coming up.
Well this is quite a long post, sorry about that, but I had some major catching up to do! Hopefully we have lots of WiFi from now on and I can keep up with these blogs better, I would much prefer that!
Well anywho, that's all for now, I should have much more to share later!