Sunday, April 19, 2009
few posts, many adventures.
Sorry our postings have been so sparse on this trip. We´ll be heading home over the next few days - overnight bus from Huaraz to Lima tonight; one night in Lima; overnight flight to NY; spend a few hours in NY eating (as if we need more food) and then an evening flight to Bozeman. We´ll post a link to our photos on this blog and perhaps a short review of our adventures. We look forward to telling you personally about our trip when we see you!
Spanish Lessons:
1) La señora was either sick or pregnant or both but what it meant for us was no chicha, and more importantly for me (but less for Zach and Dan) no dinner. We´d been hiking all day in Colca Canyon and I opted for stale bread and peanut butter. They hiked another 30 minutes across a drainage to the next town for a more satisfying dinner (this time, their perspective, not mine). Our comprehension remains sparse but sometimes you don´t need the details.
2) -¿Quiere cerveza grande o pequeña?
-Un grande, para los dos.
Out came two grandes - one for each of the two of them, not one for the two to share. We´ve got to work on that... or maybe not.
3) Servicios Hygenicos (S.S.H.H.) - Toilets in some form -- not necessarily hygenic. Also not sure why the abreviation is double S, double H (any help, Lander?).
4) Menu - a two course meal starting with soup and usually costing about $1. Carta - the menu. Typically more expensive options, also sometimes called extras.
5) Lonchito - afternoon snack. For us usually hot chocolate and cake. or ice cream. or empanadas, or papas fritas... last night it was ponche and picarones (a hot drink of condensed milk, almonds, coconut, spices and fried dough). We are not hurting for calories in Peru.
2) -¿Quiere cerveza grande o pequeña?
-Un grande, para los dos.
Out came two grandes - one for each of the two of them, not one for the two to share. We´ve got to work on that... or maybe not.
3) Servicios Hygenicos (S.S.H.H.) - Toilets in some form -- not necessarily hygenic. Also not sure why the abreviation is double S, double H (any help, Lander?).
4) Menu - a two course meal starting with soup and usually costing about $1. Carta - the menu. Typically more expensive options, also sometimes called extras.
5) Lonchito - afternoon snack. For us usually hot chocolate and cake. or ice cream. or empanadas, or papas fritas... last night it was ponche and picarones (a hot drink of condensed milk, almonds, coconut, spices and fried dough). We are not hurting for calories in Peru.
What keeps me up at night:
The dog fights for one, but that is not the main thing. It is the roosters. In every city, yes, city we have stayed in (apart from Barranco in Lima) people have kept chickens, and roosters, in their yards. But it doesn´t end there; they keep pigs too. In yards the size of our front yard in Bozeman, people raise their own meat. I´ve also seen tomato plants in old oil tubs on roofs, balconies and in windows. Local food. Peru style.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Welcome to Lima
Traveling never quite goes as planned...thus we spent an unanticipated 9 hours sitting in the Bogota airport. We did eventually arrive in Lima and got a taxi to Barranco, a quieter part of the city along the coast. From here we´ve explored the trendier districts of Barranco and Miraflores as well as making the trip into grittier central Lima to see cathedrals, catacombs, and colonial buildings. Everyone is very friendly, even the restaurant touts aren´t too pushy, and our limited Spanish (or in Zach´s case a Spanish/Portugese mix) has been enough for us to communicate effectively. The taxi driver yesterday spoke slowly as he pointed out significant landmarks like the Palace of Justicia (although he claimed it´s really the Palace of Injusticia) and warned us not to travel down certain streets because of delinquencia. It remains to be seen if we´ll find communication more challenging as we travel into the mountains.
The pace of life here is very agreeable. Days are lazy and the streets start to come alive around sunset. Vendors start to set up their wares in public parks and people emerge from offices and homes to inhabit the public space. Last night we sat down to dinner at 11pm and there were still people coming to eat an hour later. Dishes of choice include ceviche of all types, anticucho (skewered, grilled cow heart), rotisserie chicken, and Inka Kola (a bubblegum flavored soft drink).
Our plan today is a descent from the cliff to the beach and more ceviche for lunch before a 15-hour overnight bus ride to Arequipa. We´re riding VIP style and the bus is equipped with a GPS system linked to the police in case of emergency.
The pace of life here is very agreeable. Days are lazy and the streets start to come alive around sunset. Vendors start to set up their wares in public parks and people emerge from offices and homes to inhabit the public space. Last night we sat down to dinner at 11pm and there were still people coming to eat an hour later. Dishes of choice include ceviche of all types, anticucho (skewered, grilled cow heart), rotisserie chicken, and Inka Kola (a bubblegum flavored soft drink).
Our plan today is a descent from the cliff to the beach and more ceviche for lunch before a 15-hour overnight bus ride to Arequipa. We´re riding VIP style and the bus is equipped with a GPS system linked to the police in case of emergency.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The newest installment
Tomorrow we fly from Bozeman to New York. We'll spend a night at Dan's parents house visiting with Peter, Sue, Cathy, Jake, Nick, Leslie (Mom) and the dogs. Then Dan, Zach and I will head off the airport Tuesday morning and fly to Lima. We'll be posting updates from our adventure on this blog.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Home Again, Home Again
We've been home a little over a month and adjusting back to life in the States. We also posted a slideshow at picasaweb.google.com/dancenter/. Let us know if you're interested in seeing more from any portion of our trip, we have lots more photos.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The Last Word
This is our final post as we board an airplane in three hours to eventually land in Bozeman in two days.
Our last nine days were spent on Zanzibar, split between the beach and historic Stonetown. There are many beaches on Zanzibar and everyone seems to have their own favorite. We opted for Bweju on the east coast. We found a small bungalow operation, only six rooms and the first night we were the only guests. Some other travelers we passed on the beach said it was one of the worst looking places in Bweju but when we mentioned our budget they backpedaled to say it was the best in that price range. As it turned out, we had more personalized attention than if we had stayed at one of the fancy resorts. The man who ran the place, Abdul, was always within shouting distance and we arranged meals with him that were served on our porch looking at the ocean. One afternoon I checked with him to see what was available for dinner. He pulled a live octopus out of a bucket. At least we knew it was fresh. Abdul also made great, gingery, spiced tea. We drank multiple cups every morning with our chapati and eggs.
The whole east coast has a coral reef just offshore. This makes for nice snorkeling and super-fine sand, practically the consistency of flour. On the flipside, there are huge tidal swings. At low tide it's impossible to swim; all the locals walk along the flats harvesting seaweed and digging for clams. It's a good beach for relaxing. No hustle and bustle, very few vendors trying to sell cheap sunglasses, Masaai jewelry, or Tingatinga paintings.
Between the east coast and Stonetown the road passes through Jozani forest, home to the red colobus monkey. We walked through the forest hoping to catch sight of this rare species. It turns out there are a few thousand of them here and we were soon in the middle of a troop. We watched them leap between tree branches and then run along the path almost between our legs. They feed on leaves and in the middle of the day go up in the trees to sleep and escape the heat. Some monkeys found forked branches to lay in, with their arms and legs just dangling.
And our final days were here in Stonetown. It's an old, windy city full of Swahili, Arab, and Indian culture. It's impossible not to get lost but then you always find yourself back someplace recognizable. The challenge is then placing that recognizable building into the larger context of the city. So we spent days wandering the streets which have completely different characters from morning to midday to afternoon to evening. Some are filled with "tourist junk", endless shops selling identical carvings, paintings, etc. Once you get away from that area there are groceries, jewelers, spice merchants, hole in the wall eateries (I wouldn't go so far as to call them cafes). We were also lucky enough to be here during the annual Swahili music festival, Sauti Za Busara (busaramusic.org). It was a big event for four days with musicians from all over East Africa and even from as far away as Mali and Belgium. At a more personal level, we spent three hours yesterday sitting down with some woodcarvers and learning the finer points of bao (we learned the beginner's version in Malawi). Bao is a relative of mancala, seeds are moved around bowls in a wooden board. If you're curious, stop by the house and we'll teach you.
Now we're trying to prepare for skiing and snow, which is difficult to imagine while sitting in tropical heat. Once we get unpacked and settled we'll post more photos online from our trip and maybe even bring a slideshow to a town near you. Until then...
Our last nine days were spent on Zanzibar, split between the beach and historic Stonetown. There are many beaches on Zanzibar and everyone seems to have their own favorite. We opted for Bweju on the east coast. We found a small bungalow operation, only six rooms and the first night we were the only guests. Some other travelers we passed on the beach said it was one of the worst looking places in Bweju but when we mentioned our budget they backpedaled to say it was the best in that price range. As it turned out, we had more personalized attention than if we had stayed at one of the fancy resorts. The man who ran the place, Abdul, was always within shouting distance and we arranged meals with him that were served on our porch looking at the ocean. One afternoon I checked with him to see what was available for dinner. He pulled a live octopus out of a bucket. At least we knew it was fresh. Abdul also made great, gingery, spiced tea. We drank multiple cups every morning with our chapati and eggs.
The whole east coast has a coral reef just offshore. This makes for nice snorkeling and super-fine sand, practically the consistency of flour. On the flipside, there are huge tidal swings. At low tide it's impossible to swim; all the locals walk along the flats harvesting seaweed and digging for clams. It's a good beach for relaxing. No hustle and bustle, very few vendors trying to sell cheap sunglasses, Masaai jewelry, or Tingatinga paintings.
Between the east coast and Stonetown the road passes through Jozani forest, home to the red colobus monkey. We walked through the forest hoping to catch sight of this rare species. It turns out there are a few thousand of them here and we were soon in the middle of a troop. We watched them leap between tree branches and then run along the path almost between our legs. They feed on leaves and in the middle of the day go up in the trees to sleep and escape the heat. Some monkeys found forked branches to lay in, with their arms and legs just dangling.
And our final days were here in Stonetown. It's an old, windy city full of Swahili, Arab, and Indian culture. It's impossible not to get lost but then you always find yourself back someplace recognizable. The challenge is then placing that recognizable building into the larger context of the city. So we spent days wandering the streets which have completely different characters from morning to midday to afternoon to evening. Some are filled with "tourist junk", endless shops selling identical carvings, paintings, etc. Once you get away from that area there are groceries, jewelers, spice merchants, hole in the wall eateries (I wouldn't go so far as to call them cafes). We were also lucky enough to be here during the annual Swahili music festival, Sauti Za Busara (busaramusic.org). It was a big event for four days with musicians from all over East Africa and even from as far away as Mali and Belgium. At a more personal level, we spent three hours yesterday sitting down with some woodcarvers and learning the finer points of bao (we learned the beginner's version in Malawi). Bao is a relative of mancala, seeds are moved around bowls in a wooden board. If you're curious, stop by the house and we'll teach you.
Now we're trying to prepare for skiing and snow, which is difficult to imagine while sitting in tropical heat. Once we get unpacked and settled we'll post more photos online from our trip and maybe even bring a slideshow to a town near you. Until then...
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