Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Streak of Bad Luck


Sorry for the late posting. I have been having a rough couple of days and haven't had the chance to write. Lima was amazing and I was excited to leave and see new things. As of now I am back in Lima due to a series of unlucky incidents.

It seemed that as soon as I set one foot outside of Lima all my luck dissolved. Huacachina an oasis in the middle of mile-high sand dunes was my next destination. It was an absolutely gorgeous place. Its a very small tourist filled town know for sandboarding. Sandboarding is a sport similar to (but I found out the hard way not exactly the same as) snowboarding.

After touring Isla Ballestas I was ready to ride some sand buggies and try my hand at sandboarding. The buggy's were a blast the drivers were crazy and drove super fast flying in the air when we hit bumps and soaring down sleep dunes.


Then it was sandboarding time. I caught on quickly because balancing on the board was very similar to snowboarding. I didn't fall once my first five runs. Then, being so cocky after five good runs, I decided to try one of the steepest hills and that's when things got messy. Well I am sure you can imagine what happened. Lets just say, the next day I was in the hospital getting x-rays. Nothing broken just a little bruised.

Well my bad luck did not end there. I decided I was feeling better so I went with a friend to the city to get some lunch. With lunch, Chinese food, I was served a little bit of Salmonella. I got so sick that I was hospitalized for dehydration. The doctors in Peru were awesome. They fixed me up and sent me home in one day. It was definitely weird to get treated in another country, but everyone was very nice and helpful.

I decided because I had had such good luck in Lima that I would go back and chill with my friend Alana. Since returning I have been feeling much better. My hip still hurts and I can't stand for more than an hour but the food poisoning symptoms is gone thanks to the strong antibiotics. I am leaving tomorrow for Chile. It will take me over a day to take a bus, train, and taxi to get over the boarder into Chile but I am excited to be back on my feet (at least for an hour at a time). 

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Sand, Sand and more Sand



At the moment I am sitting in a hammock in Wacachina a small oasis in the middle of the desert. Wacachina is surrounded by massive sand dunes and inhabited by many different creatures, including a big turtle that is walking around my hostel, some bunnies, lots of birds and a couple street dogs. Its a beautiful place and has a lot to offer the adventurous traveler. 


This morning I took a cruise to Isla Bellesta which down here is also known as the "poor-mans Galapagos". These islands are filled with thousands of birds of all different types, penguins, sea lions and other marine animals. Tonight I am going sandboarding and dune buggying on the massive dunes surrounding the oasis. 



Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Lima never ends

Lima has been so amazing. I am sad to leave tomorrow to Wacachina but I am excited to try sand boarding and ride in a sand buggy. I have met so many people from all over the world and my Spanish has been getting better exponentially. My favorite new word is Joya which literally means jewelry but in Latin American slang means "Ok, cool".

In the past two days I have been exploring around Lima. On Monday I started the day off with my new friends from England, Hawaii and Chile and we went for a walk down to the beach. We tried out the water and attempted to skip rocks in the ocean. After we got lunch at a sandwich shop and had fresh made juices. I then headed to Barranco a barrio near Miraflores, Lima, which is less crowded but just as cool. Here we walked along the cliffs and ate dinner at a restaurant inside of a train car. We headed back to the hostel with two huge bottles of water (tap water is not safe to drink). At the hostel we hung out and met many new friends. We stayed up until 3am playing guitars, harmonicas, and singing to popular songs from around the world. 



This morning everyone ended up waking up late due to staying up late. A group of us headed out to Pachacamac, the sight of Inca ruins that are much older than Machu Picchu. The journey there was an adventure itself. To save money we decided to travel the way of the locals. We hopped on a random minibus and were off to Pachacamac. 



These minibuses are crazy. They pack tons of people in, they are really hot, and honk non-stop. To figure out which one to take you listen to the screaming men who lean out of the bus as it passes. They roll by screaming out the destinations trying to get people to jump on, sometimes as it is still moving. They often almost crash into other cars and drive in two lanes at the same time.



Pachacamac ruins were awesome. We had a guild who costed about $1.50 per person for an hour tour of the ruins. We were not able to climb into most of the ruins due to fragility caused by the many earthquakes. Temple del sol was the best, because we got to climb on top and the view of the ocean was amazing. Near Pachacamac ruins was a poor town that was built on the ruins before they could be preserved. Surrounding Pachacamac is just dessert and beach. 


I am now back in the hostel and about to join a BBQ on the roof. I will talk to you later. 

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Lima ... the city of bad drivers and warm weather

My first day in Peru has been a whirl wind. Tonight it felt like I have been here for at least two days I have done so much. I started out by taking a long needed shower. Its very warm here so you get sweaty fast. I then meet up with my friend Alana and her friend to do some exploring.

We headed on the Metro to Plaza de Armas. They were having some kinda cerebration with men dressed in soldier outfit's riding equally nicely dressed horses. From Plaza de Armas I went to the Franciscan Monastery and Museum. Here we purchased a tour for S./3.5 or $1 to see the church and the catacombs. It was pretty awesome. We learned a lot of history about Peru and the Spanish influence. It was a great experience.



After this we met up with some more friends at a famous cevicheria. My first time eating fish is longer than I can remember. And to top it off it was raw fish. So far no stomach ache. We tried a bunch of dishes and ended up spending about $12 each. We had a lot of fun speaking Spanglish and telling each other stories about Peru.

We took a taxi back to the city and got frozen yogurt and walked to the beach and Larcomar a famous mall built into the cliff over the ocean. It was alive with both Peruvians and Tourists. The walk along the cliffs over the beaches was beautiful. We watched the surfers below us. I am hoping to do some surfing on Tuesday. I have a long couple of days with all my plans.


After I headed back to the hostel to check my email and rest, but I ended up meeting a girl from Hawaii. We headed off to explore more of Miraflores. We went to the market where I bought some bread, jam and a sim card for my unlocked phone. We walked around admiring the area. We then met up with another guy from the hostel and headed off with Alana to get some dinner and pisco sour. We didn't encounter pisco sour but we had a nice salad.



Saturday, February 18, 2012

It can only get better

I wipe the tears from my eyes as my phone rings with the best news I have gotten all night. my sad tears turn to happiest ones as I hear the words I have been longing to hear all night.

At 10pm last night my flight to Lima was canceled due to someone pulling the emergency escape door and inflating the escape slide. I was told I could rebook or get a refund. since I had my heart set on Peru I decided to re-book. Well it turned out that the next available flight was next week on Friday. I cant take a week off my trip so I decided to look for another airline that could get me to lima this weekend. I found one last minute  to lima at 9am. I booked it with the hopes of getting a full refund of my ticket. it was $200 more but it was worth it for the extra week. well it got worse. When I called Spirit to get my refund they said I could not since I had used a credit from a previous flight cancellation.

I did not take that as the answer. I wanted all my money back not just $100. So I fought it in the hopes to get all my money back. After one hour with a representative 30 more minutes with the manager and 30 more minutes with the legal  department many hand overs to Spirit representatives here at LAX I finally got  a promise of a call back if a refund is possible. I was so tired and cold that I sad down on the airport floor surrounded by my bags and my phone tethered to the wall outlet and began to cry, waiting for the call. An hour later my phone rings. I was so nervous to pick it up. It was Spirit Airlines promising to refund all the money. I was so happy that my tears of sadness turned to those of joy.

It was a rough night staying awake for 24hours to catch the next flight. By the time I got to the hostel I was up for 48 hours. I finally was able to sleep.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Last Day in Bay Area



Today was amazing. It was a perfect day to end my stay in the Bay Area, the place I have called home since I was born. I had lots of fun shopping at REI for last minute gear. I am very content with all the items that I am taking. My packs a bit heavy but for the amount of time I am staying and the amount of items I am lugging with me I am happy about the weight. Today I added a spoon-fork-knife (all-in-one) and a compression sack for my sleeping bag, which makes it 1/2 the size. I also bought some small toys and stickers for my cousins in Chile who I will meet for the first time. I am excited to meet everyone.

What made the day even better was 8lb 1oz baby Colton, who was born today at 3:07pm. I am so glad that I was able to see him before I left. Holding him really made my day. I am looking forward to see how much bigger he will be when I am back.


I am excited to start a new chapter in my life. I will miss my family and friends very much.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Goodbye

Saying Goodbye.


Last week at work. I am sad to be leaving all my friends and family for 6 months. I am excited to travel and meet new people but I wish I can take all my friends and family with me. Leaving is bittersweet.