Author: Kali

9 June

If I was to write about every single minute of our Amazing Amazon Adventure, I would complete an entire book. It was fabulous! These are a few of my many highlights during this crazy, wonderful, spectacular and amazing adventure…

Sunset swims

Every late afternoon after the day’s exciting events, all the groups from the various lodges would meet at the large lake to have a relaxing swim and watch the sunset. The lake is around 5-7m deep and as brown as the muddy and swampy banks that surround its far edges. After being told that the caiman and anacondas roam these waters, and that the only security that I have from being devoured is the surrounding boats and people, I was at first terrified of jumping into the dark murky water with who knows what swimming beneath me.

I was standing at the edge of the canoe, when, after being in mid-air as a cannon ball for a split second, found myself swimming to the side of the boat. I quickly got used to it. It was loads of fun! Us children swam to the nearby boats to visit friends and sometimes coax them into the terrifying water. The water itself was nice and warm like the hot and humid jungle air outside. Mum and Dad had to literally drag us out of the water as it was getting quite dark and dinner at the lodge was waiting. The Sunset Swims were definitely one of my highest highlights.

The Tarantula

On the first night, we went with Diego, our wonderful guide, to an area of the jungle to observe insect and spider activity. It was great fun to trudge through the mud with our gumboots and light our way with our head torches. Suddenly, Diego motioned for us to stop dead still. He pointed to a large hairy object less than 2m away. A tarantula! It was bigger, fleshier and much hairier than I had ever thought. I felt a cold shiver make its way down my spine as we all edged closer to take photos and have a look. It was scary and terrifying, yet at the same time exciting and pretty cool.

In the beginning of the Amazon Adventure, I had seriously considered having a tarantula crawl down my arm, then into my hand. However, all these ideas instantly evaporated when I saw the hairy beast.

Village Visit

We went to visit a local village by boat. As we approached, we saw a few timber cabins with nearby plantations and fruit trees. On the one bank, some of the local women were washing their cloths in the murky, brown river. There was a faint trail of soap making its way down stream.

A local lady led us to a traditional structure known as the feasting place and kitchen. There was a wood fire burning and half a hollowed-out tree trunk lay near it. After a minute of fanning the fire, the lady grabbed her machete, slipped on her sandals, and led us to the yucca plantation. She dug around in the fertile soil, then motioned for the boys to uproot the tiny tree. After many grunts and groans, the boys looked proudly with red faces at the many yucca roots that lay near their feet.

The lady cut these off the tree, then expertly chopped off the ends, made a small slit in the skin, then handed each of us a yucca to start peeling. Her speed and accuracy showed very clearly that she had done this many times before.

After we had returned to the kitchen area, we all started grating the yucca. It was quite hard, for this was no ordinary way of grating. We sat on a bench in front of the hollow tree trunk, and with two loose metal graters, started transforming the stiff, hard yucca root into a sort of mash.

The lady scooped the mash into a net of woven bark, hooked it onto a pole, and started twisting it so all the juice dripped out. This made yucca flour. Next, she flattened it all out onto a clay plate that was hot on the fire. The flames licked at the sides of the yucca bread and after roasting for about two minutes, it became crispy. Making yucca bread is a very specific process, and once again the lady did it with incredible expertise.

We ate this, called cassava, with a tuna salad. It was very tasty! After lunch, the lady brought out some bracelets. They were made of all kinds of seeds and natural beads and held together with finely platted bark strips.  Mum and I bought a bracelet each. Every time I look at this bracelet, it will be a reminder of all the amazing amazon jungle adventures we had.

The Sharman or Jungle Doctor

After our village visit, we went to a special meeting place. There, in complete isolation, is a shelter, with a few wooden benches and a special chair and side table for the Sharman, or Jungle doctor.

The Sharman is dressed in a colourful outfit with many symbolic and beautiful accessories such as colourful necklaces made of seeds and other natural things found in the Jungle. He wore a feather crown and he even had a feather through his ear.

Before modern doctors, the Sharman or Jungle Doctor used medicinal plants, leaves, fruits and natural sources to cure the local people of various illnesses and diseases. Nowadays, though, he is mostly in charge of spiritual guiding and he helps make important decisions for the community.

We learnt about the many different rituals and traditions, and about the process of becoming a Sharman.  Diego painted our faces with the sap of a special fruit. I really liked it.  After the session, the Sharman brought out his blowpipe, and stuck a wooden model of a small toucan into the ground. Next, he slid his small arrow into the back of the blowpipe, and blew very hard. The arrow shot out the front and missed the target by a mere 3mm.

He motioned then for us to have a go. Everyone blew as hard as they could, aiming as accurately as they possible, but nobody got the toucan. Then it was my turn. I held the heavy pipe up to my face and looked through it. I could see the target, and so the Sharman slid the arrow into the blowpipe. Holding it to my mouth, I blew as hard as hard as I could. When I looked at the toucan, to my astonishment, there was the arrow, stuck in its neck! They even struggled to pull it out.

This

is a highlight for me, because I really loved learning about the traditions and rituals of the local people and the Sharman. I also enjoyed shooting with the blowpipe. The fact that I got the target straight in the neck, is a miracle. 😜

Wildlife searching

It was so much fun to sit back in the motorised canoe, and search for wildlife, hidden among the jungle rainforest and the banks of the river. I do not know how Diego and our captain could see the wildlife so far away, so tiny and so hidden, all with the naked eye. I would be right next to the animal sometimes, and still I would not be able to spot it!

In total, we saw 9 out of the 10 species of monkey, the toucan, caiman, anaconda, more than 15 species of birds, the tarantula and many more. It was amazing to see all these animals and insects, not forgetting the Spiders!

In these pictures, we are waking through swamps and tasting acidic ants. What an adventure! 😆

All in all, I absolutely loved our Amazon Adventure! Around ever river bend, up very tree, awaited a surprise you thought you would never in your life experience. I would do it all again anytime! 😀

Until next time,

-Kali Attenborough-

Author: Kali

3 June

At the moment, we are staying in a beautiful little town called Baños. It is situated between the rough mountain range that separates the coast from the Amazon jungle. Baños itself is made up of cobbled streets lined with many small and interesting businesses and eateries.

We decided to do some biking to some of the nearby waterfalls. We were told this is a lot of fun for the whole family, and after a whole day on a bus, we needed something active to do.

A small agency provided us with clearly well used bikes and so eagerly we started our adventure. Most of the way was downhill! We biked along a road which we shared with the trucks, buses and other vehicles. Many small villages are scattered along the way with small side road stalls selling a variety of fruit, drink and other things. It certainly was a lot of fun!

A steel and concrete structure announced the call for some adrenaline. After watching some other people dive off the platform and sail across the river, clinging onto their harnesses, we decided to go zip-lining. At first I was strictly and strongly against this idea. I am petrified of heights! Also, I do not like rides or activities where I am not in control. I want to know that I can stop or speed-up whenever I feel like it. So as you might be able to picture, this was definitely not my sort of fun!

As dad was handing in the money to pay for the others, except me, I suddenly got the urge to put up my hand and do it. I was very surprised with my decision, very scared and nervous too! As the staff were strapping us into the harnesses, I got a shiver of regret down my spine. I was very scared!

I was in the front with mum while Ruzow took up the rear. This, I think only made my fear worse, and as they opened the gate to push us out, I started screaming! As our speed rapidly increased, I shut my eyes in terror, but kept my mouth fully open, yelling as hard as I possibly could. Thinking about it afterwards, though, the screaming didn’t slow us down, stop the ride or even make me feel better.

We stopped abruptly. I was so happy the second I could free myself from the tight, uncomfortable harness. I was shaking all over while watching dad and the younger two sail through mid air. I really didn’t like it! Though, I was very proud of myself, as I had made a very wise decision. If I had just stayed in the little structure, and watched the others, I would have missed out. Not only on a big memory, and something I’ll never forget, but to be able to say, ‘Yes! I did it!’.

We carried on biking until coming to the entrance of a local attraction. It was a 15 minute walk to get to the large waterfall. To be honest, I was blown away! Not only literally, from the strong, crashing water that fell from the high ledge, but from the astounding beauty of it all. At one stage, beside the waterfall, we had to crawl on hands and knees, under a natural ledge, at a hight of 80cm! Also, it was very wet, and at certain places, the water would spray all over us.

By the time we were back on our bikes, most of us were soaked from head to toe. There was another waterfall that had a pool we could swim in. We were going to go there, but as it was already nearing the late afternoon, and we (the children) were dying to play soccer with the local kids, we headed back home.

Us, along with our many bikes were loaded onto the back of a small truck, which would take us back to Baños. It was quite a rough ride, and the two benches we were seated on were not fastened to the floor. But it is better than having to cycle uphill all the way back!

 As I mentioned before, we were anxious to play soccer, or football as they call it here, with the local children. Just near our hostel there is a large sheltered communal area, with two big soccer fields, and here every afternoon we meet a group of local children to start the game. The games are filled with fun, laughter and confusion, as we cannot understand each other. Slowly others decide to join, and are quickly assigned to a team. This was one of the best ways we’ve connected with the local community so far. And it was so much fun, for both groups.

Until next time,

-Kali-

Author: Mariza

2 June 2017

Baños is beautiful!!!! Green mountains all around. We loved it the moment we saw it. Strolling from the bus station to our hostel, all uphill, we passed a square containing a market and a soccer field. No sooner have we dropped our bags, or our children announce they’re off to play soccer. About an hour later, Jarik and I found them in the middle of a soccer game, having the time of their lives. We watched them for about half an hour and then left without them to explore the rest of the town. We had to literally drag them to dinner later that night. So much fun to be among other children!

Our room with six bunk beds in our charming little hostel is in the basement. We share a bathroom with a handful of other travellers. It is clean and… IT HAS HOT WATER!!!! Whoodeewhoopwhoop!! Breakfast is great and we happily pay the additional US$1 per two eggs.

Our kids announced earlier tonight that we should only stay in hostels. That was after we had a delightful evening with a bunch of other travellers from all over the world in the hostel courtyard. Always fun to hear others’ life and travel stories. The staff here is a great lot as well. We love chatting to them too.

We’ve now enjoyed a full day of bike rides to different waterfalls with a quick zip line adventure in between, as well as a day of hiking in the mountains which included a swing over the valley on the famous National Geographic front page picture swing off a tree house.

Tomorrow will be a quiet day, including some school work and planning our amazon jungle adventure. We will definitely grab food from Sam’s, as they produce the best homemade burgers and fries at the best prices ever. Not your normal fast food joint at all!! Even the mayonnaise is freshly made right there. Delicious!!

To get to the deep jungle entails another overnight bus ride. I shall not think about that for the next two days. I shall focus on beautiful Baños and drink it all in. How very privileged we are.

Author: Eulain

The Bus Ride

Sliding on my seat,

Moving with the Salsa beat,

Wishing I had less to eat

Thinking it would soon land on my feet.

Bags are falling to the ground,

The wheels are making an awful sound,

The whole bus is an unhappy crowd.

I wish the bus  will stop,

It would end the painful hop,

By the way, I’m sitting at the very top

Slip and slide,

Hoping I’ll be alive on the other side,

This is definitely the worst bus ride.

I am very busy,

At being very dizzy.

I’ve had enough of the rushes,

On these bad buses.

– Eulain –

Connections and Volunteering in Lima

Good morning Lima! What a beautiful day for a run through the bohemian suburb of Barranco. And what a joy to do it with my precious family.

What was supposed to be a meeting with one person, turned into an entire day with a wonderful bunch of people. Thank you precious Oli! We love everything about this organisation!! After packing sixty boxes with food and personal hygiene items for people who lost everything in the recent floods and landslides, we moved on to sorting and packing clothes. Volunteers simply arrive at this gorgeous house and do what needs doing for as long as they can or want to. It feels like a big happy family.

Francesca and Daniela showed us the ropes and we fell in love with both of them within the first few minutes. We had a good few laughs too. Katja, the founder, is an inspirational, kind, gem of a lady. Well connected too. She will hopefully visit us in Australia in the not too distant future. Diana runs the show and is incredibly busy. She put us in touch with people in Trujillo, our next destination in Peru. Oh how very grateful we are for each of the new friends made here in Lima – the absolute highlight!

Lima to Trujillo

On our departure day in Lima, we got up super early to book accommodation in our next town and to clean and pack. Well, well… Jarik’s laptop went into some crazy loop during the night and ate up all our data!! Oh no!! And everything is closed for at least another three hours.

So with no accommodation booked on the other side and only being able to get wi-fi in time to get an uber, we ran downstairs to meet our lift to the bus station. With all the stress and drama, I managed to lock my backpack in the apartment. And by now, we were cutting it very fine for the bus departure about ten kilometres away. Our Mr Uber (which we paid) drove off when he realised there was a problem. I managed to get hold of Mariana, our wonderful hostess and friend, who dropped everything to come over from the next suburb and unlock the door and then drove me to the bus station. The rest of the family, in the mean time, got lost in another uber and only arrived at the bus terminal after me and after our departure time. Marvellous Mariana spoke to the bus people in Spanish and made them wait until we were all finally onboard. Phew!!! What a drama!!

Mariana told me not to worry, as she would organise something for us with a friend of hers who works at a five star hotel in Trujillo. We arrived around 8pm and was driven to our fancy hotel in the smallest, dirtiest taxi in the world. Quite the comical contrast as our porter loaded our backpacks out of the taxi and onto his glitzy trolley. Five stars here we are!!

The next morning we enjoyed the gym and pool before we moved on to our much more humble abode on the other side of town. Our new hosts told us not to venture out to the left as this is a “very dangerous” neighbourhood. Very reassuring!

After being completely underwhelmed by Chan Chan (the largest pre Columbian city remains in South America) and walking for miles in the hot sun, we took a local bus to the coastal town of Huanchaco.

Here we got harassed by restaurant recruiters and were promised amazing food at great prices. We were taken to a place up on the third floor from where we had a lovely view of the surfers and traditional straw boats. We thought we hit the jackpot. Until our food arrived. Tiny portions of disappointing food, incorrect drinks (which was supposed to be complementary) and a bill three times what was advertised. Mmm… And there we were thinking we were doing great being able to help ourselves in a completely non English speaking environment.

Back to Trujillo on a local bus (see picture above), we were dropped off 3km from our place, on the wrong side of the “danger zone” we have been warned about. An interesting stroll back home.

That night we ventured out for dinner and Peruvian haircuts for the boys. Loads of fun!  Six glasses of chicha morada (a drink made with purple corn) in a local restaubar concludes our adventurous day.

On our last day in Trujillo we went for a run in our now familiar “dangerous neighbourhood”. After a last cold shower, we were on our way to yet another overnight bus ride. 🤢🤢To Chachapoyas in the northern Peruvian highlands. Up from the coast – I’ll say no more…

Peruvian Coastal Dessert

We survived the overnight bus ride with the help of motion sicknesses tablets and my Annie’s wristbands. I didn’t quite get my required beauty sleep, but I saw some interesting sights along the way.

The coastal desert was a shock to me. Miles and miles of concrete coloured flatness interspersed with concrete coloured hills. No green, no signs of life, just dead rock. For someone who lives in the country with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, this is pretty hard to swallow.

I don’t think we’ll settle here then.

Chachapoyas

Thank you dearest Salkantay trek guide Ricardo. This was an excellent recommendation! Chachapoyas is a beautiful, clean little city in the northern highlands of Peru. We stayed in a hostel on the main square. Lovely!

From Chachapoyas we explored the surrounding canyons and waterfalls. Breathtakingly beautiful! The perfect ending to our Peruvian adventure.

Peru to Ecuador

An entire day of traveling in and on all sorts of interesting vehicles brought us from Peru to Ecuador. Buses, minibus-taxis, motorcycle taxis, local fall-apart-cars and a truck made it a very interesting experience indeed. Bent, our German travel companion for the day, who speaks Spanish was a great help. He told Jarik that people everywhere we went that day asked him who are we and what are we doing there and how does he know us. They have never seen a family do what we are doing and didn’t believe we were merely vacationing. Spying for the government, maybe?

At the border we had warm beer and our last Peruvian meal in an eatery with the most disgusting bathroom for which you pay 50 American cents per use. No seat, no, toilet paper and a floor flooded with wee. Eeeeeewwwwwww!!!!!! The food was great, though. We paid and strolled into the immigration office.

Bent lost the little piece of paper issued upon arrival in Peru. The penalty for that is 14.75 soles, less than 5 dollars. The catch, however, is that you can only deposit it at the national bank of Peru in a town a few hours from the border. Being a Saturday afternoon, there was nothing we could do.  Bent would have to stay in Peru untill Monday. We were all pretty devastated. A whole day of traveling for nothing.

Bent walked across the bridge and into Ecuador with us. He stood with us as we got our passports stamped in a little office. After exchanging hugs we got onto the back of a truck with a horde of Ecuadorians and waved at Bent as he walked back across the bridge and into Peru. As we drive into the dark we feel a mixture of sadness for Bent and excitement for our next adventure. And we wonder where we’ll end up sleeping tonight.

– Mariza –

Author: Mariza

12 May 2017

The next leg of our adventure entailed the scariest 20 hour bus ride in the history of mankind. Lima to Cusco. Nightmare is a huge understatement. Sitting on the second level right in the front only made it way worse. I am relieved and amazed that we got to the other side in one piece. No sleep and no school work done. Staying in your seat being the biggest aim and accomplishment.

Cusco, the cultural capital of Peru, is alive with markets, street vendors, local people dressed in bright traditional cloth and lamas on leashes.

Our host, Daniel, and his son Danny picked us up from the bus terminal and took us to their home in the suburb of Santiago. Up on a hill, overlooking the city, we found three comfortable rooms with a clean shared bathroom. The comfortable beds saw way too little of us. Only three precious hours.

We attended a compulsory meeting with our trekking company in the city centre. Here we met our tour guides and companions and received duffel bags for the trek. After quite an ordeal with administration issues and struggling to draw money to avoid the 8% credit card fees, we finally walked home (quite a significant distance) to re-pack our bags. By midnight we flopped into our beds, only to be up again by 3am.

Our Salkantay trekking company picked us up at 4am. Not the best way to start a five day walk. And a difficult one too. In true van Rensburg fashion, we went for the longest, hardest Inka trail.

Our family made up exactly half of the trekking group, excluding the two guides. Suffering up the mountains at high altitude on day one is the perfect way to turn 12 strangers into family and friends. The care and concern for one another was something truly special. Especially when altitude sickness kicked in for a few of us. Not fun!!! Hiking at high altitude was a new experience for our family and most of our group.

The five day trek took us up glorious mountains and through stunning valleys. The scenery ever changing. Our two chefs did an incredible job of creating delicious, artistic platters of food in the middle of nowhere for every meal. Being woken up with coca tea every morning was another little treat. We mostly slept in tents on thin mats and narrow sleeping bags. I hate to have my feet closed in! But, it was very cold. So, in the interest of maintaining some body heat, I happily disappeared into that narrow cocoon every night.

Every morning was an early start. Every day was flooded with special moments. Every hour brought people together and saw connections made. What a wonderful blessing! I will forever look back on this time with fond memories of breathtaking beauty and precious conversations and people.

Our final day started at 3am. Our family climbed the many, many stairs to the entrance to Machu Picchu in a record 35 minutes only to wait in a line for nearly an hour. After a two hour tour and strong coffee for all, we started our climb up Machu Picchu Mountain. Not for the faint hearted!! And no small feat in noon day heat!! But we did it with good attitudes and much silliness and laughter. Our family of six plus our adopted member, Joyce, enjoyed a little lunch at the top with a perfect view of Machu Picchu. Going down was rather difficult with all those narrow stairs. A last little hangout with our trekking family, followed by big hugs and sad goodbyes concluded our Salkantay trek.

We had only minutes to catch our breaths before starting the decent to the town of Aguas Calientes. We met a lovely Australian couple with whom we instantly connected and we chatted all the way down to the town. There we exchanged detail and made a date to meet up upon return at the end of November. They live on the Gold Coast, only an hour and a bit from us. How good is that?!

Another 10km walk (less than two hours) brought us to the town of Hidro Electrica, where we met our host and guide for the next several days…..

– Mariza –

Author: Mariza

I am in love. Colourful, vibrant Valparaiso. Steep and narrow little alleyways everywhere. Street art, beautiful old buildings, some brightly painted, others neglected and run down. Interesting people. Sophistication and poverty, all intertwined in this magical city clinging to the side of a mountain, overlooking the pacific ocean.

We arrived here at night after a long bus journey. The place alive with merchants and residents embracing the start of the weekend. The streets bright and noisy and buzzing. An abundance of bars and restaurants and little corner stores, stocking everything from toilet paper to wine.

We weaved our way through the bodies and little alleys until we found ourselves in the heart of the old city of Valparaiso. Here we stood and stared and drank in the fun and excitement and beauty of a place shaped by wealth and neglect, earthquakes and tragedies, the arts, rebellion and those seeking significance and meaningful endeavours.

As we meandered our way up and down brightly painted staircases, up and around and over an array of buildings and walls, all connected, we were hardly aware of our heavy backpacks. So consumed were we by all the sights, that we didn’t realise how far and how long we’ve been walking for. It was very late by the time we found our hostel. Not exactly a family home, but very, very interesting. The people too! All sorts. Mainly young and single.

We were thrilled to bed down in our rustic quarters. By the time we discovered the bedding was rather dirty and the place very noisy, we’ve already convinced ourselves that this was paradise. We didn’t get much sleep with a bottle shop directly below us and open all night and the alley “highway” of Valparaiso being our very street. But it was worth it. We felt a connectedness with the place and the people and we’ve had some significant conversations with those around us.

Valparaiso attracts all different types of people. There are the real artists who actually make art, there are the wanna be weirdos with strange hairstyles, most wonderful clothes and crazy piercings and then there are the ultra conservatives who gulp and look at all of this in amazement and secretly wish they were a little more adventurous.

The best thing to do in this city is simply to get lost in the little streets and to walk into every open door. There are the most incredible surprises in the most obscure little buildings. Food is another great adventure if you’re willing to simply go with what the locals recommend. Wine is cheap and mostly good. Craft beer in ginormous glasses and fancy surroundings versus cheap local bottled beer in sometimes drab and sometimes super bright, not so fancy, little rooms.

We walked many a mile in this gorgeous place and still I haven’t had enough of it. We ran every day too. Sometimes far out along the ocean shores and sometimes up and down the steep hills and through the busy markets. We always attracted lots of stares and friendly “Hola!”s. Our hearts are so full of happy memories. Valparaiso is simply wonderful!

– Mariza –