Horseback trek in Ecuador

After having such an amazing time in the mountains and then in the jungle I was feeling a little bit at a loss for what to do next which was going to come close to either of the afore mentioned. On returning to Iquiotos I had a message from Julie who was in Vilcabamba in Ecuador. She was planning to do a horse riding trek and was willing to wait for me! I flew back to Lima and managed to get a night bus, 18 hours up to a town in Northern Peru called Piura. I had hoped to connect straight through to Loja in Ecuador, but there was only a local bus service available and the next bus didnt leave until the next day.



Cow girl Julie!

 The bus company was  named Loja International and although this may give off the impression of grandeur it was most definitly not the case. Still, the bus was three quarters empty which helped alleviate the stiffeling heat. It took about 2 hours to get to the border where there were a total of 6 "offices", 3 on either side of the border to be visited to get exit and entry stamps. Luckily the bus driver was patient and the locals helpful as to which office had to be vistited in what order!
There was a noticable change in scenery pretty much as soon as we hit the roads in Ecuador. The infastructure of the roads and villages seemed better and the countryside less grey and dusty and much more tropical.  Its quite mountainous and in some parts reminded me of the lake district or North Wales. There were even Freisian cattle to complete the picture. The bus stopped frequently and filled up with locals and children coming back from school. Every so often vendors would get on the bus selling ice cream cones or packets of banana chips. I had come prepared had made rolls and had munched through about 3kg of peaches and mandarins Id brought the afternoon before.  After arriving in Loja, just after dark, I caught another local bus to Vilcabamba, the end of my fairly epic journey.



My horse "Bitey"

 The following morning, after meeting up with Julie, I found my self at the office of Gavin, the Kiwi cowboy. Gavin is in his 50s and has been living in Vilcabamba for over 20 years, running his horse trekking buisness. Vilcabamba has beautiful scenery and mild weather and has over the years attracted hoards of American ex pats who has brought land and built properties and also loads of hippies! It is quite a weird mix of nutcases. There are lots of cafes around the main plaza from whos tables you can watch the fire eating Argentinian "gypsies" or listen to someone playing the digerydoo or buy jewellry from one of the MANY girls making it to facilitate buying their next bit of weed or spirulina juice from the Juice bar. I was quite glad to be heading out to the hills on one of Gavins horses to stay at his lodge on the edge of the Parque Nacional Podocarpus.
Julie, Gavin and I were joined by Edgar, Gavins Ecuadorian horseman assistant and also Andy and Chris, a couple of English guys who now live in NZ.

We rode for about 4 hours up small steep trails high into the hills overlooking a distant Vilcabamba. I have to say my bum really hurt and I was glad to see the lodge and get off the horse! The views were spectacular. Gavin had brought the land 20 years ago for about $3000, he has about 5 acres. There was a rectangular shack as the sleeping accomodation and also the main lodge which was a triangular building with all sorts of animal skulls and bones decorating its facade. I couldnt help notice that there were hundreds of empty bottles of rum stacked up one side. There was also an open air long drop toilet with a great view!

During the ride up the mountain Gavin and Edgar had been picking oranges and passionfruits which they now turned into juice for us to drink whilst admiring the sun set and taking turns to chop the wood for the clay stove. A bottle of white rum appeared on the table which was quite nice to mix with the juice, but my stomach had been feeling a little delicate (I think from all the fruit) so I didnt drink very much. Gavin, however, seemed to get rather drunk and rather stoned quite quickly, and as he was preparing our dinner started rambling on about UFOs and the like.

After a rather uncomfortable night in our slightly bug and rat infested shack and after a breakfast of hash browns and very strong coffee we headed off into the hills on foot. The trails are far too dense and obstacle strewn to go by horseback. Gavin, now thankfully sober, is very knowlegable about the plants, animals and local folklore of the area. There were lots of tropical plants and wild orchids and he pointed out animal tracks made by spectacled bears and mountain lions. We walked for about 6 hours and eventually reached the summit of the hill, about 3100m.



Gavin

 We had lunch sitting on top of one of the mountains over looking the lush valleys below us. It was boiling hot, but Gavin predicted that it was the sort of heat the brought rain, even though there wasnt a cloud in the sky. Sure enough within 15 minutes there was a sudden short but heavy down pour that made the steep scramble down through the forest very, very, slippery.

The evening was a repetition of the night before with Gavin having a personality transplant due to excess alcohol and weed. Mostly it was funny, but his constant rambling and repetition did get a bit boring. At one point he produced clear plastic bags with old, dried, white animal excrement inside them, exclaiming excitedly that this was mountain lion poo! Juile and I were near hysterics. He then persuaded us all to lie on our backs to watch the sunset upside down. You had to be there to believe it really!

The next day we saddled up the horses and rode back down the mountain to Vilcabamba, stopping en route at a road side cafe for freshly made melon juice. All in all, it had been a thoroughly fun and bizaare couple of days.

Iquitos

Disembarking from the small aeroplane was a little like walking into a steam room.  It was raining heavily as we drove from the airport into Iquitos. Iquitos is the largest city in The Northern Peruvian Amazon jungle and is only accessible by air or water.  It reminded me more of Asia than South America. Rickshaws and motorbikes buzzed around us on the badly maintained rain slick roads. It was so humid, even with all the windows in the taxi open. Jungle plants, palms and trees creeping through the cracks in the pavements and low rise buildings.

Once installed in my hostel I ventured out briefly to go to the bank and also to do a recce for a restaurant for the evening. I can’t put my finger on it but I feel a little unsettled by Iquitos.  The people look different, the atmosphere is different. Perhaps it’s the heat and the rain, but everything seems a little more frenzied, a bit aggressive.

One thing I notice is people wear a lot less clothes. Many of the women are provocatively dressed regardless of their shape, age or size and the men stroll around topless and in some cases shoeless. I can’t decide whether this is down to choice or poverty.

I am met the next day by Osmar who is to be my jungle guide for the next 5 days. Our first stop is the infamous district of Belen.  It is a floating shanty town, consisting of hundreds of huts built on rafts which rise and fall according to the water level of the river.  Approximately 10 thousand people live there and in the morning people arrive in their canoes from nearby villages to sell their produce from hut to hut or in the Belen market.

The Belen market is raucous and crowded.  All kinds of strange and exotic products are sold here. There were many stalls selling Amazon herbal medicine, bottles of “dragons blood” and dolphin fat as well as numerous forms of natural Viagra. The food part of the market was also astonishing and shocking in equal measure. The stalls were so crowded together they seemed to be on top of each other. There were people and animals everywhere. So many exotic fruits and vegetable mingled with stalls sadly selling turtle eggs and chopped up turtles as well as alligator and lots of other types of fish.  There were snakes heads for good luck charms and blocks of brown sugar cane with flies all over it as well as rolls of dried meat and fish. It was quite overwhelming. It was almost mediaeval. I had been told not to take my camera or to wear a watch as theft is all too common even with a guide.

After the market visit, we had a fantastic ceviche in a local restaurant made from fresh water tiger cat fish and served with boiled yucca and sweet potato.  We then went to get our boat to take us to the lodge. The dirty, little port was called Huequito and was little more than a jetty at the bottom of some concrete steps.  The boat was a turquoise blue; metal hulled and roofed speed boat with open sides.

The lodge is set 110km east of Iquitos on the Amazon River. It is dry season so the water is approximately 15m lower than in the wet season. At places the river is 3km wide.  There were some green islands dotted in the river due to the low water level where the locals grow rice in the dry season.  The banks of the river are steps of mud and sand up to the edge where the jungle begins. Every so often there is a thatched dwelling on stilts.

The speed boat is the fastest public transport on the river. Occasionally we pass rusty, metal ferry boats with their cargoes of goods in the hulls and lower levels, sleeping cabins in the middle levels and then a level of hammocks, swinging lethargically in the warm breeze for the second class passengers. These boats take days if not weeks to reach their destinations.

Now and then there is a local fisherman nearer to the banks in a dugout canoe. The river is mud brown and smells. The rubbish that pollutes it near the city is quickly replaced by organic materials like floating trees that need to be avoided by our small boat.  Once in a while the motor is turned off to remove things jamming the propeller. It is very hot.

Two hours later we arrive at the entrance for the lodge. It is just a small wooden jetty and a thatched hut on the bank.  We disembark and have a 5 minute walk through a tropical orchard of pineapple, banana and citrus trees.

The lodge is made up of 2 main wooden buildings on stilts with woven and thatched palm roofs. There are mosquito nets in place of all the windows and doors. One building is the dining area and kitchen and this leads on to via a wooden walkway the accommodation. The rooms are simply furnished but comfortable and surprisingly have ensuite (cold) showers.

There is jungle all around us, and as it gets dark the animal noises are amplified. There is a noisy chorus of cicada as well as birds, frogs and monkeys.  Despite the heat, I manage to sleep really well and wake early to get ready in my wellington boots and liberal coating of 100% mosquito repellent for my 1^st excursion into the jungle.

Osmar, myself and Tedy a local man from the nearby village of Oran head down river in one of the lodges speed boats. Every so often Tedy waves his wooden stick towards the shore and the boat is steered towards the bank. He points towards the tree tops. Eventually using a pair of binoculars and with plenty of guidance I eventually pick out what he saw from a moving boat 25m from the bank. It is a 3 toed sloth, sleeping in the top of the tree.  We continue downstream for about 15 minutes, the boat stopping and starting whenever there an animal or bird of note. Eventually we pull up to the bank and head off into the jungle.

Tedy

 Even in the shade it is boiling hot and in my long trousers, long sleeve t shirt and wellies I am soaked with sweat in about 15 minutes. The humidity is 85%. There has recently been a storm and many trees and palms have been blown over so there are plenty of obstacles to climb over. Tedy goes in front with his machete, cutting a path where possible. Both Tedy and Osmar can mimic the sounds of many of the animals and it is quite amazing how they can almost call the animals to us so we can get a good look. There are fire ants everywhere and it is hard not to get bitten. The jungle is quite impressive and we were lucky enough to see 2 more sloths, one which was actually moving and also 3 variety of monkeys, night owl monkeys, pygmy marmoset and saddle back tamarind.  There were lots of interesting trees and vines and in between all this many varieties of bananas, cocoa, papaya, pineapple and tropical flowers.  It was hot and tiring but worthwhile. Later that afternoon, once we had returned to the lodge I fell asleep in a hammock in the hammock room, with views of the jungle.

There is only me and an American couple staying at the lodge. It’s quite odd in a nice way. It’s nice to have the place to ourselves. We both have our own guides so I see them at meal times but other than that it’s like having a private jungle estate. The lodge is not luxurious. It has no electricity. It is owned by a young American biologist and falconers with eco-tourism in mind. There are two very impressive birds of prey in the grounds that he rescued. One is a White crested eagle and one is an ornate hawk eagle. There is also a pond with turtles and another with Caymans.

The next day Osmar and I go Piranha fishing. We are dropped off by Tedy in the speed boat about 15km up river. We have a short walk inland to a fresh water lake where there is a wooden dugout canoe. Armed with wooden poles for rods and a lump of steak for bait we paddle out to the far side of the lake where there is some shade. Osmar cuts the meat up with the machete and we start to fish. Piranhas are greedy little fish so we have landed out first within seconds. There are 2 types silver and red bellied. They are quite comical little things, but the teeth are razor sharp and you have to watch your fingers when removing the hook in case you get bitten.  We spend a really pleasant morning bobbing about in the shade fishing and chatting. We don’t bother keeping any of our catch as Piranhas are not very nice to eat.

Fishing is one on the main sources of food and income here and many of the locals are fishermen who fish the main Amazon with nets for several days at a time and then make the journey to Iquitos to sell their catch at market. Every so often we see a make shift plastic tarpaulin tent on the shore line which is temporary shelter from the sun and the rain for the fishermen.

In the afternoon we go out on the speed boat again, this time we are dolphin spotting. There are 2 types of fresh water dolphin in the river. Blue and pink. We see lots of both. They are much smaller than salt water dolphins and it’s easy to sit and watch then playfully dive around the boat in twos threes and fours. We also see plenty of birds on the shore line and the local village football league squad in their boat returning from a local tournament.

The following day we go by boat up river for about half an hour to a different part of the jungle. We had had heavy rain the day before and the ground is really waterlogged and the atmosphere even more humid than usual. The rain forest is really interesting with even more different trees and palms and animals than I’d seen on the previous days. After 2 hours of waking I am soaked through with sweat and it is a real relief to get back on the boat and get a breeze. We visit some local fisherman on the way back to the lodge that have caught some really interesting looking fish. Post lunch I have my now regular siesta in the hammock room…. It really is too hot to do anything but sleep or read between 1pm and 3.30pm. That evening we take the boat up river again, bird and dolphin spotting with binoculars and we are also lucky enough to see a fantastic sunset. After dinner we explore the grounds of the lodge by torch light, which reveal a whole new wild life world of alien like frogs, tarantulas and the red twinkling eyes of the Caymans (alligators) in the swamp.

Unlike Iquitos the atmosphere up river has been nothing but friendly. When we go out in the boat the local people on the river banks or in other boats always wave or say hello or come over for a chat. Several times we have been offered fish or a slice of water melon by strangers.

The days roll into a routine of being in the boat and wildlife spotting. It is too hot to be in a hurry. A little bit of paradise is to be found strolling along a sandy beach on a fertile Island sand bank in the middle of the amazon where fields of rice lead onto fields of maize with bananas and guavas ripe to eat from the trees and then floating upon a quiet lake fishing and taking turns with the binoculars to spot the incredible wildlife in the surrounding forest.

My final afternoon is spent visiting the local village of Oran. It is a tranquil little paradise. The main economy his fishing or agriculture and live seems very laid back. The lodge also gives employment to around 25 people in this community. There is a small clinic, and a junior and secondary school. There are no motor vehicles except for boats and there are plenty off volley ball nets and a concrete football pitch complete with stadium seating. Football is a big part of daily life and local teams compete with each other on a daily basis for money. As we are there a 6 a side game is quickly organised, to include Osmar. Bets are taken, about 25p a person and a game of approximatly 10 minutes each way ensues. Its quite exciting and there are various lively exchanges re penalites. The audience are the referees and I guess a bit biased according to which side theyve bet on. Its almost dark by the time we get back to the lodge.

The village of Oran

I feel quite sad to leave the next day, but on the way we stop to visit a sugar cane plantation and mill. The owner makes his own rum which we stop to taste, before heading back to Iquitos.

Sugar cane press at the rum factory



Rum or fire water tasting



Having spent a final night in Iquitos, I think my first impressions were wrong. It is a bit edgy, but its not agressive. Its just really hot and people like to stare.

Nevado Ishinca

After a few days rest and relaxation in the cafes of Huaraz, Tom, Julie, Kimberley and I decided to form a group to learn some mountaineering skills and (hopefully) climb a mountain. After doing a bit of research we decided on Nevado Ishinca, on the basis that there was lots of snow, a glacier, it wasnt overly technical and we could do lots of climbing skills in a reasonably safe environment. Our guide was called Lucio, one of only 50 odd mountaineering guides in peru. He looked older than his 26 years, and had started his training at 15, paid for by an Italian missionary benefactor who had taken a liking to him. Our plan was to go to the base camp of Ishinca on day one, and then up to the moraine camp just below the start of the glacier and learn mountain skills for days 2 and 3, then go for the summit very early hours of day 4.

Day 1. We had about a 4 to 5 hour walk up to the base camp. Part of it through a magical wood of trees with their red tissue paper bark and a crystal clear strem. The base camp was set in a wide valley amidst the snow topped mountains of Urus and Tocllraju. There was quite a large refugio with dorm rooms, proper toilets and even a shower. But this was not for us, we were camping!
Day 2. I only went to the toilet briefly after breakfast and when I came back there was a new plan on the table. Tom and Kimberley were the ring leaders. The new plan was to head up to the moraine camp and go for the summit of Ishinca that night, returning to the lower base camp to sleep the rest of the day and then heading up to conquor Tocllraju at a wapping 6000 plus meters that night. I was slightly stunned but thought, why not....atleast do Ishnca and then see how we were all feeling. I had to admit I had my doubts that I would be capable of doing 2 summits in 36 hours. So with the new plan, we set off to the moraine camp, about an hours walk from the glacier. There was a very basic refugio where we were going to stay. Just bunk beds and a kitchen table.

That afternoon we set about organising all our gear, going through rescue procedures and then learning lots of differnet types of knots. We were all tucked up in our bunk beds by 9pm as we had a 2am wake up call. At 4950m none of us got much sleep. I could just hear my heatr beating 20 to the dozen and everytime I turned over it just thumped even faster. Even after nearly a month in the mountains it wasnt getting any easier! At 2 we got up, had a quick breakfast then donned out many layers of clothing, crampons, ice axes, harnesses, headtorches and helmets and set off. At that time in the morning the grey dusty ground of the moraine wall was frozen solid. The quartz in the rocks shone like silver and white glitter in the light of our head torches. There was a light covering of fresh snow glistening and tiny little white flowers adding to the magical moonlight walk to the glacier.

 

Clearly delighted to be walking up a mountain at dawn!

It was seriously hard work. We were all attched to each other by the rope and a complex series of knots, so that if one of us fell into a cravasse we wouldnt drag the others in. We set off at  a slow steady pace, zig zagging up the mountain. No one spoke, there was too little oxygen. It was really hard going, but in some ways meditative, just concentrating on breathing and placing one foot in front of the other repeatedly.  As dawn broke over the mountains we go the most fantastic views of the Cordillera Blanca. We finally reached near the summit at about 8am only to find the usual ice bridge broken and a 15m vertical ice wall with a top overhang in our way instead. Not deterred in the the slightest, Lucio produced a pair of technical ice axes and proceeded like spiderman to climb the wall. He made it look so easy!!! He fixed a top rope, threw down the ice axes and got us all having a go at ice climbing. It was thrilling!

Finally we had all made it to the summit. The views were incredible. We were sat amidst a forest of 2 foot snow "trees" covering the slope from the summit. The sun was surrounded by a completely circular rainbow or arco iris and all around us were other snow capped mountains and deep blue lagoons. We were all elated but completly shattered and had already decided that attempting a second peak that evening was a stupidly impossible idea. We arrived back at the lower base camp about 10hours after we had originally set off, all of us physically and mentally exhausted. After a bite to eat we all collapsed into our tents for the rest of the afternoon.

By the next morning we had all made a full recovery and spent the day learning rapelling and self rescue techniques whilst hanging from large boulders, before heading back to the road head to catch the bus back to Huaraz. We all agreed that if we had another couple of day we would have attempted the second summit. Rainy season was drawing in and bringing with it wet weather every afternoon with snow on the high ground, which means increased avalanche risk and Tom
ánd I both had flights booked to other destinations. His back to London and mine....North...to the Amazon Jungle.

Huayhuash part 2

I should mention at this point that the Huayhuash is not a national park and instead of purchasing a park entrance ticket, we had to pay small amounts per person at each camp site, about 150 soles each over the 10 days. Epi had put forward the suggestion that on the last night of the trek we had a Pancha manca. A traditional method of cooking meat in the ground using hot stones. He had said we could buy a sheep from one of the villages to cook and this would be about 120 soles (30 pounds). In order to save money he was getting Alaine or Kim (who both speak good Spanish) to pretend to be assistant guides or the cook at each of the check points so they didnt have to pay the fees. He´d calculated that by day 9 we would have accumulated enough savings to pay for the sheep.

´Day 6. We crossed the Punta Cuyoc pass at 5000m. Everyone felling better except for Alaine and Annalie who had been sick through the night. Vomit the dog had followed us from the last camp to clear up after people.  After lunch we had the option to do another 5000m pass, the San Antonio¨.  Dark storm clouds had gathered and it was really windy. Only four of the group chose that option. The rest of us continued down the valley to camp. On the way we saw some Huayhuash, squirrel X rabbit like creatures hopping around in and out the rocks. The scenery was still amazing but not a patch on days 3 and 4. I guess its easy to get de sensitized by so many dazzling views that one starts to loose appreciation.

Day 7. It was freezing and very windy in the morning. We had a hard 3 hour down hill slog to a small pueblo called Huayllapa. Some of the group went into the village to see if they get get any provisions. We were starting to fantasize about fresh fruit and avocados and were in need of fresh stocks of loo roll.  The rest of us began the long walk to camp. Annalise was still really ill and was not eating and hardly drinking. I was starting to get quite concerned about her as it had been 3 days. She opted to ride the horse the rest of the way to camp.  For the rest of us we began a long uphill 5 hour struggle to the camp. I think we all agreed this was the toughest and most mentally challenging day. It seemed to go on forever, the trail was hard to walk on and with each turn our hope of seeing the little orange tents that represented home were dashed. It went on so long that we all just had to laugh and keep trudging on, in the hail and snow. The camp was at 4628m and very, very cold. Annalie had been in her tent since she´d arrived a few hours before us. Thanks to my little wilderness medicine book and some extra antibiotics that Will had given me at the end of Ausangate trek I gave her a large dose of Ciprofloxin for bacterial diarrhea and hoped for the best. I really felt that as she was eating and drinking so little that if this didnt sort her out we were going to have to insist on her behalf that she was somehow sent back to Huaraz where she could get proper medical attention.

 Day8 I woke up to find my water bottle had frozen solid inside my tent. It had been the coldest night yet. Once I got up I noticed that there was a sheep teathered to the outside of the kitchen tent. This was obviously the sheep we´d paid for.  I hadnt expected a live one. By the time the others had gathered for breakfast it had already been christened ¨tasty¨. I spent the rest of the morning trying not to look it in the eye and berating my self for being such a cowardly, hypocritical meat eater, only capable of purchasing my cellophane wrapped, santized meat from the super market, totally disconnected from the reality of its origins.
Here was a sheep that was probably the most ethical and organic animal possible, that was going to be slaughtered in the most humane and stress free way in its natural environment (ie, not in a slaughter house) and I was having a hard time dealing with it and breifly questioning whether I should infact be a vegetarian! I put that thought to one side fairly quickly, but I knew I wasnt going to make friends with the sheep and I certainly didnt want to see it killed.

After breakfast we set off for the first of 2 passes both 4800m.  We were over taken by the donkeys and the horse to which Tasty has been lain across the saddle. Annalie, who was feeling significantly better opted to ride the horse so tasty was allowed down to walk the rest of the way. Lunch was by a stream in the hot sunshine. We all promplty fell asleep and woke to fine a massive and very ominous looking weather front had come in which swiftly brought hail and heavy rain. We arrived at camp pretty soaked, luckily the sun came out again just after we arrived to dry us off.



Tasty riding the horse

Tasty was slaughtered not long after we arrived at camp. I saw one of the horse men leading him over to the kitchen tent. I took my book and headed to the lake to read and look at the view. I was aware that most of the others had gathered aroung to watch the slaughter. I really didnt want to and felt that it was my choice. Ít was all over when I got back.

Day 9. We were staying at this campsite for 2 nights and it was really nice to wake up and not to have to pack up. We went on a short half day hike up to a mirador view point at 4500m. It was pretty steep and the weather wasnt great, obscuring the view.  We were back in camp by noon to see the start of the panchamanca. This involves makling a hollow igloo of rocks underwhich a fire is lit and allowed to burn for several hour in order to heat the rocks up.  The igloo is then dismanteled and the meat which has been marinating in various herbs and garlic and wrapped in brown paper is then layered up with the hot rocks and potatoes. The whole thing is covered with wet straw, then plastic, then earth and finally left for about 50 mins to cook. The result is really flavoursome, steam bbq¨d meat and potatoes.

Day 10. We had a very early start followed by a long hot downhill round the mountain to the town of Llamac. As were neared the town we could hear a band playing, almost as if celebrating our return from the mountains.  We had had a great trip, and made some good friends with  an interesting and diverse group of people. We were all looking forward to getting back to Huaraz and a shower, good meal and warm bed!