Up in the Andes - Cusco, Peru

Stats:

Destination: Cusco, Peru

Days Stayed: 7

Where we stayed: Monte Hereb Hospedaje - $33/night - $4 extra for the non-efficient heater

Best restaurant: Jack's Cafe has good international food (except for the hamburger - I thought it was a veggie burger but they assured me it was beef); Best Veggie Menu of the Day at El Cuentro for between $1-2 dollars you get a soup, salad bar, main dish and tea; For a nice dinner, we ate at Incanto and the steak with gnocchi is excellent as is the Alpaca steak.

Best of: Local market by San Pedro Church, impressive colonial churches (ask for the free audio guides - very informative but they like to hide them), Tons of shopping opportunities - Tracy was in her element

Worst of: Hassle alley, we quickly tired of walking through the perimeter of the Plaza Armas as we were constantly asked to come into restaurants and if we wanted massages.

After flying back from the Galapagos to Quito, we were reunited with our missing clothes...minus one sock, but otherwise in good condition. After a long wait in Quito, an overnight in Lima we hopped on the first flight to Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire.

Lima may be the official capital of Peru, but there is no doubt that Cusco is the heart and center of the tourism trade. Cusco serves as the jumping off point for Macchu Pichu and its million visitors per year so to say it's touristy is a bit of an understatement. Despite its popularity, it still has a charm to it. Not only was it the capital of the once mighty Inca Empire that covered most of the Andes, it also served as one of the earliest Spanish colonies in the Americas.

One other note of distinction on Cusco, it's high in the mountains. At over 12,000 feet altitude sickness can be a problem. With all the traveling, lack of sleep and altitude I (Tracy) wasn't feeling so well for the first couple of days. We decided to not push it by trying to squeeze in Lake Titicaca (sorry Jason, I know how much you wanted to go). This allowed for lots of time for resting and for enjoying coca tea, the local remedy for all of life's ailments. We both felt it helped with the altitude and for me, a dose of cipro chased away my illness after a couple of days (though it returned even worse on our Transatlantic cruise). Just don't chew the coca leaves (another recommendation for altitude sickness), it's just like chewing...well...a leaf! Not pleasant at all.

Cusco has lots of churches, ruins and museums to take in. The Religious Circuit ticket (60 soles pp or about $20US) gets you into the three principal churches and one of the art museums. All of the churches in the circuit date back to when the Spanish first showed up here and conquered the Incas in the late 16th century. A blend of Spanish, Moorish, and local Cuscuean design has its own unique flare. Intricate baroque carved red woods with gold plating are the standard by which most of the pulpits, choirs and altars were created. The main attraction of the ticket is the Cathedral, which actually is a complex of three churches under one roof. We ended up "touring" the cathedral three times. The first time we were on our own and wandered through reading what we could of the Spanish captions with broken English in parts. The next time it was part of a city tour we took to see the ruins just outside of Cusco. The last time, which in our opinion is the best way to see the complex, is by following the audio tour. Since there are tour guides available inside the churches who speak a little English and work on a tip basis, they like to hide the audio tours so you have to ask for them. The audio guides are in perfect English, very detailed and have side stories that even the guides don't tell you. One down side of the churches is that they don't allow photography of any kind, flash or no flash, and it is strictly enforced. Tracy did manage to get a shot or two secretly before they came rushing over to remind her of this but they didn't turn out well.

Nearly as stunning, and right next door, is the Compania de Jesus. Ask for the audio tour here as well, it's really well done and totally free. The audio tour even leads you through a secret doorway in the wall and up the stairs to the second level of the church with excellent views of the cathedral and the Plaza Armas.

The Iglesia De San Blas is an adobe church set on a hill. The exterior of the church is rather unspectacular but the wood carving on the pulpit is spectacularly done (unfortunately they allow no pictures). It took over 20 years to complete and is very intricately carved. The neighborhood of San Blas is also a joy to wander around with alleyways running this way and that with the odd alpaca to bump into!

To top off our Cusco religious ticket we stopped at the Religious Art Museum which is housed in the palace of the Inca Roca. The museum has a nice display of religious art and again has those handy (and free) audio guides! No one was on guard here so we got a few pictures!

Our favorite market in Cusco(by far) was the central market by San Pedro. We stopped by here several times always stopping by to say hi to our favorite fruit lady (fruit salads 2.5 soles - less than a buck & her fresh squeezed juices come with free refills)! She was conveniently located right next to the chicha lady who was kind enough to give us a free sample of her brew (think thick fermented corn with sugar)! While shopping in the market you can even get a pair of pants hemmed on the spot or buy hand knitted footwear! They also have roving carts with little snacks, chicharonnes (pork skins) or fried quail eggs anyone? We also enjoyed shopping and taking daring walks down the long meat aisle (once complete with a pig head wrapped in a blanket on the floor). Our recommendation is to do this with your mouth closed and try to hold your breath!

We enjoyed the courtyard in La Merced as well as the crypt area with original paintings but we were disappointed that many of the rooms were closed (probably our fault, we came 45 minutes before closing). We did get lucky and were serenaded by the local elementary school band practicing top hits like "Superman" and "Spiderman, Spiderman".

The Qorikancha. or Temple of the Sun, forms the base of the Iglesia de Santo Domingo (entrance fee 20 soles). It means golden courtyard in Quechua because in Incan times it was quite literally covered in gold. It was used during religious rituals as well as an observatory for celestial events. Today all that exists is the exquisite stonework, the Spaniards stole the gold during the conquest. It also contains the Inca's smallest mistake which was expertly patched (see photo).

Set high on a hill just above Cusco lies Saqsaywaman (entrance for all of the Sacred Valley ruins are covered by the Boleto Turistico pass - 120 soles/$40). With its wonderful views, Saqsaywaman is the largest of the four clustered near Cusco. It is famous for the largest Incan stone (see photo below). Don't miss a climb up the hill for stunning views of Cusco below.

Qenco is a small ruin located quite close to Sawsaywaman. In Incan it means zigzag. It's a limestone rock full of niches, steps and symbolic carvings. It also contains a stone sacrificial altar! The altar was once used for human sacrifices and the stone is extremely smooth from all the scrubbing!

We stopped quickly outside of Pukapukara, not going in but just snapping a photo from the outside. Pukapukara means red fort but it supposedly was used as a hunting lodge or a stopping point for travelers.

Tambomachay is the region's ceremonial bath which still channels fresh spring water. Built during Inca times, they still do not know where the spring actually begins. The belief is that if you drink the water you will experience eternal youth. Naturally we filled up a full bottle :-)

The most famous stone in Cusco is this 12 sided stone which is part of the original Incan wall. I'm not sure why it's so famous, the Incas used stones that contained 36-48 sides and they can be found in many of the temples (Qorikancha, Saqsaywaman & Machu Picchu) but beside this stone there are a number of little fly by night shops and a man that dresses in traditional Incan garb posing for pictures...perhaps this has helped improve its popularity.

The Museo Inka contained a nice collection of Incan ruins including lots of gold work, pottery and textiles. Sadly, like everything else in Peru photography was off limits but they did have this nifty little sign to let you know. Instead of listening, I whipped out my camera to capture it. All I could think was, why are they naked?

We also took in a folk show the Cusco Cultural Center...normally I like this sort of thing but I wasn't impressed...I'm glad it was free (included in the Boleto Turistico - 125 soles - $40).

That concludes our visit to Cusco! From here we headed into the Sacred Valley of the Incas!

To see more photos from Cusco please click here!

Sharks and Rays...our last days: Diving the Galapagos

Stats:

Destination: Santa Cruz - Black Turtle Cove and Puerto Ayora.

Where we stayed: La Peregrina B&B(peregrinagalapagos@yahoo.com) $40US per night including breakfast. Quiet place right on the main street. They have simple rooms with friendly owners and are very clean.

Best restaurant: While the Galapagos are more expensive for just about everything, there is a street with local stalls about three blocks behind the main street that served up reasonably priced meals for anything from soup and a simple meal for $4 to $12 for the lobster tail (we recommend the sopa y pescada a la plancha (soup & grilled fish - $4).

Best of: The massive school of Galapagos and Reef sharks that we stumbled upon diving

Worst of: Sub-Aqua had to be about the worst dive company we have ever dove with...if they are the best in the Galapagos, I can't imagine what the worst is like!

*With the islands being so diverse, we decided to post each one separately. The Galapagos Islands will be an 8 part series. Here is Part 8.

All good things must come to an end and our time on the Beluga was almost over. Our last tour was through Black Turtle Cove bright and early at 6am. The cove was named after what was once thought to be black turtles, but has since been proven to be a darker shelled variety of green sea turtle (most common). It was a boat ride through more mangroves where the highlight was a school of eagle rays feeding on top of the water. These graceful creatures stay in schools and feed near the top in layers 3-4 deep. Above the surface, you see the edge of their fins poking out of the water as they swim by.

After our early morning boat ride, it was time to depart the Beluga, say goodbye to some new friends, and get ready for some diving!

When you start taking the PADI (Diving certification) courses, they love to show you videos. One of these videos featured the Aggressor Live Aboard ships in the Galapagos and it was enough to make us both get excited about diving here! The video had shots of schools of hammerheads which made us realize that a trip to the Galapagos would not be complete without taking a look under the water a little deeper.

The dive company picked us up from the boat and we dove twice at North Seymour island for the first day followed by Gordon Rocks and back at North Seymour for the fourth dive the second day. Highlights included seeing a massive school of Galapagos and white-tipped reef sharks, seeing the hammerheads swim by (a little too far away for a great picture) and the manta rays (both in a school as well as one big one swimming alone). What you see is well worth the expense, but we would suggest going with someone else. We made the decision based on convenience (they were willing to pick us up from the boat so we could dive two days instead on one) and reputation (Sub-aqua was supposed to be one of the best here).

If you don't dive, you could skip this paragraph, but we feel like venting for a moment on how horrible Sub-aqua was. First off, they promised a dive master for every 4 divers/max 6. What we got the first day was 12 people diving with two dive masters at the same place and time so it was in reality a group of 12. Second day, we got one dive master for 8 people with an "assistant dive master" (It was the DM's girlfriend and I don't remember "assistant DM" being a certification level.) Secondly, they do everything for you, which is somewhat of a false blanket. On three different occasions, someone had to have their air turned on after the boat crew had given the ok, Tracy's depth gauge didn't work so she had no idea where to stop at for the safety stop not to mention her regulator was not working the best either. Third, they do this ridiculous weight check where you jump in a non dive location with the weight belt and wet suit on, but not the BCD, basically making you think what is the point. Then, once you get out of the water from the weight check, you finish suiting up and sit on the side of the boat, with air tanks hanging off the side getting hit with waves, while it flies to the actual dive site. Once there, there is this rush to get in the water, no mention of buddy checks (apparently the crew has taken care of that for you right!?!) and in the water, they tell you to dive, with or without your buddy present...you can just meet up at the bottom. Instead of ascending as a group, you go up paired with the next closest person on air, not necessarily your buddy which really makes no sense. Once on the surface the boat swings around to pick you up...but before you can get on, they fire up the engines and are off to pick up the others (because their air consumption allowed them a whole two minutes longer of bottom time!), you meanwhile hanging on to a rope on the side of the boat like Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea getting drug all over the place. We don't want to discourage diving in the Galapagos as it was a wonderful place to see, just Sub-aqua was the worst we have ever dove with, even beating out the cocaine peddlers in Amed!

Any ways, enough bad stuff, enjoy the great views through our pictures!

Couple of cool pics of the White-tips

Here are the hammerheads. I saw one on the third dive swim within two meters (6 feet) just as we were descending...bummer I didn't have the camera for that moment.

We are fairly confident these are smaller Mantas, because of the mandibles but cannot confirm. If anyone knows for sure, let us know!

One last sea lion made an appearance!

Lazy sharks and a turtle!

The heart of a sea star, they were plentiful in most sites. Coral in the Galapagos are few and far between due to the effects of a particularly strong El' Nino in the 80's. These schools of fish are everywhere in the Galapagos.

Part of the massive school we saw on the last (and best) dive.

Yep, they got pretty close!

One last shark photo, and a spotted Eagle Ray (second largest ray behind the mantas).

This concludes our 8 part series on the Galapagos. While expensive, we thought it was definitely worth it. We saw things we have never seen before, got closer than we ever thought possible to the wildlife and retraced the steps of Darwin. Where else on the globe can you say you swam with the penguins, beat a bunch of dolphins in a race, watched boobies dance (outside of Vegas :-)) and witnessed a family of sea lions frolicking in the ocean?

To see more diving photos please click here!

Love is in the air...you can feel it everywhere! Santiago and Bartolome, Galapagos

Stats:

Destination: Santiago (James) Island and Bartolome Island, Galapagos

Best of: More penguin loving...in more ways than one!

Worst of: Camera started to fog up just as we got to the penguin lovin'

*With the islands being so diverse, we decided to post each one separately. The Galapagos Islands will be an 8 part series. Here is Part 7.

Day 07: Santiago (James) Island: Puerto Egas & Bartolome Island

We started the day on Santiago (James) Island at Puerto Egas. On top of the hill overlooking the bay is the remains of what once was a house and salt producing factory. The company was short lived as the owners declared bankruptcy, abandoned the island in the middle of the night, leaving behind all the workers...unpaid! The workers were rescued after a couple of weeks from Santa Cruz, but they took everything they could carry from the house as a form of payment.

Further along the path, up off the shore is where Darwin studied his now famous finches. There are thirteen varieties of finches, all endemic to the islands. To the naked eye, the finches are virtually the same, no differences can really be noticed. Darwin started to study their behavior and noticed that each one had a different length of beak. One finch in particular feeds on a nut that is too hard to crack. The finch has adapted it's beak to be able to pry open the shell and is the only animal that feeds on the nut. This adaptation ensures that the finch will not have to fight with other animals over a common food source.

Returning back to the coastline, we came across the Fur Seal grottos. Unlike the sea lions who enjoy sunning themselves, the fur seals prefer the shade and lay in the the crevices and under overhangs. The fur seal is much smaller than the sea lion and there are not as many either. The fur seal, much like the tortoises, were prized by humans. Nearly hunted to extinction, they are now protected and making a comeback. This little guy, however, was the only one we managed to see.

We think this guy is a Galapagos Night Heron. It may look like he only has one leg, but he is in fact just standing on one leg. They sleep standing on only one of their legs.

Hard to tell in the picture, but similar to the Blowhole on Espanola, there is Darwin's toilet. as the tides go in and out, the water go gushing up and back down a hole in the ground giving it the appearance of a toilet.

Back on the beach, we donned our snorkeling gear and jumped in the water. The only thing from this snorkel to report was we were so afraid of this bull seal, that we turned around and cut our snorkel trip short. They can be very territorial and since he was a much better swimmer than we are, we decided to let him have this part of the water.

After lunch, we moved the boat over to the island of Bartolome and jumped in the water for more snorkeling fun! With its Pinnacle Rock, Bartolome is one of the most visited islands in the Galapagos, and one of the most scenic. Our snorkeling took us around the edge of the island and in between the pinnacle and the main island. The highlight of this snorkel trip came at the end when we came across more penguins on the rocks. The Penguins here decided to put on a show...mating style! Sadly, the housing started to fog up about the time we got here, but Tracy managed to get a few shots through the fog. It was still entertaining in that uninhibited animalistic kind of way.

Bartolome is one of the most visited as well as most photographed of all the islands and for good reason. It's not very big, but it packs a lot of geological features into a small footprint. The trail leads to the top of the hill for a great over view of the surrounding ocean and smaller islands. The island receives so little rain, that footprints in the volcanic soil will remain years after they were left. Due to all the tourists, they have since installed a walkway over most of the path to prevent erosion. Like most of the islands, Bartolome is a volcanic island. Aside from the lunar type landscape of red, dry soil, the island also boasts fine examples of spatter cones. When a volcanic eruption is occurring, the lava finds weak spots in the side of the main cone and the pressure becomes so great that it eventually forces it's way out the top and causes a secondary eruption.

Once at the top, we were treated with grand views!

Back on board, we had our last night on the Beluga and got ready to disembark the next morning.

To see more pictures of Santiago Island, click here.

To see more pictures of Bartolome Island, click here.