Trujillo, first stop in Peru

To Janka´s disappointment, Peru is as dirty and full of garbage as Ecuador is. Really no difference.

Full of bus seats and tired from 20 hours ride, we call to Fernando, our next host. Fernando has 2 rooms ready for hosting and it is great. We got the chance to meet Phoebe and Rapha who arrived to Trujillo few hours after us. Soooo nice people who quickly became our good friends.

Next morning we had a very rich breakfast together and then take bus to Chan Chan. Ruins of old city, build up from sand and mud. Impressive and interesting piece of archaeology  We walked around for a while and admire what was left from this secret palace.

On the way to main road we spotted Phoebe and Rapha ;), all 4 of us heading to seaside village, Huanchaco. We had the chance to visit the most weirdest marine museum we have ever seen. Some fishes are dried and shrinked and others preserved in pots. It´s a case to “see it to believe it” =D

During the second day in Trujillo we had a long walk through city. Nothing really special, we have to say. The main square as some nice buildings and it`s the only part of the city that is without garbage. We watched  a very weird game where kids were having fun breaking glasses on the road and then cleaning the road and set garbage on fire, crazy minds....

Fernando, our host insisted in have the last dinner together, so Nuno and Rapha went to buy Chifa, Chinese meal for him and Janka and Phoebe got burgers for 4 of us. And we ate our dinner, drunk beer and for desert….. J ….. Fernando showed his treasure collection to us, more than 60 pieces “found” in tombs. 2 glass cabinets full of statues and pots from pre-Inca and Inca times. Amazing collection!! After all we had a good time in Trujillo but sure 2 days were enough. We had a good start in Peru and ready to explore more……

From Ecuador to Peru

And here we are, holding our hands, sitting in the bus, ready to leave Ecuador and enter the second country, Peru J

Excited as always we handed out our passports to officials and there was one more stamp to collection. After night ride by bus, we arrived to Piura. Still a little bit sleepy we picked our staff and took taxi to different terminal, what an disorganized crazy traffic!!! Here we looked for buses to Chiclayo and Trujillo. The Chiclayo one was leaving sooner so we hopped on and head south. After arrival we stayed with doubt if we should stay or go further south to Trujillo. We had lunch and talk and eventually we took bus to Trujillo.

It was the longest time spent in bus in our whole life. More less 20 hours with breaks in one day. Truthfully we made great decision! In Trujillo we met Fernando a museum in person and our new friends Wiebke (aka Pheobe) and Raphael, a German couple J

Loja – the best way to say good bye to Ecuador

We decided to leave Cuenca day earlier so we could go to our last destination in Ecuador. Loja, the city with lights in the sky J

We were welcomed by Diego, our last host and his 3 little schnauzers J . The same day he took us  for a beer in a local pub. Nice music and nice chill after 8h bus ride.

On Sunday we accompanied him and his family in search of land for summer holiday house near Vilcabamba. Landscape over there is just simply magnificent. Green hills, rocky mountains…oh..we loved it. As we drove through village Nuno spotted sigh for sale on fence of field. Ladies made call, owner arrived, we all checked field and from first second walking on it we said: “this is it!” And it was the one! Field prepared for house with stream, eucalyptus trees and plenty of fruit trees like banana, papaya and guanabana. So nice. Hope, they will enjoy their holiday time over there J after building the house…

Next national park in our counts was Podocarpus. The entrance to Amazonas rain forest. So we travel to Zamora, one of the entrances of the park. Some plants from park were important for making medicine used by the construction workers of the Panama channel because they suffered from yellow fever.

We hitchhiked till the entrance and saved 2 hours of walk. The park is simply amazing. Right in the beginning we saw big, huge butterfly J At first we walked to a very nice view point and to a bridge you can see in Indiana Jones movies ;) On the way to El Mirador, we heard the strangest bird song, it  sounded just like a robot, but we could find it in the middle of the vast flora. After one hour of up, up, up hill hike we finally reach the top view of all forest. Very much tiring 6 hours walk but a beautiful day.

Next day we head to Vilcabamba, the magical city where ancients live over 100 years. Some say it is because the healthy food and magical water, others say it´s the agriculture work and chamicos (locally produced cigarettes) and there is another tale that says it is because of the energy of Hayauasca and San Pedro Cactus ceremonies.

We spent 3 days in an organic farm which produces yogurt and cheese. We met Leslie, the owner of the farm, Alejandro the Columbian coffee maker(and what a good coffee he makes ;), Carlos and Hitomi, the Argentinian/Japanese couple.  Janka helped Leslie finishing the cheese making and later we could try the delicious product and later we had a delicious meal and chilled conversation. Next day we had an amazing time climbing the nearest mountains which offered us the fool view of the valley. Vilcabamba fulfilled our energy levels and left nice memories.

Back to Loja we met Diego once more and prepare our stuff. Our journey in Ecuador was finishing. We departure in direction of Macara and cross the border with Peru

Peru here we gooooo!!!!!

The nicest city till date - Cuenca

For our disbelieve we found clean city!!!!  

Too much plastic packaging, stray dogs, scavenging birds and people who simply throw garbage to the floor…this is what makes Ecuador look so dirty. And here in Cuenca streets are just so clean. Hard to believe someone cares about cleaning.

All in general we were pleased about the way how city works. Tourist office workers finally spoke English and gave us appropriate tips and directions. And so we took day to visit highlights of Cuenca city. Flower market, food market, Panama hat factory, several museums and outdoor historical sites. In one of the museums Nuno got lesson of history of Canaris and Incas and Spanish conquestors. How Incas wanted to get rid of Canaris so Canaris made pact with Spanish to eliminate Incas. Once Incas were eliminated Spanish killed Canaris. Just as we use to say in Slovakia: “Where 2 fight, 3^rd is the winner.” In Pumamungo historical site we finally saw LAMAS from near distance!!!! Lamas, lamas, lamas :D None of them spit on us but they were spitting on each other :D :D Lamas :D For the end of city tour we hop on bus which took us to view point. And there we could “admire” whole Cuenca from above.

Early morning bus took us to Cajas national park. Arriving at 7.25am to the park we had to wait for workers to arrive just because park opens at 8am. Nevermind. So we sat on cold concrete path and watched birds hopping around. Guard who looked more as prison than park guard was super impolite and kept starring at us as we were some tiffs. Maybe we wanted to still a bit of water from lagoons or capture birds :D  Anyway, workers finally arrived and we could head on our way. With lack of proper markings and broken signs we got lost twice, well only twice. At first in forestry area and second time waterfall capture our attention and we kept walking on the path upstream. After some time we realized there was nowhere to go. We looked and looked and couldn´t see any path. Eventually we spot people walking far away down near lagoon. On the path we took, there were 29 points to see. From 29 we saw only 3 boards and rest were lonely broken sticks. Great way, how to keep visitors save! Park itself is beautiful, hills, mountains, streams, waterfalls and lagoons everywhere you look. It was impressive 5 hours of walk.

On the way back to city we got a ride thank to Argentinean couple, who were hitch hiking. It took 3 cars and bus to get us back to city J exciting day J … nice time in Cuenca.

Galapagos - Nature vs Society

Lending on Galapagos Island is unique sensation. Watching so many programs about it makes you feel you`ve been there already, “The Enchanted Islands.” With smile on our faces we walked towards house of our next hosts – Alejandra and Pauli.

Right on first day we visited Interpretation center which explained the way life rolls on islands. San Cristobal is the only island with fresh water. Others pretty much depend on boats that bring drinking water or desalinization machines. Humans, like always, tried to take over islands for many years…killed thousands of very unique giant tortoises for fresh meat and oil to light up streets of Guayaquil and seriously endangering  many species, by bringing domestic animals such as goat, donkey, dog, cat, pigeon and mosquitoes. All of these animals in some way destroy native creatures, either by hunting them, eat their eggs or simply eat all vegetation.

To our surprise “The Enchanted Islands” didn`t turn to be as enchanted as we thought. Generally, people living on islands are not aware of what they have on islands. For example to some of them, sea lions are too noisy and sleep on beaches and birds still fish from fisherman. What interests them more is the specie “Tourist” AKA “Gringo”, who will give them money in pure dollar paper. But they miss to understand that if there are no sea lions, birds, fishes or turtles, there are no tourists.

If you take a cruise, you pay A LOT and see those lovely, clean a fixed places that make you feel amazing (sometimes they even look artificial). Here you will definitely believe that life in Galapagos is extraordinary. But if you do visit by yourself, just the way we did, you will discover the “other” side of islands. How unenhanced people are. Besides all mountains of garbage, unfinished constructions, we saw dead dog stuffed in plastic bag thrown right next to the sidewalk and no one seemed to bother. Although our frustration was in high levels, there was nothing we could do about it so we simply decided we gonna enjoy this special time in such special place with such a special nature. So we sat on the beach and watched sleeping sea lions. =D

In “La Loberia”, getting into water was brave decision but in the moment there was sea lion swimming next to us, all sensation made us forget how cold we were J They are so agile in water..swim and twist and roll..will never forget it. First time is always first time J

Alejandra landed her snorkeling gear to us so we got better idea of what was swimming with us. Oh man!!! The variety of fishes and sea lions were pretty enough, but when we spot our first sea turtle, ooooh, what a feeling!!!!! J They are so gentle, laid back, peaceful creatures. We swam over top of them and watched them eat algae from rocks, one of them was simply huge around 2 meters length.

One of the days we went walking to only volcano in San Cristobal Island called El Junco. Well, at first we took taxi to nearby village and then walked for 2.5hours. It was a lovely walk till the top of volcano where we saw frigate birds washing themselves in the lagoon on top of volcano. Unfortunately, it was cloudy so we couldn`t see rest of island. On the way back we turned to a view point we thought it was just around the corner. Well, we walked for 1.5 hour through fields and up to the hill and finally we got to a lonely cottage in the middle of nowhere. We got amazing views!!! Here we really felt alone in island. Magnificent and Enchanted!!!

On another day, we set on our feet to walk to hacienda with coffee plantation and opuntia`s garden. You should all see smile on Nuno`s face. So many coffee plants!!! :D At first we wanted to find coffee factory, we walked and walked and found nothing but coffee plants. So we turned back and continued downhill towards Opuntia`s garden and beach. Hundreds of opuntia cactuses – tall, short, fat, slim..amazing!!! They grow only 1cm per 1 year! We had our snack on the empty(human…not sea lion) beach sheltered under the trees. Here we were on another place all alone with peaceful in mind and souls. As we stud up and got ready to leave we spotted pile of tiny turtle shells. I guess, those ones didn`t make it from nests to the ocean. :/ Natural selection. We turn around to say bye to the beach and suddenly saw movement on the rocks. Sea turtle struggling on rocks trying to get back to ocean. Nuno, in full spirit of rescue, even fell into the water while he was carrying turtle back to safety. :D

We extended our stay in Galapagos and so we set on to explore Isabela Island. We took early morning speed boat to Santa Cruz Island. Over there we visited Charles Darwin center. Besides hundreds of giant tortoises there was nothing else to see. After lunch we took second speed boat to Isabela Island. To our surprise we saw dolphins, one of them jumping like mental and albatrosses fishing in open ocean. J During the trip we got to know Camile, a US/French girl and then her friend Fabianna, German, which was waiting for her and so we went all together to stay in hostel called Posada del Caminante. The best value, place and clean hostel so far. Lauro, the owner is very friendly, funny, talkative and helpful person. He gave us tips for free tours, directions and we took amazing boat tour with his friend. We had some walks and many talks with girls and finally great roasted chicken for dinner :D girls, thanks a lot for your time, we enjoyed it a lot. Hope, to see you in Europe one day ;)

After seeing sea lions, marine iguanas, several types of fishes, sea turtles, giant tortoises pelicans, frigates birds, blue footed boobies, albatrosses, dolphins we wouldn´t think there was more to find. And we were standing on wooden path looking at beautiful pink flamingos. WOW!!!! What a gorgeous bird.

We didn´t finish adding species to our list. As we walked down the mole to get ready for boat tour, Janka spotted penguins swimming and fishing in ocean. So, so, so cute little animals!!!

After 40 mins boat ride we arrived to spectacular place called Los Tuneles. The lava that erupted from one of Isabela´s volcanoes, flown to the ocean and created tunnels and lanes which cooled downand create a very special landscape, a really special place. Besides high number of sea turtles, we saw chicks of blue footed boobies. So cute white fluffy birds. Their wings were already bigger than their bodies J After this magical moment we went to snorkel and for very first time in our lifes we had chance to swim with sharks and rays!!! What a feeling!!! Even though those sharks were not dangerous species, swim with them was a bit scary to Janka and an adrenaline experience for Nuno. =D

On our last day in Isabella Island we were very happy to see wild giant tortoises in the National Park. They are so extremely slow :D and that make them very vulnerable. We also visit the impressive “Muro de las lagrimas”(wall of tears) made by prisoners for them to don´t get bored in Island.

On our way back to San Cristobal we stopped again in Santa Cruz and we visit another paradisiac beach, the “Tortuga Bay”, great water colors and loads of iguanas.

Well overall we had a great time, many lovely walks, snorkeled in several spots and sunbathed on different beaches on 3 Galapagos Islands. We definitely bring unforgettable memories from such unique and “enchanted” place, we just wish that sustainability will once arrive and be implemented on all of them, otherwise Charles Darwin will keep rolling in his grave.

Jipijapa and "La ruta del Sol"

After a night “storm” trip from Andes to Pacific coast – we were supposed to make in 8 hours but bus driver managed it in 5h 30min – we arrived to Jipijapa our base to visit "La ruta del Sol".  Waiting for us the fantastic Guevara family with Mitchell the great ambassador. A big family full of good energy, happiness and always willing to help. From great meals to handy tips, enjoyable moments and finally first chance to ride bike (2 of us together)….it will all stay forever in our top memories box J  Inclusive meeting Dona Poncha who we had pleasure to meet in last day but it looked as we were together all week.

On our first day we “run” to the Pacific Ocean only few kilometers from Jipijapa what was our first ever sight and touch on it. And we didn´t get disappointed.  Washing out feet in Puerto Cayo, it was great experience. There we also had a delicious seafood “mnhamy” meal and laugh a lot on frigates birds stealing sardines from fisherman who just arrived from fishing.

On the same day we went to Puerto Lopez and saw our first pelicans which are not robbers like frigates but patient beggars.

On the next day we visited Manta, big city of the region, and went to fish market and got very disappointed and sad with the amount of killed sharks….just for their fins extraction for some typical soup. They said that shark fin soup is delicious but we believe some  fisherman deserved to be “special” soup for sharks. In Manta beach we had our first real bath in great Pacific waters.

In the “Ruta del Sol” we pass one of our biggest and most amazing experiences so far in the day we spent in Los Frailes, the unique coastal national park in Ecuador, near Puerto Lopez. Lovely walk through dry forest, several types of beaches and observation of lizards(some huge) and birds. We end up passing all day in our improvised tent J Just like in movies we felt we were alone in planet J By the end of amazing day we met D. Jorge Chankay, “President” of tourism in this region, his assistant, driver and couple from US with whom we drunk beer and share some nice translating moments J

Next day we add to visit list Agua Blanca, an indigenous region. It was a family trip with Carlos, Eva, Mia, grandma, cousin and Max-schnauzer puppy. Well, it was pretty place with lack of spirit of it’s past. Except historical heritage people are not connected and interested to follow their ancestors. Once again there was more business than spirit. And the mysterious sulfuric lagoon? we still wondering if it wasn`t just rotten eggs pool :D as they don`t know it`s origin. We wish them some innovation and development otherwise it will be no future place wih a lot to explore.

We could not skip a visit to Montecristi, the origin of so wrong called Panama hats and more important the place of birth of Eloy Alfaro first Ecuadorian president. And we found out that the panama hat got this name because, Eloy took it to Panama as a present and they immediately adopted the hat and name. Besides the hat we could see how they make furniture out of paper…realy cool.

In our last evening we offer Slovak meal with Portuguese desert to our hosts. And thankfully they loved it J.  We could also meet “the Funny Gringo” Joel (typical Irish style and American soul), neighbor of Mitchell and got to know the story of the dog with thousands ticks and machete cuts…..you can not believe it till you see it… but thanks to him the dog look just great and full recovered…nice end story =D.

Last day in Jipijapa was very special. Mitchel took us to a secret place. Long bike ride, walk through finally green forest to amazing 30 m high waterfalls called Agua Dulce. Place you see only in books or magazines.

After great time in Jipijapa we took the bus to Guayaquil where we spend night and got ready to fly to Galapagos Islands.

Enchanted Island here we gooooo!!!!!

"Llacata kunka" the god of the lakes

We arrived to Latacunga nice bus ride with views to gorgeous landscapes. We stayed with Dariña and her family who allow us to have another great "surfer" experience. Latacunga is small but enjoyable city. If there is no fog or clouds you get chance to have clear view of volcano Cotopaxi and Iliniza. Really cool!

On first day we went to Saquisili – market place where they have 7 squares full of stands and goods to sell and nice mix of smells. Fresh and cooked food, clothes, tools, animals…well everything. Wondering around, we were not expecting to find baskets filled with guinea pigs (Chugchucara or cuy) sold for reproduction and as local delicious served with maize, beans and salad!!! Oh, horrible…. and no, we did not try it (at least for now)…

After 2 hours walking through mess of people we watched a nice student´s parade which was never ending.  We watched, watched and then ate and bought vegetable and fruit and they still walked and played on instruments..never ending J

On Friday we visited another volcano named Quilotoa. Perfect day! We walked into the crater of volcano to see lagoon and volcanic bubbles coming to the surface. Walking down was easy..but coming up…pretty difficult. When we finally got up locals tried to fool us telling there is no bus going to Latacunga. So we would take local taxi! Still they didn’t know we are no ordinary tourists :D we hitch-hiked to nearest village and took bus from there.

Next day was dedicated to relax in thermal bath in city called Banos. Surrounded by hills full of lovely flora, singing birds and shining sun..such a beautiful day. On the way back we saw another volcano, the Tungurahua, which is active.

On our last day in Latacunga we went to an enjoyable artificial lake which we believe all the inhabitants visit on Sunday. There was our last walk in Latacunga. We said good bye to street we walked through so many times, packed bags once again and got ready for night trip towards coast to Jipijapa.