"Ian's Big Trip"

Back in May, my partner Kerrie and I headed off to South American for a holiday! Why South America? Kerrie is an avid bushwalker and the 4 day hike to the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru is a bit of a holy grail to the bushwalking fraternity. Being it’s a long way to go just for a 4-day hike we decided to make it a 6-week trip that would encompass Chile, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

We arrived in Chile Wednesday, 13th of May, stayed a couple of days in the capital Santiago, then headed to Lima, where our 20 day tour of Peru started from on the Monday. We filled in the weekend with a city tour and a look at some ancient ruins.

Our guide and the rest of the tour group, 14 in total, included a couple of pommy girls, a Kiwi, an Irish guy and the rest were Aussies. The tour would slowly work its way south, visiting every ancient temple, Spanish building and nature reserve along the way.

The following is a brief summary of the trip: -

• Ballestas Island - home to thousands of rare sea birds, seals and penguins.
• Huacachina Lagoon - an oasis in the middle of the Ica desert and surrounded by gigantic sand dunes. We board V8 powered dune buggies for a close look at the dunes.
• Nasca lines - huge geometric designs drawn in the desert around 900BC.
• Arequipa - the second largest city in Peru and located in the Andes at an altitude of 2325m. Founded in 1540 and built on the slopes of the Misti Volcano it is very prone to earthquakes, the last in June 2001.
• Colco Canyon - at 100 km long and 3000 meters deep, it is one of the deepest canyons on the planet (twice as deep as the 'Grand Canyon) and home to the giant Andean Condor. While travelling to the canyon we reach an altitude of 4800 meters above sea level and at this height one is quite susceptible to altitude sickness. (shortness of breath even when walking, constant dull headache and nausea) Usually disappears after a day or two.
• Lake Titicaca - worlds highest (3860m above sea level) navigable lake where we visit the floating reed islands and then onto Amantani Island where we stay overnight with a Quechua Indian family.
• Cusco - once capital of the Inca Empire, it is still littered with ancient Inca remains and also many fine Spanish buildings. It is here you see the Inca stonemason's work where the fit is so accurate a razor blade cannot be inserted between the stones.
• Inca Trail - an ancient man-made track cut into the Andes Mountains used to link the Inca City of Cusco with Machu Picchu. This 44 km hike will be tackled over 3 days with the second day being the hardest as we climb to 4200 meters. But having porters to carry the heavy stuff makes it a little easier, also the scenery is magnificent with many Inca ruins along the way to explore.
• Machu Picchu - we reach this ancient Inca city (only discovered in 1911) at about 4pm on the 3rd day, have a brief look around then into the nearby town of Aguas Calientes for a long overdue 'shower'. Up early the next day to beat the tourists for a more in-depth look at this amazing archaeological complex.
• Puerto Maldonado - deep in the heart of the Amazon Jungle we stay in a lodge designed to blend in with the environment. See exotic birds, plants and animals. Even catch a Piranha, and sadly that's the end of the trip!

But, just like the ads, there’s more. Hopefully, in the next newsletter the "Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro" trip will be featured.

Ian Payne and Kerrie Gooding