Lima

It would seem I was never meant to learn Spanish here. I´m not sure what I did to put her off but my teacher stopped showing up! So I decided to use the book she had given me to teach myself and I already feel like I know a lot more.


I´m in Lima now to volunteer at a refuge run by a friend of a friend, but they can´t see me until Tuesday so I have some time to discover the capital. It´s a shame therefore that there isn´t a lot to do! Luckily I have randomly ended up in a hostel in the beachside area of Miraflores with an English couple I met on Fraser Island in Australia! The world gets smaller and smaller the more you travel. Yesterday we walked around sampling the cafes, parks and street entertainment, breaking up the day with a viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and now we feel ready to jump on a tin can (a rickety old public bus) and brave the big bad centre.


I was lucky to get a chance to volunteer in Arequipa as well, at a primary school in one of the new towns with some friends from my hostel who had been given the opportunity by their tour guide. I was really impressed by the school and most of the children seemed to be very keen learners. They were so cute but a lot of them were ill so I tried not to get too close. Luckily there have been no signs of the sniffles or nits! We were introduced to all of the classes then put to work. Dara and I helped Class 2 with their Spanish lesson (as well as we could!), I taught Class 4 fruits in English with Esther and Matt, then Dara and I made paper chains with Classes 2 and 3 and tried to teach them Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Sadly most of the children will not progress to secondary school, but it´s great that they can get a basic education here and learn how to behave with their peers and elders.

The other big event last week was my 3 day trek to the Colca Cañon. This is the world´s deepest canyon and for some reason I thought I and my gripless Diadora trainers would be able to walk all the way down into and back out of it! As soon as we started the big descent I knew I was in trouble, as I started to slip and altitude sickness set in. Amy was struggling too as her shoes were too small making her toenails lift and bruise - ewww!!! To cut a long story short, I passed out and chewed Coca leaves to settle my stomach before forceing myself to carry on. Thank god for the Irish girls Cathy and Coch who kept our spirits up! Amy and her man John stayed behind to catch a mule the rest of the way. Our guide could only show we 3 Cs some of the way to the village as he had to go back for the others, and by this time it was getting dark. I was sure we were going to be lost and stranded in the depths of the deepest canyon, but we eventually found civilisation, hot showers, beds and food (alpaca is yum!). The next day was easier, and at midday we relaxed for a few hours at a private oasis in the middle of an avocado grove. After lunch Amy and I faced the fact that we weren´t going to make it up on foot (by this time I was walking with a painful limp) and jumped on a couple of mules. It was the scariest but best horse trek I have ever done, as we were constantly in fear of the mules slipping but it was way more interesting than walking in a straight line down a country road. We whooped as we saw we had made it to the top and treated ourselves to some nice cold beer. The last day was trekking free and we went to see the famous Condor colony - loads of really huge birds soaring through the canyon and over our heads. My ancient Olympus brick wasn´t up to the challenge but some friends are going to email me some photos for you, Mum and Dad. The whole gang reunited again for a big night out in Arequipa, and as we´re all heading to Cusco I hope to see them all again for Part II very soon.