“would you do it, too?” We’ve probably
all heard that - or something very similar - at least once from our mom. No I
can finally unequivocally state “Yes, I would! Of course I would…why wouldn’t
I? It’s amazing!”
So, last week I’ve been to the Autisha Canyon. It’s around
three hours north-east of Lima and a nice opportunity for a hike, rappel, and
of course PUENTING! Puenting is, as you may have guessed, something similar to
bungee jumping, although not quite (look the rest up yourself). On that trip I
lost my group. Twice. Although that is not entirely new to me here. More on
that further down in the post. The bus dropped me off with several others on
the bridge for the rappel. Only after I put the harness on and spent about half
an hour chatting with people and taking pictures of the landscape, was I
notified that I’m in the wrong spot and the bus would come pick me up. So I
hiked/sprinted along a narrow track with the guide that waited for me to bring
me to my group. After the much shorter rappel (55m instead of 120m) I touched
ground in a cave enclosed with walls of rock, where an underground waterfall
waited for me. Man, the brute force with which the water shot out of the hole
in the rocks was breathtaking. Entranced by that scene I lost my group the
second time. Just didn’t notice they were gone. But what kinda guide leaves
people behind??? Anyway after I found them we went up an old mineshaft. The
ladder was the least safe thing I’ve seen in my life. It zig-zagged upwards and
to get from the end of one part to the start of another you had to walk over a
4cm pipe for 1,5 meters. No safety net, no nothing. Well, I survived, just to
go back to the bridge and jump off it. The one thing that I found scariest of
all was the fact that you didn’t really have a lot of wiggle room on swinging
left and right, since there were rocks on either side of you. So you better made
damn sure you jumped straight.
And so the caracol (snail) made it back to Lima
alive.
That
nickname was earned the weekend before in the jungle. Not deep jungle, more
like the start of it. The whole house and several other people went to walk
through rain forest, see waterfalls and the like, and got to visit an
indigenous village. In the village of the Asháninka we got served traditional
food of the Selva (Jungle) and learned about their history which is, to say the
least, heartbreaking and bloody. To this day they are still not allowed
representatives in the government of even their region. Then there was a lot of
staged shit which culminated in the very cleverly done sales pitch, leading
every person individually to a merchandise booth. My little “guide”, who I got
to dance with before, looked pretty annoyed by all us strangers being there.
When I asked her if it’s not really shitty having to do this every time a
tourist bus comes by she said that Yes,
she hated it, but it was for the good of the village. Most of the older
girls and women were better at hiding their dislike for us (or at least the
general situation).
The trip to the waterfalls was fun but you all have seen
waterfalls so there is not much to tell. Except that at the second one me and three
others went away from the waterfall, upstream, to encounter absolutely raw
nature and a couple nice rocks to go cliff diving from. Needless to say, we
took way too much time and made everybody else wait (Which they had to do
habitually on that weekend, because the 4 caracoles always, always, were the last by a huge margin).
On the hike through the ecological park we had a beautiful scenery around us
with lots of strange plants. However, the tons of different animals that live
there and we were supposed to see didn’t show up. But what do you expect? Half
of them are probably night active anyways and the other half wouldn’t go near a
group of twenty-ish people. It also may or may not have been because 4 people
started singing full volume near the end of the tour – which 4 people is not
really of importance at this point…
Before we went back to Lima we had to try
one more thing: So me and Sergi went climbing one of the lower coconut trees in
the yard of our neighbors house and stole us a couple coconuts fresh off the palm
tree (Good stuff).
This
weekend was about as far from the jungle as you can get. I drove up in the
Andes to start a hike to a lagoon in the mountains. We started at 6.30am, 3,500m
above sea level and about minus 2°C. Smart as I am I didn’t pack any really warm
stuff because “Hey, it’s South America…
How cold could it get?” Classic I-don’t-need-research
moment. So, as you might be able to imagine, a little German Michelin-mascot,
made up of all the sweaters and jackets he possesses, started going up the
hill. During the day the weather changed drastically, though. So at what felt
like 26°C in the sun, I also changed my appearance from Michelin-man to Hunchback of
Notre Dame, with a bulging backpack hanging on me.
Seven kilometers later
and 1000m higher up we got to the mountain lake. Easier said than done. Two out
of five got sick and vomited and the rest of us was getting out of breath
unusually fast. Altitude sickness is no joke, folks. The air is really thin up
there. I got nothing but respect for people who go up fucking Mount Everest. The
exertion was absolutely worth it though. The sights along the way were amazing
as well but the "Laguna Rapagna" stole the show. A giant, blue, shining puddle surrounded
by colorful mountains…
A beautiful scene, and a great image to leave you with
until the next time someone posts on here.
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