Trek in the Cordillera Blanca

The Paramount Pictures Peak.

Sunday the 26th of July was an early start. Up at 5:30 and at the MontTrek tour agency at 6am to meet with the trek group, which I thought was only going to be 5 people but ended up being 12! There were 4 couples, one from Eastern Canada, one from Belgium, one from Lima and one from Ireland (who were initially from Italy and Spain). The other 4 included some girls from California doing a documentary on South American women, Thomas from France, and myself. Most of us piled into a big van, but we could not all fit so another vehicle was taken too. We drove for 6 hours deep into the Andes, stopping at certain spots along the way for photos of the incredible views. Between Huaraz (3000m) and Portachuelo (4770m), we observed mountain farmlands, glaciers and glacier fed lakes, and snow!

Mules--these ones without massive loads.

We arrived the small mountain village of Vaqueria at noon, had a small lunch and began our first day of hiking by 1pm. The climb was only a few hundred meters within 4 hours. In that time we had it all from sunshine, to overcast, to drizzle and at the time we reached our first camp it was torrential down pour. We were assured that rain wouldn´t be encountered, but luckily most of us were prepared fo it all anyway. The unfortunate part is that our guide and assistants set the tents up during the rain so everything was soaking wet for our first night. Needless to say, we were a little cold and quite miserable. To add to our misery, our guide was being lazy and didn´t have our dinner ready until nearly 10pm! Some of the group memebers gave up waiting because they were cold and tired, but those of us who waited were treated to a delicious dinner consisting of soup, chicken, potatoes and of course rice. Immediately following the meal, bed was in order.

Our first camp, which was very wet.

The night of rest was a bit wet but more or less warm and day 2 started at 7am. Breakfast was a classic Peruvian one with coca tea, bread with jam and aveena. Perhaps not quite the fuel we needed for our big day; 6 hours of hiking with a the Punta Union pass. The weather was similar to the first day, with mostly overcast skies. However, because of the altiude we were gaining, the precipitation we got was in form of snow! Very neat, and made me miss snowboarding a bit. Anyway, it was cold and though the view from the pass was amazing, it was too cold to stay for much longer than 15 minutes. Furthermore, the next valley we were meant to descend into was sunny and not the gloomy like the one we spent our first night in.

Ascending on the second day from the dark and wet valley.

The pass.

The otherside of the pass.

Thomas and I were the first to reach our second camp of Taullipampa which was situated at just over 4000m. We were able to enjoy a couple ours of sunshine while we set up camp, before the sun went down and the cold wind picked up. As the sky cleared, we were able to enjoy a very starry sky accented with a half full moon. Dinner was an hour earlier this night, and we were able to crawl into our warm sleeping bags earlier to escape the 2ºC air.

A horse that didn´t quite make it to the second camp...

For the third day, the sky remained clear which enabled us to enjoy the views of severs magnificent peaks, including the Paramount pictures peak (though it was hard to recognize without the stars around it). After a 3 hour detour to visit Laguna Arhuaycocha, we descended for another 3 hours to our third camp. It was also convienently located by some high altitude shops which sold beer so we could celebrate a few things. It was our last night in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru´s independance day and also our guides birthday (which we later found out to be a lie so he could get free drinks from us...tsk tsk). So at 3800m, we drank, sang and danced (mostly to keep warm) under the starry sky.

Laguna Arhuaycocha.

With some fuzzy heads, we were up at 7:30 and on our way down to Cashapampa (2900m) by 8:30am. It was only a 4 hour descent and with the sky still clear and altitude much lower, it was toasty warm. We waited an hour for the mules to arrive with our supplies, crammed into a smaller van than we had the first day (this time ALL of us too), and drove for 2 hours back to Huaraz.

Laguna Jatuncocha.

Getting ready to leave our final camps view.

Apart from some problems with the company and our guide, it was a wonderful trek with awesome scenery. The night we returned e went to a grill house to get a good fix of meat, said good-byes (or see ya laters) and returned to our hostels for a good night sleep in a bed.

The End

Surfing Fix Acquired

Puerto Chicama surf: the longest left point break in the world.

Apart from some mild homesickness from all the solo time, my time on the coast was exactly what the doctor ordered. I ended up staying the the beautiful, though often overcat, Huanchaco for the better part of two weeks, surfing everyday except one. I took this past Wednesday off to rest my shoulders and body so I wouldn´t be too tired for the record long wave in Puerto Chicama. Luckily, Thursday the swell picked up and myself along with Frenchman, Simon, and Deutchman, Ruud, took a cab to the world famous surf spot. The town was crawling with surfers that day (including South African friend, Rowan, who we met in Quito back in April) because the waves were working wonderfully. It was a lot of paddling and walking, but well worth it since I managed to get my longest ride EVER! It was oh so sweet, that moment when it officially became my longest continual time working a wave. Perma smile for sure. The sky was even clear and the sun shone strong. The only down side was some foot injuries from being barefoot.

The one and only sunset I witnessed in Huanchaco.

After spending about 5 hours surfing, we returned to a bizarre scene of sunshine and blue sky in Huanchaco. We arrived just in time to grab some large beers and watch the sunset. It was my first time seeing the sunset in the coastal town in my whole time there, and what a wonderful way to end my stay there.

A favorite lunch: ceviche, cicharron & Inca Kola, all for 9 soles ($3.25)!

That night, I hopped on a bus from Trujillo into the Andean city of Huaraz. The sky is blue here, though a bit colder because of elevation. It is similar to Cuzco in the sense that it is crawling with tourists and tour companies in a mountain setting, though not quite as hectic. With that said, it was tough for me to find a hostel that had room for one person, so with surfboard in tow, I zig-zagged through the streets searching for a desirable accomodation with a desirable price. After a solid half hour of bouncing back and forth between hostels and hotels, I scored a private room on the main drag for 30 soles per night. However, the owner decided to jack the price up today to 100 soles because of the local holiday! I was very unimpressed and quickly went to search for another place. Fortunately, I didn´t have to look for as long as I had the previous day and though the room I found wasn´t quite as nice, the price sure was.

Some festive costumes in a parade on the main drag of Huaraz.

Anyway, here in Huaraz there are plenty of things to do from rock climbing to treking to mountain biking and mountaineering and of course admiring some ancient ruins. I am going to start a 4 day trek in the Cordillera Blanca tomorrow before heading back to Pisco for another month of volunteer work. It is said to be some of the most beautiful scenery of the Andes with several snow capped peaks over 5000m. Hope the weather holds up as it has so far.

Oh, and on another note, once I got the word from Matt that he got a trim on his goatee, I went ahead and got a trim on mine. 6 months of growth was getting out of control, so I trimmed it rather than taking it off completely.

Surf Trip

Playa Makaja (near side) & Redondo (far side) seperated by the pier.

Playa Pampilla breaks right.

It was Monday, July 6th when I reluctantly left the home base of Pisco in search of waves. Sad to be away from the great volunteers there, but good news is that I found some great waves. Apparently the last weekend I spent in Pisco, a huge swell arrived to the coast of mid-southern Peru but I didn´t manage to get out for a paddle. However, since I arrived in Lima on Monday afternoon, I have managed to surf everyday apart from one when I had some stomach issues.
Lima has several beaches for surfing depending on swell conditions and direction. I didn´t venture out of Miraflores and surfed Makaja and Redondo this time. Last time I was in Lima I also tried the rights at Pampilla. Apart from the cost of staying and eating in Miraflores, there are always some waves.

Central Lima - Plaza de Armas

The day that I had a rotten gut, I tagged along with Riz (England), Clay (Wisconsin), and Sally and Leandra (Pennsylvania) to central Lima for some sight seeing. We went to China town for some grub, San Francisco Church to check out the extensive catacombs and some classic architecture.
On the night of Friday the 10th, I hopped on an overnight bus to Trujillo, where I then took a taxi to the nearby fishing village of Huanchaco. Like Lima, there are always some waves here, however I prefer it here for a few reasons. First of all, it is much cheaper; I pay 15 soles per night for a private room with hot water in my private bathroom, where I was paying 30 soles per night for a dorm room in Lima. Secondly, the shape of the beach favours left breaks and me being a goofy rider prefer riding with my frontside to the wave face.

Our guide playing the flute in the main Plaza of Chan Chan

Looking over traditional Huanchaco.

My life this past week and some has been very relaxing, consisting of surfing, reading, sleeping and of course plenty of eating. Here in Huanchacho, the hotel that I am staying at is only 2 blocks from the break so I usually go out twice a day. Between sessions, if I am not eating, sleeping or reading, I may be walking around checking out sites and such. On Tuesday, I checked out the nearby ruins of Chan Chan, the worlds largest adobe city. Most of the mud walls are eroding but restoration is ongoing and some of the main areas have been beautifully restored.
I am not sure when I shall return to Pisco. Originally it was meant to be this coming weekend, but the waves are so much fun that I want to get as much surf time in as possible before making my way to Brazil via Bolivia. So, I shall remain somewhere on the coast of Peru until I feel I have had my fix and find someone to adopt my surf equipment.

Holiday week at PSF

Volunteers hanging out in the plaza on a Sunday.

PSF has been nothing short of amazing these last 5 weeks. We have been pouring a lot of concrete and digging a lot of trenches. Two weeks ago, there was a group of us that went to a part of Pisco called Centro Pablado to dig some trenches. It involved smashing concrete and digging meter and a half deep holes connected with 2 foot deep trenches. That was a 2 day mission, so on day 3 we poured concrete to fill the lovely holes that we worked so hard to dig.

Ivan looks at what jobs need to be filled for the day.

Some good looking trenches.

Ollie and I made a brick wall out of some good looking trenches.

Just last week, two of us went back to continue with the project that is to be a bathroom and kitchen when finished; so we poured a bit of concrete and built a brick wall. It is so neat to see a project come so far in such a short time and to be able to be part of the transformation. All of this hands on work has made me start to seriously consider going into trades when I get back to Canada.

The holiday week started last Monday. It was a local fisherman holiday, so in respect we did not work that day and instead went to a small town just sout of Pisco called San Andres. There they had pisco and wine tasting, plenty of street vendors with churros, unidentified meat, ceviche and more, and for the kids a mini fair. Also, there were dozens of foosball tables set up for un sol games.

Fishermans day in San Andres.

Felipe, Billy, Andy and Jake playing foos.

Last week was also the beginning of July, as you know, so there was a wee celebration for Canada day and a big party for the 4th of July. On July 1st, there were only myself and Dominic (who emigrated from Hungary 10 years ago), which was nothing compared to how many Americans were part of PSF. In any case, we sang our national anthem at breakfast, raised the flag to wave wonderfully in the wind, went to work and then proceeded to have a little shin dig in the evening. It was good times for sure.

Getting ready for work on Canada Day.

Beach soccer wraps up on Pisco Playa.

July 2nd was the unofficial Mexican day, so we celebrated by having delicious Mexican food. Friday we followed up with another wonderful meal of pizza (in a brick oven) and BBQ kabobs & chorizos. This was all just a warm up for Saturday to come.
Being the north american summer, we have been getting huge numbers of people coming through for a couple of days to a few weeks to help out. With the high turnover of volunteers, things can tend to get pretty dirty, especially with the kind of reconstruction we do in Pisco. Most Saturday jobs were cancelled not because of Independance Day, but because we were meant to do a mass clean of the PSF houses. In our "nice" dorm, we found mice poop, old moldy clothes, some unidentifiable food and to top it off a scorpion! When Jen (project mangager) found this out, she made sure we had properly cleaning equipment and went at it for the day.
Later that evening, a homemade American flag was hoisted, the national anthem was sung and the party started. There was plenty of delicious chocolate based food, beer, fruit cocktails and we even had a fireworks display. It was another good time to wrap up the holiday week at PSF.
Sunday was a lazy day for most, with some more clean up and hanging out. I was meant to leave for Lima that day, but the thing with PSF is that it is much easier to just not leave, so I didn´t...until Monday.
I came here for a few reasons. Number one was to get some surf time in. In addition to that, I felt I needed a break from all the people there and need to start sorting out my last 2 months. I will probably return to Pisco this weekend if I don´t end up heading back to Northern Peru for some serious surfing. Depends if I have someone to go with I think.
That is the update for now. Thanks for reading!