JAB Post 30

Click here to view the full album of photos from July 20: http://picasaweb.google.com/jbartucz/20100720?feat=directlink

While we were eating breakfast, an announcement came over the loudspeakers that we should head to the bow of the boat. We all rushed out to see what it could be. As we looked down, 4 dolphins were jumping in the water swimming back and forth between the hulls of our catamaran. I asked the captain how fast we were going and he said about 15 knots.

We landed on Islas Lobos (Sea Lion Island) and went for a hike. The highlight of this trip was certainly the blue-footed boobie nests, which were literally under foot. The birds were so non-chalant that one could have picked up the chicks and carried them around.






After chugging along for a couple of hours, we stopped at the Island of San Cristobal. We took a 30-minute bus ride across to a Tortoise breeding farm. Every year, they take about 10-20 eggs, put them in an incubator and breed them to maturity before releasing them back to the wild.

The goal is to attain proficiency at breeding in captivity in case anything drastic should happen to the wild tortoise population. Michelle spotted about 10 of the 30 captive tortoises and we all got some good pictures.


After San Cristobal, we visited the town of Puetro Baquerizo Moreno, the political capital of the Galapagos. We all bought souvenirs and wandered up and down the main street along the shore. About 5,000 people live in the town, but it seemed completely deserted.

Click here to view the full album of photos from July 19: http://picasaweb.google.com/jbartucz/20100719?feat=directlink

On Monday, we had breakfast with Doug and Mandy. Doug is in the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center and Mandy teaches biology on the base as a civilian. They live in Kaiserslautern, just outside the base and they decided to travel all the way to the Galapagos for their honeymoon. We ended up eating most of our meals sitting between them and the Swiss couple, Daniel and Cassienne. I suppose it was the “young couples” group.





After breakfast, we were dropped off on the beach of James Bay and went for a really nice hike. We saw our first finches, night herons and even a great blue heron. Of course, the requisite mockingbirds, crabs, iguanas, sea turtles and sea lions were also present.






We spent quite a bit of time near a small inlet/large tide-pool with a natural bridge over the entrance. It was entrancing to watch the sea lions playing together, twirling around and jumping out of the water.





After the hike, we snorkeled around the beach of the same island and we saw a couple more sea turtles and even a manta ray in the sand. Snorkeling in the Galapgos is a different experience every day. The water at this time of year is usually reasonably clear and cold. Javier said that the advantage to the cold water is that there is more oxygen available and therefore more nutrients for the fish (and the rest of the food chain) which makes for a better experience.





We went for one more hike on Tuesday, this time on Rabida Island. The highlight of the hike was supposed to be a nesting ground of flamingos, but none of them were home that day. It was literally the _only_ time we went to an island to see a specific animal and they did not appear. I don’t know if it was typical of the Galapagos, but we seemed to have led a charmed tour.

Click here to view the full album of photos from July 18.

On Sunday we woke up at 6:45 to pan-flute Lionel Ritchie musak on an overcast day with a light drizzle. Not to be deterred, after breakfast we had a quick safety meeting and then we all jumped in the 2 pangas for a cruise around the mouth of “Sea Lion island”, Isabela. Despite the cloudy sky, we saw dozens of Blue-Footed Boobies, Noddy Terns, Frigate Birds, iguanas and crabs above the water, and sea-turtles, fur-seals and fish swimming below us.



After the panga cruise, we immediately changed back into our wetsuits to see what else we could find below the waves. The visibility was not quite as good as the day before, but we still managed to see all kinds of fish, sea turtles, a few small jelly-fish, one shark and a very playful family of seals.



After about 30 minutes of snorkeling we were all pretty cold, so we got out of the water and into the Pangas. On the way back to the Athala, the drivers chased around a Galapagos sun-fish (mola mola) which has no tail, but a large dorsal fin that sticks above the water and a ventral fin underneath. Because of the strange anatomy, the fish sways and rolls from side-to-side to propel itself forward.



We were really cold after that, so we took a long, hot shower and had lunch. This time it was chicken and beef tacos. The meals were all served at a single large table with all the guests seated together. The first portion of the cruise was attended by a family from New York, a family from California, a couple who were friends of the Californians, a couple from Switzerland and an American couple living in Germany who were on their honeymoon. The group naturally separated into three – the Californians who all knew each other from before, the NY family of five, including their three 20-something daughters and then the three couples: Swiss, American and us.



We were given almost 30 minutes to relax before our next outing, this time for a hike on Fernandina island. This is the first time we really got close to the animals on land. There were dozens of boobies dive-bombing for fish off the edge of the island. They truly are graceful in the air, despite their awkward clown-walk on land. Once we alighted, we saw hundreds upon hundreds of iguanas, lizards and crabs.

The iguanas had just finished their lunch as well and many were swimming in a line through the lagoon towards the shore. On the shore itself were several sea lions basking in the sun as well as a male and female pair of terns at their nest. Some previous guides had also collected the bones of a sperm whale which had beached across the island and laid them out in bright contrast to the black lava rock.



As we sailed to and from Fernandina, we crossed the equator each time. This trip was the first time I had ever crossed the equator by any means. In addition, while we were enjoying some time to read and relax on the upper deck, the captain made an announcement that whales were spouting ahead of us. True enough, about a kilometer ahead of us we could see the spray shooting up into the air every few minutes. Another first for me.

Click here to view the full album of photos from July 17: http://picasaweb.google.com/jbartucz/20100717?feat=directlink

We woke up at 6:45 to get ready for our trip to the Galapagos. I felt some minor some gastro issues (uh oh, was it the shrimp?). We tried to go downstairs for breakfast, but a German tour group had just arrived in front of us. There were almost no supplies left and the poor waiter looked like he was about to quit. After that surreal experience, we went back up to our room to finishing getting ready and got a ride to the airport from an INSANE hotel porter. I mean, I lived in New York for 5 years and never had a worse cab ride.

The trip itinerary we were given told us to wait at the ticket desk to meet a representative from the tour company. After waiting around for 20 minutes, we tried calling both emergency numbers to no avail. Starting to panic, we went to check in ourselves and ran into our cruise representative. At this point, I started to feel quite a bit worse and wished that I had not checked the Pepto-Bismol in with the luggage.

Once we were on the plane, we took off towards the Galapagos, stopping briefly in Guayaquil. When one arrives in the Galapagos, one is supposed to pay the $100 / person National Park entry fee. Ours was pre-paid by our tour company, but since we neither had $200 nor knew how to say “pre-paid” in Spanish, there were a few more moments of panic. They take their security very seriously.

Once that was all sorted out, we met our guide and some of the other cruise passengers and took a bus and “Panga” to the ship. The “Panga” is a large inflatable raft similar to a Zodiac which seats about 10 people and is what we would be using to visit all of the islands. The ship Athala is an eight-bedroom catamaran with a 10-person crew: our naturalist “Javier”, the captain, first and second mates, cabin boy, chef, assistant chef, engineer, and two cruise representatives, who took on various duties.

We immediately set out for our first adventure. After sailing for about 20 minutes, we stopped to snorkel around Bartholome Island. Everyone was wearing wetsuits as the water is about 50 degrees. We were very lucky on this first day as we saw starfish, several eagle rays and other types of rays, a couple of sharks, sea turtles and a sea-lion. The water was quite clear, so I decided to try the video-camera on the next snorkle.

After coming back on board and warming up with some hot-chocolate, we had 3 minutes to change for a sunset hike up one of the highest walking paths on the Galapagos Islands. We took many pictures as we climbed up to the lighthouse and Javier gave us some introductory information about the formation of the islands.

We returned to the Athala just in time to change and get ready for dinner. I was still not feeling 100%, so I didn’t eat much, but the food was excellent none-the-less.

Click here to view the full album of photos from July 16: http://picasaweb.google.com/jbartucz/20100716?feat=directlink

We left Cuzco at 10 am on a flight to Lima, which was unfortunate as we had to pick up our luggage and re-check it and also pay departure taxes at both Cuzco and Lima before making it to Quito. These airport departure taxes are quite annoying. But I digress….

We arrived at our hotel, Le Parc, right around 4 pm. The hotel is very modern and stylish, but the service leaves something to be desired. In any case, we checked in to the hotel and immediately set out for the downtown market before everything closed for the evening. It was inside a building with about 15 corridors of little shops nestled side-by-side, selling pretty much the same stuff over and over again.

The Mercado Central had more leather goods than the Peruvian equivalents that we saw and Michelle ended up getting a couple nice scarves for a small price, but it didn’t take us long to get through the whole thing. The stalls that kept our attention were a few nice artistic shops (painting and woodcarving). Interestingly, the market seemed to cater to at least 50% locals and not just to tourists.

It had started raining by this time, so we quickly headed over to the Plaza Foch, which is Ecuadorian for “Tourist Central”. We found an interesting-looking restaurant called “La Boca Del Lobo” and decided to eat dinner there. The plates were slightly larger than tapas, so we ordered 4 or 5 of them and had a big meal. When the shrimp came, Michelle mentioned that they tasted a bit off. My response was “bah! they’re fine!” and I ate the rest of them. Sigh.

After dinner, it was straight back to the hotel as it was raining and we had an early morning ahead of us.

Click here to view the full album of photos from July 15: http://picasaweb.google.com/jbartucz/20100715?feat=directlink

The term “Machu Picchu” actually refers to the mountain upon which the ancient city sits. The peak of Machu Picchu (“old mountain”) sits to the north of the city and there is an ancient lookout point at the top. To the south of the ancient city is Huayna Picchu (“young mountain”), which is the peak that one sees in the background of most tourist photos. Socrates suggested that it would be worth climbing the peak to see the ruins, but that we would have to once again wake up very early to get in line. The path is extremely steep and narrow, so they further limit the number of people that are allowed on Huayna Picchu and one can either get stamped for a 7 am or 10 am entrance.

I was in line by 5:30 am, but was behind several hundred people more eager than I who had climbed up from Aguas Calientes, the town about a mile away down the mountain. Luckily, most of them just wanted to see the sun rise in Machu Picchu and were not as interested in Huayna Picchu, or they took the 10 am slot. I got my ticket stamped for 7 and went back inside for some breakfast.

By 6:15, I was at the Huayna Picchu gate along with a French couple and a woman from Santa Fe. We sat around chatting, waiting for the gate to open as more and more people got in line behind us. At about 6:45, the gate opened and we each had to sign in. Apparently, the guards are worried enough about the hike that each person has to individually sign in and sign out to make sure that everyone gets home at night. Of course, the main reason is that they are generally worried about people who try to stay overnight in the Machu Picchu grounds.

I’ll certainly accede the point that the trail was not easy. The first part of the trail was quite easy, but about half-way through the stairs became ridiculous. I had brought Michelle’s hiking poles along, but they were almost useless as I had to grab the higher stairs with my hands to climb up like a ladder. Fortunately, in many parts they had installed a rope handrail. The most interesting part was the tunnel in which I had to take my backpack off just to scrape through on my hands and knees.

My original plan was to take it easy and not try to race up, but since I was third in line, I might be able to catch the sunrise and Socrates specifically said that he did it in 20 minutes once, some instinct in me that I have never felt before caused me to start racing up the mountain. It was definitely worth the rush as upon reaching the top I felt completely exhilarated and arrived in time for the sunrise.

To view the entire sunrise in 5 minutes and 28 seconds, click on the video below. It is an HD video, so if you make sure “HD” is set to “On” and expand it to full screen, it will be even more impressive.

20100715 Sunrise over Machu Picchu from John Bartucz on Vimeo.

20100715 Sunrise over Machu Picchu from Huayna Picchu

I came back down the back side of Huayna Picchu much more slowly. The stairs were equally steep and I felt no need to twist and ankle. I decided not to go the long way around, through another set of ruins at the bottom of the valley, which would have added another 2 hours to the hike. It was a good thing as Michelle was coming to meet me and of all the paths through Machu Picchu we just happened to meet up in the middle. It must have been fate.

We spent another 45 minutes trying to take pictures of swallows, but they were rather uncooperative. We did, however, get great pictures of the resident Chinchillas and several lizards.

We finished up our last tour of Machu Picchu, had another hot shower and got on the bus down to Aguas Calientes.

The entire purpose of Aguas Calientes is to service the tourists that are visiting Machu Picchu. It has two main streets, 403 restaurants, 260 hotels, 1 “hot springs” and 4,523,948,233,193,243,534 trinkets, hats and blankets for sale. We walked up and down the streets a couple times, searching for a good place to eat and looking at various clown hats for sale. Strangely, this tourist town seemed entirely devoid of tourists. We stopped by the “hot springs”, but from the aging picture at the entrance gate, we decided to save our $5. No, it was not worth $5.

We settled on lunch at La Cabana and it was actually very good. We took the time to write some postcards and we dropped them off at the post office just off the main square. This plaza was actually the one redeeming feature of the town. It had about 30 different kinds of moths and other bugs which we had fun chasing around and capturing on film.

After lunch we braved the maze of market stalls. Of course, most of them were selling the same things over and over. We managed to pick up a little pink Peruvian-style hat for Annika which had llamas on in. Michelle scoured the ranks for a clown hat to meet her exacting specifications. After a few negotiations and threatening to walk right across the street several times, we got a great deal and everyone was happy.

We decided to recline by the river for the rest of the afternoon while we await our train departure. We just chatted and watched the locals and their dogs go by. Eventually we wandered over to the station itself and found a table in the shade. Just as I picked up our luggage from the hotel porter, I saw Clement and Camille, the French couple from Huayna Picchu sitting a few tables over, so we chatted for a little while longer before they left on their train. About 20 minutes later they called us to our train and off we went…

This was certainly to be the most unique train ride of my travels so far. The ride lasted about 4 hours, but it only took us 1 hour to reach “km 82″, the point from which we had started our hike 4 days prior. It was too late to see any tourists on the trail, but there were still some porters getting a late start and jogging up the trail with their packs. One of them may even have been with us two days before. The views from the windows were usually fascinating, but the highlight of the trip will always be the fashion show.

After the meal was cleared, the train employees put on some disco music and walked up and down the aisle sporting rather nice-looking Peruvian fashions. Both male and female outfits, shirts and sweaters were on display. Although somewhat surreal, the show was quite successful as they sold many more of the clothes afterwards than they probably would have otherwise. All I can say is that I hope the attendants received a percentage of the sales.

The train no longer goes directly into Cuzco, so we caught the same minibus from before back to the Monasterio hotel, arriving at about 10 pm. We considered going to the main square to check out the nightlife, but were both pretty beat. I did run out quickly to get a thumb drive to back up all the pictures we had taken, but after that we just went to sleep.

Click here for photos from July 14: http://picasaweb.google.com/jbartucz/20100714?feat=directlink

We woke up at 3:30 in the morning so that the porters could pack up the campsite and make the early train back to km 82. We had a pancake breakfast and then headed over to the restaurant to wait for the gate to the Machu Picchu trail to open.

By the time we got to the gate just after 5:30 am, there were about 100 people in line ahead of us. We were not really concerned as there was ample time to make it to the Sun Gate (Intipunku) where we would watch the sun rise over Machu Picchu.

The feeling of being at a lower altitude gave Michelle a boost of energy, and she decided to run most of the way along the trail, up and down the stairs and all the way up the final climb to the Sun Gate. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the morning run was exhilerating.

We made it to the Sun Gate about 6:20 (30 minutes from when we started) and I set up the video camera to record the whole thing. You can see the entire thing in 3 minutes and 41 seconds in the following video. It is an HD video, so for the best effect, make sure to watch it in full-screen mode.

20100714 Sunrise over Machu Picchu from John Bartucz on Vimeo.

When we’d had enough of the sunrise, we walked the rest of the way down and Socrates gave us a complete tour of the Machu Picchu site. By lunch time, Michelle and I were completely worn out and Socrates was limping badly from a knee injury. We were staying at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, so we ambled over to the hotel and took Socrates for lunch. It would be the last time we saw him and we would certainly miss his presence. He is a very adept guide and one I would recommend to anyone. His knowledge of both the flora and fauna was encyclopedic and his social skills were perfect. He egged us on when we needed it, told stories during the less interesting sections and left us alone when we wanted solitude or simply to hike together.

After lunch we retired to our room and stood in the shower for 90 minutes each. We then sat in the Jacuzzi for 90 minutes each and I have to say – sitting in a Jacuzzi in the jungle with a view of Machu Picchu through the foliage is something I will never forget. Finally, we each got a massage and had a nap.

Socrates had suggested that I come back to the main Machu Picchu site after 3 pm when the last train left Aguas Calientes because most of the tourists would be gone. He was absolutely correct.

I wandered around for another hour before dinner and took some of my favourite shots with no interference.

The dinner at the hotel was great, but somehow did not match up to the magic cooking on the trail. Despite the good food, the good service and all the amenities, it felt a bit like a 5-star play was being put on for our benefit where the actors did not quite know their roles. In any case, we enjoyed everything at the hotel to the utmost, especially the feather-down bed.

The full photo album of pictures from 20100713 can be viewed here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jbartucz/20100713?feat=directlink

Ah hubris. One of my many faults.

So that karmic boomerang came back at precisely 6 am. I had not slept at all. I finally decided to leave the tent and made it to the outhouse area before losing everything since the previous day’s lunch. Socrates mentioned that some people don’t feel the altitude until they sleep at this highest camp. That group includes yours truly.

A short aside here about coca tea: first of all, chewing coca leaves and drinking coca tea does help a little bit with the altitude sickness. However, both Michelle and I found that taking a couple of advil helped just as much and avoided the “coming down” feeling about an hour after drinking the tea. To be clear – coca leaves are nothing like the drug cocaine as it is commonly known. To create cocaine, the coca leaves need to be refined and mixed with other chemicals. Coca tea produces a stimulant effect similar to caffeine and has a similar downside after a couple of hours.

The rest of the pictures you see here and in the online photo album are Michelle’s until about 3 pm, at which point we had descended far enough that I regained my wind, my appetite and my strength. The feeling I had was one of extreme lethargy. I wasn’t exactly tired, I just didn’t feel like moving. Every step required conscious thought. In addition, I had no appetite at all. If mountaineers feel this to the extreme at 6000m and above, no wonder it is such a deadly atmosphere.

Our guide was able to get me on my feet by giving me a cotton swab soaked in alcohol to smell. It worked remarkably well. We made it over the first pass, down another set of steep stairs, up over the second and last pass and finally descended to the lunch location. Instead of eating, I took 2 advil and a 20-minute nap, after which I began to feel the recovery setting in. My greatest regret of this day is that while I was feeling ill, we traveled through another jungle section which was probably my favorite stretch of the trip.

The second descent after the Phuyupatamarca pass at 3600m was the most difficult of the entire trail. The steps were remarkably tall and steep and were only a few inches deep. We spent a lot of time carefully stepping sideways. Luckily, my altitude sickness had passed by this point for it took all of our concentration to creep down the mountainside. Of course, the porters literally RAN past us down the trail. It certainly would be easier on the legs if one were carrying 55 pounds in a backpack to glide down the slope, but one wrong move would certainly result in a painful ankle, a broken leg or worse.

We saw two additional sets of ruins, both of which were impressive. One nice feature of the 4-day hike is that the ruins along the way continue to impress. With each day they get larger and increasingly well-restored. It makes for a very satisfactory visual narrative. The last ruins of the third day at Winay Wayna were just spectacular. Row upon row of farming platforms formed an accordion pattern down the mountain. It was a stunning way to end the longest day of the hike.

Of course, the best part about the campsite was that they had a restaurant, bathrooms and…. hot showers! The restaurant was blaring 80′s music, which actually seemed to be a common theme around Peru. The showers were about $2 each + $2 per towel and we would easily have paid 10 times as much.

To top off the evening, the chef and the porters made pizza for us. I have no idea how they made pizza using a camp stove and their equipment, but pizza it was and it was great. There was even a little mouse carved out of two radishes which had taken a bite out of one slice.

After dinner, we had a little ceremony to say goodbye to the porters and the chef. They would be leaving early in the morning to hike to the train station, while we continued on to Machu Picchu. Socrates said that most of them would take one day rest (if any) and then start all over again at the beginning. They continued like this year-round apart from a 2-month break in the rainy season. (Estimating) Government minimum $10/day * 6 days/week * 44 weeks/year = $2,640 / year. It’s no wonder that this year’s extended rainy season was especially hard on the local economy and that our tips were appreciated.

The full album of pictures from 20100712 can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jbartucz/20100712?feat=directlink

God. Damned. Roosters.

Seriously. What kind of roosters crow every 5 minutes, all night long? Are they blind roosters? Is it some kind of sadistic joke that the locals play to taunt the tourists? All I know is that I have never wanted chicken soup for breakfast so much as I did that day.

Annnnyway, this day was supposed to be the hardest in terms of altitude, though not the longest hike. We would climb steadily to the Warmiwanusca pass at 4215 meters above sea level and then descend to 3600 meters to camp at Pacamayo for the night. We slept pretty well, despite the satanic poultry and the altitude, so the morning went by quickly. The rise in elevation was quite gradual, so the hike was very pleasurable. We were slightly surprised not to see much wildlife, but we kept our hopes up and our eyes open.



The most alarming event of the day occurred when we passed a porter running down the trail, carrying a 250-pound man by piggy-back with two extra porters running behind to steady the load. The passenger had clearly suffered some severe effects from the altitude and they were doing their best to get him lower on the mountain. By the end of the hike, we heard the news that he had fully recovered, but at the time, it was quite alarming.

We stopped for a snack, a drink and a sandwich at one of the rest areas with a “store” along the trail. We bought a water and a gatorade and filled up our water bottles. As we turned up this side of the mountain and walked along the stream, the foliage changed from arid shrubs to a full jungle. The difference was quite striking – and not just in the scenery. The grade of ascent had increased quite dramatically. We had suddenly left the ambling dirt path and were walking up steep and narrow stairs.

As we emerged from the jungle,

the trail maintained its severity through the last break area. It was during this challenging ascent that the altitude began to take its toll, but it was from this point on that we could finally see the pass through which we would have to climb. During the last part of the ascent, we saw a llama in a farm as well as two deer running up the side of the mountain. The temperature was a perfect 26 degrees celsius, but by this time we had both run out of water. In fact, it was at this exact point that the karmic boomerang went out. Michelle was feeling the altitude more than I was and I thought to myself “man, this altitude just does not bother me at all!”….



We survived the last few steps and made it to the pass at 4215 meters above sea level. The views were spectacular; definitely worth every step. We sat down for a break and a drink along with the 100 other people at the pass and reveled in the fact that the rest of the day would be downhill.

I’m going to go on record right now and say that downhill sucks. The best thing about going downhill is that every step brings you a little more oxygen per breath. The bad thing is that our bodies are not used to walking down tall, shallow stairs for hours on end. Despite the challenge to our quads, the descent was just as beautiful and we quickly forgot our discomfort. Michelle and I discussed our guide’s ideas on how to start his own tour business so that he could settle down a bit more and not have to send every week away from his wife and daughter.



We descended for the next few hours until we reached what was to be the most stunning campsite of the entire journey. Our tent was nestled among some tall shrubs with the backdrop of a mountain valley with snow-capped peaks in the distance. We arrived around 3 pm, so we had a couple hours to relax before “tea”. We were pretty beat after the day’s hike, and we both crashed in our tent for a well-deserved nap. Unfortunately, the nap seemed to do me more harm than good as I woke up with a pretty bad headache. Remember that karmic boomerang?

We ate ceviche, cream of asparagus soup and stuffed chicken for dinner. Seriously. Ceviche. At 3600m. In a tent. With a table cloth.

There were absolutely no clouds at all, so I was very excited to finally try out my super-telephoto (600) telescope lens. I let all the porters check it out, although without much wildlife, it wasn’t too exciting. It was night-time that I was really waiting for. The night sky is absolutely stunning along the Inca Trail. Like being “up north” in Ontario, with no city lights to dim the stars, the view is truly breathtaking. Instead of the ribbons of the northern lights, the milky way spreads across the entire sky. With my Nikon on the fritz, I did my best to capture some of the stars with the backup point-and-shoot, but I’m afraid that this once-in-a-lifetime experience will simply have to live on in my mind as long as the memory will last.