Saturday, May 21, 2005
The Anti-Atkins Fat Camp
Despite having just finished a bloody long 18 hour bus & taxi travel journey from San Pedro to Aeriquipa, we got on yet another 6 hour bus the next morning. This bus was part one of a 3 day, 2 night tour and trek of the Colca Canyon - a place famous for the revered Peruvian condor.
We, our guide and group of 8, arrived in Cabanaconda at about noon and piled into a small gringo stricken restaurant for lunch. That afternoon, the first part to the trek, was practically straight down. The path was hot with the sun and the dry earth made for a slippery and dusty trek - my least favourite part of the three days. But at least at the bottom of the canyon we were able to enjoy a few hot springs! As true Canadian girls, Robin and I washed our hair in the river at the bottom of the canyon (We had originally intended to take a shower at the hostel that morning before setting out, but there was no hot water. Ironically, the water in the river was probably colder than the cold shower we would have taken at the hostel).
On day two, after an extended morning of hiking along a "Peruvian flat" trail, we came upon a lush green oasis. There, we were greeted by bamboo bungalows and a series of small swimming pools that offered a much appreciated escape from the heat of the sun.
Before I go on here, I should describe the series of meals we had...
breakfast - pancakes and bread
lunch - soup and mashed potatoes (from a powdered mix) with a dab of spaghetti sauce
dinner - soup and spaguetti (with a two-inch piece of tuna fish I found in on my plate which I shared with Robin)
Can you say "anti-Atkins"??? Might I add that each day we were doing quite a bit of hiking and trekking so overall we weren't treating our bodies very well.
On the last day, wake-up call was at 2:30am and our 1100m ascent began at 2:50am. No breakfast. The moon at this point had also set behind the cliff so there was no light except for headlamps we brought (I had to borrow one from the guide because I left my flashlight back at the hostel). Despite not being able to see, I was glad of the dark as we set out on this last part of the trek. It would have been almost unbearably hot had we had to hike up the steep cliff face with the sun out, and in the dark I couldn't tell how high we had go - ignorance is bliss. But honestly, it was a hard hike up and we were given no food. Not even bread! I don't think my body was particularly happy with me that morning...
About 4/5ths of the way up we were finally able to stop for about 20 min to buy and enjoy some chocolate, bread and coca tea being sold by two ladies waiting quietly for trekkers to arrive. They must make a killing because everyone stopped there for a break.
Finally at the top, we made our way into town and ate breakfast before cramming ourselves onto the bus that would take us to the nearby national park. There, we waited for the condors, giant birds with wingspans of up to 2m. Don't let one of these birds scare you into falling off the mountain...........
We, our guide and group of 8, arrived in Cabanaconda at about noon and piled into a small gringo stricken restaurant for lunch. That afternoon, the first part to the trek, was practically straight down. The path was hot with the sun and the dry earth made for a slippery and dusty trek - my least favourite part of the three days. But at least at the bottom of the canyon we were able to enjoy a few hot springs! As true Canadian girls, Robin and I washed our hair in the river at the bottom of the canyon (We had originally intended to take a shower at the hostel that morning before setting out, but there was no hot water. Ironically, the water in the river was probably colder than the cold shower we would have taken at the hostel).
On day two, after an extended morning of hiking along a "Peruvian flat" trail, we came upon a lush green oasis. There, we were greeted by bamboo bungalows and a series of small swimming pools that offered a much appreciated escape from the heat of the sun.
Before I go on here, I should describe the series of meals we had...
breakfast - pancakes and bread
lunch - soup and mashed potatoes (from a powdered mix) with a dab of spaghetti sauce
dinner - soup and spaguetti (with a two-inch piece of tuna fish I found in on my plate which I shared with Robin)
Can you say "anti-Atkins"??? Might I add that each day we were doing quite a bit of hiking and trekking so overall we weren't treating our bodies very well.
On the last day, wake-up call was at 2:30am and our 1100m ascent began at 2:50am. No breakfast. The moon at this point had also set behind the cliff so there was no light except for headlamps we brought (I had to borrow one from the guide because I left my flashlight back at the hostel). Despite not being able to see, I was glad of the dark as we set out on this last part of the trek. It would have been almost unbearably hot had we had to hike up the steep cliff face with the sun out, and in the dark I couldn't tell how high we had go - ignorance is bliss. But honestly, it was a hard hike up and we were given no food. Not even bread! I don't think my body was particularly happy with me that morning...
About 4/5ths of the way up we were finally able to stop for about 20 min to buy and enjoy some chocolate, bread and coca tea being sold by two ladies waiting quietly for trekkers to arrive. They must make a killing because everyone stopped there for a break.
Finally at the top, we made our way into town and ate breakfast before cramming ourselves onto the bus that would take us to the nearby national park. There, we waited for the condors, giant birds with wingspans of up to 2m. Don't let one of these birds scare you into falling off the mountain...........
# posted by doris : 11:41 AM
