Latin America

PE, Sacred Valley: A day trip to Maras, Moray, and Chinchero

| Christie

How to Peru in 2 weeks, Day#5: A day trip to Maras, Moray, and Chinchero

Dragging a foot after the other one is not a problem, if I can only get a grasp of air. My heart is racing like crazy, trying to pump more air. Thin air. I can’t believe how quickly my heart rate went up after not more than 20 stairs. I suddenly realize what our driver told us in his broken English about an hour ago. Chinchero is our highest point of the day, over 3700 metres altitude. Like a miracle, a bench appeared in front of our eyes, but we still have to climb few more stairs. I only have to keep moving, a step at a time: four, three, two, one. I almost collapse on the bench, trying to stabilize my heart rate: breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out.. Continue reading →

PE, Sacred Valley: Ollantaytambo – Archaeological Park

| Christie

How to Peru in 2 weeks, Day#4: Ollantaytambo – Archaeological Park

After 3 busy days in Lima, we decided to have a lazy morning in Ollantaytambo. We could see the sun was already up through a narrow gap of the dark curtain, and as soon as we pushed it aside I had the joy to spot immediately a hummingbird feeding from a hibiscus tree in the inner court of our hotel. Such a sweet way to start a day!

Hummingbird

Continue reading →

PE, Lima: Miraflores & Barranco districts and other impressions

| Christie

How to Peru in 2 weeks, Day #3 – Miraflores and Barranco districts

The third morning in Lima was sneaking quietly, and we had to decide if we should visit some museums we had on our list, or get to Puente de los Suspiros (Bridge of Sights) in Barranco, while seeing more of the Lima’s street life.

The first stop was in Kennedy Park, so famous for its inhabitants: 60 cats. Located in the heart of Miraflores, the park is well known to the tourists, even though it looked like there were more locals at the time we stopped by. A little oasis in the middle of a bustling city, the park is much smaller than I imagined. Welcomed by a huge Pucara Bull, we had a chance to learn about this symbol, not knowing yet we will actually have a chance to visit the town of Pucara in the following week.

Kennedy park - Pucara bull
Lima-Kennedy park – Pucara bull, the symbol of prosperity, happiness and fertility in Andean culture

Continue reading →

PE, Lima: Lima district – Palm Sunday

| Christie

How to Peru in 2 weeks, Day #2 – Lima district – Palm Sunday

Second morning in Lima found us asking the street vendors for some change near the Ricardo Palma station in Miraflores, where we had to take the Metropolitan bus to Lima district. Taking another public transportation was out of discussion, as we couldn’t manage to deal with the chaotic system of private (mini)buses. Since this was The Palm Sunday, grabbing a cab was also out of discussion because Arequipa Ave is closed as every other Sunday, which left us to the only rapid and easy solution to take the Metro, a rapid bus that runs from Barranco district up to Lima district in North. Purchasing a card for a ride would double the cost of it, but the need of more change was more of an issue, since we had to have the exact amount of money for the vending machine located at the entrance of the platform. Since no street vendor was willing to spare their change, we decided to ask a local to swipe their prepaid card and let us enter one by one. Offering an extra sol, and using the international sign language, we kindly asked a lady with her son to help us enter the gate while showing her the 6 soles for both of us. Glad we could resolve so easy the issue of getting in, we headed to the front of the bus to have a full view of the route. In about half an hour we arrived in Lima district, not before acknowledging the fact that we would never dare to drive a car in Lima, after watching the drivers’ attitude and recklessness on the streets.

Lima - riding Metro bus

Continue reading →

PE – How to “Peru” in two weeks D#1 Lima – Miraflores district

| Christie

How to Peru in 2 weeks, Day#1: Lima – Miraflores district

Getting over the anxiety I managed to acquire a couple of days before our departure, due to some rumors about kidnappings and pick pocketing in Lima airport, I found myself in the same mentioned airport waiting in the line to obtain my tourist visa beside few other hundred tourists. The fact we landed a little bit more after midnight didn’t take away my excitement, and, while I was standing for a photo session by the airport officer, I remembered a similar situation when we were taken pictures entering to Cuba. Tourists from all over the world, backpackers, bikers, in groups or alone, there was such a variety of people in that enclosed space I haven’t really seen anywhere before. I suddenly felt at ease, one more crumb beside over 4 million tourists that visit Peru annually. Continue reading →

CU, Santiago de Cuba: Birding was not my hobby

| Christie

Going to Cuba again this year was not originally part of my plans, but when I had to cancel postpone for an unknown date a trip up North, my itchy fingers instead found a last minute ticket, to a Southern Destination.

La Sagra's flycatcher
La Sagra’s flycatcher

Continue reading →

CU, Matanzas: Bellamar Caves and Bacunayagua Bridge

| Christie

 

When Justo Wong, a land worker, dropped his tool on the ground, and it just simply disappeared in a hole, only his master Don Ramon Pargas had the courage to go down and investigate, discovering in this way the entrance of the cave.

Discovered in 1861, Bellamar Caves became the first attraction in Cuba, as Ramon built stairs, handrails, and a house on the entrance. He truly believed that this discovery is not only about the cave, but everything behind that, and he opened it for tourism and further exploring. Later on, once they had electricity there were lamps installed and staff to explain to visitors the history of the place. Continue reading →

CU, Havana: Best of Old Havana in pictures

| Christie

 

In my previous post I was telling you about various facets of Havana. Now, I will show you the Old Havana.

El Morro Castle
El Morro Castle – The guarding fortress standing out at the entrance of Havana bay. Built originally to guard the city from pirates, the castle is a witness of history in Havana

Stopping point for Spanish ships, La Habana Vieja has a history of about 500 years. With 2 fortresses to defend the city, one on each side of the Havana Bay, the city became a safe place since 16th century. Continue reading →

CU, Havana: The city where “si, se puede”

| Christie

Land of so many wonders, Cuba remains home of many broken promises, of lost hopes, and deluding propaganda. In a world full of divergent information, controlled media, and biased interests, people hardly know what to think unless they live through the system, to truly understand it. And not even then.

Sandy beach 2 Continue reading →