Time is moving slooowly towards the departure for adventures. It is another 15 days to go and it seems waaaay too far! Preparation is undergoing, done yellow fever vaccination, so to enjoy jungle mosquito bites better, and also to be allowed to enter Bolivia. Lima hostel and Cusco accomodation are now booked. Also booked our internal flight LIM-CUZ and our train from Cusco to Machu Picchu. It is an amazing 3 hrs ride to Aguas Calientes on a train with panoramic views windows, passing through amazing scenery! We will probably visit the sand dunes and the Huacachina oasis. We will not do the Inca trail, it is fully booked as only 500 people allowed every day, including the porters and guides! We didn't want to spend days on trekks anyway, done enough in the Himalayas, we will rather spend more days in the Amazon rainforests. The plan says after Machu Picchu we will move towards Puerto Maldonado, a village in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. There will be a full moon (southern hemisphere) when in the dessert and almost new moon at Salar De Uyuni.
I am also arranging to visit the Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) in Peru. They have received funding from the ENVIRON Foundation the same period as the L4L project in Nepal. I am now in talks with the Foundation to allow me to visit them and have an informal visit to their research Los Amigos base in Rio Madre De Dios, close to Manu National park, one of the world's ten most important national parks because of its extreme biodiversity. It is said there are more plants and species in a square hectare there than in any european country alone! An amazing ecosystem. The funding went towards to 'Construct wetland technologies for water treatment and recovery in Andean communities'. Wetland technologies are simple water treatment systems designed to maximise the removal of -human generated- waste water contaminants using natural degradation processes that involve local materials such as sand, soil, porous rock, and native wetland plants. I hope I will manage to pay them a visit at their research center however I will definitely meet them at their regional offices in Cusco or Puerto Maldonado.
After that, return back to Cusco and heading down to lake Titicaca. Will stay few days there and off to La Paz, Bolivia. From there we hope to visit one of the most amazing places on earth! Salar De Uyuni. (google it) :) A massive high altitude salt lake in southwestern Bolivia. From there, return to La Paz and fly back..
My good friends Manolis and Nefeli are in Bolivia as we speak, travelling from Brazil; that means I have live info/updates from the Salar, La Paz and Titicaca. They do it in the opposite way but we will meet in Cusco or at the Machu Picchu sanctuary. What a meeting that will be! :)
From what I can gather, it should be an amazing trip. Unless we have unexpected issues, which in a way, they will add up adventure so why not. :) I am really looking forward to it and I hope the next 15 days to go as quickly as possible to go to London Heathrow and leave the buzz behind.
SpiNinG ArouNd the JoY of LiVinG
Nektarios~
I am also arranging to visit the Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) in Peru. They have received funding from the ENVIRON Foundation the same period as the L4L project in Nepal. I am now in talks with the Foundation to allow me to visit them and have an informal visit to their research Los Amigos base in Rio Madre De Dios, close to Manu National park, one of the world's ten most important national parks because of its extreme biodiversity. It is said there are more plants and species in a square hectare there than in any european country alone! An amazing ecosystem. The funding went towards to 'Construct wetland technologies for water treatment and recovery in Andean communities'. Wetland technologies are simple water treatment systems designed to maximise the removal of -human generated- waste water contaminants using natural degradation processes that involve local materials such as sand, soil, porous rock, and native wetland plants. I hope I will manage to pay them a visit at their research center however I will definitely meet them at their regional offices in Cusco or Puerto Maldonado.
After that, return back to Cusco and heading down to lake Titicaca. Will stay few days there and off to La Paz, Bolivia. From there we hope to visit one of the most amazing places on earth! Salar De Uyuni. (google it) :) A massive high altitude salt lake in southwestern Bolivia. From there, return to La Paz and fly back..
My good friends Manolis and Nefeli are in Bolivia as we speak, travelling from Brazil; that means I have live info/updates from the Salar, La Paz and Titicaca. They do it in the opposite way but we will meet in Cusco or at the Machu Picchu sanctuary. What a meeting that will be! :)
From what I can gather, it should be an amazing trip. Unless we have unexpected issues, which in a way, they will add up adventure so why not. :) I am really looking forward to it and I hope the next 15 days to go as quickly as possible to go to London Heathrow and leave the buzz behind.
SpiNinG ArouNd the JoY of LiVinG
Nektarios~
Artwork found in an old pc folder of mine