After Machu Picchu we were very tired and rested for one last night at the Wild Rover hostel in Cusco. Our bus to Arequipa was departing later in the day, so we were graced with a much needed lazy morning. In the Arequipa bus station we had to decide whether we had the time to make the trek to the Colca Canyon to see the condor birds, or save a day and stick around Arequipa and go white water rafting again. We decided as a group to stick with the latter because Jesse was not around when we rafted in Banos and we wanted to ensure that we would arrive in Santiago with ample time for snowboarding and skiing.
Wild Rover has a chain of hostels in Peru and one of them was located in Arequipa, thus it only seemed fitting to be part of the Irish hospitality once again. Luckily, like the last Wild Rover, there were tour companies offering deals on adventure activities directly inside the hostel, so we quickly booked a rafting trip for later that day. The white water rafting in Arequipa had a few differences compared to Banos. Firstly, the river contained more level 4 rapids compared to the combination of 3/4 in Banos. Secondly, the raft was smaller, which allowed for a more intense ride. Thirdly, the guide let us go cliff jumping half-way through the tour, which was an unexpected adventure and lastly the whole experience was shorter in length compared to Banos, but overall much more exciting.
We left Arequipa the next morning heading towards Tacna where we were prepared to take a short taxi ride over the boarder to Arica in Chile. This is where things got a little sketchy again...Upon arriving in Tacna by bus at around 5:30pm we were told in the Lonely Planet that any taxi at the bus station can take you to Arica and it is one of the safest and efficient methods of transport. This was obviously not the case when we were given the clear signal of death by an elderly woman. We were about to get into a taxi located in front of the station when the woman pointed to the cab driver, made the money symbol with her hands, and then slid her finger across her throat in attempt to warn us of the potential danger! Hastily, we headed back into the station to look for alternative transportation and catch our barrings. It was at this point, that we decided to avoid local hustlers after getting off long bus rides and go get food or sit down and figure out our plans before making rash decisions. Jason and Jesse went off to talk to a security guard and we learned that we needed to purchase a ticket to enter this back entrance where the REAL taxi rides are available for border transport. Getting over the border to Chile in this taxi was pleasant and safe. We had very little hassle with the driver, although we paid a lot more than we initially planned (gringo tax), and the border was no different than crossing Ecuador into Peru. Unfortunately the taxi driver would not drop us off at our hostel in Arica, so we had to take an additional taxi to finally land in another beautiful beach town.
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| Iquique |
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| Jason has crabs |
Arica was nice, but there really wasn't as much to do as Huanchaco or Peurto Lopez. The manager of the hostel was named Tom from Australia and he definitely was an interesting fellow. When we first rang the door bell he bellowed out his name in a drunken stupor and welcomed us with open arms. That night he brought us to a sushi restaurant where we enjoyed the succulent taste of fresh sushi coupled with two for one mojitos. The next morning, being slightly hung over, we decided to check out the beach, which ended up being too windy and colder than other beaches. We also met a cool UK born girl named Charlotte who had a few drinks with us that night and provided many laughs between games of pool and ping pong. Deciding that we wanted to find a better beach town and knowing that Iquique was the best place in South America for paragliding, we left in the late afternoon on a six hour bus ride to Iquique.
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| Graham with his paragliding pilot |
Circled by massive cliffs and sand dunes, Iquique was a stretch of warm, sunny beaches where young, skateboarding Chileans and brave surfers lived. We quickly decided that this place was a three-nighter for sure! Our hostel had ping pong and pool per usual, which was sweet, a bar, and helpful employees who hooked Jesse and Graham up with paragliding plans. Paragliding was an amazing and hardcore experience! After getting instructions of our take-off and landing procedure we were geared up and attached to our pilot. The flight began with a running start and the rest was up to the experience of the pilots to guide us through thermals. The flight lasted over 25min, flying over sand dunes, crossing over the city itself and ending with a soft landing on the beach. Graham's pilot was a bit adventurous and pulled a few aerial acrobatics and also let Graham take control for a few minutes. Other than paragliding, most of our time was spent playing intense ping pong and laying on the beach with a good book. All the relaxation on the beach of Iquique prepared us for our final long 24 hour long bus ride to Santiago. The overnight buses that we experienced in Peru came with dinner and breakfast, but this bus came with nothing. When the bus stopped at other stations along the way we had a few minutes to hop out and eat a hot dog or empinada before jumping back on the bus.
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| Charlotte and Graham at the hostel in Iquique |
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| Jesse and Lee resting at the top of their hike |
Finally arriving in Santiago we found a hostel titled Hostel Moai where one of the employees named Nat became our savior. We were struggling to find a combo package for skiing/snowboarding as many of the companies were way to expensive or already booked up. We found Ski Total in the Lonely Planet and Nat went to town to organize everything for us. He was extremely helpful by making phone calls and emailing the company to make sure we could go the next morning. Having not learned enough Spanish to do all the booking ourselves, people like Nat really made our trip much easier. We woke up at 6am and were fully geared up by 8am. We took a two hour bus ride to the mountain located at the resort called Valle Nevado. We were told tobe back at the bus for 4:50pm, so we energetically hit the slopes with exciting expectations. Lee and Jesse decided to hike up to the top of a mountain nearby one of the chair lifts. They had an amazing time carving through a steep section down and Jesse survived with only a minor scrape on his chiny chin chin. Lee captured part of his descent on the Go Pro and once Graham became more comfortable on his skiis managed to get some vids as well. The view from the top of the Andes Express lift was breathtaking. Most of us have only hit up small hills in Ontario, other than Lee, but skiing/snowboarding down a mountain is quite a different experience. The hill is still groomed in sections, but the possibility for exploration and just knowing that your on a mountain really makes you feel a lot smaller. At the end of the day we just barely made it back to the bus due to Graham's missing equipment, which had been picked up by an employee after being unattended for less than 30 seconds. The bus ride back to our hostel was quiet as we were all reminiscing about our adventures and exhaustion quickly took a hold of our bodies.
Our trip has come to an end. The gringos are tired of running and now its time to fly back to Canada.
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| Valle Nevado!! |
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