Acuario Valdivia

This week has been my first week volunteering at Acuario Valdivia.  The aquarium is a conservation project which looks after marine animals that have been injured and are unable to survive in the wild.  The organisation also runs an ecological club for the children in the local area.

Valdivia is a small town a few kilometres south of Montanita.  It is famous for being one of the oldest settled cultures in the Americas.  There are many artifacts of the stone and ceramic works created by the Valdivian community.  One of the most famous of these is the Venus of Valdivia, important to the local people because she symbolises fertility.  A statue of her still stands today.

Chilly Willy

I undertake 2 different types of volunteer work at the aquarium.  The first is to help Javier, one of the guys who runs the aquarium, feed the animals.  This involves hacking up raw fish to feed to the pelicans and blue footed boobies, the penguins - Chilly Willy and Coralina - and the sea lion, aptly named Leon.  Leon is a very gentle and good natured animal.  When holding out the fish for him, he doesn't snap at your hand greedily, he just waits patiently for you to drop it into his open, expectant mouth.

I also cut up baby squid into tiny pieces to feed to the very tiny baby water turtles.  After they have eaten, I also have the task of cleaning them with a toothbrush - this should give you an indication of just how small they are.  Squid is fed to the crabs, sea urchins and the eel as well.  Having never seen a crab up close before, it was very interesting to watch how they eat, using their pincers like hands while they munch on the squid.  The only animals which don't eat sea creatures are the turtles, who feast on lettuce and celery, and the crocodile who devours the chunks of raw chicken thrown to him.

Me feeding Leon

The second type of volunteer work I do is teaching English at the aquarium.  The staff there speak next to no English, so this week I have started to teach them, along the theme of the aquarium.  I want to teach them things that are relevant to their line of work.  They are interested learners and we have had fun in our lessons, often with jokes about pronunciation of my Spanish and their English.  A couple of local boys join the lesson when they have finished school.  They already speak some English, and are encouraged to give the tours when English speaking tourists visit.  The penguins occasionally join the lesson, which is always entertaining.

I have really enjoyed my first week at the aquarium and am looking forward to my remaining 3 weeks.

Thanks for reading.


Sophie

Travelling to Ecuador

From Cusco, our journey to Ecuador began.  We travelled by bus, which was very tiring.  We stopped in Lima for one night, where our host at the hostel was one of the most helpful and nicest men we have ever met.  With it being Holy Week, many people were travelling out of the city, which caused some problems finding transportation to Guayaquil, Ecuador, however Angelo advised us of our options.

From Lima, we travelled to Tumbes on the Peru-Ecuador border.  When we embarked from the bus, we were approached by a man who showed documentation, declaring he worked for Cifa, the bus company which transports people across the Peruvian border into Ecuador.  As such, we got into his taxi, where he drove us to the Peruvian border to have our passports stamped, leaving Peru.

The Peru-Ecuador border is not like others, such as Peru-Chile.  There is a town inbetween the two, so once leaving Peru, you need to pass through the town before reaching the Ecuador border.


The man and his colleagues asked us for money before taking us to the Cifa office/bus station.  This made us suspicious, especially after the incident with the taxi driver when we crossed into Chile.  So we refused to give them any money and sent them on their way.

The view from our cabaña

Two other men then approached us and took us to a different bus company.  They wanted $100 just for the 2 minute walk and carrying my suitcase, but of course we refused.  We boarded the bus for Guayaquil, expecting the bus to stop at the border so we could pass through Ecuadorian immigration.  However, at the border, officials just waved the bus through.  This meant we did not have our passports stamped and were not granted visas.

Exhausted and clearly somewhat stressed, we arrived in Guayaquil during the evening, greeted by heat, humidity and pouring rain.  Arriving at our hotel, we hoped to sink into bed in a cool air conditioned room with a lovely view.  However, an error on their part meant we spent our first night in a tiny room with no windows and only a ceiling fan.  Fortunately in the morning, this was rectified and we were moved into a cool, bright room which even had a balcony.

We spent a couple of days in Guayaquil.  It is an enormous city, high rise buildings and lanes of traffic spanning 6 across.   This busy metropolis felt so modern compared to Arequipa.  There was a pretty park near to our hotel, with an impressive statue situated in the centre.  We explored some of the local shops and ate a lovely meal at a restaurant beside the river.

Our cabaña

From Guayaquil, we travelled to Kamala, near Montañita, where Tom will be studying his CELTA course for the next 5 weeks.  We have spent 2 nights here now.  Our accommodation is practically on the beach, with a view of the ocean from the window of our cabaña.  We are waiting to hear what course of action we need to take to resolve our immigration situation, however for now I am enjoying relaxing in the sun for a couple of days before hopefully continuing with my Spanish classes and finding some more volunteer work.

Cusco & Machu Picchu

Tom and I were sad to say farewell to our friends in Arequipa, and I must admit I had a couple of tears when saying goodbye to the little ones at Manantiales, but we were also excited about the next stage of our travels.

Our journey from Arequipa to Cusco took around 12 hours.  We arrived early morning and were greeted warmly by our hosts at Hostel Llipimpac.  It felt like such luxury to be provided with a room which had hot showers and a proper duvet cover on the bed, rather than sheets and wool blankets.

Exploring around Cusco, we found the main plaza.  It was very pretty, with many flowers and looking up and around we could see the green landscape and mountains.  Cusco has a much more old world feel than Arequipa, the buildings all of different stone, darker and weathered.  In the sun, it feels hot, but in the shade much cooler, as Cusco stands at a higher altitude than Arequipa.

During our stay, which crossed partly with Holy Week, we saw a procession of police and military staff carrying a huge cross with a replica of Jesus Christ.  The procession started at the enormous, grand church and gradually wound its way around the plaza, local people throwing red flower petals as it passed by.

We visited the Choco Museo, where we learnt about the origins of cacao, myths of chocolate and the uses it has had through time (and of course we ate some chocolate, too).  The cacao plant does not bear fruit until it reaches maturity at 5 years, then it is fruitful for another 20 years.  The flowers that flourish near the bottom of the tree are pinkish white and have 5 petals.  It is believed that the cacao plant was originally discovered in the foothills of the Andes.  The Mayan people used to use chocolate in sacrifical ceremonies.

The highlight of our time in Cusco was visiting Machu Picchu.  Early one morning, we travelled by train to Ollantaytambo, a small town.  From there, we boarded another train to Aguas Calientes, the town at the bottom of Machu Picchu.  Our train journey wound alongside the river.  As we approached Aguas Calientes, the plantlife and vegetation became more and more lush and green.  Finally, a 20 minute bus journey brought us to the gates of Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu, which comes from the Quechua language meaning 'Old Peak' is also known as the 'Lost City of the Incas'.  It was built around 1450, during the height of the Inca Empire.  It is believed that it was abandoned around 100 years later, following the Spanish Conquest.  It is also possible that many of the Inca inhabitants died from Smallpox.

It is difficult to convey what an incredible sight it is and even more amazing to think of the time and effort invested in establishing such a well built and structured estate.  The Incas who created it were incredible people, in terms of both physical and mental ability.

The site was split into two main sectors, one for agricultural purposes and the other for more urban use, where the inhabitants built their homes with specific areas for the nobility and for religious places of worship.  The Incas built using a technique called ashlar, involving dry-stone walling without mortar.

Whilst our time in Cusco was brief, we saw many interesting and amazing things and we feel really lucky to have seen one of the seven wonders of the world.

Next post:  Travelling to Ecuador.