South American Trip '08 Part I

Mancora, Peru

So after all the stress of evacuation it was only fitting to start the trip with some r&r at the beach. A group of us headed north, way north, to Mancora, Peru. A cute little beach town practically on the border with Equador. We didn't do much but lay in the sand, play in the waves, take naps, eat ceviche, and drink cerveza for five days. In other words, it was absolutely perfect.

A little game of sunset soccer.

Huaraz, Peru

A few of us girls hesitantly left the beach and headed for Huaraz and the Cordillera Blanca (Supposedly the most beautiful region of the Andes, but personally I think Bolivia has got more pristine, beautiful places. People just don't know about them.) Anywho, I acquired giardia from my last plate of ceviche on the beach and was incapacitated for the first couple of days in Huaraz and couldn't do any hiking with my friends. They had to leave for Lima, but I stayed for a few more days to explore the area solo.

A little town outside of Huaraz. There was a festival going on and everyone was dressed in their best bright and colorful clothes.

Parque Nacional Huascaran. Named after the tallest peak in Peru. (note- that is not actually Huascaran in the background)

Now this is actually Huascaran. In the foreground and behind the camera is the remains of Yungi, a town of 30,000 that was completely buried by an earthquake and the resulting landslide from glaciers on Huascaran, in the late sixties. Only a handful of people in the whole town survived by running to the tallest part of the cemetery which was built like a wedding cake. This cathedral was built on the site of the original. Now the site of the disaster is a park for tourists and New Yungi was rebuilt nearby.

A bus that was partially dug out of the rubble. They're not sure if there were people in it or not when the landslide hit.

Potosi, Bolivia

Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain). Once one of the most productive mines in the world, fueling the once richest city in the world, Potosi. Production has since slowed down dramatically, but miners continue to work and die (40 per year) in incredibly harsh conditions.

One of the "nicer" sections of the mine. You could actually fully stand up. There are many long sections where you have to literally get on all fours a crawl through dark spaces (the only light is from your head lamp) and try not to choke on the dust. How the miners actually drag heavy bags of rocks through these spaces I have no idea. We spent just a few hours in the mine and we all came out with scratchy voices (from the dust I think) and completely exhausted from crawling up and down the mine shafts. My quads were hurting for days. And the miners do it 12 hrs everyday!

Fun with dynamite. A demonstration of how miners put together dynamite, light it, bury it, then run!!

Huayna Potosi, outside of La Paz

A big group of B44ers reunited in La Paz to conquer Huayna Potosi. A mountain just under 20,000 ft. I personally didn't fell fit enough or have the ganas to climb the giant so I went as cheerleader for the team and just kind of hung out in the lodge while the real bad asses climbed.

The girls. Erica in the middle was the only woman of the group to climb the mountain. Huayna Potosi in the distance.

Team Coca Boca (Coca Mouth). Named after the guys' ability to chew ridiculous amounts of coca.

I hiked up the mountain the first day with the team for their practice session in ice climbing techniques. This is as far as I made it up the mountain, but it's the first time I actually touched a glacier!

While the team was climbing I made a flag for us to pin up on the walls of the lodge. I tried to incorporate the themes of America and Peace Corps. Pretty nice, huh?