South America

Joyce’s story of her recent adventures in South America continues. The final chapter is next month:

It’s not too often that I share my men stories but I will today. I met a really nice guy in the Amazon. He is cute, funny, and has lots of energy. He is ADD like me. We took nice walks and talked a lot. He really kept me laughing. So like all men there are some drawbacks. His English is very limited as he was born and raised in Peru. He does not work and does not qualify for a green card. There is also a significant age difference. Actually quite a difference, he is 8 months old. He has 4 legs, a huge smile and lots of hair which makes me so jealous. Yes my new friend is Wallie, a spider monkey that has attached himself to me. He is an orphan so I thought about adoption but don´t know how Tashie would react to sharing a bed with a monkey. Also my parents already have a cat for a 5th grandchild so, I don´t know what they would do when I sent them a picture of number 6. So I guess I will treasure the memories and move on as my jungle time is over and I now go the jungle of Lima.

Loved my time in the jungle. Going down the river listening and looking for birds, walking at night and seeing spiders, frogs, terantulas, owls, bats, and more. Eating the fruits of the banana, mango, pineapple, and lime tree. Love that passion fruit juice and the watermelon is so sweet and juicy. Went out at night to see the Caymens which are alligators. These drivers don´t even need lights on their boats. It was pitch dark. I had my own cottage so I thought until the cockroaches came out to greet me. At that moment I took my dentists advice and decided it was not necessary to brush your teeth before bed. A matter a fact it wasn´t necessary to do anything in the bathroom at that point except leave! I immediately went to bed and tucked myself in under my mosquito net and held my flashlight all night. I did a very thorough bedcheck. Of course I shook and checked everything from that point on. Who knows what I am bringing home.
The sounds and the smells and the people of the rainforest are truly wonderful. It is an amazing and relaxing place. When the rain comes in you just listen and feel the power of the jungle. I got up this morning at 5 to go look for monkeys and birds. Unfortunately I don´t have superman eyes like our guides. It is amazing how they can spot things in the trees. I found Wallie instead and hung out. He definitely hangs out.

Now I am in Lima and will spend my last day here. Going on a city tour and just hanging out and repacking and repacking and repacking. I am proud to say I still have all my sunglasses but not my favorite travel shirt. Never did find my camera either.

Time to go and catch a bite to eat. Peruvian Chinese is on the menu tonight. I think that may mean catfish with chow mein noodles in mango sauce or something. Let you know in the next letter. More to come soon…

Joyce

Does this make you to want to be a TESOL teacher and travel to out of the way places, as well as contribute to societies where ability with English means a better living standard? And have fun! Yes? Then get qualified soon.

South America

As we said last month South America seems to be on quite a few travel plans. So we are continuing with Joyce’s recent travels there and hope you continue to enjoy reading about her experiences.

Since last month Joyce has sent me a CD with a hundred or so great images from her trip. Obviously too many to think about publishing here. We covered her time in Galapagos last month and now we can catch up with just a few images before we go on with her diary.

I’ve decided that I am the grandma of the trip. I am now traveling with 4 Couples most married less than 2 years and all honeymooners and much younger. However grandma here has been the heathiest and most evergetic.

They all go to bed and I am ready to hit the town but of course do not as i will not go alone.

She has Moose though and he got into all sorts of scrapes on Galapagos! (Ed)


Maxchu Pichu
So we are back from Maxchu Pichu. Those Incas knew how to pick the best real estate. Location is incredible. Surrounded by the Andes and covered in clouds it is a magical site to see and explore.

Walked several hours among the sites. They must have had long legs because the terraces and steps between each row was quite wide. I was double stepping the whole way. The twon has hot springs so a few of us went to the springs to relax. Of course it was a 100 step walk up to get there. They make you earn every site and activity here. So much for 24 hour fitness.

Christmas is not such a big thing here (neither is Hanukkah). We were in a restaurant and a local band came in to serenade us. Before long we were doing the Perusina version of the hora around the room.

So lets talk food. I have not tried nor do I plan to try guinea pig which is the specialty here. I did eat alpaca and it wa quite tasty although I still prefer wearing it. Trout is garlic butter is very nice. Pizza is everywhere. Here they have a special tea which you drink to help with the altitude. It is a type of leaf which would be illegail in the US. There are over 500 types of corn here. Popcorn is common but quite different.

South America

This has been a popular destination this year. Joyce, a teacher mate in USA has recently spent some time in Peru and also been to the Galapagos. She is a prolific and interesting writer and we will publish her over the next few issues.

Hi all. In Peru. Wide streets, lots of people, hustle and bustle and traffic. We play a game to look for the new bug cars and they have lots. Many small cars so they can wiggle in between each other. Nice hotel near the city center and across the street from Papa John Pizza. Today we are off to Couco so we will go from sea leevl to 10,000 ft. Good for me but hard on some people as they are getting altitude sickness. Still drinking onnly bottled water,. Just have to remind myself every time I go to brush my teeth. Maybe this trip will teach me to drink watrer more regularly. I am going to keep this short as people are waiting to use the computer and I need to go up and finish a few things. A longer and newsier letter to follow. Joyce.

So here I am back in Quito. First I want to tell you a few things I forgot earliers. When I arrived at 2 in the morning we were surrounded by little kids begging. Twice the car couldn't even move because they were hanging on the car so hard. It was so sad. I have seen a lot of poverty but luckily not as much as I expected.

Anyway, left early Sunday morning for the Galapagos. It took 2 flights, a bus, and a boat to get to our boat. Our boat was quite nice. It had 16 outside cabins each nicely designed with wood floors and private facilities. The boat also had a bar, a little library and a dining room. We ate three very good meals a day and late afternoon snacks. Nothing like getting out of the dingy and being met with miniature pizza. I had no problem with this. You actually get quite an appetite on a boat. Well I do as some people lose their appetite but luckily I am not one of them. No sea sickness at all.

Our days were spent visiting the various islands and the wildlife. Saw the blue-footed boobies, tons of sea lions and iguanas. Saw turtles in the water as well as the land tortoises. Lots of other hawks, gulls, etc. When you didn't know the name of something you just called it the Galapagos ____. So I saw a Galapagos dove, a galapagos hawk, etc. Not much plant life as it is all volcanic and actually quite brown and barren. You are walking on lava most of the time. I don't know that I would say it is scenic as much as I would say it is fascinating.

We went snorkeling 4 times. I snorkeled with the hammer sharks, the sealions which were amazing because they swam right with you and you can even touch them. There were lots of colorful fish, eels, starfish, turtles, etc. The water was definitely cold which to me is anything under 90 degrees and it was about 65 to 70. However I jumped in and braved the cold. I figure if the fish can do it so can I. I think that is why so many fish have blue stripes - they are shivering too.

Ofcourse when not snorkeling or walking we were just relaxing on the boat and enjoying the scenery and water. There was a family from Australia and I got into playing cards with them. Quite the game. I am going to teach it to all my gambling friends. You know who you are!

Today with all the different forms of transportation to get back to the mainland I felt like I was on the Amazing race. We took a water taxi, than a bus around the island, than another boat, and two planes. The airline is great. Even a 45 minute flight gives you a sandwich or cake and beverages. In the terminal they serve drinks while you wait. United should take a few hints from them.

Today it is raining quite hard. I came back to do my laundry, put it all in a bag, brought it to the desk and was told to pick it up tomorrow. Called me 10 minutes later to say they had no room in the machine so I have clothes hanging everywhere. I only hope they dry before I leave.

Tomorrow three of us are off to a small town 22 kms from here. We will be at the equator and will do the egg trick. Than tomorrow night we are off to Peru. As it turns out half of my group was an 8 day boat trip so 7 of us left and we will meet up with a new group of people. I do find it hard at times to be a single person among all couples. That is the one drawback that I had no control over.

So far the stomach is doing well. Feel great. ANd I am proud to say it is day 6 and I have not lost any sunglasses. I really am doing preety good. I only took a few items on the boat so less is best.

Shopping is shopping. Luckily not too much time. Still no socks to be found.

Every morning they make these delicious fruit drinks and the pineapple here is incredible. Tonight ate Chinese food which was full of fresh vegetables. No fortune cookie.

Very rainy tonight but hopefully sun will come out.

The people are quite friendly. They are not pushy or anything with the tourists which is nice. What else to say.

Oh I got bit by a big bird. I was feeding it fish and I ran out of fish so it scooped down on me and snapped my hand. It was a huge bird. I was so stunned and than just laughed. We learned a lot about staying away from the bull or big male sealion. Once we got too close and it began to chase us. You really have to look where you go because the iguanas are everywhere.

I have an early day and a lot of drying to do with the blow-dryer so I think I will end for now. I am sure I will send another message from Cusco as we are there for 4 days. Again sorry for the mistakes - I do not spell check while on vacation! So enjoy. And I will write more later and fill in with more details.

Joyce