Cusco, Peru

A call for volunteers went out from a group of American missionaries who needed help staffing a small carnival at their church as a way to make more contacts in the community. I received the request second hand and jumped at the chance. For me, the opportunity to volunteer doing something worthwhile is a great excuse to travel. I get the best of both worlds - the enjoyment of doing something good and the enjoyment of seeing more of the world. I arrived into Cusco on October 10, 2011 by train from Puno and went directly to the church where the kick off dinner was in progress. I had never met any of these people so it was a bit uncomfortable at first but introductions were made and things slowly warmed up. Out of the group of 17 Americans who had come to volunteer, 7 of us were staying in a hotel owned by friends of the missionaries. On Tuesday morning we walked to the church and spent the day organizing and decorating for the carnival. What started as a large empty room with a concrete floor became a large room filled with colorful flags, balloons and about 12 different booths with different games. It was an amazing transformation! For three days we had three sessions each day for children and their families to come play games, win small prizes and learn more about the church. It was physically exhausting but mentally encouraging.

After the carnival, most of my new friends left town right away so I moved to a hotel in old town. This would give me easy access to spend time exploring Cusco. Using Trip Advisor I found a hostal in an old colonial house that was priced well and located between Plaza de Armas and San Blas. It looked to be down a narrow alley or one way street and turned out to be a narrow alley that was up a steep set of stairs. It was a bit daunting to be at the bottom with luggage but one step at a time, clunk, clunk, clunk I pulled my wheeled suitcase up. I was breathing so hard that I could hardly talk when I got into the lobby. It was a small, old-world style lobby with large dark wood beams and wood floors that led to a small patio. My room was up a set of dark wood stairs that creaked with each step and led to a very long hallway that also creaked with each step. I opened the door to the cutest room with two twin beds, beam ceilings, ancient wood floors, a mural painted on the wall, and a small brick fireplace. There was also a large window overlooking a tile roof out to the city of Cusco. I felt like I had just checked into a small town inn back in colonial times with the exception of the modern bathroom. I love that old world feel but a modern bathroom is a must!!

After a good night sleep in a warm room with a comfortable bed I spent the next day on a guided tour of the Sacred Valley. I saw the quaint towns of Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero along with many Inca ruins. It was a whirlwind tour with little time to really explore the towns. Note to self: spend a few days in the Sacred Valley not just one.  

Qorikancha

The next day was my last full day in Cusco so my game plan was to just explore, simply wander and see what I find that is not on the tourist map. I had only two must see places that day so I started with the ancient Inca site of Qorikancha (pronounced Cour-a-kancha). It was the most important temple in the Inca empire, dedicated to Inti, the Sun God. When the Spanish arrived in Cusco they wrote of the temple walls being covered in gold which the Inca took down in order to ransom their king from the Spanish. As was standard procedure for the Conquistadors, they tore down most the temple and built a cathedral upon the Inca foundations. It makes these sites an interesting mix of quality Inca stone work and colonial style buildings. Cusco has had two very large earthquakes, 1650 and 1950, that destroyed many colonial buildings but the Inca stone work is still standing as solid as the day they were built.

The old section of Cusco is a mixture of narrow cobblestone streets and wide paved boulevards and it feels like there is a large Spanish cathedral around every corner. There is also a smattering of Inca walls scattered about, most are part of some random colonial age building. West of the Plaza de Armas I found a huge open market where the locals go to buy fresh goods and most anything else you can think of including a whole section of fresh flowers. I love wandering through these markets. You will find every type of meat, just butchered hanging whole or cut into chunks and covered in flies; fruits and vegetables, some you can identify and some you have never seen before and anything else you can think of from grains to household items out for sale. This market also had numerous small stations with stools at counter tops that served some kind of soup with meat and vegetables., which is something I have not seen before at other open markets. Shortly after leaving the market the wind started gusting and I noticed the clouds building which had brought a little rain almost every afternoon for the last couple of days. I ducked into a church that was decorated with purple and white ribbon for the Senior del Milagros processions that were taking place that week. It looked like the church was getting ready for a service so I respectfully sat down to observe the people praying, lighting candles and altar boys scurrying about. It was a great place to be out of the weather and see the locals preparing for mass and the procession. After a short bit of rain I walked back toward the Plaza de Armas and wandered up and down some of the smaller streets that radiate out of from the square.

Not too far away is the chocolate museum with comfortable chairs and couches, similar to Starbucks, and you can order snacks and drinks. I went in and found a spot on a stool out on one of the small balconies that overlooked the Plaza Regocijo. It was a nice place to drink a coffee and watch the tourists and locals as they went about their lives below. If you ever go to Cusco don't miss the Chocolate Museum! They have a lot of interesting information about growing Cacao and making it into chocolate but my favorite was actually watching the process as they made their own chocolate right there in the museum. If you are used to the normal very sweet and creamy chocolate of the states then I should warn you that this will be bitter to your taste buds. I was great to try but not something I would eat on a regular basis. My American taste buds have been acclimatized to too much sugar. After a dinner of the most wonderful rotisserie chicken I went back to the hotel and packed to go home. This part of Peru is so full of history, I found it very interesting plus I had a lot of fun practicing my Spanish. Hopefully I will be invited back next year!

Machu Picchu

Just the name evokes a mythical dream of an ancient site in a far away land.  A place you have heard of but are not quite sure where it is or why it is so important.  For most travelers Machu Picchu is at least in the top 10 or 15 on the bucket list and not the easiest place to get to.  Built in the mid to late 1400's by the Inca it was most likely a royal retreat for the Inca ruler of the time, Pachacuti.  It is located between the Amazon jungle and the highland plains in Peru.  To get there is a bit reminiscent of the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles:  fly to Lima, fly to Cusco, bus to Ollantaytambo, train to Aguas Callientas, bus to the entrance of Machu Picchu.  It was all worth it the moment I set eyes on the site.

Our tour guide picked us up at 4:45 am at our hotel in Cusco.  We took a large tour bus to Ollantaytambo because we could get there quicker by bus than we could by train.  Beware that Peruvians are quite comfortable driving very fast around corners, passing on hills and their personal space comfort level is much closer than most Americans, which also translates into their personal space comfort level when it comes to other automobiles and pedestrians on the road.  If you are a nervous driver I suggest you sit in the middle of the bus on don't look out the window.  If you are easily car sick, take a Dramamine before you leave because the road from Cusco to Ollantaytambo is quite curvy up to a mountain pass and just as curvy as you go down into the Sacred Valley. 

Typical Machu Picchu Photo

After an hour and a half later we reached the quaint train station in Ollantaytambo and joined others headed to Aguas Callientas which is at the base of Machu Picchu and can only be reached by train.  The Vistadome Train is appropriately named for the windows high on the sides and roof of the train that allows you to see the soaring mountains as you traverse the valley floor next to the Urubamba River.  Every few feet were views that were so spectacular you wanted to take a photo knowing that no photo would ever come close to seeing the real thing.  In about two hours we came to the station at Aguas Calientas and got in the long line for the bus up to Machu Picchu.  The bus ride up the mountain was another hairy ride up switchback after switchback on a road with room for only one bus at a time, except we kept meeting buses coming down, face to face.  One bus would reverse into a small pull out the size of a footpath while the other bus would sneak by with only inches to spare on each side.  One inch to far either way and we were taking the mirrors off each bus or one wheel would be over the edge.  Every other switchback revealed a spectacular view down into the valley below getting smaller and smaller as we went up.  The bus let us off into a crowed of people, UGH!  At this point I was concerned this would turn into a day of some tourist filled spot with so many people that it would be over crowed and uncomfortable.  Once we are in the gate there is no place to use the bathroom so many of us thought it smart to go now.  Guess what??  It cost one sole to use the bathroom at Machu Picchu, yes this is only about 30 cents but it was funny to have to pay.  Also don't forget there is on toilet paper in each stall so bring your own or take some from the community dispenser at the entrance. 

Looking from bottom up to Guard House

I didn't realize that our group would have a tour guide so I had purchased a book, The Machu Picchu Guidebook, A Self-Guided Tour by Ruth Wright and Dr. Alfredo Valencia Zegarra, and was completely prepared to guide myself.  It would have been rude to take off from the group so I stuck with our guide using my book as much as possible.  Our guide started low on the ruins near the lower agricultural storage houses.  My very first impression of the site was exactly how steep the site is.  Think about that standard MP photo that everyone sees, like the one above.  It looks relatively flat, yes it is on top of a mountain, yes you see stairs but it does not seem to be so steep that it can't be easily walked.  Well let me tell you this is quite deceiving.  The photo is taken from the guard house looking down but when you are at the bottom looking up it is very intimidating how steep it really is.  The next photo, to the right, is from the lower section looking up to the guard house and you can get an idea of how high it is when you see how small the people in the photo are.  When you are at the bottom looking at stairs that are 18 to 24 inches each step that seem to go straight up and you are at over 8000 feet when your little lungs are used to living at sea level you might be tempted to think there is no way I can do this.  Let me tell you that you can do it!!  Our tour never made it to the main entrance and the guard house and I was determined to see both these places and to take the standard MP photo.  When the tour was over I went straight up the stairs taking them one at time not looking up and not stopping until my heart was about to pound right out of my chest.  I took a small break and started again.  I made it!!  There were a lot of people standing in line to get their photo taken at the main entrance so I just took a couple of photos and went on to continue to climb to the guard house.  The open field next to the guard house is where the typical MP photo you see in all the books is taken from.  I took a few photos and then got out my phone to take on of me with MP in the background. 

Machu Picchu Main Gate

Our group had to meet back at a restaurante in Aguas Calientas around 2 for lunch so from the guard house I had to walk down the path back to the main entrance to catch the bus back.  My legs were like spagatti and my knees were really hurting.  It began to sprinkle but it felt good so I did not bother with the rain coat I had been carrying all day in my back pack.  After lunch I walked around the market next to the train station and was limping like an old woman becuase my legs and knees hurt so bad.  It was all worth it and I would have been perfectly happy to go back and do it again the next day.  The Inca were a facinating civilization and there is so much to see at MP that you would not easily know without some research before, even a guide will not have time to point out some of the more subtle items like the torch holders, holes used to bar the door, an example of how they carved the corners so percice and many other things.  If you are going on your own, I highly reccomend the above book, it gave me a game plan to see the whole site in an organized way. 

The trip home was exactly like the trip there in reverse execpt I actually slept and we arrived back to the hotel about 9:30. 


MACHU PICCHU SUGGESTIONS AND WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY:

Make sure you have water, sun screen, bug spray and a rain poncho, take snacks.  Do not go down the mountain to eat lunch in Aguas, bring a sandwich or something with you.  Find a nice spot with a spectacular view (they are all around) and enjoy lunch soaking in the scenery.  Wear shoes with good strong soles, there are a lot of rocks and I was glad to be wearing my hiking boots instead of tennis shoes but many in my group did have tennis shoes and seemed to do fine.  Bring your Advil, Tylenol or what ever you like.  If you are more than 30 your legs will be tired and achy and you don't want to let any pain get in your way of enjoying this once in a lifetime spot. 

The next time I go (I hope there is a next time becuase it is worth doing again), I will take the afternoon train to Aguas and stay there at least two nights.  I will get up early in the morning and take the first bus up the mountain so that I arrive before all the "train tourists" fill the place up.  I will either have a sandwich with me or I will pay the price to eat at the Sanctuary Lodge located at the front gate.  I think the sandwich and snacks might be the better way to go because I can find an out of the way spot to sit, eat and enjoy the atmoshpere.  I will spend as much time up at the site as possible, slowly making my way around the site with my guide book at my own pace, reading about each location and just soaking in the majesty of the ruins and the mountain top location. 

Train from Puno to Cusco, Peru

Early on Monday morning I boarded the train in Puno, Peru (near Lake Titicaca), bound for Cusco, Peru. It was a lot more elegant than I expected. Wingback chairs, a table with a nice cloth cover, a lamp on the table and a waitresses to bring food and drinks. I watched the countryside pass by while almost every child waived at the train. In one town the train tracks pass through an open market that offered anything a person could need from kitchen supplies to car parts. The train passed only inches from the booths while many vendors quickly removed their goods from the track only to return them as soon as the train passed. Some venders had smartly placed their goods between the rails low enough for the train to pass right over.

I am pretty sure I was the only American on the train. A nice couple next to me was Australian, they had been to Argentina and Brazil before coming to Peru. I also heard French, Portuguese, and Spanish being spoken on my car.

Through the bar car to the back of the train was an open car where I could stand and feel the warm air while watching the tracks as the train left them behind. It was a great place to watch people in the countryside as they went about their daily lives. Some were working in fields getting them ready to plant, others were tending sheep or cows as they grazed. The animals were tied to a stake in the ground so they could graze a circular area and I am guessing they were moved to different locations every day. Sometimes local dogs would chase and bark at the train getting scary close to the wheels. People in the cities were always waiting at crossings for the train to pass so they could go about their daily lives. In the cities most people ignored the train but many people in the country stopped and looked and often waived.

I was never board! A nice lunch was served at noon with our choice of soup, main dish and dessert. The train stopped once at a small trackside market that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There were two different bands playing Peruvian music with dancers, plus a fashion show plus tea and sandwiches were served about four. We pulled into Cusco about 6 pm just as it got dark.

It was a nice thing to do once but was expensive even for all the entertainment and good food. I think I will take the bus next time.

Lake Titicaca

Arrived Puno, Peru yesterday after a night in Lima. Puno is located in southern Peru on Lake Titicaca at 13,000 feet. That is a big jump for a girl who lives at sea level. I had a headache all day long. I spent most of my time sitting in a cafe overlooking the central square, Plaza de Armas, drinking coca tea. Yes it is made with leaves from the coca bush, the same leaves that are used to make cocaine. There is less than one percent of the ingredient used to make cocaine in each leaf so it does not make you high. In fact it takes hundreds of grams of cooked down coca leaves to make any amount of the drug. Coca leaves are very important to the Peruvian people, they do not use it as a drug, it is more of a health product. It is very affective against altitude sickness and the headache that comes with it.

I had a nice Saturday afternoon just watching the local people in the square. Later I attended mass in the large Cathedral. I am not catholic but I wanted to experience church in one if those wonderfully old, large, cold, stone churches that makes me feel reverent just walking in the door.

Today was the tour of the lake. I joined a group tour on a boat that took us to the floating islands of Uros and the larger island of Taquile. Surprisingly I was the only American. There were lots of Brits, some French, one Italian and a Polish couple.

The floating islands of Uros are literally that, islands made of reeds that float in the lake. These people live here year round in small reed homes, they fish, hunt birds and ducks, collect bird and duck eggs and even grow some small vegetables. They also trade these things with people on the mainland for other goods they need. In the attached photo you can see a small cross-section of the island they use for demonstration. Then they anchor the island to the lake bottom so it does not float away to Bolivia. They regularly refresh the top layer of reeds which eventually composts into the material you see in the photo.

Of course they sell many goods made from reed or wool, there are many sheep on the mainland. They also sell rides in the reed boats. We were told up front how much it costs but I was amused when he collected the money half way into the ride. As if to say, pay or swim back. The water us about 50 degrees so no one wanted to swim.

The island of Tequile is a large island located 2 1/2 hours boat ride from Puno and it is not even 1/4 across the lake. The people there are very traditional in dress and culture and are known around the world for their weaving and knitting. The men knit and the women weave. They have terraced the entire island for farming and raising sheep and cows. To get to the village we walked a trail that gained at lease 500 feet in less than a mile, not so easy at over 13,000 feet for a girl from sea level. We walked up one side of the island, explored the village, had lunch, and walked down over 500 steps on the other side of the island. It was work but so worth it. Most of my good photos are in my camera so I will post them later.

Mid-life Crisis Travel

A few years ago I was 39, divorced, my dog had died, and I had not yet started the busy travel schedule that I now love.  Needless to say I was just a bit depressed.  I was the one guest of a self-pity party, held in the privacy of my own home.  I had been thinking about getting away, taking some great trip.  Why not start at the top of the bucket list?  What would be the first item on the list?  For me there was no doubt that would be an African safari. The problem is that Africa is a huge continent with so many great safari locations, so the hard part was where and with whom?  For the last couple of years I had been half hardly researching locations and companies; it gave me something to do and made me feel better just to think maybe. 

On a particularly lonely Thanksgiving holiday I decided to “JUST DO IT” so I picked up the Thompson Safari catalog for 2007 to see what they had around my birthday.   Their classic safari was timed perfectly and also included some of the great wonders of the world: The Serengeti Plains, Ngorongoro Crater and Olduvi George.   I also added the Zanzibar extension.  If I am going to fly half way around the world I better make it worth it and see all I can.  Just the name Zanzibar evokes dreams of exotic travel in old colonial locations, where people actually sit on a veranda carved from exotic tropical woods with fans slowly turning above as they drink something cold with mint leaves while looking out on an old stone town with narrow streets, surrounded by palm trees that filter views of a sparkling blue ocean.  I called Thompson to see if they had space on this tour that was less than four months away and they did.  Normally they were booked nine or ten months in advance so this must be a sign.  Right?  I called my Dad because this is always something he has wanted to do also and told him I was doing this, he and Mom were welcome to come but not to worry I was going no matter what.  He hung up, talked to Mom and called me back in less than an hour to say they were in.  I wonder if that conversation went something like this, “Karen is going on safari and I have always wanted to do that too, so how about going with her?”  Or if it was more like this, “Karen is going on safari and there is no way I want her gallivanting around Africa by herself so we are going too.”  Either way, they went with me and it was nice to have them along. 

I spent many days reading over my National Audubon Society Field Guide of African Animals and at least a month piling up items on my coffee table that I did not want to forget.  We were only allowed one soft sided duffel bag that weighted no more than 33 pounds so planning the right wardrobe was quite difficult.  After packing, weighing, packing, and weighing again I was ready to go!  I flew direct from Seattle to Amsterdam where I met up with my parents and the three of us flew from Amsterdam direct to Kilimanjaro International Airport.  KIA is located in between Moshi and Arusha in northern Tanzania and is just at the foot of the great Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa, the highest mountain in all of Africa.  I was excited to get to see this legendary mountain, but we arrived in the dark and immediately drove west and were so far from it the rest of the trip that I never did see it.  I flew 10,000 miles and never saw the greatest mountain in Africa. 

I walked from the plane onto the roll up stairway and I was greeted by a warm African night and the most wonderful sweet smell that turned out to be a mixture of blooming trees and burning wood.  I felt like I was coming home to a place I had never been! 

If I write one blog post on the entire trip you will be reading for days, or sound asleep in minutes, so I will break this up into the different locations that we visited…more to come…

Iceland

I look forward to the Travelzoo top 20 to be delivered every Wednesday during lunch.  My co-workers around the lunch table are not excited about all the good deals that I share with them as I am reading the list.  Most of them think I am a bit crazy and they might be right, but at least I am crazy with some really cool passport stamps!!

 Late last year on a non-descript Wednesday afternoon Travelzoo published a bargain trip to Iceland.  It caught my attention but as usual I put it aside thinking I have too many trips planned already.  This deal stayed in my head.  I kept thinking how cool that would be to see Iceland, but Iceland in January or February??  Sure, why not.  Maybe I would even be lucky enough to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).  How could I pass up round trip airfare, direct from Seattle to Reykjavik, 2 nights in a hotel and an afternoon soaking in the Blue Lagoon for only $499?  The more I thought about it the more I realized it was too cheap not to go!!  It would cost me more to stay home than to go to Iceland, well… not really but it sounds good, so I booked it and added an extra night.  As is the plight of every single traveler around the world, I paid more for single occupancy but even so, air fare and 3 night’s hotel came to $700, still cheaper than going to Anchorage. 

I knew absolutely nothing about Iceland so I put the word out on Facebook for suggestion on what to see and do.  Everyone who has visited or lived there has really liked it so I got a lot of great suggestions.  In my research I found tour companies who provided very affordable tours on great big tour coaches.  All I could think of is being stuffed in a coach with 100 strangers while we were herded like cattle in, out and about.  UGH!  That sounded terrible.  Then I came across Superjeep.is with the Range Rover Defender big as day right on the front page!!  I was sold right there.  The Defender is the best safari vehicle on the planet and I would do anything to relive the safari days in East Africa so I booked a Golden Circle Tour and a Northern Lights Tour with Superjeep. 

The holidays came and went and in early February I hopped the plane to Iceland.  It was a 7 hour flight up and over the Arctic Circle, typical boring flight until we were over Greenland and the Northern Lights made an appearance!!  How cool to see them from 35,000 feet, they were just out the window.  In order to see them better I covered my head and window with my wrap so I could block out the interior lights.  They glowed green and moved ever so slowly, in fact, they moved so slowly that I did not see the motion; I just realized they were all of a sudden in a different pattern.  Then a few minutes later they were gone.  I wondered if some villager in the blackness that was Greenland below was looking up at the same green glowing river.

Blue Lagoon

I arrived early in the morning before the sun came up and caught a bus to the hotel in Reykjavik.  It was dark so I saw nothing of the land during the 40 minute drive between the airport in Keflavik and Reykjavik.  I arrived at the hotel just as the sun was coming up to a gray winter morning.  I had time for a short nap before I had to catch a bus for the Blue Lagoon; a huge geothermal pool and spa.  By the time I arrived it was snowing and blowing sideways, so the walk (really a half run/trot while trying not to slip on the ice) from the door to the pool in my bare feet and swimsuit was a bit cold.  Down the stairs as quick as possible into the warm water, ahhhhhhh, soaking in the warm water while keeping my back to the wind that was trying to sandblast me with snow.  There is only so much you can do by yourself in a hot pool.  There were not too many people there, which was nice, but it was quite boring just floating around by myself.  At one point I had floated so far from the entrance and the weather had closed in even more limiting my visibility so that I could see no other person or the building.  Typically I would prefer that type of serenity but for some reason this freaked me out a bit so I made my way back closer to the entrance.   I was now very tired, from the combination of the all night flight and the hot Jacuzzi type water so I went in and caught the bus back to the hotel.  I was sound asleep by 8 PM. 

The next morning I had scheduled the Golden Circle Tour with Superjeep.  The driver picked me up and off we went.  I had the pleasure of being grouped with three ladies from the UK.  It had snowed all night so we were driving through snow that was 12 or 18 inches deep, there was no way some large motor coach would have traveled thought this snow.  We spent 8 or 9 hours hearing great stories about Icelandic history and folklore and seeing beautiful scenery.  Superjeep dropped me at the hotel for some dinner and picked me up about two hours later for the Northern Lights hunt.  Off we went in another wonderful Range Rover Defender that was so high I had to hop up on the running board to get in.  There was a group of 4 or 5 other vehicles in the caravan and our guide was very knowledgeable about the aurora.  We did not see any lights that night but it was not for lack of trying, those Superjeep guys took us all around and were very informative and entertaining.

The next morning I had a South Coast Tour scheduled with Superjeep so again they picked me up at the hotel and we headed south.  This time there was a British couple with me.  I love traveling with Brits!  They have a reputation for being stuffy but I find that once you get to know them a bit, they warm right up and are great fun plus they are not obnoxious like some of my fellow countrymen can be.  This turned out to be the greatest day!  It was one of those gray northern winter days, with that eerie northern winter light that I find very comforting, for a short time.  Too long and I would need a sanity check trip to the Caribbean for some sun but for a few days it is a nice experience.   We saw more beautiful snow covered county, drove out to a glacier, saw the location of the Eyjafjallajökull  (No I can’t pronounce that, I tried but was laughed at) Volcano that had halted European air traffic almost a year ago.  I really loved the tranquil snow covered farms with colorful homes, barns and outbuildings.  They were so serene, covered in a perfect blanket of snow.  I would like to return in the summer to see the same farms with fluffy white sheep in deep green fields.  We made it almost to Vik that day and had lunch on the greatest rocky beach with pebbles as smooth as a baby’s tush and giant block shaped basalt cliffs that jutted out into the angry ocean with big rolling breaking waves. 

Back at the hotel, I only had time for dinner again plus adding a few more layers to my winter wardrobe, before Superjeep picked me up for tonight’s Northern Lights tour.  This time we had 7 or 8 vehicles in the caravan but our guide was the leader of the group so we felt privileged to be the head of the pack.  We traversed some dark mountain road in a blinding snow storm with drifts 2 or 3 feet deep along the road.  We went through some really scary spots and a couple of times I thought we might slide right off the road but I was never scared.  These guys are professionals when it comes to driving in adverse conditions!!  I told our driver I could tell this was not his first blizzard and he quipped back with a grin, “This is not a blizzard.”  After some really exciting 4-wheeling through the “non-blizzard” we came to the Thingvillar National Park, site of the first national government in 930 AD.  There the Northern Lights made their appearance.  They were not large but they were clear and bright, plus we saw one small show of a reddish color which they said was pretty rare.  I tried to take photos with my cheap camera but they did not turn out.  Thankfully the guides had great cameras and they shared their photos with us on Facebook.  I could have stood there all night (with something warm to drink) and watched.  I am sure the locals get tired of the lights; it might be annoying to have them shining bright in the bedroom window when you are trying to sleep. 

I found Iceland to have a magical feeling about it.  They have a rich history with a lot of folklore and wonderful stories full of trolls and fairies.  The people are warm and friendly and the country has a volcanic beauty that reminded me a lot of Adak, Alaska.  I did not want to leave, not unusual for me, I could have stayed for a week and taken a different tour with Superjeep every day!  I plan to go back sometime in the summer to see the land without a blanket of snow.  In a perfect world I would be able to have our Superjeep driver pick me up at the airport and escort me on a personal 10 day tour completely around the country on the ring road; showing me his lovely home, introducing me to the friendly people, and experiencing the beautiful culture.  Hmmmm wonder what that would cost???

S.C.U.B.A.



Gather up the gear, make sure I have everything:  mask, BCD (Buoyancy Control Device, basically a vest that you put air in or take it out so you can simply hover in the water), regulator so I can breathe, wet suit, booties, fins, dive computer, and anti-fog for the mask.  Schlep it all down to the boat where a tank and weights will be waiting.  Load gear, attach BCD to tank, put the proper amount of weight into my BCD (12 – 14 pounds), and store the rest of the gear under the seat.  The sun is hot, the air is humid and I am sweating from carrying all that gear.  The other divers also get organized while the dive crew gets the boat underway.  We motor out 5 to 30 minutes depending upon what site the crew has decided to dive.  The breeze caused by the movement of the boat feels nice as it cools me.  A few minutes before we get to the site all divers start to gear up.  The crew ties the boat off to the correct buoy as the divers put on wet suits (if needed), spray the mask with anti-fog and rinse it off, put dive computer on my wrist, sit on the bench and put arms into the BCD, clip on and tighten up the BCD, grab fins and mask. Stand up. Easier said than done, that tank is heavy. The boat is swaying and the tank pulls you backward, hold on.  Shuffle toward the stern of the boat, put on mask, then put fins on one at a time while the free

Yellowhead Jawfish

hand holds on to the boat so I don’t fall in with only one fin on.  Check air, is it on?  Breathe into the reg while looking at air gage to make sure.  Press the inflator button to put air into the BCD.  Hold mask with one hand and place the other hand on the front of the BCD, stand right on the edge of the boat and take one big step into the ocean.  SPLASH!  Oh, that cool water feels so good.  The air in the BCD makes me pop right up and float on the surface.  I put one hand on my head to motion to the crew I am fine.  One of them hands me my camera and I kick away from the boat.Waiting on the surface is no fun if there is any chop or wave action on the water so I prefer to descend and wait for the group on the bottom.  Hold up the inflation tube on the BCD and press the deflator button to let all the air out of the BCD, exhale, relax, I start to slowly descend.  As I descend I look around because often the first one to descend will see sharks or turtles that will flee as more divers get into the water.  Hold my nose and blow gently to clear my ears as I descend.  I have to do this about 5 or 6 times as I go down 25 or 30 feet.  As I get deeper, I begin to fall faster and faster so before I reach the bottom I add a little air to the BCD so I can become neutrally buoyant and hover with the greatest of ease.  While I wait for everyone else I look around.  I watch the sandy bottom for Yellowhead Jawfish poking their thumb sized pale yellow heads and milky white bodies out of their hole in the sand.  Their hole is surrounded by small dead chunks of coral and I don't know if that is for stability or decoration or both.  They bob in and out of the hole as if to check out the huge creatures descending into their small territory.   I look around the small coral heads for juvenile fish swimming in and out of the tiny coral fingers or small creatures hiding in holes beneath and in between the coral.

Spotted Moray Eel

Giant Anemone

Once we are all gathered on the bottom we follow the dive master on his “tour” of the dive site.  Just a small movement of my fin propels me slowly forward; it is like flying in slow motion while feeling weightless and relaxed.  It is so quiet; all I hear is my breath inhaling through the regulator, the glub, glub of bubbles as I exhale, and the constant yet quietly subtle clicking sounds of the coral.  I try to breathe small shallow breaths so as not to change my delicate buoyancy.  A deep breath will make me rise and a deep exhale will make me fall.  I use these breaths to maneuver over, around and down through the coral reefs.  There are large clusters of all different types of coral living together in what looks like a large impenetrable clump but upon closer look the coral group is like Swiss cheese with holes that fish, eels, crab, and lobster occupy.  It is like a high-rise condo complex where the Moray Eel and Octopus live on the ground floor next door to the Giant Anemone whose colorful arms are home to the ¼ inch long, appropriately named, Squat Anemone Shrimp.  Higher in the community you will find a small arrow crab hiding in a crevice or a

Juvenile Yellowtail Damslefish

large Caribbean Lobster with his long antennae extending out from his lair.  Towards the top you will see timidly darting in and out of the young coral stems a juvenile Yellowtail Damselfish;    Parrotfish will patrol the coral head looking for a good spot of coral to bite off and chew up.  I hear the crunch as they scrape the coral with their hard, beak-like mouth.  I swim slowly and watch for movement or something that has an odd shape or slightly different color to it, this is often a

give-away for some creature who is trying to camouflage himself within the reef.  I take my small flashlight out of its pocket and shine it into the deeper holes; you just never know when you will be face to gills with a big lipped Grouper or a reddish Squirrelfish with huge eyes hiding in the dark.  Often these peeks into the dark under belly of the

Juvenile Drum Fish

coral reef are rewarded with a close up of a juvenile or adult drum fish.  The juvenile drum fish is one of the most unusually shaped fish out there with a long flamboyant dorsal and tail fin that looks like one fin going two directions.  They seem hyperactive as they constantly and erratically swim in a loose figure eight pattern.  This constant movement makes them hard to photograph but predictable since you know they will be back around soon.   When swimming over and around coral it is very important not to kick the coral so I try to stay high enough that my fins don't contact the coral at any time.

Pederson Cleaner Shrimp

Being this high all the time is no good because you miss a lot of wonderful small creatures, like the corkscrew anemone with Shirley Temple-like curls or the purple spotted, transparent Pederson Cleaner Shrimp.   I am now in the habit of swimming with my head much lower than my feet and if I see something interesting I go in head first with my feet in the air.  If other divers look around and see bright yellow fins sticking out of a coral head, that would be me looking at something interesting.

All during the dive we find interesting fish and creatures and we have fun showing each other what we found.  Many of the more popular animals have hand signals so we can tell another diver there is a shark over there (hand at forehead standing up like a fin) or a sting ray on the other side of the boat (flying motion with the arms).  During the whole dive I must keep an eye on my air consumption gage and the bottom time reading on my computer.  When the dive master tells us it is time to surface or I am low on bottom time or air, I must begin to surface.  I start to take deeper breaths, I hold up my BCD inflator hose and I release all the air from it.  This begins the slow assent.  I keep an eye on the depth reading on my computer as I make my way up the water column.  I must go slowly, too fast and my computer starts to beep and flash an arrow with the word “slow” in it.  If I start to ascend too quickly I simply exhale very deeply to slow my assent.   At 15 feet I must do a safety stop for 3 minutes.  This gives my body extra time to release any nitrogen that has built up from breathing compressed gas.   As I breathe in and out I rise and fall, up and down, up and down.  The trick is to breathe very shallow so I just hang in one spot.  Some divers are really good at this, it looks like they are just “standing” in the water, hands clasped together barely looking at their depth gage.  Me, on the other hand, I tend to float as if I am lying on my stomach with my feet a bit higher than my head and my eyes constantly on my gauge; not too elegant but it works.  When I surface, I swim to the back of the boat.  The captain or dive master is there waiting.  I hand up my camera, I take off each fin and hand it up one at a time then crawl up the ladder.  That feeling of weightlessness goes away the second that tank is out of the water.   It is hard to climb the ladder with all that extra weight on.  I shuffle back to the bench and sit down with the tank back in its holder, take off the BCD that is still attached to the tank, take off my mask, wipe off the snot that tends to drain out of your
nose during the dive and then…”What was that green fish you pointed at?” or “Did you see the huge turtle toward the end of the dive?”  We then spend the next 35 minutes talking about that dive and what we saw before we suit up and do it all over again. 

Invasion of the Caribbean

Tourists? Pirates? Aliens?  Hungry Real Estate Agents?  No, something much more dangerous!!  They are unmistakable, the elegant spines and colorful stripes cause them to stand out in any saltwater tank and expose the location of their lair within the coral reef as you swim past.  The Lionfish is a member of the Scorpion fish family and is native to the South Pacific, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.  How could something so graceful and appealing be more dangerous than invading tourists or thieving pirates?  This very aggressive, voracious, and poisonous predator has almost no natural enemies in the Caribbean.  They can quickly devour all of the smaller reef fish within their home territory and they reproduce at lightning speed; the female will lay from 15,000-40,000 eggs per month.   Left unchecked they can do irreparable damage to the Caribbean eco system. 

How did they get so far from home?  It has been documented that six Lionfish escaped when an aquarium was destroyed during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and many people also assume there have been some released into the wild by individual owners. 

I started diving in the Caribbean in 2008 and it was rare to see a Lionfish at that time.  In the last year it has become common place to see multiple Lionfish on every dive we do.   Many popular dive locations have begun to try to control the Lionfish population by encouraging local dive masters to take part in a contest to see who can spear and bring back the most Lionfish within a specific time period in return for prizes.  It is not easy to spear them; the Lionfish can move fast and hide in small places.  After they present their catch many dive masters will take the fish home and fry them up for dinner.  The poison is located only at the tip of the spines so once the spines have been removed there is no danger and the tender, mild white meat is quite delicious.   One dive master in Cayman Brac was quite the Lionfish hunter and he would clean them on the boat after our dive.  He showed us the enlarged liver of his catch and told us that most of the Lionfish he catches have this enlarged fatty live from eating too much. 

Larger fish such as Grouper and sharks are beginning to learn that Lionfish can be a tasty treat but I have not seen any predation on live Lionfish.  These predators will follow divers in areas where Lionfish are hunted regularly in order to eat the dead fish that are left behind or to steal them from the end of the spear.   Hopefully these fish and other larger predators will soon learn to hunt Lionfish on their own.

Just a few weeks ago in Freeport Grand Bahama I saw a Lionfish cookbook and I have heard talk of restaurants wanting to add it to their menu.  The problem with this is there is no easy way to commercially harvest Lionfish.  The labor intensive way they must be caught will mean they will be a limited and expensive menu item. 

I am sure it is too late to completely eradicate Lionfish from the Caribbean but hopefully the ecosystem can eventually adapt and until then we can work to keep their numbers in check.

Hurricane Irene vs. Helena Scuba

Port Lucaya Market

She was just a blip on the radar screen in the Atlantic when I caught the plane for Freeport, Grand Bahama. She could have traveled a hundred different paths but no, she had to make a bee line for Freeport. By the time we did our first dive on Saturday afternoon Irene was named a tropical storm and was located just east of Martinique. Our dive group from Helena Scuba was staying at Pelican Bay and diving with UNEXSO in Port Lucaya on the southern coast of Grand Bahama. We were aware of Irene but not worried, she was far away, and if she headed our direction surely she could not get here before we had to fly out a week later. Sunday morning dawned sunny, hot and humid. We did two great dives in the morning, had lunch at the Dive-In (a small open restaurant located next to the large pool at UNEXSO), did an afternoon dive, soaked in the hotel pool then cleaned up for dinner in the Lucaya Marketplace. This is the typical dive trip schedule: breakfast, dive, dive, lunch, dive, drink, pool time, shower, dinner, drink, bed, and repeat. 


Monday morning Irene was still just a tropical storm located off Puerto Rico with the chance of coming our way on Friday, but we did not care, Friday was our day of no diving before we fly out on Saturday.  It would be fun to spend Friday experiencing the force of a storm from the secure hotel room with games, drinks and munchies.  It is all part of the adventure!  Last year our dive group once spent a day stuck in Belize City weathering Tropical Storm Alex.  We had a lot fun sitting in the bar eating lunch and watching World Cup Football (soccer for us Americans) with other storm refugees from all around the world.  Monday went just as smooth as Sunday, but also included a great dive with about 20 Caribbean Reef Sharks.  When we returned from the afternoon dive we found a “Hurricane Alert” letter from the hotel notifying us of Irene, stating that they are watching her and will update us in the next 24 hours.  At dinner we all talked about staying or going, most of us wanted to stay.  So what if we missed diving on Thursday, again, it is part of the adventure.  The one dive none of wanted to miss was the dolphin dive; we had never before encounter dolphins on a dive.  This dive was going to be the highlight of the trip, thankfully it was scheduled for Wednesday morning, so there was a good chance, at this point, of making that dive.   After dinner and a nice walk along the beach we returned to the room and turned on The Weather Channel, only to learn that Irene was now a category 1 hurricane soon to be upgraded to a category 2 with potential to be a category 3 very soon.  This was a game changer.  It seemed that Freeport could be hit with a storm that could cause catastrophic damage. 

Empty Beach Before Hurricane Irene

Tuesday morning dawned with a nice letter under door informing us that the Bahamas had been placed under a hurricane watch and stating, “We are kindly advising all of our guests to leave the island immediately.”  This is the nice way of saying, “Get the hell out!”  So we went to check with the dive shop to find out when they would shut down the diving to prepare for the storm.  The manager told us they were closing on Wednesday and she very strongly suggested that we should leave as soon as possible.   The last time Freeport had a storm of this magnitude the airport was closed for 10 days and the sea port was closed for a month.  Well this was the death blow to our Bahamian dive vacation.  We went to the hotel lobby to try to make arrangements to leave.

Trying to get out was more difficult than experiencing the storm would have been.  The airlines at the local airport were not answering the phone.  The Continental help desk had a hold time of 14 minutes, so while I was waiting on the phone others went to the computer to try to get flights out.  One lady was able to get a ticket on the last flight out on Wednesday afternoon but all other flights out were completely booked.  The Continental help desk was somehow able to get me out early Wednesday morning with connections all the way to Seattle and I was home on Wednesday night.  The other five people in my group were finally able to purchase tickets on a charter flight leaving right away. 

Even though Irene chased us away from the Bahamas barely half way into our trip we all had a good time while we were there.  Thankfully Hurricane Irene was not too hard on Freeport but she was not so kind to Nassau, other parts of the Bahamas and the Eastern US.  Now it is time to start planning the next dive trip….. 

Russian Sailing Ship Visits Seattle

When you think of school, what comes to mind; an old school house, a large college, on-line classes?  I bet you don’t think about a 354 foot long, three-masted frigate.   The Russian Sailing Ship, Pallada, is a school on the high seas.  Students from eight marine institutions in Russia spend a few months aboard learning their future jobs first hand.  From Vladivostok, she is currently on a North Pacific tour commemorating the 270th anniversary of Russia's colonization of Alaska and the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's pioneering space flight.

The Pallada pulled into Puget Sound August 10, 2011.  The crew was allowed to leave the ship to visit Seattle and the public was allowed on deck to experience the sights and sounds of a tall ship.  Facebook was a buzz about the huge, elegant and mysterious, three-mast ship docked at Pier 66.  Many young girls wondered who the sailors were at Pike Place Market wearing different uniforms and speaking a foreign language.  When I visited the ship on its last day in port it was crowded with people of all ages.  They were in awe of the massive vessel and the hundreds of rope coils spread from bow to stern, all leading to some portion of the 26 sails, totaling over 9000 square feet.  All that rope is confusing!  How on earth do they remember exactly what each rope is for?  When the first mate calls, “Hoist the main topsail!” do they ever pull the wrong line?  I would need them to be color coded so I would know which line went to what sail.   

I most enjoyed watching the young boys, both enlisted and officers, flirt with the pretty young girls who they either met in town or happen to come aboard for a tour.  I saw many girls getting a personal tour while other girls were standing at the stern smoking and talking with the sailors.  It was cute to watch the awkward flirtations as the boys stumbled over their English.  I admit not one sailor offered to give me a personal tour; of course, I am old enough to be their mom.  Maybe I should have looked for the captain and asked for a personal tour. 

Their time in Seattle was short, on Friday they pulled anchor, hoisted the sails and made their way out the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  Next port of call: San Francisco.