Riding a Camel

                                      Not the same as riding a horse

     When we were in Alice Springs in the Australian Outback, to break up the long ride, we stopped at a camel farm where I learned Australia is the largest producer of camels in the world, and they are exported all over the globe.

    My travel  buddy and I are always ready to try anything new, so we decided to take a camel ride. Even if either of was an equestrian, this would be a different experience. The animal handler gave us advice on what to expect when the camel got up or down.

    For easy mounting the camel was lying down. We each took a seat on a double saddle. A camel stands on his hind legs first giving one a slight thrust forward, but nothing to get excited or shout about.

    One does not bounce in the saddle like on a horse. The ride was a rather bumpy one and we agreed that an all-day ride on a camel would seem very long.

    Back in the corral the camel went down on command, The fore-legs go down first creating a sizable jolt that produced a spontaneous, simultaneous whoop from both of us. However, we did manage to survive that forward thrust and stayed in the saddle. The hind legs going down was tame in comparison.

    As  I wandered into the museum I remarked  that it  had been a different kind of ride but a fun experience.

    A couple years later I rode a camel at a local ranch, but that time boarded the camel from a platform which was easier and the camel was a single hump one. That ride reconfirmed that I would not want to ride a camel all day long. They make wonderful pack animals and I’m willing to leave it at that!

Hitchhiking Birds

                                                   Smart Birds

    I saw a lot of neat animals and numerous birds when in the Galapagos Islands.

     We left Santa Cruz Island in the evening for an all night cruise to Tower Island. Our guide sent us to bed with the promise of a surprise in the morning.

     When I walked out on deck, with my first cup of coffee in my hand, the next morning I suddenly stopped, mesmerized by the sight of two red-footed boobies perched on the boat ‘s bowsprit. Their red webbed feet held tight to the rails and with the wind blowing in their beautiful faces, the birds looked very regal.

    They sat there in all their splendor for a very long time. My son had been up for some time and had taken pictures. He walked very slowly over to me and said, “Aren’t they wonderful, Mom?”

    We all were very quiet, speaking in hushed tones and moved very slowly, if at all. We learned that red-footed boobies feed far out to sea in deep waters. After a night of fishing and feeding the birds often hitch a ride back to shore on boats that sail the islands.

    The birds posed like it was expected of them. We were all excited and enjoyed the birds’ company for a long time. Everyone had a chance to get their photos and to enjoy the up close encounter with the red footed boobies.  What a way to start the day!

Sunrise at Machu Picchu

                                        Fantastic Sunrise

     Making it into the center of Machu Picchu after four grueling days on the Inca trail provided one of the most awesome experiences of all my travels. As the sun burned off the early morning mist the scene became very mystical and absolutely spectacular!

    I sent my son off in the first wave of hikers as I wanted him to be sure to make it in time for the sunrise. I tagged along with our rear guide---we had become good friends over the past four days. If I made sunrise it would be truly great, but if not it was better to safely make it than to not after any kind of mishap. With the exception of one large high rocky hill where we climbed up and over on all fours, this last day was the easiest day of the trek.

     After entering the sun gate I had time to walk the mile down into the site. The mist was light so I easily followed the narrow path. The trek over the Inca road had been a challenge for  his 70 year old and I was most grateful to have made it, albeit last into the campsite each day. My son and I were the only Americans in our international group of twelve who were all in their mid-twenties!

     This trek was the most physically challenging thing I had ever done. I couldn’t believe it when I learned the guides and porters generally quit about age 40 as day after day  they abuse their hips and knees. Now I finally understood why the prep trek guide kept looking at me during the briefing and repeating, “We all will make it to the end.”

     The ruins are large and the site is divided into two  separate areas by a series of plazas. We spent hours walking around the site and learning about it and the Inca culture. It was once a major town and the largest city in the rain forest. It is estimated 1200-1500 people lived there.

    It was an amazing end to the end of an interesting week immerged in the Inca culture. Eventually my son and I caught the old school bus for the dusty ride down over a seven-kilometer switchback dirt road to the village of Aguas Calientes. At the designated sidewalk café we met up with others for a late lunch while local sunshine boys cleaned all the trail dust of our boots. A cool Inca Cola, a yellow carbonated drink tasting much like a crème soda, tasted so good after four  days of drinking large quantities water and coca tea.

    On the train ride back to Cusco from Ollantaytambo I dreamed of a long hot shower that awaited our arrival at the hotel----and the next day maybe a good massage.

     This was an experience, that after the fact, I’m glad I did, but I wish I’d been half my  age.

Smart people take the train to Aguas Calientes and then the old school bus up to the ruins .

I’m not sure what I’ve taught my granddaughters on our many family travels, but one of the girls has a group of four who next  summer are planning to  do the same trek. Now there is a new trek available over better paths and at only 4000’-elevation, but she is determined to follow in my footsteps. At 26 it should be a lot easier for her and a fabulous experience.

LES TRUCK

                                         Various Grade of Truck

     I have ridden numerous forms of transportation in my many travels, but was not aware of les truck until my visit to the South Pacific.  The first such ride was in Bora Bora, Tahiti. Tahiti is both an island and a country, and Bora Bora is one of the three major islands in the country.

     As it turned out Bora Bora’s les truck was the most luxurious of all such rides.  The open air mini bus was decorated with live hibiscus flowers that wound around the truck’s poles. Palm fronds accented with red torch ginger flowers decorated the inside of the bus. It was all tropical and very pleasing to the eye.

    This  ‘tour bus’ stopped frequently, as Bora Bora is an incredibly beautiful island with a photo  op around every curve of the twenty-two mile road circling the island.

    On the island of Aitu in the Cook Islands where we literally surfed from our anchorage to the island shore, the les truck turned out to be literally a pickup truck with wooden benches lining the sides of the truck bed. It was the only transportation on the small island. The friendly people preformed some native dancing and provided a delicious feast of fresh fruit/food t for us.

     Padded chairs in the truck bed of les truck  provided a bit more comfortable ride on the island of Aitutaki. The single road around the bigger island was also in better condition than the rutted tire road on Aitu.

     Arriving in Raratonga, the largest of the Cook Islands, les truck gave way to real buses, albeit small ones. The two yellow public buses ran around the island on a semi-regular schedule. One ran clockwise while the other ran counter-clockwise (island expression). These buses can be flagged down anywhere and stopped anywhere, even with service to your door, if you live on the main road.

     Les Trucks were colorful, romantic and fun. I do believe generally one would be more comfortable driving one rather than riding in one, with Raratonga being the exception..

RAINY DAY HIKE

                                              First Swiss Hike

      My first day in Switzerland to hike the Alps was a misty dull one. The 15 of us were just getting acquainted. On a previous trip I had had a great time traveling via gondola up the 6000-foot Mt.Strassahorn. The view of the valley below on a clear sunny day  was vivid in my memory. So I was looking forward to the next couple of weeks in the Swiss Alps

     One can’t do much about the weather, so we took off to catch the cog railroad, the steepest in the world, going up Mt. Pilatus. With a 48-degree incline, it took a year to build the three-mile track in 1889.

     We couldn’t see much on the ride up, but by the time we reached the top of the 7000-foot high mountain the mist had developed into a heavy drizzle and visibility was zero. The plus side was that the quiet was wonderful. The only thing breaking the silence was the tinkling cow bells from the  valley below. I couldn’t  see the cows but knew they were there. There were less than a handful of people on the mountain.

     The hotel had packed lunches  for us which we all had in our packs. Trying to eat in the rain on the trail wasn’t very appealing to  any of us. There really wasn’t any suitable place on top of the mountain to squat and eat either, as the patio was closed.

     Our guide seemed to know everyone and his brother in the country so he entered the large restaurant to see if he could talk the management into letting his  American charges eat their lunches in the restaurant. Another example how nice people around the world are. Most of us ordered hot soup and tea to  accompany our lunch. We were very careful not to dirty the tablecloth and to pick up all  our mess and carry it out with us. Most of us tipped generously before we left to ride the gondola down to 1451 feet to start hiking.

     By then it was raining pretty hard but the thick canopy kept us from getting soaking wet as we hiked down the well-kept packed path. My rain jacket served me well. Some people had umbrellas and put them up. I got the giggles watching this bunch hike downhill with umbrellas. It just seemed so ludicrous  to me.

     That first day and hike was wet, but it was the only day we had any rain at all. The weather cleared and we hiked in beautiful weather and had a grand time. Those beautiful mountains and part of the world called me back again for more hiking and adventures.