By Marayka on Wednesday, March 05, 2008

I was hooked from the moment I saw the words ‘adventurer’ and ‘Amazon’ but nothing could have prepared me for the life changing experience I was about to embark on as the winner of last year’s Girls on Top trip.
It began with the scary task of fundraising a minimum of $5000 for the Amazon wilderness. I needn’t have worried though (which later became my motto), as the final total of $17,500 clearly told me I had the support from not only my friends and family but also local community.

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By Marayka on Friday, September 28, 2007

Well technically we fly out tomorrow, but it´s actually tonight at 12.30am! This morning I had to go to the Police station to report my lost airline ticket home! YES I LOST IT! Bit of a crazy place the police office. Firstly I had to go to the bank get some piece of paper take it back to the police station and get a report filled in. They then said I had to buy them a coke a cola for them to do the report there and then! At least it was just a coke! When they asked what I did for a living and I told them Delphinis Entranador (dolphin trainer), well then they wanted to see photos of course! Lucky I had dolphin pics with me. I´ve learnt that the photos are like money in this place. Wish I brought more with me because everyone wants ... Read More »

By Marayka on Thursday, September 27, 2007

Back in Iquitos the rat race today. Already I miss the tranquility of the Jungle. Not much to report today as most of it was spent travelling for one last time on the River and then packing bags for one last time ready for our flight home tomorrow. Can´t believe it´s almost over :-( Can´t wait to see you all back home though!

By Marayka on Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Just when we thought all the walking was over. Another big hike, this time in the 100% humidity of the amazon rainforest. But wow what an amazing walk. There was so much to see that the 1 hr walk took 4hrs.... Or perhaps we were just slow. Either way we saw so many insects, beautiful flowers, learnt about many different medicinal plants and hugged a giant ceiba tree. The highlight for me was a hummingbirds nest, made entirely from spiderwebs and fixed to the back of a leaf! Low and behold eggs inside too! So cute. That night tarantula h ... Read More »

By Marayka on Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Piranha fishing this morning. Heaps of fun. We caught them so easily and I also caught an Oscar. I guess Piranhas are always hungry. Of course all for lunch. Tasty but very little meat on them. Went to a local village this afternoon and greeted with an anaconda dance......! Check out the photos! Can you believe they sold coke a cola in the village in the depths of the Amazon!

By Marayka on Monday, September 24, 2007

A speed boat ride on the amazon river to the depths of the jungle! Hammocks and the tranquil noises of the jungle were calling me.......

By Marayka on Sunday, September 23, 2007

Bodyguards in tow we visited a large local food and animal market this morning. Definitely an eye-opener. Meat and fish laid out in the heat on tables, live baby animals on leashes waiting to be sold and dirt and sweat and stench everywhere. It certainly wouldn´t be a place to revisit. But it was worth seeing to get a real concept on what actually goes on illegally.....
The afternoon was monkey island. More cheecky monkeys climbing all over us. Geez there´s some cute ones though.

By Marayka on Saturday, September 22, 2007

It was great to see the improvements Zoo Peru had made to the Quistococha Zoo. And it was also good to see what still needed improving. Finally I got to see a Pink Amazon River up close. I even got to feed her. The water was very turbid so difficult to see, but I was able to see her tiny narrow rostrum and small needle pointed teeth. So different from the bottlenose. She was much smaller in length than I expected (or I guess used to) and so flexible in the neck. Much more flexible than the bottlenose. What a great experience though to ... Read More »

By Marayka on Friday, September 21, 2007

Well today was definitely the highlight of the trip so far for me. Being a massive animal lover I had been looking forward to this day for months. We were going to the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm and Animal Orphanage. The trip there was exciting in itself. First another ride on the crazy 3 wheel motorcycles then a ride in a boat along the Amazon River! Finally a short 10min walk up the bank of the river overgrown in grass and small trees during to the entrance to the Butterfly farm. At the moment they are coming to the end of their dry ... Read More »

By Marayka on Thursday, September 20, 2007

We were back at zero altitude.... Blocked ear canals told me we definitely had descended a fair way. But nothing could prove it more that the instant increase in oxygen! Sara and I tested the theory and ran up the stairs in the airport! No puffing at the top. Not even an increase in heart beat! So here we are waiting at the airport, writing blogs at waiting for our flight at 2.30pm. The time has actually gone quite fast... thank you Internet. Can´t wait for the amazon!!!! Bring on the heat and mossies! Definitely more my style ... Read More »

By Marayka on Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Now I know I´m a girl but geez there was so much shopping done today. All good though. All in all some great gifts bought and quite a few extra kilos added to the luggage. Tonight we had our farewell and thank you dinner for our trekking crew. It was a great night. Lots of pool, ping pong and pisco sour. Definitely my new favourite beverage in Peru! At the end of the night it was hard to say goodbye. I will miss them all. Can´t wait to start emailing Gladys.

By Marayka on Tuesday, September 18, 2007

What motivation a shower can be. It drove every step!"

By Marayka on Monday, September 17, 2007

yeah!!!! well for me and Kel anyway. Everyone else got up early on our rest day. I say they´re all loco... :-)
Dinner tonight was a traditional Patchamanca, cooked entirely in the ground. It tasted so good. It was sad to think this was our last night on trek. I really was going to miss the crew who were all so friendly and accommodating even when we kept filling up the dug out toilets with our troubles almost as soon as they finished digging out the hole.

By Marayka on Sunday, September 16, 2007

Wow what a contrasting blog this one is to my last group blog. Feeling healthy today!!! I started with a massive breakfast and set out for what would be our last pass for the trek. It was a little sad to think this would be our last trekking day through the circuit. But then as we climbed the steep incline with the dust going everywhere it was also exciting to think that in just 2 days I could have a shower! When you haven't worn clean clothes for days and dirt remains on your skin even after wiping it with a wet one then you would understa ... Read More »

By Marayka on Saturday, September 15, 2007

But boy we were feeling it today and it wasn´t due to the alcohol but more due to the tired muscles from the pass the day before. Plenty of kids around this morning all wanting "caramellos" (sweets, not caramello koalas). I have plenty of gifts for them. Mostly colouring ins and balloons. I loved chatting to them and asking their name and age etc. One girl asked to keep a photo of the dolphins I was showing her.... How could I say no to that face

By Marayka on Friday, September 14, 2007

This was by far the hardest day of trekking, but definitely also the best view and worth every step of literally blood sweat and tears. As I approached the top after what felt like an eternity of UP, Beck was already there looking down at me saying "it´s so worth it" and instantly I knew she was right.

By Marayka on Thursday, September 13, 2007

Feeling better and back to walking! yeah! Got to walk on an actual Glacier today! Absolutely freezing and slightly scary... Especially when Zac said we should leave now as there was a high risk of avalanches here. Just what we wanted to hear :-)
This afternoon a few of us watched the boys go rabbit hunting. Actually they´re called viscachas, and they look more like a squirrel than a rabbit. They live in the rocky areas and leap and bounce from rock to rock at incredible speed. Amazingly the b ... Read More »

By Marayka on Wednesday, September 12, 2007

It began with what felt like a hangover. Massive headache!!!! A repeat from every other morning but significantly worse today. Probably not the best day for me to write the group blog, but then again today will give you an idea of all aspects of the trek. The highs and the lows.
During the night I had drank copious amounts of water to try and minimise the head oain. However, this meant getting up so many times to go to the banjo (toilet, I mean hole in the ground). My tent buddie was also in the same boat though not for the s ... Read More »

By Marayka on Tuesday, September 11, 2007

damn this altitude. I think the hardest part of the trek is getting out of your warm sleeping bag and liner and thermals in the morning and going straight to just a pair of pants ready for the treking day ahead. Even though the only possible position to sleep in is the corpse position, due to complete lack of space, it is very cosy. Last night my face wash had frozen into cardboard against the tent!

By Marayka on Monday, September 10, 2007

Or should I say migrane...... The altitude was finally getting to me. Today it snowed at the start of our walk. Actually it was more like sleet. Absolutely freezing we were all decked out in our waterproof pants, jackets, gloves, beanie and ponchos! Fortunately though it didn´t last long, before we were stripping down to just pants and a shirt. Did I mention how beautiful it is here!

By Marayka on Sunday, September 09, 2007

Yay for the hot water bottles we get before bed :-)
Today was our first pass climb. Not too bad at all. We took it slow but all were good. Embarrasing though when the Burros (donkeys) all loaded up with your gear pass you at the top and go ahead. Our campsite was amazing!! Mountains all around and a glacier!

By Marayka on Saturday, September 08, 2007

"Wow if the food is this good eveyday then there´s no chance of loosing any weight! "

By Marayka on Friday, September 07, 2007

HI all.
Well I'm in Peru currently at 3000m above sea level. The altitude here isn't too bad. Though yesterday we went to about 5000m and yes it's a killer! (not literally). Most of us experienced headaches but I also experienced a little nausea. However, as I hadn't slept for more than a couple of hours in the last 5 days, you can imagine I was pretty tired. Last night I finally went to sleep though, thanks to a little sleeping remedy :-).

The walk yesterday proved to be challanging but we all made it there and back to 'Ch ... Read More »

By Marayka on Thursday, August 16, 2007

Hi all.

Well it's been a few weeks now since my last blog so thought I better update you all. Really though with my fundraiser event over I've been trying to stay relaxed. However, not with much success. I've been busy with exercising and packing for the trip. Something which is proving to take up a lot of time. And on top of work commitments. Today though it's all starting to catch up and I think I'm getting the flu :-( Sore throat and achy joints has kept me at home most o ... Read More »

By Marayka on Monday, July 30, 2007