Around The World Gaby and Gu 2006-2007

The Peruvian Caballo de Paso distinguish itself from other horses' breeds by their different pace. In fact, the natural way they trot can be described as beautiful dance steps, since they are performed laterally...kind of difficult to explain but it is known that riding those horses is like riding on silk. Gorgeous horses for a fantastic traditional show that we were privileged enough to experience. Yeah !!

A full day on the Titicaca Lake was almost not enough to admire the beauty of the Uros floating island, with its kind people, and the Taquile Island, a beautiful island were people have managed to preserve their old weaving techniques throughout the centuries. Everything was going perfect in our 7-day-tour around Puno, Arequipa and the Colca Canyon until I got sick due to an infection...so that we had to return to Lima on the 2nd day of our tour already ! :O( Too bad !! One thing is for sure, we'll come back next year to finish this tour !!!

A family weekend in Huaraz, home of the "Cordillera Blanca" which is a very popular mountain range in Peru as it includes the highest peak of the country, "El Huascaran", that culminates at approximately 6800 meters ! At its bottom you can find a beautiful lagoon (Llanganuco, approx. 3800m), whose colour is like an emerald ! It was quite a trip to get there to spend the weekend since the road was so curvy it slowed us down quite a bit. Anyway, the landscapes were so beautiful that we wish we could have stayed longer. La Cordillera Blanca, a must-do in Peru !!

And here we are again in the centre of Lima and Barranco with Jorge and Vanessa for their second day of visit in Peru before they fly to Cuzco to discover the Machu Picchu and its wonderful land !! Highligh of the day, our lunch at Tantas...mmmhhh delicious !! :O)

To welcome our friends from Switzerland, Jorge and Vanessa (Bienvenue les Jeunes !) we took them to the Pachacama ruins in the outskirts of Lima. This ruins, unfortunately a bit left apart by the government, are in fact a huge sanctuary whose buildings were built over the centuries by different civilization including the Incas. Pachacama was an oracle who was feared by many as he was known to control earthquake and unleash them when he was angry...Scary :O)

En attendant le bus...Maud et ses inséparables Chifles ! :O)

This is our bus...in paper version...

Nazca...right in the middle of the desert...

Our driver's car...we ain't no gangstas, man :O)

Our first visit takes us to a cemetery of the Nazca civilization

We are ready to get in !

Most of the graves have been plundered in search of ceramics and valuables

We don't look too sad to be in a cemetery :O)

Those mummies could fortunately be saved and are now shown in their original aspect !

Fax emet une pensée scientifique sur le mode de conservation incroyable de ces momies :O)

Some of the graves were thought for families and others for individuals...

An overview of the cemetery

Those mummies, after being plundered, were exposed to the sun and sand for years !

What a nice couple :O)

Observing the relics of the Nazca Civilization...

This is the mummy's original hair but not its original colour due to its exposition to the sun. Amazing !

Die Frau Raymund en attente de son jeune et fringuant petit-ami !

Plundered ceramics that could fortunately be recovered !

What a contrast this tree in the middle of the desert

Coucou Pototita !

There isn't much left of this one. Too bad.

Je suis le roi des Pauv' Type ! (Ich rigoliere Herr Chenaux :O)

Back to Nazca...

...not a very rich provincial area...

There we are ! The airport. We will fly over the Nazca Lines !

The FaxMan Mathers

Potolita

Unsere Liebe Frau Raymund

and GunMan

Beautiful panorama !

Unfortunatel cut by a road here comes the Whale (the first lines were only discovered about 70 years ago and the most recent ones in the 80's)

Perfect shapes are to be seen all over the area...

On your left...the Astronaut greeting us !

There goes the Monkey !

Here is the Spider !

The Almighty Condor !

Not so clear on this picture...the Alcatraz (meaning Strange Bird...indeed it is !)

In the lower part of the picture you can see a shape that is called The Tree...

Here we have the Parrot...God this plane is turning too much and too fast for my taste...

...here's the result for me ! :O) Merci Fax pour les photos :O)

Back in town to take our bus back to Lima...it was another great day !

For our last day, we are going to the Gamitana Creek for some fishing and walking...

Adeline and Gabita expect not to see spiders today :O)

Right after entering the creek, we saw a black Cayman...unfortunately too late for a picture :O(

Potita and Fax qui se la pète...comme d'habitude :O)

During the rainy season, the water can rise up to 6 meters from our current level !!

Anatole Dursteler, the camera guy, being taken in picture :O)

Aaaahh...after Lake Sandoval this is also quite a relaxing place !

I like those messy branches almost floating on the river

Our first stop. Let's go for a 30 minute walk before getting on another smaller boat to start fishing !

Mmmhh, I wouldn't want to be the guy that lost this hat... Only God knows what might be left of him :O)

A spectacular liana growing from ground level to reach the canopy in search of light !

Hey Junge, Ihr seht aber total gut aus !!

If the previous liana was spectactular, then how do you like this one !

Whoelse takes pictures of me...if not myself :O( :O)

Today, an american couple joined us, so that we couldn't all board on the same small boat...bye FaxMan :O(

Fax, il est pas content... il aime pas la pêche, ni la compagnie de son embarcation...alors comme ca vous habitez l'immeuble ?? Jajajajajaja !!!! :O)

On dirait une petite rivière très gentille ! :O)

Pesquemos algo Potoli !! Maud fait un effort pour pêcher...mais elle aime trop les poissons pour mettre un hamecons a sa canne :O)

I want to fish something ! But the only thing I get is fishes to eat my bait ! :O)

Maud is happy, she didn't fish anything :O)

Hey ! A snake ! But we can't remember its name :O(. Amazing anyway !

Photo Fight ! Who's gonna fire first ! :O)

Our last chance to fish something ! So far only Jose caught something (2 fishes)

Another rest of the rainy season...quite fascinating how strong the water flow can be

Jose is a little bit like Mac Gyver. He's now trying to fix an oar to go a bit faster :O)

Fishing is over, we are now getting close to the end of the trip :O(

It's been a bit frisky today !

Fax et ses muses...quel playboy tu es mon ami ! :O)

Back on the motorboat with Jose

Ahhh finally !! A quite big black Cayman on the shore ! Beautiful beast !

Merci pour ton elegance Fax :O) Ton appel compte pour nous !

A turtle but this time without butterflies...very well camuflaged by the way...

Gruezi Frau Reymond, ich hätte gern eine Pfandgläubigerin mit einer gebundenen Vorsorgepolice :O)

It's interesting to see how they can carry a tractor using two boats beside each other :O)

Ohhhhhh !!! Another one ! This one's a white Cayman...kind of cute !

End of the trip...snif...snif...and men at work :O)

Paquito ! Fidèle au poste !

Mooouiiinnnnhhh !! :O)

Jajajaja...a la demande générale...une photo de Wilson avec son Pauv' Type de propriétaire :O)

We are leaving tomorrow...a last picture to remember our great stay at Inkaterra !

It's a misty morning for what we expect to be a great day !

Jean-Michel et Adeline, on va devorer du Caïman Noir aujourd'hui ! :O)

Jose, there's a lot of things we would have missed with a different guide...

A small white Heron...it's very rewarding to see all those animals !

MaudGirl Mathers and Baby under our spotlight on our boat

The start of our day at the Tambopata National Park...we expect to reach the Sandoval Lake within 1 hour

Those trees are definitely impressive. They deserve our full respect !

Jose has heard some noises. We're going off the beaten track to try to spot some wild pigs

Despite my happy face, we missed them. Apparently it was a big herd of 30 to 40 wild pigs !!! They produced an amazing noise !!

Those beautiful and high palm trees were home to many "Guacamayos" (big red or blue Parrots)

Butterflies could be seen all over the place...they even liked us because of our sweat :O)

Potolita siempre tan sonriente ! Yeah ! :O)

The Fax Guevara waiting to get on the boat that will take us to the Lake...

After a few minutes in a narrow way, the Lake appears to us, beautiful and calm...a wonderful surprise

The FaxMan Mathers, Adeline and Potolita still can't believe how nice this lake is...

...neither can I !

Wow, Giant Otters !! Jose had told us we couldn't be sure to see them...today's our lucky day !!

This one has just caught a fish ! They are so cute but their scream is so acute that it can almost get annoying :O)

Maudli posing for a minute before getting back to concentration to see as many animals as possible !

Beautilul ! We could see a huge black Cayman (4 meters) from far away. Jose told us they can be killed by the giant Otters we just saw...

Hey ! Amorcito !

Reflections in the water are a highlight of this quiet lake...

This funny and cute turtle was getting bothered by a bee (find a small red spot on the picture :O).

A beautiful heron hidden in the branches...thanks Jose !!

That's another funny turtle annoyed by many butterflies that want to suck in the minerals on their shells...amazing !

Indeed, looking for mineral sources anywhere they can !!

Beautiful isn't it...but maybe there's more to it than it appears...

A baby black Cayman !!! Jolie Fax (c'est toi qui l'a vu, pas vrai ?). Definitely it's our day :O)

We couldn't be happier ! Too bad the Sandoval excursion only lasts half a day :O(

On the way back, there are still quite a lot of things to observe...

...and photograph...look at this Highway of Ants !

They are really working hard (and under strict supervision) to bring home their food !

Je crois qu'on peut dire qu'il fait chaud...n'est-ce pas Fax !?

An unidentified flower/plant with interesting colours...

"Hidden Camera" style pictures :O)

Luckily we had good boots to walk in the mud ! :O)

Madre de Dios ! On ne veut plus partir, c'est trop beau ici !!! :O)

Back to our lodge, we could see this impressive gathering of Butterflies looking for minerals in the mud !

After a break...and a siesta...we head towards the canopy for our afternoon trip. Hope we can see lots of birds !

Unfortunately a family with noisy kids did the canopy before us and scared every single bird in the jungle...so that we didn't have much left to see :O(.

Only 2% of the sunlight filters through the trees, meaning that we were happy to see some sun at 15h00 :O)

Maud, a la recherche de l'oiseau perdu :O)

Find the bird...a hint : it's a small parrot... :O)

FaxMan having a look at the area from the canopy. A cool experience.

Gabita didn't like it that much, did you baby ? :O)

My turn !

Jose trying to spot something interesting to show us...

Maud pas tres rassuree...on aurait presque dit que ca tanguait un peu trop sur le pont :O)

End of the canopy, we are back at the hotel...the girls go for a rest while Fax and I have decided to go for a night walk with Jose!!

A very well hidden Grasshopper...

We did see spiders...lots of them actually. A good thing Gaby and Maud stayed at the hotel. This one is a sort of jumping spider

Can you spot the spider in this picture ? :O) We also did see some beautiful snakes but were unable to take a picture :O(

That's what Fax and I wanted to see ! A "Mygale" !! And if it wasn't for Jose we wouldn't have seen it. It was right under our feet in a trench we passed a few 50 meters from our lodge ! Beautiful !

But the best one is definitely this Tarantula !! Found within the lodge only 20meters from our rooms... Can you see its red nails...fantastic !

Check the red circle...it's the spider in the picture just above !! And by the way, no, we are not terrorists :O)

Une grande journee les amis, je crois la meilleure de notre sejour ensemble !!

From the mountains...

...straight to the Jungle in less than 40 minutes. Peru is magic ! :O)

We proudly disembark our plane eager (and a bit worried too) to discover our lodge...Inkaterra

But before, we stop by a butterfly breeding centre that belongs to Inkaterra

We were explained that this butterfly looks like an owl when its wings are wide open to protect itself from birds...impressive !

Another natural beauty. The Madre de Dios department is the capital of the amazon biodiversity with 4200 types of butterflies !!

There we go ! Surprise, suprise...

Maud and Gaby asking all types of questions...concerning spiders...their main concern :O). Il n'y aura pas d'araignees dans vos lits ! :O)

Beautiful, a dream come true ! The jungle on a huge (not as huge as the Amazon) river, The Madre de Dios

The FaxMan Mathers, toujours sur de lui, confiant, pret a poser pour la posterite dans n'importe quelles conditions :O)

It's nice to be here, to observe and be observed by nature...

Gundi, Gundo, Gunda...whoua, whoua, whoua ! :O)

There we are...first view over our echo-lodge !

We are anxious to discover our rooms !! But the first feeling about the complex is very positive !

The garden looks good, very good.

THIS is our room !!! Far beyond our expectations !!!!!

32 lodges nicely integrated in the wild environment...

Maud is happy to introduce us to her (and FaxMan's) lodge !! Trop fort ce Inkaterra, on ne part plus !!

And I am happy to take a short rest :O)

Wow, the beds are really comfortable. We are going to need them to rest 'cause lots of stuff to do here!

Our living room, like the rest of the lodge perfectly protected from Mosquitos for a quiet nap!

La Salle de Bain de Monsieur et Madame ! :O)

Fax, tu es un homme de media. A quand le 19h30 sur la TSR ? :O)

Paquito the "Guacamayo" !

So cute and very friendly !

The lodge usually leaves bananas and seeds for the surrounding wild monkeys and birds...but today was the first time those guys came so low to pick up their food. Lucky us !!

Look at that...he almost reached the bananas :O)

Mmmhh delicious !!

After this shot, I was advised not to use the flash since those monkeys are totally wild and unpredictable

So funny to see him hanging in there only with his tail :O)

Birdie birds are hungry too !

Baby in the wild :O)

This mysterious bird was walking around the lodge. To us, it looked like a NZ kiwi with wings and colours :O)

A mysterious and intriguing flower

Paquito is as crazy...:O)

...as he's clever !!

Our first excursion in the lodge area to get used to our environment was the opportunity to see a "Mygale's" nest...let's come back one day at nighttime to see what comes out from there...

The walking tree...a tree whose roots die and grow following the sunlight...amazing !

Our guide for the next 3 days, Jose !

A weird and cute type of fungus

C'est parti les jeunes ! L'aventure commence ! Esperons que les araignees ne gachent pas le sejour de Maud !

Interesting to see a liana...it's really a beautiful piece of nature work

FaxMan Mathers in front of a big tree with a root longer than 200m !! It's a world of giants here ! :O)

Our second excursion took us on the Madre de Dios river at night to observe Caymans !! Yeah !!!

You can spot them from far away thanks to their eyes' glow...but it's difficult to get too close...

...since they get easily scared. Quite a fantastic experience anyway !

The Sacred Valley, sacred because only there could be an exceptional quality of corn be produced

On the way to the valley there are many impressive lookouts worth a great picture !

Two bulls and a cross is the symbol of a family living in the house.

First stop, the Awana Kancha Project or how to preserve and breed Lamas and Alpacas and make handicrafts the way the Incas used to make it

Isn't this Alpaca Suri cute ?!

Another Alpaca Suri in the background and a black Alpaca Huacayo in the foreground

We could feed them and they would just go crazy :O)

The cutest is the Vicuña, unfortunately getting rarer and rarer...

Lots of Alpacas Huacayos wishing to be fed as soon and fast as possible :O)

This is how those animals show their affection to each other

A newly born (only 3 weeks) with an already very developed instinct for food :O)

The process of dying the Alpaca and Lama's wool generates beautiful and vivid colours!

Old style weaving !

Spinning the thread is also part of the process

This is Peru ! Just like what we found in SE Asia, sweet and innocent people outside of the big cities

The Ruins of Pisaq with its terraces used for agriculture and their elaborate draining system

Pisaq is quite a big complex including houses, a cemetery and a religious center

We could hear him play the flute from far away and also long after we passed him, it gave the visit an enchanting feeling

In those holes lie(d) the momies of average people. Higher ranked people could choose where to be buried and have a nicer tomb.

FaxMan, Maud, vous etes toujours aussi beau !

Through this door, the official entrance to Pisaq and our way to the religious centre in a more protected area

Inca style wall leaning inwards, in this case used to avoid mudslides. Just amazing !

A narrow but beautiful way...

...giving us a breathtaking view over part of the Sacred Valley !

Our way is full of surprises like this small tunnel we just came out from

A tower for protection and monitoring of part of the area. Hard not to see an enemy from there

Past this gate is the last part before the religious centre. Allez les jeunes, on continue !

In some aspects, we liked Pisaq better than Machu Picchu. Look at this view !

Potita, mi Amor !

FaxMan, j'adore cette photo ! Un grand moment de meditation sur un fond d'exception !

There we are at the Religious Centre ! Can you notice the perfect construction of the rocks. This was reserved for holy places like religious ones. Machu Picchu is built the same way

Antonio, our guide, a touch of humour and lots of very interesting stories / explanations !

A view over the religious centre - Intiwatana -

In this picture, you can appreciate a different and less refined architecture showing a temple dedicated to the God of the tribe conquered by the Incas. This was a tactic to avoid rebelion and keep harmony in the empire. Very clever indeed :O)

Baby, the FaxMan Mathers and Maud...it's really cool to be there. The highlight of our day

Faites pas semblant de marcher ! :O)

Beautiful cactuses are not uncommon in Peru

Maud and Antonio talking about how good Fax and I we look in the next picture :O)

Yes, in this picture :O)

"Cholitas" photographed in secret...

We are done with the ruins, we are now heading to the Pisaq Market

Baby loves her "choclo" (corn) with cheese

A very typical "cholita" selling her "choclo" !

There's a very broad variety of corn in Peru. Some of which is used to make "Chicha", a kind of corn wine

Fortunately, we arrived later than 1h00pm so there were almost no tourists around.

Toujours aussi beaux ! Alors ? Ca negocie dur !?!

Gabita elaborating a tactic to bargain the best possible price...the Eye of the Tiger :O)

After the market...it's almost 2h00pm and we are starving. This will be our lovely restaurant. The Tunupa in Urubamba!

The FaxMan Mathers in front of the Urubamba river right after our lunch in the restaurant's garden

And now the same picture with us !

This is only one of the many beautiful flowers we could find in the restaurant's garden

Our next destination, Ollaytaytambo, the last Inca fortress before Machu Picchu

A view over the upper part of the fortress

Over there are the houses were all the goods and food were stored

Antonio is explaining us the way the stones were carried from the mountain on the other side of the Urubamba valley to this side for the construction of the fortress...

The religious area could never be finished due to the spanish invasion :O(

Hey Fax ! That was a really cool day !!

A complete view over the Ollaytaytambo fortress with Fax and Maud walking towards the exit. It's the end of another long and very interesting day

Back in Cuzco, a picture of all of us, including our great guide Antonio, to remember this special day. Vraiment excellent!

Early in the morning, we are about to start our 4-hour trip to Machu Picchu. Exciting !

We're all awake and happy...

Half an hour later... :O)

The closer we get, the more clouds we find...

Breathtaking view of the citadel !

We abandoned our ladies for a few hours to climb...

...the Wayna Picchu...

Not even started and already thinking about the way back ? :O)

This mountain in front of The Machu and Wayna Picchu will soon disappear from our sight

First break after 20 minutes and we are already suffering

The climb's not really hard but it's so steep !!

Victory ?! Yes, we can see the citadel from above...but we are not quite there yet !

A moment of inspiration !

How did they manage to build things in such a high location ?!

We are almost there !

Literally the last steps !

Another one of those "Pictures for Glory" :O)

The view is amazing...

Going down backwards !? :O)

Terraces used for agriculture

Bye Fax, it was nice meeting you... :O)

We made it ! And we are proud of it :O)

Joining our ladies to visit the rest of the citadel !

More terraces and quite a few more tourists than what appears on the pictures !

We wish we were alone in this magic place !

Happy we are to have found a less busy place...

...to take a few shots of ourselves ! FaxMan and Maud, you're the couple !

Think of this place covered by years of growing vegetation...lucky Hiram Bingham found it in 1911

The place we are now probably used to be a house !

And this roof used to be covered with straw...

Typical window with perfect geometry

The FaxMan Mathers likes to be photographed :O)

Waiting for me ?! :O)

The King of Birds...no matter how close we would get to him, he wouldn't move ! Thanks for being such a nice subject :O)

Faaaax, it's the FaaaxMan Mathers... Maud, Sie sehen sehr gut aus ! Vielen Dank und Gruessli !

There lies the start to the Wayna Picchu, short but intense hike

A Lama ! So cute ! Can we take it home !?!

Spirituality at its best !! :O)

Like that one : Pauv' type :O) with his only friend in life : WILSON the Soccer Ball...hahahaha :O)

Maud is almost taller than the Wayna Picchu !!!!!!!!!!!!

We are a postcard ! :O)

Back to Cuzco...we were tired and...

Very wasted...

definitely wasted...

absolutely wasted...

...totally wasted !!! :O)

Waking up at 4h40 for this flight was not an easy task

Despite that, Jean-Michel and Adeline are ready to rumble !

We are tired but happy !

Amazing views over the andes from our plane...

There we are ! Cuzco, Navel of The World !

Nicolas Hulot and Mike Horn...proud of their achievement :O)

Beautiful Cuzco makes us forget the rush of Lima

Ladies and Gentleman : Our ladies :O)

The San Francisco Church in the Plaza de Armas

It doesn't look like it, but being at 3300 meters above sea level was quite a shock for us :O)

The cute Cuzco tramway...

The Flag of Tahuantinsuyu !

A different perspective of The San Francisco Church

This lady represents very well how sweet people are in Cuzco

Schoolgirls passing by...just like in SE Asia they wave at you or throw a shy hello at you :O)

Baby me and Baby her in the Qoricancha (Temple of the Sun) :O)

Windows at Qoricancha showing perfect perspective and alignment

That's sweet ! (and for only 1 sol could we take the picture...:O)

The Qoricancha from outside. An Inca masterpiece ruined by the conquistadores...

Saqsaywaman a religious compound believed to form the head of a Puma along with Cuzco

Incredible to think we all are there ! We had planned this trip for a long time !

The FaxMan Mathers and Maud Raymund !

The limestones in Saqsaywaman and their rounded corners

Some more here,

FaxMan at work !

What are you guys doing exactly !?! :O)

Some of these walls are cut out of one stone only !! A total mystery.

It's been a hard day going from sea level to 3750m above sea level in a few hours :O)

We made a couple of new friends up there :O)

Tambomachay was a place for resting and a religious one as well where the Inca used to come while travelling and before entering Cuzco

Some ruins of a lookout point to Tambomachay

And now the whole view of the place...

A view of Cuzco after sunset

The Plaza de Armas from above

End of the day, a picture for glory ! :O)

It's so quiet here at night...

"Smoking" :O) some Tequenos, a tasteful appetizer, "Bidochon" style ! :O

We are the thinkers of our time ! :O)

Behind is the cathedral but the best is in front of it :O)

Heading back to the hotel we couldn't help but notice this building and the street along

On the right side, Inca architecture, on the left side, spanish one...the spanish destroyed Inca walls and then tried to copy them seeing that they resisted many earthquakes. As you can hopefully see...the spanish wall is a pale copy of its counterpart...

We definitely look pretty small against this fascinating wall

Our "top models" are trying to blend into the mystic atmosphere of this small square :O)

Ok, now we really are going to bed. It's been a long but intense and interesting day at Cuzco !!!!

This is our first serious day for visiting and discovering. We haven't chosen the purest place in terms of pollution but the centre of Lima is quite an historic place anyway with its old cathedral and church dating back from the time of the spanish conquista. We spent a great day re-discovering its culture and showing it to you guys !!

Yes, FaxMan Mathers and Maud Raymund are in the place for a 2 week visit in the land of the Inca !! (Content de vous revoir les vieilles peaux :O) For now, we have a quiet program for you guys...but only until tuesday...our departure day to Cusco where the Inca civilization will open up its doors to us :O). Trop cool de vous avoir ici!

Our NZ experience ended very well with our Tongariro visit and after a very long trip we are finally in Lima to enjoy a few days of rest in a family atmosphere before the arrival of our friends Fax and Maud next week !! Enjoy with us :O)