Hikey hikey

Thanks to a handy facebook link from a friend, we read an article in The Age about Condor Trekkers while we were still in Argentina and decided to check it out once we got to Sucre. The non-profit organisation was started by an aussie guy who went through two frustrating years of Bolivian bureaucracy before finally opening the doors to Condor Trekkers a couple of years back.  

The company runs one to four day treks in the mountains outside Sucre- we opted for the three day option since there were already a few peeps signed up. The trek starts at Chataquila, a small chapel at around 3600m, where we had breakfast as the sun came up, and then started walking down the restored Inca Trail, shedding clothes as the temperature rose (and the incline increased!).

The trail follows the River Ravelo, with beautiful views of the multi-coloured valley on both sides and the occasional herd of goats/ cows/ donkeys being coaxed along by their seemingly ancient owners. It’s quite humbling to be labouring up a hill and see a 70 year old lady with rubber sandals overtake you and beat you by several hundred metres.

 

We stopped for lunch and a siesta under the gum trees before beginning the more challenging half of the day’s walk- a fairly constant uphill climb to the crater of Maragua, where we would sleep. The villages inside the crater are supported by Condor Trekkers and the people were very sweetly welcoming as we dragged our asses into Irupampa late in the afternoon.

In the morning we stuffed ourselves with yummy porridge in anticipation of a gruelling walk up out of the crater. Sadly the photos below don't really do justice to the gradient....must get Martijn to work on his camera angles in order to make me look tougher.

At the top though we had amazing views of the whole crater, and even back across to Sucre through a gap in the mountains. After lunch we went to see the famous dinosaur footprints at Niñu Mayu- there are loads of similar prints in the Sucre region and these were pretty impressive I have to say!

The rest of the afternoon was spent slowing making our way down to the village of Potolo, located in a valley and big enough to warrant a small shop which sold beer. Along the way we passed a school where the kids had just finished classes and flocked around the funny group of gringos shrieking and giggling at us (they cracked up when one of the girls lifted her arms and they saw her hairy armpits!).

We arrived into Potolo around 5ish and had a beer in the plaza as a reward for a long day of walking!! Followed by a few more rewards that night….

On the way back to Sucre the next day we were treated to the usual Bolivian love ballads played at top volume. It should be clear just how bad these are when I say that when Ace of Base came on, we were all REALLY happy (even when it was played three times in a row). Happily, the last hour of the trip was a 90's megamix of b-grade hits!! I've had that Be my Lover song (la da da di da da dada) in my head since Thursday....boo : (  Click below and crank it for a quasi- Bolivian bus experience of you own!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P0_v__IOrE