Back in the San Blas

Icarian is back in cruising mode and it truly is wonderful.
Since we got such a late start to this cruising season we decided to retrace our steps back to the San Blas in Panama and enjoy the sights that so enchanted us last year. We spent most of February doing the final maintenance jobs on the boat and she is now in great shape.

The weather in Cartagena was sunny and very blustery and that seems to be what is normal this year. We set sail for the Rosario's, a group of Islands very close to Cartagena, on February 22nd and spent a week there enjoying the laid back atmosphere and waiting for a good weather window to cross back to the San Blas Islands. Each day the afternoon winds got up to 20 knots and the weather faxes told us that was as good as we were going to get.

We left 7 a.m. March 4th for the 176 mile crossing in building winds that sustained 20 to 25 knots all the way across. We had wind waves to 8 feet on our beam making it a very wet and rolly ride. We averaged 7 knots of speed and were in the San Blas 26 hours later. There has been a gale blowing ever since so we were very lucky to get here when we did.
Our passage was not without mishap, the captain suffered a stubbed toe, a sore head due to a flapping block and a perfectly good pair of glasses now in Davey Jones' locker and the first mate with her usual queasy 'first day at sea' stomach. Leaving the Rosario's we had a dolphin escort for about an hour. They could be seen rising in the waves right up to our eye level and looking like they were having lots of fun!!

We are now anchored in the Eastern Hollandes Cays in a bay locally known as the Hot Tub. We love it here and will likely spend a few days getting into relaxing mode. The weather is still blustery with short rain showers followed by glorious sunshine moments later. The waters are 83'F. and crystal clear turquoise in color. With palm trees, white sand and many reefs to explore, I think we should be able to fill a couple of months just fine.
Hasta Luego!
Marilyn and Brian

Nazca and Arequipa

We didn’t get to Puna and Lake Titicaca so maybe we will have to go back again some day. The local farmers blockaded the road to Puna in protest against a government’s decision to sell their properties to commercial companies for the mineral rights and thus moving the farmers off lands they have worked for decades. This is a sad situation we support the farmer’s right to do this. We waited 4 days for it to clear but then ran out of time.
We took an overnight bus through the mountains towards the pacific coast to Nazca and then another late bus to Arequipa. This was about 16 hours of bus travel but the buses were lovely with sleeper seats so we weren’t exactly suffering. Arequipa is the second largest city in Lima and is distinctive as many buildings are built with a white porous type stone. It is nestled at the base of a large mountain and an active volcano named Misti. The weather here is dry and sunny. We stayed in a lovely old hostel called ‘El Tumi del Oro’. Huge rooms with so much character and a roof top patio with swings, tables and umbrellas.

We visited the beautiful old convent of Santa Catalina that has been continuously operating for 400 years. It is like a city unto itself and very well preserved. We visited the museum where ‘Juanita’ the Inca Ice Princess is housed. The Inca on the Volcano Ampato sacrificed her to the gods and her grave was discovered in 1995. Because she was frozen, she was very well preserved and her DNA has been used to uncover many mysteries of that era. This museum was extremely well done and the treasures found in the graves beautifully displayed.
From Arequipa we took an overnight tour to the Colca Canyon. One of the 7 wonders of the world, this canyon is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. Colca is home to Giant Condors, which are reported to be quite a sight as they soar in the updrafts. The day we were there however was lovely and still and the Condors don’t fly unless there is a breeze. We did see many Llamas, and Alpacas and even the rare and wild Vicuna’s.

Next stop was Nazca where we visited the legendary Nazca Lines. They are pictures etched in the desert sand that have been there since 200 BC. Nobody knows who put them there or why but they have inspired many fantastic explanations. We flew over the lines in a Cesna airplane and circled many of most famous pictures. There is a spider and a monkey, a parrot, a dog, hummingbird and astronaut and many others. They cover a 400 square miles of desert. Nobody can explain why sand has not covered them up over time; it is a total mystery. We had a wonderful holiday in Peru. The sights are truly spectacular and more than lived up to all the expectations.

We then flew back to Cartagena and Icarian and it was lovely to be back. We had 4 days in Columbia before an emergency at home called us back to Canada. Unfortunately Marilyn’s Dad passed away 4 hours after we got home. Our plans for this year are now under ‘re-write’. We will stay home in Canada till mid January and then see where our journey goes from there.

Pix:

1 Main plaza in Arequipa

2 Vicunas which are a relative of the llama

3 Farmers trucks

4 Colca Canyon

5 Colca Canyon

6 Peruvian farmer

7 Colca Canyon

8 The hummingbird at Nazca from 5000 ft.

The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu

The Sacred Valley of Peru is amazingly beautiful. Majestic mountains that rise out of the valley floor so sharply with no foothills - just straight up! The mountains are quite baron with cactus and mostly scrub land and lately Eucalyptus trees from Australia have been planted. These trees grow quickly and provide beams for house construction and many other things.
Our first stop in the Sacred Valley was Ollantaytambo, one of the few intact Inca villages. The village is surrounded by lush farms and a rushing Urubamba River. Corn is the crop mostly grown here and since it is Spring in this part of the world the healthy young crop was well underway.

We climbed the ruins at Ollantaytambo, which has steep stairs rising through terraces once farmed by the Inca. It is so mind boggling to imagine just how this site was built. Huge stones were moved from a quarry 6 kms away and when the river got in the way, they just diverted it around the rocks.

Another Inca site we visited was called ‘Salinas’ where water from a hot spring fills huge stone pans and evaporated to produce salt . This is still in operation today.


Not far from Salinas, ‘Moray’ an Inca agricultural site that was built like a huge amphitheater. Each level of the theater was planted with different crops and they were then able to see which crops grew best at each elevation. The Inca’s were masters in engineering and these sites had built in irrigation and drainage. One of the trademarks we have seen in all the sites we have visited is very precise craftsmanship. The huge rocks fit together perfectly with no need for any filler. All corners and edges are perfectly straight. Amazing!

October 15th we took the Perurail Vistadome train to Machu Picchu.
This trip was totally mind boggling with the steep mountains so close to the train that you had to look through the roof to see the tops. When we got to Aqua Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu, it was raining so we waited till the afternoon and luckily the sun came out. The bus trip to the top of the mountain is about ½ hour on switch back roads with scenery that just no words will support. The site was so much more than we expected and I think it was the incredible setting of Machu Picchu with the huge surrounding mountains that make it so. We hiked the whole site and just knew that it would be an experience neither of us would ever forget.

Back in Cusco, we took a day trip to another small valley town called Pisac.
This town is also at the base of another incredible Inca ruin and on Sundays they have a huge market with goods from all over the valley. We hiked the amazing ruins first and then took in the market.

October 2008 - Peru!

Brian and Marilyn left Victoria at the end of September and 6 planes and 2 days later we were in Lima, Peru.

We try to always find good things to say about a place but we are hard pressed to come up with too many superlatives about Lima. The Plaza de Armas, where the Presidential Palace and the Cathedral are located is a lovely square, as is Plaza San Martin but the rest of Lima is just large and noisy. Hostel Iquique, where we stayed, was also great and they are keeping two large bags for us full of boat parts destined for Icarian.

After 4 days in Lima we flew to Cuzco, a charming town at the elevation of 3326 meters in the Andes Mountains. The day we arrived was sunny and hot, a treat we were not expecting but it proved to be kind of a fluke as the temperatures are for the most part very chilly here. Cusco is beautiful with cobblestone streets, quaint restaurants and is nestled on a valley surrounded by steep mountains. The people here have been great.

Tomorrow we are heading to a small village in the Sacred Valley called Ollantaytamba. We wanted to experience the feel of a village where not too many tourists come and this Inca village has been continuously inhabited since the 13th century. This should prove to be a very interesting stop on our way to Machu Picchu.
bye for now
Pixs: Lima Central Square, 3 in Cusco

Back home for a summer holiday

September 2008 and Marilyn and Brian are all set to begin year 5 of their amazing adventure. Icarian has spent the summer on the hard in Cartagena, Columbia where she is well below the hurricane belt. Brian got the bottom ready for painting and then worked on the engine, doing some very important servicing. Back in B.C. we have had a great time catching up with family and friends and attended two lovely weddings.

We fly out of Victoria on September 30th to Lima, Peru where we plan six weeks of inland travel. Machu Pichu, Lake Titicaca are a couple of the highlights but we plan to see much more.
Over the summer we have changed our cruising itinerary. We plan to launch Icarian at the end of November and after provisioning, leave Cartagena around the 1st of December. We have decided to do another season in the Western Caribbean as there is still so much more to see. First landfall will be Providencia where we will enjoy the Christmas season. Our plans include exploring the Bay of Islands of Honduras, Belize and Guatemala and more.
We will keep you posted on what we discover this year.
Bye for now

Pix: Some other cruisers visiting home, Sidney waterfront,Buchart's Gardens, Sidney malecon

July in Cartagena

Icarian has spent the last month anchored off Club Nautico in Cartagena.
We have been very spoiled with excellent weather as the rainy season was really late getting started.
Mid June we watched a big celebration that sent the tall ship ‘Gloria’ on a lengthy voyage. The pomp and ceremony involved in her ‘bon voyage’ party was really impressive. Sailors lined all the yardarms dressed in the colours of their flag, the bay was full of many kinds of boats and a tug gave a water salute as the Gloria departed.
We have enjoyed many nights wandering around the lovely ‘old town’, watching street dancing and lots of other forms of entertainment. We visited the amazing fortress of San Felipe and let our imagination runaway with visions of life in the 1600’s. The fort is very well preserved and the history associated with it so very interesting.
Marilyn is heading home to Canada in a couple of days and Brian will begin Icarian’s haulout.

June in Cartagena

We are now in this season’s final destination ‘Cartagena’ and what a beautiful big city it is. Our first impression was how much it was like Vancouver but without the mountains in the background.
Our journey here took us southeast along the coast of Panama as far as a small Kuna village called ‘Achitupu’. The village occupies a small island and appears to be bursting at the seams. A steady stream of children ventured out to visit us. They came on board to see how we lived and were very taken with pictures of our family back home. With our limited Spanish we had a great time. We passed out the rest of the school supplies we had brought with us and lots of homemade cookies and the children all left with happy smiles. The San Blas Islands are now our favourite cruising experience.

Our first landfall in Columbia was Isla Tintipan where we found some lovely private haciendas but as it was the off season, they were pretty much deserted. We moved northeast to the Rosario’s, a grouping of small island’s only 20 miles from Cartagena. This is a very funky area that has lots of fishermen’s cottages and weekend homes for some wealthy people in Cartagena.

Lively music, clean warm water and a lovely atmosphere made this an area we hope to visit again soon. We visited an aquarium there and saw lots of sharks up close and a very good dolphin show.. The feeding frenzy of the sharks, I won’t soon forget! Yikes!!

The old city is just gorgeous. The architecture just amazing and makes me wish that in Canada we weren’t so quick to tear down the old and put up modern buildings with no character. Lovely narrow streets with over hanging balconies and flowers spilling down towards the street. Just lovely! Surrounding the old city, the walls of the fortress are massive and very well preserved. So much history here!!
It’s time to do some serious boat projects over the next couple of months as well as investigate the many sites and sounds of the city. Icarian is getting a new bimini and will be hauled out for some TLC. We’re heading back to Vancouver (Marilyn July 8 and Brian Aug 12) to visits the clan and friends
Hasta luego!!