It feels odd to be writing another post about plants, but the local species here in Ancash have been impressing us mightily. Fear not, we’ll return to mountain ramblings soon! Cycling from Huallanca to Catac in July we pedalled past…
Alpamayo: Andean Beauty
Scenically, it doesn’t come much better than a 10 day hike around Alpamayo. Topaz lakes, perfect pyramids of mountains, an uninhabited wilderness where you may be lucky and spy a condor whirring by. We’ll let the photos do the talking.…
Wild Flowers of the Cordillera Blanca
On previous mountain wanderings the flora have never really made a lasting impression. This is probably because we’ve trekked little in the Himalayan monsoon, and even less in the Andean rainy season. May and June in the Cordillera Blanca therefore…
H Pike vs 4000m pass
The first few kilometers of a climb are always tricky: stiff legs from the previous day mean it’s a while till I find my rhythm. Then a song lyric lodges in my brain – sometimes it’s from Sunday School (“rise…
Old as the hills: trekking Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz trek made me feel old. It’s the trek the gap year kids do. A beautiful four-day hike that all the tour companies offer, and backpackers, with their £1,000-a-month Peru budgets, lap up. They come, they walk, they…