THURSDAY FRIDAY

SATURDAY SUNDAY

8°

MONDAY

5°

TUESDAY

6°

WEDNESDAY

7°

WEATHERHIGH TIDE IN GALWAY

Thursday January 14 04.24 16.56Friday January 15 05.03 17.33Saturday January 16 05.41 18.09Sunday January 17 06.18 18.43Monday January 18 06.53 19.17Tuesday January 19 07.26 19.50Wednesday January 20 07.59 20.23Thursday January 21 08.34 20.58

PHASES OF THE MOON

Friday January 15 — new moon.

4° 6°

BREAK-AWAYTRAVEL WITH UNA SINNOTT

9°

Galway

Tuam

Gort

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Discover it all in PeruBY MARTINA NEE

Desert land that is bothharsh and beautiful, lushjungles, soaring canyancondors, and mysteriousancient remnants of a lostcivilisation, where else canyou discover so much thanin Peru, a land which willforever be lovingly etchedin my mind and heart.

Tears rolled from myeyes with the thoughts ofleaving Peru after threeweeks of exploringmagnificient cultures,

climbing to new heights,and cementing firmfriendships. Over sevenmonths before, this once ina lifetime trip to Peru andthe opportunity to completethe famous Inca Trail wasjust a pipe-dream.Trawling through the manyoptions available I finallydecided to go with TucanTravel.

I began my trip in thecity of Lima which boastssuch impressive sights asthe Plaza Mayor and theIglesia de San Francisco

(Church of Saint Francis)with its amazing creepycatacombs. Then it wastime to hit the road on theTucan bus to Pisco where aboat trip to the BallastasIslands awaited us. Theseislands, which are locatedin the Paracas NationalReserve, are home to one ofthe largest sea-lion coloniesin the world and are oftenconsidered a mini-Galapagos.

Near the town of Ica isthe Huacachina Oasis, atiny palm-fringed oasis

surrounded by toweringsand dunes, whereadrenaline pumping dunebuggy rides and sandboarding is on offer. Thereis no time to lie around idly,it was straight to the localairport for the flight overthe famous Nasca Lines.The giant lines, whichinclude designs such as thespider, the humming bird,and the monkey, were cutinto the stony desert bycivilisations as far back as900BC, and are justspectacular.

I was pleasantlysurprised to find that thetown of Arequipa is sovibrant and cosmopolitan.We found a lovelyrestaurant called Zig Zagon Zela Street and tuckedinto a selection of alpaca,beef, and ostrich cooked ona hot rock. It was by far thebest meal I have ever had,anywhere. There’s plenty tosee in this town and a good

place to start is the Plaza deArmas which is overlookedby the ice-capped volcanoEl Misti. I also visited theSantuarios Andinos UCSMMuseam where themummified remains ofJuanita tells the story of ayoung girl who wassacrificed to the gods about500 years ago. For beautifuland colourful images thenthe 400-year-old Monasteriode Santa Catalina is thenext port of call.

The next leg of thejourney brought us high upin to the Andes mountains.We travelled overland toColca Canyon, reaching aheight of 4,900 metres. Thevast landscape is dotted bythe llamas and alpaca andthe local people can still beseen wearing the uniquetraditional Colca dress.Even the soaring condorsgraced us with theirpresence. The tour leaderarranged for us to relax in

the local hot springs and weeven found an Irish pub,McElroys, in the remotetown of Chivay beforeheading to bed.

On day eight we arrivedin Cuzco, booked into thelovely Hotel Royal Inca II,and got packing for our tripto the Amazon jungle. Thenext morning was a shortflight to Puerto Maldonado,a motorised canoe ridealong the river to theExplorer’s Inn. No lie inshere, the alarm went off at5am, we filled up on thedelicious breakfast, andthen the gum boots andrain-proof punchos wereput on for the trek into thejungle to inspect theanimal, plant, and insectlife.

By day 13 the time hadcome to take on thedaunting Inca Trail. I wasboth nervous and excited.The hardest part was ‘DeadWoman’s Pass’ but

somehow I managed it.There were many earlystarts, a few blisters, and alot of pain to contend withbut getting the first glimpseof the magical MachuPicchu, the Lost City of theIncas, made it all worthwhile.

Peru is a fascinatingplace, full of wonder,culture, spectacularlandscapes, and friendlypeople and should be onany avid world explorer’sagenda. Visit Peru and youwill never want to leave.

For those who only haveabout three weeks to makethis trip of a lifetime andwho may be consideringtravelling on their own thenbooking a tour withcompanies such as TucanTravel would berecommended. For moreinformation regardingtours to destinationsworldwide then log ontowww.tucantravel.com.

76 January 14 2010LIFE STYLE

2010 SALE NOW ON

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