Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Andina ’09 when I first heard about it I was very interested, however didn’t sign up right away as I do usually for things like this. It actually took months, and finally an older guy at work said to “stop being a P#$%Y and book your damn trip”. I’m glad he did because I may have gone on thinking about it and thinking about till I didn’t go. So with no experience with any of the activities involved in this adventure I was now booked to fly into Lima on August 12th.

First off a lot of what I thought Lima to be was a bit off. Accommodations were at a great hostel in a part of Lima named Miraflores, the more affluent end of the city by the ocean. Safe, clean and full of life, with great places to eat and entertain yourself. I figured it would be a bit more third world like, glad I was pretty ignorant in that fact.

From Miraflores we boarded a coach bus for our journey to Huaraz, the small mountain town that is used as a base camp on the rest and recovery days. There are a range of restaurants , bars and lounge type places to spend your days, but I recommend only lounging because you will need all your energy and a night out in the bar before you do a trek is so not a good idea.

Ok now for the treks. Hopefully whoever reads this will have already seen the photos from the previous groups that went. If not please go through them after. Some words just can’t describe the landscapes, sunrises and sets, and just the feeling you get while walking through these mountains. The photos are great but trust me the real thing is far better. Not going to lie, there were parts of the treks that I felt like giving up. If you want this experience you are going to have to work for it. I thought I was in pretty decent shape, I found out that I was wrong. The rock wall climbing I was great at, but the real steep hills I had problems with. Partly do to the fact my cardio endurance was not as good as it should have been, but also the altitude got to me. In actual fact that probably helped me from getting really sick along the way, as one of the guys in our party found out. He was ahead of the pack climbing making great time, however later in the day in the middle of the night fighting to get his tent open to be sick wasn’t a pleasurable experience. The altitude will mess with you. You feel good but you don’t realize it affects you till later. Taking things slow and easy and drinking lots of water will make the trip go by with little problems. It’s recommended that an average person drink 2 liters of water everyday, but trekking in the mountains you are going to want to almost double that.

I hope anyone considering Andina 2010 is not turned off by that bit of truth, because it is very easy to have the best time and not have any issues what so ever. Giles has put together a phenomenal adventure vacation that will top (or at least come close to) most of your life experiences to date. Friends, family as well as I were a bit wary about some of the activities involved on this trip. Namely things like the 200 meter ice climb at almost 80°, with no experience on a mountain ever. Rest assured Giles has spent much time in Peru and has aligned himself with some of the best trekking expedition tour guides out there. At no point did I or any if the other guys on the trip feel like we were in any sort of danger of getting hurt. We were so well taken care of. At the end of each long tiring day we had snacks and tea, coffee set out for us and shortly after that the 3 course meal was served. I’d go into more detail but you have to be surprised what you get to eat, I still can’t believe after 4 days in the mountains what I was eating.

Being back home and talking about this trip to my friends I realize I appreciate it more and more every time. However 2 of the girls I was talking to expressed that they would love to do it but they feel that it was a bit of a guys thing. Not going to lie to you, it can easily turn into blokefest of language thoughts and yes even smells. All I can say is if you can get past just how juvenile guys can be; you will have a great time, who knows you may find you can be just as childish. That being said Giles has changed it up a bit this time around. The addition of the horse back riding and the option of just 2 weeks will hopefully attract those who feel that the mountain climbing is too much.

This is a great trip but I will say it isn’t for everyone. You do have to be able to handle the physical aspect of it. For the most part I was fine but like I said my cardio was very weak. You will have to work on that. Other than that I say go for it, stop thinking about it.

I could have gone in more detail but I figured I’d lay it out like this. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Chris

hello@chrismarino.ca

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