Andrew's volunteer experience - South & Central America: August 2010

After 1.5 months of planning and extensive research, the day had finally arrived! Wednesday, 28th of July was the day that I left Australia to head overseas to undertake some volunteer work in Cusco, Peru (3 months) and San Jose, Costa Rica (3 months).

The day kicked off at 6:50am (after hitting the snooze button 7 - 8 times) and I was well and truly ready to start my adventure of a lifetime. Today was the first day that I felt nervous about the trip and I started second guessing whether I had made the right choice. After jumping in the car, there was no turning back and so my adventure begins.

Mum and Dad drove me to the airport and after a few nervous moments (due to the traffic), we arrived in plenty of time. I checked in my luggage and received my boarding pass, and now it was just a matter of time before I flew out of Australia. Mum, Dad and I sat down, had a coffee and spoke of the adventures ahead. After the coffee it was time to head through the 'big doors'! Saying goodbye to Mum and Dad was difficult because I knew it would be the last time I'd see them for 6 months (not including Skype).

I went through the doors and away I went. The hour and a half that I had to wait, felt like seconds, and next thing I know I was on the plane to Cusco, Peru, via Auckland, Los Angeles, Miami and Lima. The 3 days of hell had finally begun!

The flight to Auckland, on Air New Zealand was approximately 4 hours, which was pleasant and uneventful. Auckland airport is quite small and after 15 minutes of looking around, I had visited every store at the airport. Now I only had 5 hours (which was nothing compared to the other stop-overs ahead of me) to kill before my 12 hour flight to Los Angeles. I spent the 5 hours at Auckland airport researching LA, Miami and Cusco, as well as reading up on a few prospective shares I was looking at buying. The flight to LA was delayed by half an hour, so at approximately 10:00pm (NZ time - 2 hours ahead of AEST), I was off to LA!

To my horror, after boarding the plane I was sitting next to two, 13 year old girls, who wouldn't stop talking. Luckily they had another friend in a different seat, so they asked me if I would change seats with their friend. Quicker than Alwyn Davey, I responded "YES!!" From two talkative, 13 year old girls, my flight buddy was now a 55 year old, English woman, who was a journalist by trade. She reminded me of Mum, because she too, wasn't verbally challenged. After a number of hours of talking to her, it was time to watch a movie and hopefully get some sleep.

12 hours, 5 movies and 12 bourbons later I was now in LA! I was yet to sleep so I knew I'd have to do something exciting in order to make the 9 hours in LA bearable. It was approximately 2:30pm, on July 28th (still the same day as I departed Melbourne due to the time difference) when I arrived in LA.

I found a company on the Internet who hold your bags, because LAX don't have any lockers in the airport since 9/11. For US$18.80 they picked up my bags took it to a safe location and then brought it back to the airport when I contacted them.

At about 4:00pm (LA time), 5 hours before I had to check-in, I decided I'd visit Hollywood Boulevard. Taxis were $50 each way so it was out of the train or bus (both quoted 1 hour travel - this didn't turn out being the case). I thought the bus would be more of an adventure so I caught the bus (definitely the right choice).

After arriving at the central bus terminal near LAX it took me 35 minutes to work out the connecting bus/s which would take me to Hollywood Boulevard. I had a great time at the bus terminal, because I spoke to a number of darker skinned brothers, who were very entertaining! They really do talk as they appear in the movies! I was fortunate enough to witness a rap battle between 6 upstanding black gentleman at the bus shelter. In all the hysteria from the rap battle (I was nearly crying with laughter) I jumped on the wrong bus, which took me deeper and deeper into the slums. Worrying that it was already 6pm at this stage, I thought it'd be best to jump off while it was still light and try to hail a cab! Alas, no cabs were to be seen, so for 45 minutes I stood at a bus stop fearing for my life, when every person / group / gang walked by (I stupidly had my laptop, wallet, passport and mobile on me, that's why I was a little concerned). Some guy actually asked me whether he could have my bag, which of course I politely replied 'Nah, she'll be right'. After I jumped on the right bus, I was Hollywood Boulevard bound. It was an incredible experience, all the locals (blacks) were catching the bus home after a hard day at work. It was interesting to overhear what they had to say. Some were quite intrigued as to why I was in their 'hood'. I Arrived at Hollywood Boulevard at around 7:30pm and knew I only had 30 minutes to look around. So I sprinted through the streets like a headless chook, trying to see everything. It was incredible, one of the best places I have ever seen. I jumped in a cab around 8:15pm and arrived back at the check-in terminal with minutes to spare.

I was glad that I had done sufficient research before leaving Australia. I read on a travel forum that most American Airline companies, won't let you board the plane with a one way ticket into South America. So a few weeks before I departed Australia, I booked an on-going ticket. True to what I had read on the forum, Spirit Airlines (A budget American airline, similar to Tiger Airways) asked for proof of my departure from Peru.

I boarded the plane at approximately 11:30pm (28/07/10 - LA time) and was off to Fort Lauderdale, Miami. The flight took approximately 5 hours and I arrived a few minutes before 7:00am, 29/07/10 (Miami is 3 hours ahead of LA). I was still yet to sleep and when I arrived in Miami I was absolutely stuffed. My philosophy was still the same as in LA "If I do exciting things, I won't feel tired". Unfortunately, there was a 10 hour gap between my flight from Miami to Lima!

I felt I had to make the most of my time in Miami so I ended up catching a shared cab for US$22 to downtown Miami. Downtown Miami wasn't really exciting and the lack of sleep was really starting to effect me. I nearly fell asleep at Maccas in Miami, so I knew I had to continue my expedition around Miami. A taxi driver told me that South Beach was worth seeing, so there I went. If I wasn't so tired it probably would have been enjoyable. It was stinking hot and I just wanted to sleep. I considered paying US$100 to rent a room for 3 hours, but I decided against it. The only highlight of Miami were the beautiful women and South Beach. For those who have played the Playstation game - GTA Miami Vice city, South Beach is where his main house was, so I was reliving the game, minus the shootings and the car jackings. I jumped on a local train which was pretty fun, other than the fact I fell asleep for about 20 minutes, which was enough to see me 3 stations past where I needed to hop off.

I arrived at Fort Lauderdale airport with a lot of time to spare, so I just sat around waiting to board my flight from Miami to Lima. At approximately 5:15pm (or so I thought), I was off again, with the finish line in site!

I arrived in Lima around 11:00pm (1 hour time difference to Miami), 1 hour after the scheduled arrival time. Apparently the Spirit Airlines pilot had forgotten to download the route from Miami to Lima. I slept for the first 2 hours of the flight, so I was unaware of the plane being delayed. Similar to my other flights I had to wait 5 hours for my final flight, from Lima to Cusco. So I headed to the bar to pass time. 8 Cusquena's (A very nice local Peruvian beer) later I was ready to board my flight.

The flight from Lima to Cusco was short and sharp, unlike the other flights (approx. 1 hour Lima to Cusco). The flight was incredible. Words can't describe how amazing the valleys and mountains in Peru are. Not to mention the 45 degree turn that needed to be executed between two mountains leading to the runway. Degree of difficulty 9.8, all I can say is I'm glad I flew with a reputable carrier (Taca Airlines - A local South American carrier).

I arrived In Cusco at 7:30am on Friday, July 30th (nearly 3 days after I departed Melbourne, after you take into consideration the 15 hour time difference).

As you'll find out in my next blog, I lost my iPhone on my 2nd night in Cusco, so I lost my photo's from the US. Below is a few pictures of where I visited while in transit (I stole these off the internet).

I hope you've all enjoyed reading my "In transit - 3 days of hell" blog. My next post will be on my first few weeks in Cusco.

Adios Amigos!