So. Would you like to know about something scary?
Last year, I traveled to South America with seven friends. We got up to numerous antics, including trekking Machu Picchu, flying over the Nazca lines in light aircraft, dune buggying, white water rafting, and traveling overnight on scary, speeding buses that went down, up, and around mountains.
In the last few months, the following things have happened that have made me feel thankful I’m still alive:
1. There was a massive landslide near Machu Picchu. People died camping at the sites along the trail; sites that we more than likely camped at.
2. There was a bus crash in Peru that killed a heap of people. We were pretty convinced that our bus was going to crash on at least one of our overnight journies, wherein the speed limit was consistently and dangerously exceeded (believe it or not, there was a flashing light inside the bus that told us so!). I know I didn’t sleep all night, feeling sick and being thrown around in my seat as we hurtled down mountains. It was really scary, especially when buses were coming in the opposite direction. If I’m going to tell you one thing about Peru, it’s this: There is no such thing as a safety standard in Peru.
3. Rhys and I spent time in Chile at the end of our trip, as did other members of our party. We weren’t in Concepcion, but we were close enough for my liking (in Santiago). Friends of mine were in a town some 150km away from Concepcion when the earthquake hit the other day, and felt an 8-magnitude shock. Scary.
4. A couple of Australian women drowned whilst white water rafting in Cusco. We didn’t raft in Cusco, instead choosing to go in Arequipa, but we came close (I think we were told that the river wasn’t really that big when we were there).
My friends have been joking (they’re sick in that way) that the news headlines in a few days will involve a light plane in Nazca crashing in to a dune buggy, killing everyone on board.
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised. Whoever said that things happen in threes is full of it. Clearly I had a very dangerous holiday.
