It had been an amazing experience to climb the 6057 m high Chachani mountain, but it came with a price. On the way down, in -15 degrees and insane levels of dust, my beloved Canon camera finally met it’s limit – it simply stopped to work. It certainly have had a very rough life over the last four years (and 20.000+ photos), and dying at 6000 m is a worthy way to go out… Oh, and the summit photos came out well 🙂
Back in town I felt naked as I left the hostel without my camera. Normally I would always bring it, even if it was just to get something to eat around the corner. You never know when a good photo opportunity presents itself. On the other hand it was liberating not to think in terms of photos all the time. Sometimes it’s better just to enjoy the views with your own eyes.
Even my best engineering skills could not bring it back to life…
And, I still had my phone with a decent camera in it… or so I thought. One day I was working in a fancy coffee shop with my laptop as a homeless person came over and put a paper in front of me. On the paper it said something like “I’m sick and need an operation, please help”. I guess I should have given the guy a sol or two, because 10 minutes after he left I realized he had stolen my phone from the table. Puta madre! I have now travelled the world for four years, and this was the first time someone have straight up stolen something from me.
I momentarily lost my trust in the people of Peru, but that was only until I told Aldo, my local couchsurfing friend what had happened. We quickly lunched a counter attack, trying to get the phone back. “Let’s try to think like a thief” Aldo said as we went to a local market where stolen goods are apparently changing hands – unfortunately without any sight of the phone. I was feeling depressed for a short while, but then I realized that these things are only material. As they say in Spanish “Todo lo que se puede solucionar con dinero es barato”.
We then spent a few nights checking out the local nightlife of Arequipa. All great fun! For a while I have been wanting to learn salsa – even though I think this will be a much harder challenge than climbing 6000 meter mountains or cycling around the world 🙂 I guess I have until Mexico to learn, and luckily the local girls don’t seem to mind showing the lost gringo a few steps.
And so, after more than two weeks (and two mountains) I was still in Arequipa. This place is hard to leave!
If Cannon was smart they would send you a new camera and become a sponsor of your adventure. Your photos are so great for those of us who cannot be there that I am sure we can take up a collection for a replacement!
Hi Randy! My good friend OZ8AE actually contacted Canon, and they offered to send me a test camera. As if that was not good enough news in itself, my original camera suddenly started to work again after 3 weeks of hibernation. Good news for the expedition! There will be more photos coming soon.