Preparing for the Inca Trail - Jan. 2009

Next we flew to the highlands into Cusco. Cusco rests at 10,860 feet and I had been warned that it would be in Cusco where we might feel altitude sickness. Everywhere we looked, oxygen tanks were on hand to help.

Luckily, no one in our group felt sick. We all felt a bit light headed and definitely short of breath. Just walking up stairs was a real chore and slow going.

In Cusco, we went out for a nice lunch where I tried alpaca and tacu tacu (a lima bean and grain mixture I think). Both were delightful. We also tried "cuy" - guinea pig! That was not so delightful but was worth a shot.

The real dilemma occurred when I started to pack my little red bag that the porters would carry for us on the Inca Trail. This bag would include our sleeping bag, blowup mattress, and personal supplies. We were only allowed to pack 6kg (13lbs). For any of you who know me I am a notorious overpacker. You’d think after all my travels I’d be much a much more efficient packer. But you never know what you are going to need, right? So I packed carefully only included “necessities”. When I went to weigh my bag it was 9kg! I was curious to see how much the sleeping bag and mattress weighed and I was shocked – 4 kg! So I was only able to pack 2kg (4.4lbs) of personal supplies. That was a true challenge.

The Amazon River Basin

Our first visit was to the Amazon River basin and Tambopata National Reserve. We flew from Lima and then took a bus to Puerto Maldonado. We stopped at an outdoor market to pick up some last minute supplies. A little boy, Miguel, asked for a “foto” and he enjoyed seeing himself in the camera. But hey, where are his teeth? We were told by our guides several times to not give children candy as they have a real problem with dental care in Peru.














I had fun snacking on hardboiled quail eggs. Yummy!











Next we boarded our boat and traveled up stream for 3 hours on a large river. The recent three day rain flooded the area and we shared the river with large logs which made for a bit of an obstacle course at times.






The lodge was nice but simple. We had no warm water, lights or power in our rooms and our beds were covered by mosquito nets. We were soon greeted by the resident Howler monkey who was quite friendly and eventually acquired a diaper/”nappy” which we were quite happy about.




On the second day we hiked 3 hours into the jungle to a large lake. The path was flooded in many areas – so were lucky that the lodge supplied us with “wellies”/rainboots.

We were hoping to see monkeys, caiman, and otters but we had no luck. Instead we saw tarantulas (yikes!), a fleur de lance snake (very dangerous), and lots of scarlet macaws. We took a canoe ride around the lake and when we got back to land we were so hot that we all decided to take a quick dip in the lake…but for not too long! There were caiman lurking in there…somewhere.

After our long day of hiking, we acquired some yummy fruit punch and lounged in the hammocks. A perfect way to end the day.

Next on Deck - Peru – Jan. 3 & 4, 2008

It has long been a dream of mine to climb the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I determined there was no better time then the present. So off I went to fulfill a dream.

This trip I decided to do on my own. I did however book a group tour through GAP Adventures (a Canadian company) which turned out to be very fun. We were five in total and consisted of two Americans (Eric, me), two Aussies (Steph, Matt), and one Brit (Rosie). I shared a room (or a tent) with Rosie, and she became my “mate” and fabulous companion over the next two weeks.

After meeting the first day, Rosie and I set off to explore Lima. We headed to the center of the city where we saw the changing of the guards at the president’s palace and enjoyed people watching in the main square. We particularly got a kick out of the young boy selling "helados" (ice cream) from his Lamborghini!

Later, we made our way to our first ruins (Pre-Inca ruins from 3rd century AD), and climbed the pyramid of Huaca Huallamarca for a nice view of the city. We also saw our first mummy – she was only 1 meter tall but had hair extensions 1.5 meters long! She must have been quite a sight in her day.

The highlight of Lima had to be our visit to the beach. We jumped in a taxi and told the driver where we wanted to go. He seemed apprehensive and encouraged us to go to a tourist beach that was 30 km away. We refused. So he finally broke down and took us to Chorrillo’s Beach – the local beach he felt was safest for us "gringas". Come on! Really? How bad could this be? We weren't going to let some taxi driver stop us. We had one small opportunity and we wanted to see the ocean before we left Lima.

We arrived to Chorrillo’s and were impressed with the magnitude (what seemed like millions) of cars, people, and umbrellas crammed in the park. We decided to head into the masses and check out what beach life is like in Lima. It was truly a madhouse! Thousands of locals enjoying their Sunday afternoon floating in the waves, building sand castles, picnicking on the beach, rolling in the dark sand, and partying like it was 1999.

We were approached by several locals who warned that we were in danger. Apparently we stuck out in the crowd!?

They felt we would be robbed on this crowded beach and specifically told us to stay off the sidewalk. So after drinking an Inka Cola we gratiously decided to heed the warnings and go back to “gringoland” where the locals clearly felt we safely belonged. The beach was a true adventure and one we are glad we didn't miss.

Just in case you were worried - here I am back safe and sound in a Miraflores park.

Going Home – Dec. 9, 2008

This day was bittersweet. I was scheduled to fly into Madison on Dec. 9 but my grandmother passed away the day before so I made a detour and flew to Detroit. She was 96 and lived a full life. I was very sad to lose my grandma but was happy that I was able to attend her funeral and to see my whole family again.

The rest of December was cold and snowy in Madison but it was wonderful too. We enjoyed our annual cocktail party, Christmas, and New Year’s with family and friends. I hope that you all enjoyed the holidays as well.

Thanksgiving in Belize – Nov. 27, 2008

For any of you who know Melina, she is a planner, and boy did she plan a wonderful Thanksgiving! To start, she made sure we had our very own Christmas tree – carefully selected from the farm.

And she made 8 pies! How can you go wrong?

We shared the day with Little Heinze, Peter, and other friends that live in Belize but that have American roots. It was a perfect day.

Little Heinze is in the house! – Nov. 22, 2008

Today I dropped off Steve at the airport and at the same time picked up Melina’s and my good friend, Julie Heinze (A.K.A. “Little Heinze” – I’m “Big Heinz” by the way). Julie was in need of a serious vacation and along with the rest of us wisely chose lovely Belize.

We hiked the stunning Cascade Trail with Mr. Peter (the trail’s founder) and visited Caracol, Belize’s largest discovered Mayan ruin. It was so nice to have a housemate in the “enchanted” cottage (the guest cabin) and to catch up on life.

Antigua – Nov 19, 2008

Our last stop in Guatemala was to the lovely Spanish colonial town of Antigua. Here we enjoyed baroque architecture, charming cobblestone streets, and an abundance of wonderful restaurants. We spent our days visiting churches, a jade factory, and shopping.

To our surprise, women in the surrounding communities still do hand wash laundry in the center of town.

On the last day we decided to hike Mt. Pacaya, an active volcano, located between Antigua and Guatemala City. As we climbed higher and higher, we felt the heat rising from our feet and wondered, “What are we doing!?” But we cautiously continued on and were rewarded with stunning flowing lava. We also could see another active volcano in the distance. I don't think I would choose to live in this area! It was well worth the trek and a great way to “top off” our excellent visit to Guatemala.