Peru, July 2024

Day 1: Cooking Lesson and Cusco City Tour

Today’s theme: Hit the ground running

My flight landed at Lima this morning at 4:30 am. At that point, I had been awake for almost 24 hours. But I couldn’t afford sleep because I had a 6:30 flight to Cusco, which I almost missed after getting through immigration and then being planted at the wrong gate

I arrived in Cusco at 8 ish and was picked up by my pre-arranged guide. Telling myself I didn’t want to waste a minute, I scheduled a 9:00 Peruvian cooking class. Lucky for me, it was just me because I was about ten minutes late. At the cooking class, we went to the San Pedro Market and bought fresh fruit and vegetables. We also saw some guinea pigs and cow stomach

After getting groceries, we went back to Chef Ronan’s kitchen to cook. We made passion fruit Pisco, had several fruits native to Peru including my favorite, the Granadilla. We then prepared Causa Limena and Lomo Saltado. It was delicious and I cleaned my plate!

After my cooking class ended, I raced back to my hotel and had just enough time to check in and take a quick shower before my next tour! At this point, all I wanted to do was go to sleep. But sleep is wasted time when there is so much to see and do.

So my next tour was a city tour of Cusco. We visited a beautiful basilica cathedral. Sadly we couldn’t take any pictures inside. But it was definitely interesting seeing pictures and statues of Jesus dressed and adorned in the Inca tradition. after that, we saw a few other Cusco highlights, including a small water of life waterfall, a key that had mummified bodies, llama and alpaca farm, and an old Inca site.

If you’re still reading, the absolute best part of the day was meeting two ladies and after telling her, I’d kill for her espresso, she gave it to me! It set the stage for the rest of the evening including beers at an Irish pub. A fabulous first day.

Tomorrow: the Salt Mines and Maras and Moray tour. And for tonight, sleep!

Day 2: The Salt Mines, Chinchero, Moray, Maras

Today, we went to several Inca settlements, a lovely woman owned textile shop, and the salt mines.

At Chinchero, the women did a demonstration of how they dye the alpaca wool using natural techniques. They also showed us how they clean and then transform the wool into blankets and clothing. It was incredible and was my favorite part of the day. If you are interested in the video, check out my IG: tracytravelseverywhere

We also went to the old Inca settlement of Moray. I was reminded that the Incas were powerful, innovative warriors, conquered by the Spanish not so long ago. So much of their culture and language is now replaced with Euro influenced traditions. I hope that the remaining Inca people, the Quechua-speaking peoples of the Andes, can continue to thrive and share their traditions, language, knowledge, their culture with others so these are not lost.

I also am continuing to discover so much about myself. I’m still tousling with it but it is coming together. And I’m eager to explore it more. So far I have realized I definitely prefer green over brown.

Tomorrow: Sacred Valley

Day 3: Sacred Valley (Pisaq and Ollantaytambo)

Those steps were no joke. And at elevation!

So perhaps it was FOMO. Perhaps it was the rest of the group cheering me on. Perhaps I just didn’t want to be that person who said she couldn’t. Whatever it was, I did it and I feel so proud of myself for doing it.

Tomorrow I conquer Machu Picchu.

Day 4: Machu Picchu

c. 1420-1532. The Lost City of the Incas.

Located on a mountain ridge, at about 8000’, in the tropical rain forest of the Andes. There are no written records of the site because the Incas didn’t have written language and when the Spanish conquered the Incas, they didn’t know about the site because it was covered in foliage and hard to get to. Lucky for us because it wasn’t destroyed.

Discovered in 1911. A UNESCO World Heritage site. One of the Seven Wonders of the World.

I can’t believe I came to Peru and Machu Picchu was an after thought. I’m sure my pictures don’t do justice for the magnificence of the archaeological site. Enjoy!

Day 5: Travel Day

Cusco -> Lima -> Iquitos

Today I had a lot of downtime as I sat in airports and on airplanes, so I had plenty of time for some reflection about completing surveys which I thought I would share.

The first couple of times that I went on roads less traveled, I came back and recounted some of my experiences. Perhaps restaurants that weren’t impeccable, or throwing toilet paper in garbage cans instead of the toilet. Flies in the open air markets. Street animals wandering freely. Many people were aghast when I recounted those experiences.

So I was thinking about those responses as I filled out countless surveys the past four days. Every time I filled one out, I had to remind myself to think about the standards I wanted to apply. I could have easily applied standards for what I would have expected if in the US. But instead I reminded myself where I was, what I hoped for out of the experience, and what my expectations should be and filled out the survey accordingly.

A specific example. As I filled out the survey for the hotel, I almost wrote, “hotel was centrally located and service was great but the mattress was hard, the shower water didn’t stay hot, the WiFi was non-existent, and the outlets didn’t work great.” But I stopped myself because I would have been applying a standard that I would have expected in the US, not in Peru. I’m sure if I wanted that kind of stay (resort), maybe I could have found a hotel that catered to that type of experience. Instead, I wanted to experience Peru in an authentic way. So I instead reflected on the service. Did the staff great me by name whenever they saw me? Was the staff knowledgeable about places to eat in the area? Were the staff courteous to other visitors? When I thought about the things that individually could be controlled, I was more than pleased with my accommodations.

A closing thought: check all your expectations when you disembark the airplane and absorb every unique part of the place you are about to experience. If you don’t, you might miss some really amazing things.

Today: a little work mixed in with visiting the town of Iquitos

Day 6: Iquitos

Down day. While I welcomed a day with nothing planned, it also felt disorienting.

I read (a book above South Carolina and the start of the Civil War - so many parallels to the US today).

I did some work (albeit without a computer and not great WiFi so it was tough).

I watched a few movies (they weren’t very good).

I went for a walk (it was 90F, felt like 100). But mostly it felt like a wasted day.

Perhaps because this off day was not intended but rather forced on me because of Crowdstrike.

Perhaps because the town of Iquitos didn’t feel completely safe to walk about.

Perhaps I was unable to see the charm of the city.

Perhaps it was the dinner that I had that was not quite satisfying.

Perhaps it was the ice cold beer that would have tasted so good on the hot day but that I couldn’t find.

In any case, I did more reflecting. I often get asked about the places I travel to. How do I pick them? I never have a great reason and I have spent a lot of time thinking about this.

Part of it is because I prefer green over brown. Water over earth. Ice over fire.

Part of it is because I want to have my own stories, ones that I am unlikely to hear among my friends, family, colleagues.

Part of it is because I love tasting new foods, hearing different languages, seeing places I’ve only read about, touching textiles that are foreign to me, smelling the air which always seems to be so different everywhere I go.

Part of it is because I want to develop/ continue to have empathy for those that are less fortunate than I am, to appreciate the diversity that makes our world so great, to appreciate all the things that I do have.

My reasons will drive my next choices. So far my 2025 travel plans are wide open so I welcome your recommendations.

Tomorrow: boat ride to/ down the Amazon to te rainforest.

Day 7: the Amazon rainforest

It’s been an experience so far. We departed Iquitos around noon on Tuesday. Seven of us on a skinny, long speed boat. All our luggage on board. A lovely couple of Atlanta, formerly from England and her partner a fire chief battalion. Their friends, a reserved doctor and her husband from Zimbabwe. Carrying lots of official looking cases . And then a young couple that lives in Switzerland, but her (her name was Tracy, named after Tracey Gold from Growing Pains because her parents loved the show), from Peru and him from Spain. The beauty of these trips are the diverse perspectives that you pick up along the way from people of all walks of life.

Anyways, the boat ride, 4 hours, mostly uneventful except for the gray and pink dolphins we saw. Who would have thought there are dolphins in the Amazon. My videos aren’t great but I tried to get one or two.

If you’re still reading, the highlight of the evening though had to have been me almost “dying” in quick sand. Okay maybe that is an exaggeration but I went to do laundry down by the river since I haven’t quite gotten to the point of rewearing dirty clothes. Though to be honest, I’m not sure if washing my clothes in the muddy river actually got them clean. But back to my escapade.

As I looked ahead to the river and the little house that was pointed out to me, I tried to figure how to get there. There was a hill but it looked like it dropped off steeply or there was a sandy bank. After walking a moment along the hill, I decided it wasn’t the best way and reversed course to try the sandy bank. However, much to my surprise, the sandy bank was several feet deep and more soft mud than sand. Next thing I know my foot steps on it and it sinks a little. Not one to give up, I press on. And my next foot sinks a little deeper. Before I know it, I was in knee high soft mud, my flip flops stuck somewhere far below. As I try to get out, my hands full of clothes, I fall on my butt. Now my clothes really are dirty because I needed to use my hands to get up.

If you’re still reading, for one moment, I questioned my decision to come to the Amazon, wondering what I saw in it. But then later that evening having met some other solo travelers (Marissa - a young woman on her first solo trip before beginning nursing school, Ram - a Filipino woman that wanted counseling advice because her 20+ years older husband in the US is “weird” - her words, and Shayna, a 70 yo woman who had many stories to tell) and another younger couple (Emma and Carl), I knew I made the right decision. These moments, these experiences are why I travel.

Tomorrow I go hunt poisonous dart frogs and anacondas.

Day 8: Hunting frogs and anacondas

Today, was a full day. With my private guide, Landr and our boat driver, we set out 3 hours down the Blanco River, a channel of the Amazon. Beautiful scenery abound. We kept our eyes peeled for wild life yet we were a little disappointed. We did see a beautiful Blue butterfly (), large as a bird.

We were fortunate that the day before a group went out and saw an anaconda and the anaconda hadn’t ventured very far from the spot so we were able to find him. Coiled up, basking in the sun, full from a recent meal. The bugs and butterflies on him appeared to be cleaning a wound he sustained. We continued down the river, hitting many shallow spots, a few times, I was convinced our boat was going to overturn.

Upon arriving at the designated site, we met up with the group from Atlanta and searched for more wildlife. In the jungle, we could hear thunder and rain but it didn’t touch us because of the canopy. But by the wetness of our clothes, you would have thought we stood in it. We walked through the forest, about an hour and a half, no poisonous dart frogs to be found. At this point, I was okay with never seeing the frog, hot, sweaty, and hungry.

However, as we walked back towards the spot where we docked and were going to have lunch, we finally found the rare red frog. So small, no bigger than a half dollar. The other group had more luck than Landr and I, they saw some monkeys, a yellow and a blue poisonous dart frog.

For me, I didn’t really care about the frog, the highlight has been the absolute serenity of this place, listening to the wildlife, clear skies at night, disconnected from everyone. I thought about a nighttime hike but chose an early night. I fear Landr wants me to do more. I’m content to relax on the hammock and read.

Tomorrow: zip lining, going into the town, and a nighttime boat ride in search of caymans.

Day 9: Zip Lining and a local community

Today I have another full day planned. The morning started slogging through the forest floor to zip line.The zip line was awesome. The most terrifying part, being hailed 135’ to the top of the forest canopy. And my teeth smacking against each other as we hit the break. But I got a couple of cool videos. Afterwards, as we headed back, we saw a couple of species of monkeys. I love how excited the guides get to see the wildlife.

Then this afternoon, despite being dizzy from my congested sinuses, we went to visit the local community. The kids, always eager to talk to the obvious stranger, I was able to hula hoop with a four year old named Angela. We saw the local primary and high school, noticed the solar panels everywhere, and even one Dish Satellite! We visited for a moment with a worker from the village who works at the lodge and shared with us a cup of masato, made from chewed up Yuca leaves.

As we made our way back up river, we took a quick dip into the Amazon. Have you ever really swam in a river if you didn’t swim in the Amazon?!?! Okay maybe a branch of the Amazon. Worried a little about parasites or ingesting the water, we only stayed in for a few moments but still it was quite an experience.

We capped the evening with a night boat ride in the pitch blackness searching for caymans and other wildlife. No hope of getting a picture of the sky or caymans but we did see the Milky Way, the Big Dipper, cayman eyes, a baby anaconda, and at the end, the cutest little kinkajou, a member of the raccoon family.

Time to get some rest before I head home.

Day 10: Going home

My sinuses have been a disaster since arriving here. Congestion arrives in the evening, without being able to clear them until early morning. As a result, I’ve slept fitfully. Another item to add to my first aid kit - a decongestant.

This last night, the power at the Lodge also went out so finally as I settled into a good sleep (around 2), the fan went off and the lights attached to the emergency generators kicked on (around 4). Well good morning. So now I must decide if seeing a sunrise is worth getting two hours of sleep….

Alas, I went. We headed out to watch the sun rise over the river, and we heard a chorus of birds singing. The jungle is alive. So much of this experience you can only capture in your head to sit as memories.

After getting back to the lodge, cleaning up, eating breakfast, we began our journey home. First a boat ride with a stop at the local hospital built by Angels of the Amazon. They are a non profit associated with the Lodge I stayed at. Trying not to put US expectations on the clinic because life in the Amazon is just different. I know many people would be aghast at what I saw. Me (as well as the people of the Amazon) saw hope and promise for child well visits, dental care, immunizations, OB screenings. Some day after retirement, working in a similar community is what I hope to find.

Back to the boat to continue our journey to Iquitos for flight one home. It was uneventful. The fun really started in Lima. And for that we’ll have another day of posting.