Peru to Canada

Phil had a unique birthday, being that we were in Lima, with both of our parents and nearing the end of our amazing trip in South America. Phil’s parents made him bacon for breakfast (a favourite that was rarely had on this trip) to accompany our nice complimentary continental. Then after some running around, we all headed to Centro, to show our parents Lima’s impressive Plaza de Armas, churches and government buildings. After a few hours of wondering the streets, we were once again hungry, so had a nice lunch off the main plaza and headed back to the hostel for birthday cake.
That evening my Mom and Dad headed home, and the rest of us went out for dinner and chess in the square.

The next two days, we wondered around Lima, picking up presents and last minute souvenirs. Phil and I spent some quality time sitting by the water, reminiscing about our trip and preparing ourselves for heading home. We of course enjoyed some lovely meals and Lima’s warmth, and tried to soak in as much Spanish as possible.

Then it was time to go. Very late on Monday, April 14th, the four of us headed to the airport for our night flight back to Canada. My Mom met us at the airport and the five of us had an airport snack/lunch, before Karen and Graham caught their connection to Halifax. Phil and I went to my parent’s place for five days, visited with Phil’s grandparents in Port Dover, friends and family from Stoney Creek to Toronto, and attend my Dad’s wonderful retirement party.

We then headed home on different flights, mine arriving in Halifax on the 21st, to a great welcome from Karen, Graham and Andrea at the airport; and Phil on the 22nd (after stopping in Montreal for his in-person interview), to a great family party at the Dennis’.

It is hard to believe that we are home. Although we are home prematurely, we are both very excited to be here and to start a new chapter. Our time in South America, especially our time in our Cuenca Community, has and will continue to impact us and make us better world citizens.

We are so fortunate that we were able to wonder this world so freely.
Thanks for reading and being a part of our journey.

Lima, Peru

After a quiet morning by the pool, Janet and Carlos graciously drove us to the Cruz del Sur bus terminal for our afternoon drive back to Lima. We once again were continuously entertained with loud movies, food and bingo – which we won! My card was the winner, but I made Phil call bingo and go to the back to clam the prize, they sometimes make the winner make a speech. We won a bottle of Pisco, which was a perfect prize and token of our past week!
We arrived back at El Patio Hostel in time to throw our bags town and head to the square to see the Mayors Choir perform. Before we left for Ica, a man in the choir befriended us while we were watching salsa dancers in the square and he invited us to come see his choir sing the next weekend. So here we were, watching the choir and salsa dancers in the heart of Miraflores, and getting a special welcome from the choir director, it felt like we stepped into a movie. However, our hunger did not allow us to stay for the whole show so we slipped away to get something to eat. After a lovely meal along the Plaza, we headed back to the hostel.

Huacachina, Peru

Thursday, April 10 was our last full day in ICA, so instead for starting the day off at 7, we thought we would give our amazing parents a break, and have a sleep in, and hang out by the pool kind of day. And this was how we enjoyed yet another sunny day, the ladies stayed mostly poolside with our books and beer, while the gentleman took a stroll to Ica’s Plaza de Armas for a traditional menu del dia and a hair cut (for Phil). At four o’clock, Janet and Carlos once again picked us up for our tour, this one to the oasis town of Huacachina and it’s surrounding sand dunes. We wanted to watch the sunset in the desert, but given our nerves from yesterdays airplane news, Phil and I had asked Janet to organize a more relaxing tour of the tunes. However, when we arrived in at the oasis we boarded a huge dune buggy, with an exposed engine, flip rails, and yellow sunglasses for each passenger, and we took-off over the first dune into a sea of sand, and it was then we realized we were in for a rollercoaster ride into the sunset, and practically going fast was the only way to get up and over some of the dunes we encountered. Before finding the perfect sunset spot, with a great driver, we explored the dunes, which were mesmerizing. We also stopped a few times to sand board! This sand boarding experience was a little different from the Atacama Desert, because the dunes seemed twice as high and we were encouraged to just fly down the hills on our bellies. So, Phil and I, and Karen and Graham all gave it ago, with my parents cheering us on. We flew down three hills, which progressively got bigger, while my parents took the dune buggy down, which was just as wild of a ride, in my opinion. It was all very fun, fast and hilarious, and by the time the sun was turning glorious shades of orange and pink, we were on the top of another dune that overlooked miles if dunes until they touched the sky. And there we sat, appreciating the vast world from a new perspective and a new appreciate of sand.

Although the post should end there, I do have to mention that we went back to Huacachina, traveling by night on the dunes, found a place to enjoy yet another Pisco Sour by the Oasis, and then headed back to town for an Italian dinner by the Plaza de Armas in Ica. We then headed ‘home’ for our last sleep in the middle of this amazing desert, that has treated us so well.

Nasca Lines, Nasca, Peru

Another early start today, this time to the south to fly over the famous Nasca Lines. We were picked up at 7 am and drove down the Pan-American Highway, through three valleys, by the Inca Face (a face-shaped rock that looks to the sun), and the town of Nasca. Before our flights, we were toured around a traditional ceramics studio and a traditional oro (gold) production planet. Both provided fascinating glimpses into traditional ways of life, that are still maintained today in this region. We arrived at the airport late morning, and each family took to flight over the Nasca lines in a small Cessna aircraft. The tour of the lines was about 45 minutes, which was plenty of time to see most of these amazing formations. Our pilots were great guides, and we flew amazingly low to the ground, for an even more spectacular viewing angle. Once safely back on the ground, we loaded up in the van once again and headed to a restaurant recommended by our tour guide, as the place to eat a traditional pork and corn set-lunch. This was one fabulous meal for 7 soles, not to mention my mom’s favourite meal of the trip! It was later in the day when we arrived home (our Ica hotel) from this tour, but we still managed to relax by the pool, until dinner. This was our forth day at the hotel and the staff was getting quite used to us being around, in fact, I think they even liked having us around. There were three gentlemen that ran the restaurant that took great care of us, whether we were at the tables in the restaurant, poolside or in one of the many sitting areas. So, it wasn’t that surprising that they were very happy, and I mean very happy, to see us when we arrived home after the Nasca Lines. However, at dinner, we found out why we got the overly friendly greeting. That day, only 2 hours after we left Nasca Lines, there was a terrible plane accident that claimed five tourists lives. And in the afternoon, when our friends at the hotel heard this, they immediately thought of us, as they knew we were flying that day. Finding this out, as you can imagine, was quite overwhelming. I suppose, throughout this trip Phil and I have tested our faith, from crazy bus rides to skydiving, but this was perhaps the closest call, and with our parents, in a way, under our care, it was even more of a reality check. It really reminds you how precious life is, and that it needs to appreciated everyday. And this, to me, doesn’t mean eliminating risk and staying home, but living life to the fullest, and if you are lucky enough, sharing it with those you love.

Islas Ballestas, Paracas, Peru

Today’s tour started bright and early at 7 am. We were picked up from the hotel by Janet and Carlos, our trusted guide and driver, and headed to the coast. We then jumped on a speedboat for a ride into the Pacific, for a bird watching tour. With a couple dozen other tourists, we enjoyed a fast ride to the famous Candelabra, which is an enormous candelabra permanently etched onto the side of a dune, that can only be seen from the water. No one is sure how this massive picture (similar idea to the Nasca Lines) came to be, but it is a spectacular sight, with many creation theories, which our guide colourfully described; perhaps it predates the Incas, or was a sign of a cult in the Spanish times, or an arrow pointing to the Nasca Lines so that Aliens could navigate their crafts to the lines (we liked this one)! Next, we saw a few birds gathering around the rocks at the base of the dunes, and thinking this would be similar to the rest of our bird watching boat tour, we all took lots of photos. However, we soon caught a glimpse of the famous Ballestas islands and realized we were heading to a bird watching paradise. These islands are often describe as Peru's poor“man”'s Galapagos, because of it's bird and sea lion colonies, but we was not prepared for the magnificent amount of animals that we saw. It was spectacular. There were literally millions of seabirds; flying, nesting, diving, and talking to each other. There were Boobies, three types of Cormorants, Inca Turns, Penguins, Pelicans, and Vultures, to name a few of the larger ones. And, there were sea lions, hundreds, maybe even thousands, from little babies to huge males over 15 years old. The islands themselves were also amazing and covered in guano, in some places 10 metres deep. Guano is the droppings of these large seabirds, which is mined here for fertilizers and at one time was Peru's main export. The Islands have eroded into amazing formations, with many arches and caves, which formed an incredible playground for the birds and the sea lions, particularly the pups, who were having such a good time playing with each other in the water, while the adults talked and sunbathed on the rocks. After a couple hours of touring and almost avoiding being guanoed (dad got hit), we headed back to the mainland.

It was a spectacular tour, which ended with a short stroll and a meal in the town of Paracas. Paracas is one of the towns in the Province of Ica that was affected by the earthquake in August 2007. Damage from the quake was still very visible, although the town is rebuilding and encouraging tourism once again.

We were back at our Ica hotel by 2:00, and quickly put on our suits for a swim. The rest of our day followed a similar, relaxing and enjoyable routine to yesterday. Life is good in this sunny town.

Wine and Pisco Tour in Ica

Ica is known for itss grapes, so it only seemed right to go on a wine and pisco tour on our first full day here. The landscape is quite remarkable, having small oasis towns, like Ica, surrounded by miles of sand dunes. It hardly every rains becuase it is a desert, yet they are still able to grow and export many veggies and fruits, and produce some fine wines and even finer piscos. We started early on our tour, tasting our first wine by 10:30AM. We had three fascinating tours, one at an industrial wine and pisco vineyard, and two at artisan vineyards. We were encouraged to try everything, from white, to red, to straight pisco to pisco con leche. After the tour, we spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool and enjoyed a late supper at the hotel. We could feel a very enjoyable routine forming for the rest of the week; morning tours, afternoon swims and of course, lovely meals con pisco sours, wine and beer.

Ica, Peru

After one night in Lima, we travelled along the coast, approximately 400km south, to Ica, Peru. On August 15, 2007 an extremely powerful earthquake hit the region which caused incredible damage to infrastructure, much of which is still very evident. We stayed five nights at the following lovely hotel outside of Ica:

El Carmelo Hotel and Hacienda

Jr. Tenería # 125

Ayacucho, Perú

Tel. 0051-064-326028

rochipinto@elcarmelohotelhacienda.com

www.bookingbox.org/elcarmelohotelhacienda

The Cultural Capital, Cusco, Peru

After our beautiful day at Machu Picchu, we spent two more days in Cusco, enjoying this high altitude city. We spent our days wondering around the city, shopping, and of course eating and drinking (wine and pisco sours)!! Among other activities, Graham and Phil enjoyed an afternoon at the Inca Museo, the ladies enjoyed a traditional weaving museo, and we all took part in a traditional meal with musical, dancing show for our closing Cusco Banquet. At one point in the evening all the ladies were up dancing in the show, with great style, of course. We spent one more night at our Cusco Hostel, Rumi Punku, a lovely, traditional hotel, before heading back to Lima. Altogether we were in the beautiful Sacred Valley for eight wonderful days. And despite some altitude sickness and some tingling, we had a full schedule and saw many amazing sites. We were also extremely lucky to have primarily sunny days, although we are looking forward to hitting the coast and the summer weather, for our second week of adventure!

Rumi Punku, Cusco, Peru

After a very lovely and memorable visit to Machu Picchu. We all returned to Peru's cultural capital for another three nights to visit museums, explore the centre, and to relax before flying back to Lima. We stayed at the following hostal:

HOSTAL RUMI PUNKU

Choquechaca No.339

Cusco, Peru

Tel. 00 5184 221102

info@rumipunku.com

www.rumipunku.com

We're Engaged!!

Here is the happy family at Machu Picchu, and Phil and I moments after our engagement!! It has been so wonderful to have our parents here, to be a part of our engagement and to travel with us for our last couple of weeks here in Peru. That's right, the other big news is that we are coming home!! We will be in Ontario from the 15th to the 21st and then back in Nova Scotia. We both are very excited to get back and feel very fortunate to have had five months of adventure here in South America.

Phil: It certainly was a beautiful day and I was very pleased to have had both sets of parents there with us. I was quite nervous, but pleased when everything had unfolded as planned. I had bought the ring for Mary back in Buenos Aires (it was in my guitar case for nearly 2 months). I'm glad I was able to keep it a secret until then. See you when we get home.

Machu Picchu

We visited Machu Picchu on April 2nd, a day full of magic and beauty, which I will never forget. I had been looking forward to this day since arriving in South America and therefore built up the day in my head, needless to say my expectations were high. And before telling you the story, I can't help but reveal that every expectation was exceeded and more.
Karen, Graham, Phil and I decided to head to Machu Picchu for the sunrise, which meant having breakfast and catching the bus before 5:30AM. We made it to a very foggy Machu Picchu at 6:00AM, and although we did not see a sunrise, we did see the clouds lift and float over the most spectacular ruins. At 7:00AM, we headed in different directions, Karen and Graham hiked to Inkapunka, a trek towards the south, and Phil and I to Wayna Picchu, the mountain towering over Machu Picchu in the North. While on our hikes, my mom and dad arrived just as the fog cleared and hiked to the Funary for the famous view of the ruins. Phil and I hiked up for about an hour, which gave us lots of time on the top to watch Machu Picchu and the surrounding mountains reveal themselves. It was most spectacular. We couldn't have asked for a better day, as far as weather was concerend. Phil, as we walked down the precarious rock steps in fact kept repeating, "it is a beautiful day," and he kept on repeating it as we met our parents, who were waiting for us at the enterance of Wayna Picchu. They all had wonderful mornings, and all six of us were thrilled to be now sharing the magic of Machu Picchu together. We sat on an ancient wall, looking at the ruins, telling our stories of the mornings activities, while Phil kept repeating¨"it is a beautiful day." And then, all of a sudden, Phil was facing us all, and announced how happy he was we were all sharing it together, and then he reached into his pocket and at the same moment knelt down infront of me, and asked me to marry him. All I could do was wrap my arms around him and say yes. So, in the middle of Machu Picchu we created quite a scene; parents crying and hugging, Phil and I embracing, groups of people around us cheering. For the rest of the day, I floated around Machu Picchu, admiring the sites and my finger. Throughout the day at the ruins and back in town, we were congradulated by strangers, who had either witnessed the event or heard of it. At around 3:00PM, we met for pizza and pisco sours to celebrate the day, and then we headed to the train for our extended four hour journey back to Cusco (the train had some power difficulties at one point, so we were delayed, but entertained by wonderful singers in our car).

Aguas Calientes, Peru

After a quick sleep in Cusco, we headed to the train station for our four hour journey on the Machu Picchu VistaDome train, which took us to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. It was a lovely, very comfortable, journey through the Sacred Valley, with dozens of beautiful picture postcard moments. We arrived in Aguas Calientes at 10:00AM, found our hostal and rooms, with views of the roaring Rio Vilcanota.

Hostal Continental

Av. Imperio de los Incas 165
Aguas Calientes, Peru

Tel. 211065

sierrandina@gmail.com

That afternoon we went to the hot springs, located just outside of town, to warm up and relax before our big day in Machu Picchu. We had an early dinner at Indio Feliz, a busy and flavourful spot. We headed to bed early, anticipating another 4:30AM wake-up call.

Pisac, Peru

Pisac is a lovely little town full of beautifully colourful Peru scenary, both in the famous market and the Andean lanscape. After a lovely breakfast on Sunday morning with Mercades, our new friend and host at Paz y Luz, we all headed into town to take part in their busy Sunday Market, which is both for tourists and local villagers, who come in from the surrounding hillsides to trade their goods. I think our Moms had the most fun, although I have to say, both Graham and Scott got right into the bargaining and fun of the it all. We, of course, picked up some amazing crafts and jewels. In the afternoon, we headed for the hills, for a trek to a famous Inca ruins. It was a beautiful day when we started, which made the steep, thin steps around the moutain’s edge doable. Once we made it to the ruins, we had little time to wonder around before the sky was taken over by dark clouds. So as we walked back, thankfully on an easier path, we experienced some rain and an amazing hail storm. The second natrual wonder for our parents, who all experienced an earthquake in the Lima airport, on their way to Cusco. Once back to the road, our faithful taxi driver, Larry, was there to quickly get us back to Paz y Luz, to dry off and warm up (we were soaked)! That evening, we headed back to town for dinner and another Pisco Sour. We have decided to take in upon ourselves to test Pisco Sours around the region, and so far this Pisac Pisco was the best bang or the buck (5 soles). The next morning we headed to Cusco to start our preperations for our big and much anticipated trip to Macchu Picchu!

Paz y Luz, Pisac, Peru

We all arrived at Paz y Luz in the morning on Saturday, March 29. All rooms had comfortable beds, a private bathroom with a skylight, and good showers. There was a glass/stone breakfast room with mountain views. We listened to the sounds of the flowing sacred river and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings for three days.

Paz y Luz

Pisac, Peru

Tel. +51-84-203204

reserve@pazyluzperu.com

www.pazyluzperu.com

Parents in Peru!

We woke early on Saturday, March 29th, both too excited to sleep and with a list of errands to do, before picking our parents up from the airport! We had an early breakfast by the fire and headed out in seperate directions to pick up train tickets, print schedules and purchase our Machu Picchu tickets, before the arrival of Karen and Graham, Susanne and Scott at 10:30AM!!! We decided to surprise them at the airport (we told them we would meet them in Pisac), and I think it is safe to say they were thrilled to see us. After many hugs, we hopped into two Pisac taxis and enjoyed an hour ride through the Sacred Valley to our Pisac retreat, Paz y Luz B&B.

Los Niños Hotels in Cusco

Our second night in Cusco was spent in a very special/interesting hotel. Jolanda van den Berg, from the Netherlands, is the founder of Niños Hotels. Both Niños Hotels are in Cusco, Peru. The profits from the hotels are used to give 500 extremely neglected children from Cusco a hot meal on a daily basis, a warm shower, medical and dental assitance, homework and sports lessons.

The Niños Hotels offer two-star service and are situated within walking distance of the Plaza de Armas. They are established in wholly renovated old buildings of about 300 and 150 years respectively. The Niños Hotels each have a large sunny patio and breakfast and lunch room where homemade bread is served.

Niños Hotel

Calle Meloc 442

Cusco, Peru

Tel. 084 231424

ninoshotel@terr.com.pe

www.ninoshotel.com

Cusco, Peru

We arrived safely in Cusco, Peru at 11:30PM on March 27, after another bizare bus trip. We had arranged transportation through our hotel in Copacabana (La Cupula). From Copacabana to Cusco it takes approximately 12 hours by bus and our ticket was US$15 in total. We switched buses three times (all different companies). From Copacabana to Puno it took 2 hours by bus; this portion costed US$11. The remaining portion to Cusco took 10 hours and costed US$4. Makes sense eh? To make a long story short, our hotel ripped us off! Advice: don't let travel agents or bus companies book long legs of travel for you that involve switching buslines, they will almost always over-charge. Upon arriving in Cusco, we stayed at the following hostal for one night:

Hostal Familiar

Calle Saphy 661
Cusco, Peru

Tel. 239353

Isla de la Sol, Bolivia

We arrived on the north side of Isla de la Sol early on Wedensday, March 26th, after a two hour boat ride from Copacabana. This Island and Lake Titicaca are central to Inca spirituality and history, as it is believed that the sun and moon rose from the water and was the birth place of all creation. We started off on a guided trek on an ancient Inca road, which ended at a beautiful and remote Inca ruin. Here we learned of the Inca creation story, which was decribed by our guide, who used the amazing rock formations and landscapes as visual aids. Now on our own, we enjoyed a little picnic in the ruins and hiked to the south end of the island. This was a spectacular trek that followed the top terraces of the slopping hills down to the water. After about three hours we arrived in Yumani. Here we found a hostel for the night, and an amazing restuarant to watch the sunset on their terrece (with thier llama), while playing cribbage and drinking a cold Bolivian Pilsener. After the sun went down we went into the restaurant for a lovely candle light dinner (they did not have electricity). Around 9 we found our way back to our hostel in the dark, we went to bed in this quiet town. Since we watched the sunset on the Island of the Sun, we thought we should watch the sunrise, which was a brilliant display of colours over the Andes. While we sat quietly watching, we also witnessed the morning ritual, of some of the town’s people, which is walking down the steep hill with two to six donkeys and dozens of water jugs, to then fill them , strap them to either side of the donkey and assend the hill, providing water for the enter town.
We visited another Inca ruin that morning, after arranging to be picked up by the small ferry boat at 10:30. We arrived back in Copacabana in time to catch our bus to Cusco. Before jumping on our bus, however, we ran into our family friends from Edmonton, the McPhee’s! Jennifer and Rob were heading south, so we only had time for a quick chat, in the middle of bus loading confussion, but it was wonderful to see familar faces!

Isla de la Sol, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

We spent Wednesday, March 26 on Isla de la Sol, which is was a sacred ceremonial site for the Incas. We stayed at the following hostal facing the snow-capped Andes.

HOTEL IMPERIO DEL SOL

At ease in Copacabana

We spent three days in Copacabana relaxing along the shores of Lake Titicaca. During the first afternoon, we sat in hammocks, read our books, gazed down at the town from the hillside, and I chewed a few coca leaves to numb my mouth. The following day, was spent wondering and sitting along the hillside, watching the sun move closer towards the horizon, and speaking to one another about the highlights of the trip. Our last two nights at the hotel were spent in a private cabin; we had our own living room and kitchenette where we drank wine and watched the sunset. Late in the afternoon, on our third day, we rented a sailboat and let the wind take us around the bay for a couple hours with a local kid from the village. Throughout our stay here, we enjoyed the sounds of drums echoeing in the valley below to commemorate La Dia del Mar. We slept well and enjoyed the sun. It was very beautiful in Copacabana.