Geo: -13.1628, -72.5158From Poroy's station about 20 minutes away from the hotel, we boarded the Orient Express train, the Hiram Bingham, for the 3 1/2 hour trip to Aguas Calientes. The train was elegant with wonderful service and a fine brunch including good Peruvian wines. However, the train bumped along on the old track making the ride less than perfect. During the trip, we had a guide on board with us who explained about what we were seeing along the way and what we would see when we arrived at Machu Picchu. The guide is named Jhaninti, but she asked us to call her Honey, just to make it easier on us. (Although if you ask Philip, he'll say it's because she liked us.) Live entertainment on the train featured dueling guitarists who encouraged sing-a-longs. Several ... read more

Geo: -13.8667, -76.2667Brady and Jose picked us up early to head for the Paracas peninsula which was about an hour north of Ica. When we got there we were able to take a boat out to see the Ballestas Islands. The boat did not stop at any of the islands, since they do not allow humans to land there usually. The islands are inhabited by lots of wildlife. We saw pelicans, sea lions, Humboldt penguins, boobies (the gray-footed ones), starfish, sand dollars, sea urchins, and lots more, especially lots of sea birds. Brady went along on the boat ride and did a great job of pointing out all the different creatures. He even found a spider crab on one of the cliffs, which seemed to be an unusual sighting. We also saw the Candelabra from the ... read more

Geo: 35.0841, -106.649... read more