Our last day on the trail - relief mixed with a bit of sadness. Today is ‘all downhill’ but we laugh at Adrian as his descriptions to date have been ‘encouraging’ or ‘optimistic’. Kristy had also said that the last day was hard going so I really don’t know what to expect. However it is a good 4 hour, 6-7 km walk with mostly downhill and none of it a scary as the previous day. We stop at the quarry after which the trail is named. Stone was cut from here and carried down to build the town. Marcia also explains the burial huts we see on the way. As on Day 2 Linda has gone ahead with Adrian (starting to wonder about these two!) and Marcia and I wander along at the end. With the ... read more

Linda and I have packed our duffel bags that the packhorses will carry and our own backpacks and are picked up at 5:40am to begin our 32km three day trek on the Quarry Trail. It is fair to say I am a bit apprehensive. I have heard plenty of stories but I have not been affected very much but altitude so far - a few tingly fingers and toes and that is all. After a short bus trip up a road under construction we get underway. The first day will be about 6km and will rise from about 2,800m to 3750m. Linda and I are joined by 5 others from a Gecko tour which follows the same itinerary but is for 18-29 year olds! We walk up a valley on a dirt track which is wide ... read more

There is no way you can sleep in when there are no curtains, temperatures of over 25 overnight and lots of bird noises so I was up early to have a wander around the grounds and take some photos before we headed back downstream to Puerto Maldonado. After a change of clothes at the bus station we were on the pane back to the heights of Cusco. It is a lovely city with a population of about 1 million. It was the capital of the Incan Empire before the Spanish came in 1532 or so and took over. The Incan temples and shrines were overbuilt with Catholic churches and cathedrals and they dominate the city. However there are many signs of the original religion, the bulls on the rooftops facing the sun, the signs on some ... read more

We farewell Lima and head to Puerto Maldonado via Cusco. This means we go from 154m above sea level up to 3,400m and then down to 183m in the space of an hour and a half. At Puerto Maldonado, a rural town of about 120,000 we transfer our essentials for the next couple of days into duffle bags and our day packs and hop onto the boat that will take us 3 hours up the Tambopata River in the middle of the Amazon Jungle. The river is wide and muddy brown. Sometimes there are sandy beaches, other time quite steep clay cliffs rising up into the jungle. It is hot, well over 30 degrees and very humid but because of the insects we are advised to wear long sleeves, long trousers and shoes not sandals. Fortunately ... read more

We pack our bags and prepare to leave the lovely Gran Queen Beatriz for the last time. First stop is a visit to the Interpretation Centre which explains the rather bleak history of the islands. There has been a lot of exploitation, parts have been used as penal colonies, work camps, the land and sea stripped of resources. Now the local and tourist populations are soaring and the administration is starting to wrestle with water supplies and protecting the envirinment again. However it feels like they are being proactive. We have one last walk around and take some photos of sealions -you would think by now we woukd be over them! Then we boare the plane back to the very comfortable Le Parc hotel in Quito where we arrive about 6pm. A final dinner with the ... read more