After several weeks of chilling temps, we were so excited to arrive in the hot sands of Africa. The descent into Cape Town was the most terrifying experience I've ever had on a plane. We were tossed back and forth by the wind as we approached the airport, and one final gust caused the plane to tilt violently to the left seconds before we hit the runway. I have no idea how the pilot managed to bring us in safely. We were assaulted with hailstones as we walked across the tarmac, and the winds were gusting over 80 kph. Our taxi [View Full Entry]

---

---

It finally happened, I couldn´t wear my clothes another day. They are just too dirty. For those of you not familiar with my packing strategy for a 4.5 month trip, I brought: 1) 3 pair of underwear 2) 2 pairs of pants 3) 2 t-shirts 4) 2 long sleeve shirts 5) 1 pair of socks (though I eventually did buy another pair) and 6) 1 pair of mandles (as Kelly likes to call them) After about two weeks of traveling, including two nights of camping in tents and one night of staying with a local family, my clothes are too dirty [View Full Entry]

---

---

We´ve spent the past two days touring several islands on Lake Titicaca, which is the highest navigable lake in the world. Miraculously (the miracle being copiously applied SPF 85 sunscreen) neither of us got burned from the evil altitude/lake reflection combination. However, after nearly twenty successful months of preventing this, I now am rocking a serious ring tan! We first visited the floating islands of Uros. We were told that many years ago, the Incas who were unhappy working in the mines in what is now Bolivia escaped and lived on straw boats. Over time, those boats expanded into [View Full Entry]

---

---

We made it back from our Machu Picchu trek! I almost wish we hadn´t done this because it was so unbelievably amazing that I don´t want it to be the basis for comparison for the rest of our trip. Our group was so much fun. There was a good mix of singles and couples, younger and older, and country of origin. I really hope to see some of them again, particularly the two girls we met from Baltimore! The terrain itself was varied, but not too difficult overall. The hardest point for me was the second day when we climbed a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Kelly and I spent the day walking around Cuzco, seeing the museums and planning our future travels, what we didn´t count on is how freaking cold it can get here. I know that someone else would probably have put together the facts that (1) its winter here and (2) we are 9,000 feet above sea level and figured out that the Peruvian Andes may be a bit chilly. We, however, did not quite pack for the trip correctly. Kelly at least has a pair of sneakers. I, on the other-hand, have only a single pair of sandals and a single pair [View Full Entry]

---

---

We went to the orientation tonight for our four day hike along the Lares route to Machu Picchu tomorrow, and were a bit surprised to learn that everyone else in the group hired porters to carry their bags. One man even complained quite forcefully about having to carry his own 1.5L water bottle! This should be interesting. We´ve spent the past couple of days exploring the area in and around Cusco. This city was the capital of the Inca empire, and the amount of ruins here are simply astounding. Poor Steve has had to endure MANY hours of me salivating over [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today began very early with a mad dash through the Lima airport at 5:00am after a late night of pisco-fueled fun with my friend, Melisa, and her fiance, Samuel. We managed to not only make our 5:20 flight, but we among the first to board the plane! We arrived in Cusco a short hour later, and were surprised to see our breath in the airport terminal - it´s that cold! We spotted a van from a hostel that Steve had contacted about a room, and talked our way into a ride to town. The hostel was full, but the person at [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived in Lima at about 2am and breezed through customs to find a car waiting for us. Steve splurged a bit and reserved us a room in one of the nicest hotels here, the Miraflores Park Hotel. It was so glorious to sleep on a large, fluffy bed after a week of camping out on couches leading up to the wedding. We stuffed ourselves thoroughly at the breakfast buffet and didn´t need to eat again until dinner. We walked around the waterfront a bit until we spotted some ruins poking up between the buildings and took off to explore them. [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Toronto airport is phenomenal! We made a new friend at the duty free store who was very loosey-goosey with the Crown Royal samples. She mixed up a variation on the appletini with sour apple schnapps, Crown Royal, and a splash of cranberry. Delicious! Sadly, the Lima airport was not nearly so friendly. Shortly after we stepped off the plane, Steve realized he´d left his fancy new camera in the overhead bin - the camera I encouraged him not to buy because of his long history with misplacing cameras. We asked a gate agent to check for it but it was [View Full Entry]

---

---

Steve and I leave for the airport to begin our trip in three hours. We still have to finish packing, pack up our house, open a few last wedding presents, and gather lots of thank you note supplies to occupy us during our long plane ride. We returned to DC from Maine late on Monday, and we spent all of yesterday rushing around picking up prescriptions, dealing with the insurance switch, stockpiling toiletries and other essentials, and cancelling memberships. I should sign off so I can get my pack together. We fly to Lima, Peru via Toronto. Yes, we're flying northwest [View Full Entry]

---

---