My month long Peru trip has now come to an end. I arrived in Toronto at around 8am on Tuesday morning to a grey sky and cold weather. My return has been bittersweet as it was sad to leave such a beautiful and diverse country, but at the same time good to be home. I am definitely looking forward to not living out of a suitcase! Over my time in Peru, I was able to experience such amazing diversity in culture and landscape. I was able to visit the mountains, the ocean, the desert and the jungle all in one country. [View Full Entry]

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After spending 5 days in the Amazon Basin which included the city of Iquitos and the Heliconia Jungle Lodge on the Amazon River all I can say is AMAZING! This experience was probably one of my highlights of my Peru trip! However, we did not get off to the greatest of starts when we found out that our airline had changed our flight times which meant we would not be arriving till late afternoon in Iquitos (which in reality turned into evening) - which meant we could not get to the Lodge that day. Fortunately our agency was very understanding and [View Full Entry]

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Last week I had the unique opportunity to see the mysterious site - the Nazca Lines. In the desert, south of Lima, lies the small city of Nazca. The Nazca people were actually a pre-Incan society that lived along the coast of Peru in the dry desert. Before going to the Nazca lines we headed to the Chauchilla Cemetary in the desert where we were able to see well-preserved pre-Incan graves. Some of the people still had their skin and hair due to the dry conditions of their burial. However, I have to say the best part of our time in [View Full Entry]

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Happy Easter to All! I am going to have to make this entry very quick as I don´t have much time. It has been a VERY busy past week as I left Cusco for Lake Titicaca and Arequipa. Kristina and I have done two long bus rides now between cities and are beginning to learn the ins and outs of the bus travelling system here - which is used by tourists and locals alike in Peru. Unlike back home where you don´t really have many options for bus travel, in Peru, there are tens of bus companies all lining up and [View Full Entry]

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To sum it up, the past four days have probably been the some of the most physically and mentally challenging, BUT also the most rewarding days I have experinced. I have just completed trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The Inca Trail is a series of paths in the Andean Mountains that Incans would have used to travel between different cities and towns. I took the traditional four day route starting at Km 82 and hiked 45 km to our end goal of Machu Picchu. What an AMAZING experience. We had a small group of five people - Kristina and [View Full Entry]

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These past three days have been a whirlwind of activity once we left Lima for Cusco. Things were going well as we boarded the plane on time and were heading out to the runway. Then all of a sudden we started to turn back to the airport in the plane and heard squealing with the breaks. All I could think of, ¨this is what I get for booking a flight with a discount airline that is one third the cost of the more reputable airline...¨ Well, needless to say, we were only stopped for about half an hour while they fixed [View Full Entry]

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Hola from Peru! Well I have arrive in Lima to a humid hazy city. After being in Ghana then back to Canada and now to Peru in just over a month's time - my body has experienced some extreme temperature changes! Kristina and I had an uneventful flight and arrived to Lima in good form. We were picked up at the airport by our hostal who had a sign reading Lara Ens and Crystal Parker. Well, I had a Kristina Harder with me and we figured that he might have gotten the names wrong? Crystal - Kristina, Parker - Harder: close [View Full Entry]

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YEAH! The day has finally arrived that I am flying out to Peru! I will be backpacking for approximately one month all around the country with Kristina Harder. Everything has been packed and I am raring to go. For those of you that know me well, it is amazing how I was able to pack everything into one travel pack and purse. I am NOT a light packer. We are flying into Lima, Peru and will arrive around midnight today. Here is an approximate itinerary or at least some places we plan to visit: Lima Cusco Hiking Inca Trail to Macchu [View Full Entry]

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Well, it definitely has been awhile since I last wrote in this blog... and much has happened since then! I returned to Canada on Feb 17 and spent approximately a week in Calgary debriefing and doing school visits. The cold weather was definitely a shock to the system and it didn't help that I caught a cold on the plane ride home! Before heading back to Ontario, I met up with my parents and sister in Banff for a couple days of skiing. (Andrea is working and boarding for the next couple months in Banff). I had an amazing time in [View Full Entry]

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Right now I am sitting at an internet cafe on my second last day in Ghana. I fly out tomorrow evening. I am using the fastest internet I have in all of my time spent here!!! Once again I will reiterate how fast all this time has flown by. FIve months is nothing in the grand scheme of things. All the projects have been completed and final reports are almost finished. All that is left is a meeting tomorrow before I leave for calgary and my week of debriefing. I am quite excited to come home and start the whole re-entry [View Full Entry]

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