We took an 8 day cruise through the Galapagos Islands aboard the yacht Angelito I. If we were slightly disappointed from the lack of wildlife we saw in the Peruvian Amazon, the Galapagos islands more than made up for it. Animals were practically walking up to us and tapping us on the shoulder. I had heard about how tame the wildlife would be, but I still wasn´t truly prepared for it. We started the cruise on a Sunday morning, after flying to Quito to Baltra. We boarded the boat with 14 other passengers, our guide Diego and the crew of the [View Full Entry]

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After we finished our spanish classes in Cusco, we decided to go on a trek to Machu Picchu via the Salkantay trek with Inka's Peru Trek. A group of students in our class had already planned the trip and were nice enough to let us tag along. Our group consisted of 10 plus a couple on their honeymoon from France. We left from Cusco early in the morning on Sunday and headed by bus to Mollepata where the trek would begin. The trek would entail 63 km of hiking and we would start at 9500 feet and ascend to 15,100 feet [View Full Entry]

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After my birthday, Preetham and I decided to head to the town of Arequipa to visit the nearby Colca Canyon, which is the second deepest canyon in the world. (the deepest canyon is Cotahuasi Canyon, which is also in Peru but farther away from Arequipa). We took an overnight Cruz del Sur bus from cusco to arequipa and we were really impressed with the bus initially! It was like a plane, with a stewardness, movie, and a meal!!! We both ate the meal (lomo saltado... beef with rice and potatoes) even though we had already eaten dinner. This greediness would be [View Full Entry]

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So after we got back from the amazon, it was my 30th birthday! It was truly a multi-day celebration. Preetham took me to dinner at the Inca Grille in the Plaza de Armas which was yummy. My host family had a big lunch prepared for me on the day of my birthday which involved many courses and a delicious cake at the end. Luckily for me, my birthday also happened to fall on the same day as a festival for the Virgen del Carmen (a celebration for the Virgin Mary). The biggest celebration is in the town of Paucartambo, so our [View Full Entry]

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A group of us from the spanish school decided to forgo two days of class to take a trip to the Peruvian Amazon. Reputed to be one of the best places in the world to see wildlife we decided the tradeoff would be worth it. It is reported to be the home to 20,000 species of flora and over 1300 species of butterflies and hundreds of other insects. We went with an organized tour through a company called Manu Ecological Adventures (http://www.manuadventures.com/) which turned out to be a very fun way to see the Amazon because it included a white water [View Full Entry]

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We are in Cusco, which the Incas referred to as the ´umbilicus´ of the world. We arrived about a week ago via bus from Puno. It was a nice bus ride and we stopped along the way at various Inca Ruins and a church in Andahuayllias. We were excited when we got to Cusco because it is such a cute town and has a beautiful Plaza. There are many churches built atop Inca Temples. Lots of stonework is left from Inca times. It is very sturdy and has survived earthquakes. We will be here in Cusco for 4 weeks, living with [View Full Entry]

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After spending all day Sunday traveling from Southern Bolivia up to Uyuni, then taking the overnight bus to La Paz we decided to spend some more time in a vehicle and took a bus the same morning to Copacabana. The plan was to thaw out a bit and see Lake Titicaca and the Isla del Sol. The trip to Copacabana was especially enjoyable both for the sunshine and because we descended below the tree line for the first time in several days. It´s amazing how comforting it is to see a tree after not seeing one for a while. We were [View Full Entry]

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We left for our trip around the Salar de Uyuni, the highest (3650 m) and largest salt lake (12,000 sq km) in the world with our tour guide/driver Sebastian, his wife Luisa (excellent cook) and their 3 yr old daughter Judith who was coming along for the ride. There were no other tourists that joined our group that morning, so it was just the 5 of us in the SUV. It felt like Preetham and I were on a family vacation, sitting in the backseat and listening to bolivian tunes on the radio. First stop was a train cemetery. Basically a [View Full Entry]

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Our flight from Santiago to La Paz was yet another smooth LAN airlines experience. It was painfully early, however, as we had a 6:45 am international departure which had us at the airport at 4:45. The flight was definitely one of the more spectacular ones we have taken thus far. Flying over the Andes to reach the highest commercial aiport in the world made for some great photo opps through the airplane window. Once we landed and got into the airport, we began the really fun process of getting our Bolivian Visas. All people who needed visas were in one line [View Full Entry]

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So we left Buenos Aires sadly... there were many things we had wanted to see but didn´t have time. We headed across the Andes to Santiago, Chile to see my brother George, who has been living here for the past 4 weeks teaching a class as a visiting professor. We arrived in Santiago and were mesmerized by the view of snow capped peaks in the distance. In Santiago, George had arranged for us to stay at the Hotel Orly in the Providencia neighborhood. Muchas Gracias George!!! This was a major step up in the style of accomodations we have been used [View Full Entry]

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