Our 1st full day in Cusco started early....Really early! We were up at 5am eating breakfast preparing for our day long tour of Cosco City. It was a very educationallyand culturally rewarding day. So much history, so many antiquities it was inspiring an study desire in me to study more about Incan history. More to come..... [View Full Entry]

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Today was another early day. We boarded a train @ 6am for Ollantaytambo leaving behind Aqua Calientes and Macchu Picchu. BOOHOO! We arrived to our station after only 2 hrs and met our guide for the day. It was still very very early. As a matter of fact, we arrived to the Ollantaytambo city we had the whole historic site to ourselves.... at least for most of the morning. This was another place where wonder and amazement sets in and no words can truly express your thoughts. All I can say is AWESOME!! I mean we were truly awestruck again. Initially, [View Full Entry]

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We took the 6am train to Aqua Calientes. It was a 4 hr train ride that initially looked like it would never get going. We sat on the train going forward and backward for the 1st 30 minutes until we moved at a steady pace. I soon realized that this was how the train found the track it needed to get us there. We were booked by the travel agency in the backpackers coach, which suited us fine. Not much leg room, but the coach was also not completely full. When we arrived at the station we were escorted by our [View Full Entry]

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After planning to see South America 2 years ago, I am finally on the way. Here we are in Panama´s airport on the way to LIMA, Peru. So we were sitting here waiting for our flight to depart and hear our names in midst of an all-Espanol announcement on the overhead. Unlike Miami where we just left, there are no announcements in English here. I better work a little harder of my Spanish vocab. because that announcement was to inform us that we had been reticketed for another flight since our original flight to Lima was delayed. My Spanish is coming [View Full Entry]

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So much for complaining about the heat! Looks like NY had snow this week and Amsterdam is extremely cold this time of year. I leave Tanzania tonight at midnight and arrive in Amsterdam early Friday morning and leave around 7pm. I should be in New York sometime around 4pm EST. I've never been to the Netherlands except for passing through the airport, but I've heard so much about the city. The good the bad the exotic. Anyway, I have a 7 hour stopover in Amsterdam and they tell me the city center is only a 35 minute train ride away from [View Full Entry]

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After chickening out on Saturday, I got the courage to take my sprained ankle with me for a half day of white water rafting. So this morning I was picked up at the Blue Mango, said goodbye to my new friend from the US and headed to the Source of the Nile with 7 strangers who I would later get to know very well. It's funny how a little fear or struggling can make a bond form quicker than time can sometimes. So one the way to Jinga, where the rafting begins, we stopped at a lovely bakery and had some [View Full Entry]

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It seemed like a good idea to take n overnight bus to Uganda because of savings and more time spent sightseeing during the daylight, but it wasn't so simple. Crossing into Uganda, was even more confusing than crossing into Kenya from Tanzania. Once you are let ouit of the bus in front of the Kenyan immigration office, you have to make your way to the other side of the border. That wouldn't have been such a difficulty if it weren't pitch-black outside. To make the transition worst, the Kenyan border is open 24hours, but the Ugandan border opens at 5:30am. So [View Full Entry]

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After getting settling in at the Blue Mango, a place known for it's soothing atmosphere, I went around the compound to take in the sites. It's really a very relaxing place with a beautiful garden and Safari Hut-Style lounge area, you just feel like chillin' and not running around town site-seeing. So that's exactly what I did! I had intended to make stay busy, to make the most of my short 3 days here and realized my body was planning for otherwise. It wasn't until I sat in the TV room and had a soda that I really noticed my ankle. [View Full Entry]

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Time is passing so fast here in Kenya. Maybe it's because I am staying with a family I'm going to miss so much when I leave, it seems to pass faster. Today, I decided to take down the cornrow braids I've been rocking far too long and get a Kenya braid-style. The plan was that I'd have one stylist to take the my braids and wash/condition my hair and the owner would braid it up into a quick style. I got there early and we removed the braids quickly, but when it came to the washing, it took A LOT of [View Full Entry]

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We drove back to a clearing of plains where the toilets were and ran into a group of Masai herdsmen on the way back to the truck. I am not sure how they feel about us, but I get the strangest feelings around them. It's weird how they aggressively come up to you asking you to take pictures of them or with them. Over time, with so many tourists taken unwanted pictures of them, they've adapted and now spend a good bit of time accommodating and even invited tourists. who can blame them though. Being pushed steadily from the land [View Full Entry]

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