Waughzoo
Bob and David Joined: October 31st 2006
Logged in: February 19th 2011
Logged in: February 19th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
balandra
Spent the start to the new year at Balandra beach, just a short 5 minute car ride from Club Cantamar. What can one say when you are overcome with the beauty of the sea meeting mountain in such a spectacular fashion. This is an immense bay that is mostly about between 2-3 feet deep. The true beauty of this place is revealed if one takes a short hike up the bluff above the parking lot. Below you stretches crystal clear water with soaring, desert bluffs rising up all around. Bands of pelicans fly in formation below, crashing into the water in unison as they come upon a school of unsuspecting fish. The boys had a great time playing in the powdery sand. Bob and I did some snorkeling near the famous rocky protusion pictured in one ... read more
high way to todos santos
Today we got on the highway and headed to the Pacific side of the peninsula, to the small artist town of Todos Santos. The drive from La Paz is pretty short, less than an hour. The desert scenery on the way is spectacular. There is a small river going through town so it is much more lush than the desert surroundings. We drove down a long dirt track to where it ended at the beach. No one here except a few folks enjoying the stunning seascape. The water here is too dangerous for swimming, so most people head south to the very popular los cerritos beach. Before doing so, we stopped at a very popular taco stand on the way out of town that was recommended by a local expatriate. Excellent place, and the roasted peppers ... read more
tecolote
Headed into La Paz today to stock up on groceries. Given that practically everything in this part of baja comes in on the ferry, things are not cheap around here. Pricing is about what you might expect in the states. Fresh bread and tortillas however are very cheap. Shopped at the big CCC store off the far west end of the Malecon. After shopping and lunch in the casa, we headed to check out the beaches near us. First went up to what is regarded as one of the finest, Playa Tecolote. It was a very windy day, which might account for absence of anyone in the water. This is a very long stretch of beach and quite pretty. You can drive up and down the beach and apparently, camping is allowed and campers string the ... read more
nwa
Arrived in Baja around 2:00 PM, a little over an hour late. We came in on the NW flight out of Minneapolis. Customs was somewhat chaotic with a plane load or two ahead of us waiting to be processed. There are two lines of luggage screening, and it takes awhile to get out of there. Bob flew on American Airlines and arrived early so picked us up with the Avis rental van. Hit the highway and pointed north to La Paz. It feels good to be back in Mexico, and this part of Mexico is a stunning mountain/desert terrain. The highway is nice, though there are no shoulders and people drive anywhere from 40 to 80 mph. Meeting semis that hog the road are also somewhat of a thrill! We are headed for the diving resort ... read more
lima003
We spent our final two days in Peru in Lima. Back where we started. This time we all stayed in Miraflores. Pat and Dave returned to El Patio, but they were full, so the rest of us stayed at El Zaguan, a very nice lodging house 4 blocks away. Both were very nice, and worth what you pay -- El Patio $40, El Zaguan $25. Spent the bulk of our last two days catching up on Internet Blogs, and just walking around and eating. We took in two museums -- The Museo de Oro and the Archaeological Museum. Could have missed the gold museum but the Archaeological Museum was a treat. They did a really nice job describing the pre incan, and incan history of Peru. I'm not a huge museum buff so rather whizzed through. ... read more
Cusco1
In Incan times, Cusco was the center of the world, and all trails did indeed lead to Cusco. So today, really, do most people who visit Peru end up sooner or later in Cusco. Why, because it is pretty damn gorgeous -- and it is the gateway to Machu Picchu. Those first two days are rough -- at 12,000 feet in altitude, you can't breath just walking up a few steps. And around here, the steps are a way to avoid the narrow streets that have almost no sidewalk. I feel lucky not to have been dinged in the ass with a side mirror. And, like many in our party, you get a headache from the altitude. A little bit of coffee and Ibuprofen did the trick for me. Bob says that coffee, aspirin and most ... read more
mp019
When planning the Inca trail, we wanted to do the 4 day trek. However, we knew that January was the start of the rainy season and we didn't like the thought of 4 days in the rain. So we opted for the 2 day hike. We also didn't book in advance because it is the low season. There are a lot of operators all on the same block in Cusco, so when we hit town we shopped around. Our departure date was less than a week away and we were still able to secure 5 spots on the trail. I think the trail limit is 500 per day? We paid $175/person. No porters, just a guide, lunch, dinner, hostal pickup, train, transfers and overnight hostal in Aguas Calientes. Started out with a 6:30 AM pickup from ... read more
manu1
After coming back to Lima from the Cordillera Blanca, we hopped on a LAN Peru flight to Cusco, and immediately headed out the next morning for the Manu National Park. We did the 4 day, 3 night tour with Manu Ecological Adventures. After arriving in Cusco we immediately rang their office and they had us come in to meet our guide, Alvaro. Quite the adventure man -- ruggedly handsome Peruvian guy (though he looked Brazilian) and spoke great English. He and driver picked us up at Amaru II (Awesome place!) hostal in Cusco next morning and we started out on our rainforest adventure. Including us 5, we had one additional person on the tour. She was a wonderful Aussie that fit right in with our group. Our transport was a somewhat beat up 4-wheel drive combi/bus ... read more
carhuaz8
Just returned to Lima by the night bus from Huaraz(didn´t sleep much). Splurged on the bed bus though I still couldn't sleep. I kept waking up and seeing theses cones bordering the switchbacks whizzing by in a blur. I just didn't want to know what was happening out there! The cordillera blanca region is truly spectacular. Did not stay in Huaraz, which was clearly the tourist center of the area. Once go you past Huaraz, you encounter beautiful, tourist free mountain towns. This valley is bordered by the cordillera negra and the cordillera blanca. No snow on the negra side, but lots of snow and glaciers up high on the blanca side. We traveled with our friends from Lima and stayed with them in their family compound in the small village of Carhuaz -- about 25 ... read more
lima8
Arrived in Lima about 40 minutes late. Exiting customs, one is confronted with a rather large gathering of Peruvians behind the rope staring you down -- probably about 200 of them, and at 1:30 AM it was impressive. One feels pretty small, though being 6 feet tall, I am a giant amongst these people. In total, there are 5 of us traveling together - myself, partner Bob, and neighbors Dave, Pat and Pam. We all live on the same block in Madison Wisconsin. It's crazy fun that we are all doing this together! We will be spending the first portion of our trip with our one time border, Mercedes (Meche) and her mom Norma. Meche met us at the airport and whisked us away in a combi to their home in the Santa Catalina district of ... read more
