[h3]Machu Picchu & the Galápagos[/h3]

---

---

Machu Picchu & the Galápagos

Lima • Cuzco • Machu Picchu • Galápagos • Quito
February 26 - March 16, 2009
From the O.A.T brochure: Follow in the footsteps of the ancients as you explore the magnificent ruins of the “Lost City of the Incas” … swim in an unspoiled cove, a rollicking sea lion your playmate … peer into the limpid eyes of a giant sea turtle. Two of Latin America's most important cultural and natural marvels await your discovery on this singular adventure: the legendary ruins of Machu Picchu and Ecuador's Galápagos Islands—a living laboratory of Darwin's landmark theory of evolution. From the city to the country, we discover the vibrant cultural legacies of Peru and Ecuador—and enjoy an overnight stay and plenty of time to explore Machu Picchu. And on our six-night adventure in the Galápagos, we’ll spend four nights aboard our exclusive charter and two nights at a secluded hideaway on Santa Cruz Island. Embark on one of the most comprehensive Galápagos exploration cruises there is and experience a journey as diverse as it is magnificent.

Day 1 - Thursday February 26 - Depart U.S.
First email:
I can't believe I left the cell in the car. Oh well I guess I can believe it. I tried to call it twice so you (Dick) could turn around and bring it to me. Pay phones suck. I tried twice and then it got too late for that to happen. Without the cell phone for my alarm clock I purchased a small a small one.
Amy - sorry I can't chat with you now. Another time I will.
I'm in Miami and in the Club America drinking ...Perrier. Bet you thought I would say Baileys huh?!  Hmmm maybe I will at that. It's time for my nightly chocolate and all the stores are closed and too far away from the club room anyhow.
Yes the flight was late but no matter for me. There was a wheelchair waiting for me here and a good thing too. We arrived at a gate on the north side last terminal and had to go the the last gate on the south side. And yes i WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH SECURITY AGAIN.

fUNNY THING i HAD THE iTTYBIT OUT, THE cpap OUT, AND FORGOT TO TAKE OUT THE QUART BAGGIES FULL OF LIQUIDS, AND FORGOT i HAD THE ICE TEA IN THE DRINK POUCH.  aND GUESS WHAT??? tHEY LET IT ALL GO THROUGH. 
whatever!!!! fine by me!!! i feel so much safer. ooops damn caps lock again.
Time to go see if they have Baileys.

Day 2 - Friday February 27 Lima, Peru: Casa Andina Lima Hotel - Buenos Noches.
I arrived safely and not too much hassle. TSA sure makes me feel safer, NOT!! Not much sleep either because the seat reading lights went on and off as they wanted. I was able to sit in the Priority Club until it was time to board the flight to Lima. I had to go thru security again and once again had the same things out and not out and they didn’t even swab the CPAP. WHATEVER!!! Just another pain in the butt when traveling.

While sitting at the gate I tried to listen to hear if I heard OAT mentioned. I saw a Collette travel tag and heard English but that was it. I identified a few I hoped would not be on my trip. When we arrived in Lima again a wheelchair was waiting and a good thing here too. A very long way to and through customs but I sped through, the red bag arrived (no separate vacation for this checked bag) and went out to see three big yellow OAT signs. There were 11 people on my flight of the 15 total. 8 of them know each other. All were very solicitous of me and introduced themselves. They all seem quite nice and well traveled.

This was at 5:30 AM. By the time everyone was collected and we got to the hotel I ate some cereal for breakfast and went to bed.

At 11:30 we all met for our first briefing. Our program leader looks like Bill Murry. His name is Jose but prefers the nickname Pepe. We had a "brief walk around". At the briefing we got to select our choices for meals for the lunch today and tomorrow's too. I had fried egg roll filled with cheese and served with guacamole. Quite nice. Then Florence fish with potatoes and rice was okay and desert, that looked like a soft make-up sponge, made  from a local fruit called ... I can't remember. It had a dollop of chocolate so how bad could it be?
After lunch I went back to the hotel and I collapsed into bed for another happy nappy. Several people asked me if I had plans for diner and I thought that was very nice of them to think of me. I went with Bo and Mary Minor, from GA, to a Swiss restaurant and had a lovely meal of veal piccata in lemon sauce over garlic risotto. We talked on various topics and got to know each other a bit better. Bo doesn't always like to travel, however, Mary Minor does and she said she would go to Turkey or Greenland or someplace with me. We'll see how things go after this trip.

Pepe said Lima is known as the city that never has rains. He also said that 1974 was the last time there was a tropical rain. This whole area is part of the driest dessert in the world. They may get 1 inch of rain a year. All the water for the city of 9 million people comes down from the highlands. Not a good thing as it causes a lot of social problems.

I'm very tired and took a pain pill and will be taking my night meds soon to go to bed. It’s just 9 o'clock but I need to still catch up. So far so good. Enjoying the people, the weather and my OWN room.

Day 3 Saturday February 28 Lima City Tour/Peruvian dinner/dance performance
I am feeling good. I stayed back this afternoon of free time so I might catch you (Dick) on line. Glad you're enjoying the PC games and stuff.
Morning city tour highlights with a local guide: Lima's most interesting colonial sites, colonial streets and architecture, evidence of the city's Spanish heritage, from its main square, Jiron de la Union, to the Lima Cathedral. Peru as synonymous with llamas, Machu Picchu, Nazca Lines and of course the Inca civilization which was decimated by the conquering Spaniards.

We went to Lima's National Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology at Bolivar Square, which contains unmatched collections of Inca artifacts along with other antiquities from Peru's many intriguing ancient cultures.
Email from Pauline:
So I can't tell you how welcome your Peru journal and photos are. I remember being fascinated by all those marvelous ceramic pieces in the museums there. They're really a form of recording history. The figurines of the warrior, the porter, the mother, the doctor, etc illustrate everyday life back then. Did you see the skulls with holes drilled into them? The calcification around the edges of the holes proved that the patient survived and lived after brain surgery. Quite an advanced concept way back then!

The tour continued to the pre-Incan ruins of Huaca Pucllana and the city's Miraflores and San Isidro District. Lima has some very interesting archaeological and historical sites all around the city referred to as huacas (wa-ka). Lima was basically built on and around these huacas which is the Inca term for the numerous gods of nature they worshiped in the shape of rocks, mountains, trees, rivers, lakes but now refers to most ancient sites. The one we went to is called Pucllana. It's made of hand made mud bricks which were not baked but left in the sun to dry. The later people developed forms for the bricks and made them  faster and more uniform. They also developed a system using trapezoids and triangles with spaces to help withstand the trenors of earthquakes.

These pre-Incas sacrificed young girls ages 12-24. They would ply them with drink and the girls would sing and dance to their deaths.

Once again the Europeans, in this case the Spanish, conquered the indigenous people, at the cost of the destruction of a native empire and its culture and art, the loss of countless lives, and the colonization of nearly an entire continent.

It was very interesting to see and hear about but I had enough and didn't go to the top to look back down on what we just traversed. I just popped a squat and relaxed.

Our lunch was at the city wall and looked across to the shanty towns. I had Spicy mashed potatoes filled with veggies and mayonnaise, grilled chicken breast filled covered with a mushroom sauce and 1 scoop of ice cream. The menu selection paper didn't indicate what kind of ice cream ...so I wrote in chocolate and got it! Good for me because what others got was the lucma jungle fruit flavor which is the same flavor as the babarua desert from the other night (the one where I couldn’t remember the name.).

Lima's Chinatown has a red arch just like most other major city Chinatowns. Lima's Chinese food distinction is they have something called chifa which is a combination of Chinese food with crillo (creole) food. It's Spanish/Chinese and sweet and sour not spicy. The double LL is pronounced with a a soft j or sh sound and not a ya sound.

This is by far the noisiest city I have ever experienced. It seems there are no stop signs, well we did see ONE!!! Drivers have to just take the lead and charge out to change the flow of traffic. All the drivers behind the one at the intersection who got caught start blowing their horns. The same goes for pedestrians. You just have to make up your mind and go and hope the drivers will stop.

The weather it usually hot, humid and misty but we’re lucky it’s actually quite pleasant.

Between the ages of 18-70 everyone must vote or get a fine which of course they cannot afford to pay. Until the vote or pay the fine they cannot get any licenses like driving. People get dressed up in their finery, including tuxedos to go to vote. The Monday after voting is a national holiday, the schools are closed and people go home to see their relatives because that is most likely where they are registered. It takes a lot of red tape to change your voting place. Interesting they don't have money to pay a fine but do have money to travel to see relatives.

Tonight we had our first taste of Peruvian culture at Peruvian dinner and dance performance. Dancers performed regional dances in regional costumes and were a lot of fun to watch. There was also a video explaining the meaning and some were quite interesting like the one where the guy tries to get under the skirt of the girl and another where the dancers tried to light a flame to a napkin hanging in the waistband of their partner. They did it after a number of tries. We also got to see a bit of what Carnival is like because an unexpected group came in from celebrating their last night of Carnival. Brazil and Argentina have the very big parades. Here it’s more local. I was near the stage taking pictures and was unpleasantly close to some of the performers. Boy they could use a long shower!

Pepe was saying, well this is what I heard, “There are lots of ducks in Lima. The people open their doors in the morning and let them out. So be careful because there is a lot of duck poop walking.” He was taking about the dogs all around. And yes, you did have to watch your step because they would pee and poop anywhere.

Some folks are taking the altitude pills called Diamox and some are having a strange but predictable effect. Tingling in hands and feet, insomnia and dry mouth. Actually I’ve heard that this medication dries you out so your brain and other organs don’t swell at high altitudes. I don’t take Diamox. I take prednisone which takes my pain away and has prevented me from any altitude sickness symptom twice now.

Day 4 Sunday March 1 Explore Lima/Villa El Salvador
Excursion to Villa El Salvador, the world's largest Shantytown. What began in 1971 as a desert location for Lima's impoverished inner city residents has today expanded into a 350,000-person squatters' community-and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee for its excellence in social work and community growth. Working in conjunction with the Peruvian government, the residents of Villa El Salvador have created a functioning society, complete with schools, clinics, water and electricity, parks, paved roads, and more. And in 1983, the town was declared an official district of Lima. The one we visited is called Santa Rosa.

9 million people live in Lima, 60% are squatters, living in shanty towns like this one. It is a poor city and poor country, only recently beginning to recover from the devastation of the communist Shining Path terrorists. Some shanty towns are better organized than others, there are 4 levels of shanty towns. This was level 1 and just beginning to get electricity, huts with galvanized steel roofs, made of straw and no water or indoor facilities. It’s like the Big Bad Wolf and the 3 little pigs. First is a house made of straw, then wood and then brick. Then level 4 is a 2 story with a shop on ground level and the living area upstairs. Poor, impoverished, destitute and little hope. Ripe beds for communism and dictators. We should be keeping an eye out for this to change in the near future.

We were invited into a 2 room home by a woman who had chosen to delay having children until she and her husband had acquired their two-roomer (she is due in three months). The toilet is a walled hole in the ground in the back, the bathroom is a shelf with a mirror hanging on the outside wall, the kitchen is a portable 2 burner stove.

Next we stopped at a fisherman's market in Chorrillos where fishing starts at 2am and by 5am the fish and other things caught are on sale. There are food vendors there and we had delicious cheese filled empanada sprinkled with sugar. They’re fried and turned until golden brown. The flaky crust just melts in your mouth. These are classic Central and South American pastries traditionally eaten as street food, and are ideal for snacking on the go. They are sometimes filled with fragrant, nicely spiced beef or seafood and or vegetables and sometimes even fruits and raisins and nuts. All are delicious.

There were children roaming around so of course I had to talk with them. They tried out my pop a squat cane seat and sat on my lap to have their pictures taken. There were people carrying on life as if it were their hose doing such normal things a dressing, nursing babies and grooming. And life goes on.

We made a quick stop in Pantanos de Villa, and a quick panoramic view and explanation of the Pachacamac archaeological site. It’s a reserve established to protect the migratory and resident aquatic birds. Then we drove by Larco Mar which is the ritzy part of Lima, it's the beach section of Miraflores where all the rich people hang out.
Email Travels on the Yellow Brick Road Day 4 Lima
Did I miss day 2? hmm oh well I'm sure I had a nice time. I am enjoying this trip so far and looking forward to more experiences.
Did I mention the people here are becoming more and more disenchanted with Francisco Pizarro González? He was a Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Incan Empire and founder of Lima, the modern-day capital of Peru. The native people are now contesting his importance because he decimated their culture. His statue has been moved 3 times in the last several years each time further and further from the city. It is now hidden in some bushes. I didn't take a picture because it was hard to see it.
          The ocean here seems quite rough and yet there are a lot of surfers doing their thing.
     This evening we ate at a local restaurant right on the beach, outside, but...glass shields all around and silk type roof overheard. Let's see - I had - Stuffed avocado with chicken and celery presented in a peeled and halved avocado drizzled with sauce, stir fried chicken and a yummy crepe suchard wrapped around delicious vanilla ice cream and smothered in strawberry sauce. mmmmmm (OK Dick? Is  that for you?)
Typical of some people on tours there are always some who have to be first or in front no matter what. Did I tell you this already? I can't remember. Anyway if I did here it is again. So this group is no exception. I was the last one on the bus, as I usually am because I don't want to get trampled. And the only seat left were the ones in the back. So on my way back, I said loud enough for everyone to hear. “Oh thank you for leaving me my bed. That's great.” Well I was curious to see how long it would take others to figure it out. Kathy and I stretched out in China until others caught on. Well this group is clever. Today when I got on ...the front seat was empty and someone said, “We left that for you Dorothy.” I smiled and said, “Thank you. Just point me to my seat. Any one will do."
A few people told me to just go to the front when we are at a talking spot and  don't worry about the others. I told them I didn't want to cause any friction. So I pop a squat to the side and hear just fine. Well today Sharon got annoyed and loudly said, "Dorothy, come sit in front of me. I can see over you. You can't see from where you're sitting." Later others moved aside so I could see. I'm just being very low key about it all and letting Mary Minor and Sharon and Sandy do their thing.
A few cute facts: We were all standing in front of the elevator waiting for the door to open. We stood there waiting and talking and nobody realized, until the hotel person asked why we were waiting, that the door has to be opened manually. Hee Hee Hee
At another door, once again we were all just waiting for the door to what we thought was an elevator open. There was a rubber type mat in front of the door. Once again we had to be told we had to step on the mat for the door to open to the next room. it wasn't an elevator after all.
It feels like being in a computer game and you have to figure out what you have to do to get from one room or level to the next.
I guess you had to be there.
Well it's time for an early to bed because tomorrow we have a wake up call at 6 for departure to the airport at 7. Need to start drinking more lots of water and altitude meds tonight.
Buenos Noches

We were in the van/bus coming back from the folk dancing show and dinner and Mary Minor and her husband Bo, the sweetest couple from Georgia, please say that in southern. (They're bilingual you know-English and southern.) Anyway, Mary Minor turns around and says to the rest of us, "Do ya'll have a sign next to the commode that says not to put the paper in it?"
We all answered, "Yes."
She asked, "Do they mean for ALL paper? I mean," and  she lowers her voice", "toilet paper?"
We all answered, "Yes."
I added in southern, "If it don't come from yo body it don't go in de commode."
She was horrified, "Well that's  just plain NASTY!!!"
And they've traveled the world and never had run into that? Not on a ship either? I guess they've not been to Mexico either.

This is their first OAT, meet and experience like the local people type tour and my guess is they travel 5 star and toilet paper has never been an issue for her. She's the one who said she'd go with me to Turkey.

Email from Pauline: Yes, Lima is certainly very dry. The Atacama dessert to the south is the driest in the world and extends right into Chile. Don't tell the Peruvians that though. No need to bring up bitter thoughts about the Pacific War of 1870 when Chile and Peru fought over the boundary.

Something to look for when you get to Cuzco are the little clay bulls that are on all the roof tops. They are there to bring luck to the householders. I have a pair sitting on the shelf above my desk. 

Day 5 Monday March 2 Fly to Cuzco
A comment from Pepe - mestizos refer to people of mixed Spanish and native Andean ancestry in Latin America. There is a great amount of discrimination and racism even though the mestizos/Quechua Indians constitute almost half of Peru’s population.

The Indians of the Sierra live in extreme poverty in a harsh environment; many remain both indifferent to and outside the mainstream affairs of the country. Many highland Indians still shepherd llama herds or work tiny plots of land to eke out a sustenance living.

Traditional peasant women in mountain areas wear large, fringed shawls called pañolones. K'eperina - a larger rectangular carrying cloth worn over the back and knotted in front. Children and goods are securely held inside which keeps the women’s hands free for other things.

Polleras - colourful skirts made from handwoven wool cloth called bayeta. Women may wear 3 or 4 skirts in a graduated layer effect. Monteras - hats vary tremendously throughout the communities in the Andes. Often it is possible to identify the village from which a women comes from just by the type of hat she wears. Ajotas - sandals made from recycled truck tires.

We got the wake up call at 6, had breakfast and left for the airport to take a 9:30 flight to Cuzco. Everything went smoothly through customs, stopped at the post office for stamps, the arrival flight was a bit late but we took off only half an hour late. That’s when the Amazing Race REALLY started. You know the part about everyone getting to the airport and choosing which plane to take but worse because it was a MANDATORY DETOUR! It was supposed to take 1 hour to Cuzco. NOT!!! 

This one hour flight turned into a 7 hour ordeal. When we left, the airport in Cuzco said the weather was threatening but to come on, it should clear. After an hour of flying to Cuzco we were told the visibility was lousy and we would have to circle for a bit. That bit turned into an hour and we had to get fuel. Then we circled for 20 minutes above the mountains. The scenery was lovely to look at and they were showing a funny show called Laughs and Gags or as I’ll call it shits and giggles or Candid Camera. Most of us were laughing out loud. More on that later I seem to have wandered off course some how. Cuzco city is situated at an altitude of 10,909 feet. It is surrounded by peaks 2-4 more thousand feet higher. When storm clouds come in they are really down pours. After all, here in the high country they have only 2 seasons-wet and dry. We’re in summer wet season now.Because the clouds limited visibility Cuzco traffic control said they were closing and we should go to Arequipa, which is another hour or so south.  Soooo.....we were diverted to Arequipa to get fuel which is almost as far south as Lima in northwest. Turning south and flying for an hour or so we land BUT….No passengers were allowed to get off because as soon as the storm clears we’re off. We will be told “...in ½ an hour the plan.” When those 30 minutes ended we will know more in 30 minutes.  We may have to return to Lima. We sat on the plane and every 30 minutes the pilot would say they will tell us if we have to return to Lima or we can land in Cuzco. This went on for almost 2 hours.

Let’s see we left Lima at 10 for an hour flight and here it is almost noon and that’s when the schedule says it’s lunch at a local restaurant in Cuzco. OAT always says on these types of trips we have to expect things may not go as planned so just try and be patient and let your guide work things out. Poor Pepe was having to see what arrangements could be made if we had to return to Lima.

Then, finally, the pilot announce we would continue the flight but not to Cuzco. After another 30 minutes we were told we would be going to continue the flight plan and go the the last destination to a place called Puerto Maldonado which is in the jungle and is as far away from Cuzco as Arequipa is. At least we might not have to return to Lima. The people waiting for this plane finally were allowed to board and of course we were in their seats because we were supposed to go to Cuzco first and not be here in their seats. This was a zoo and made almost unbearable because a 2 year old was having a tantrum for over an hour during the wait. Yes we didn’t go to Lima but went to the last stop for the original flight plan.

We were finally cleared and landed in Cuzco after 3PM, dropped our bags at a small hotel, and headed out to see the town. The brochure says,, “After arrival in Cuzco, we check into our hotel and you have the morning to relax or do a little exploring of the neighborhood on your own. During this time you will begin adjusting to the high altitude of this city located at an altitude of 10,909 feet. Time to begin adjusting to the high altitude of this city. Again NOT!!!

Five hundred years ago, Cuzco thrived as the capital of the sprawling Inca Empire, a status it held for more than two centuries. At its peak, it was a sophisticated metropolis with paved streets, water systems, and no poverty. Its temples, filled with gold and silver, were pillaged when Pizarro and his conquistadors invaded the city in 1538. But many splendors still remain, as you will see during your explorations. Cuzco is the oldest continually occupied city in south America and possibly all Americas. BTW CNN reported tonight that they just found a 3,000,000 year old bird here in Peru.

Dinunch (dinner and lunch combined at 5PM) we missed lunch because we didn't arrive in Cuzco until 5 here is what I had:chicken soup with noodle, chicken, carrots and carrots, fettuccine Alfredo which had a wonderful Peruvian taste to it and lovely chocolate layer cake for desert.

We did get to visit La Merced Church, a baroque-style church that was erected between 1657 and 1680. La Merced has a beautiful facade and lovely cloisters with a mural depicting the life of the Merced Order's founder. NO PHOTOS ALLOWED! The sacristy holds its most valuable treasure, an amazing monstrance of gold and precious stones. The church's crypt shelters the remains of two famous conquistadors and coffins of children were displayed on the floor below through a glass window in the floor. Eerie!

Day 6 Tuesday March 3 Explore Sacsayhuaman and Kenko/Attend curandero healing ceremony/Home-Hosted lunch/City Tour with visit to Qoricancha Sun Temple
I keep looking for bulls on roof corners. Where are they? Really the detours on Amazing Race have nothing on what we did yesterday for a 1 hour flight!

As promised here are some of the funny stuff from the Laughs and Gags video:
A guy parked his car in a small car zone. The fake cop told him his car wasn't small enough and left it there. Then the cop waved in two smart cars that pulled in front first, one in front of the guys car and one in back.  When the guy cam back for his car obviously he couldn't move his car. The fake cop just shrugged his shoulders.

A lady standing next to her car asked a man passing by if he would move it just a few feet forward couldn't understand the language as to why. But he, and several others in turn, did. When they pulled forward only the front half of the car went. The  lady started yelling at the man and their faces were hysterical.

There was a little girl with a little dog in a park. She asked people as they walked by to please hold the leash while she went to use the port-a-potty. While she was in the potty two woman asked the person holding the leash for directions and blocked the view of the dog with large maps. While she wasn't looking they people switched the little dog with a big German Shepard who had a furry toy in his mouth. The little girl came out of the potty and her face was total horror. The person holding the leash turned around and saw the big dog with what looked like a little dog for a snack. I guess you had to see it.

Here is the rest of what I didn't want to type yesterday after the internet went caphloey.
We have been told there are over 7,000 varieties of potatoes. The potato was introduced to Europe from Peru. In Peru there are over 3,800 varieties. And we've had a few and they are quite nice.

In order to make some money men just set up an umbrella, take out their pails and rags and charge a dollar for a car wash. The funny part is they set up on the sidewalk around the corner from a commercial wash.

This morning was a visit to the local market. Next we stopped at the massive Sacsayhuaman was perhaps a huge religious center complex or fortress set on a hilltop overlooking Cuzco. Its double zigzag wall is said to symbolize a puma's teeth, and at one time there were three immense towers and a labyrinth of rooms large enough to garrison 5,000 Incan soldiers. Today, the interior buildings are gone, having been dismantled by the Spaniards for their stone. But the imposing outer walls remain.

Sacsayhuaman, pronounced sexy woman, offered us fantastic views of the valley below. Though it’s in ruins they are extraordinary ruins considering that Inca workers built its walls entirely by hand, securely fitting boulders weighing as much as 125 tons without a drop of mortar and are all perfectly joined together in there proper place in massive walls. Even the earthquakes have left them standing

It was here that on these ramparts in 1536, the Incan armies of Manco Inca made their final, failed attempt to recapture their city from the Spanish in the bloodiest fighting seen in any Latin conquest.

Then we visited the nearby Kenko ruins, said to be an ancient ceremonial center for the Incas. A semicircular amphitheater surrounds a natural carved stone, and a staircase leads to a rocky limestone outcrop. We saw the remnants of stone statues engraved with the figures of pumas, condors, and llamas-animals the Incas held to be sacred. The three main deities are:
Hananpacha - mountain spirits of the "hannan pacha" the upper world... the place of light, love, clarity and integrity.
Pachamama-personified “mother Earth” Pachamama and her husband Inti, the Sun god, were viewed as generous deities. She also caused earthquakes.
Ukupacha- god of the lower world, located in the center of Earth. Kay Pacha - the world in which we live and Hanan Pacha the higher world which only righteous people could enter it after crossing a bridge made of hair.
Then came a traditional healing ceremony conducted by a curandero a Pacco, an Andean medicine man. This folk medicine practice is not simply a cure for illnesses, but a prayer for good health and well being with an offering to Pachamama, a deity associated with fertility and Mother Earth. The shaman used herbs and healing plants, sacred objects and performed shamanic chanting. Thought to possess a gift from God to heal the sick, the curandero also sees himself as a front-line soldier in the battle between good and evil on earth—particularly when patients believe their physical ailments have supernatural causes. LA LA LA LA LA

AND then it was time for shopping at La Vicunita a silver and gold factory. Of course I bought a 2 inch square (mas y menos) all silver pill box and selected the material that would color it and it will be ready for me when we return from Machu Picchu in a few days. There is a swivel hummingbird on the top dipping into a flower. The sides have the Nazca line symbols and there is another flower for the clasp. Here are the meanings of the designs:
Email From Liz - I WRITE FROM CUSCO - PERU, FROM THE SILVER AND GOLD FACTORY, THE PIECE THAT YOU BOUGHT, THE HUMMING BIRD BOX HAS TURQUOISE, SPONDYLUS, NACAR, HERE I SEND YOU THE MEANINGS OF THE STONES AND SHELLS THAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR PIECE.
Humming bird - It is the perfect connnection between God and the person using the humming bird. It is the messenger between Human beings and Light beings.
Qantu - A flower which is a National Symbol in Peru. It symbolizes the blooming of all good and fair thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations, perceptions and actions. The person that works with this symbol is receiving the NECTAR OF LIFE; and as this flower has the shape of a bell, the person also receives joy and constant happiness.
Spondylus - It works with the golden ruby (orange) ray. It is a sea shell known as MULLU in the Inka language. It provides a state of inner peace, in all we have created and in the relationship with the outside world, which is all we accept from outside. It also provides grace, serenity and patience.
Nacar - Golden yellow stone. It provides illumination, initiative, imagination, divine intelligence, sacred knowledge and wisdom. It works with the golden yellow ray.
Turquoise, malaquite, copper oxide.
Green stone. It works with the ray for healing the physical, mental or psychological and spiritual bodies. It provides concentration, consagration and the Truth.

And THEN we went to the home of a local resident and joined them during their lunchtime meal. It's Peruvian food as a typical family prepares and serves it. The first potatoes in Europe were imported from Peru. A meal won't pass without a potato dish being passed. One of the most popular is papas a la Huancaina, cooked local potatoes covered in cheese and chilies.

Corn, nearly as abundant, appears on the cob or in the dough, wrapping tamales filled with meat, vegetables, and even fruit. Especially in the highlands, meats most often appear in stews and soups. And the delicately delicious pink mountain trout, whether grilled, baked or fried, is one of Peru's best-loved dishes. The traditional cuy was on the menu. The guinea pig plays an important role in the folk culture of many indigenous south American people. The guinea pig is an Andean animal: it has been raised for food here for thousands of years. It's an important source of protein for poor families, who otherwise eat little or no meat, mostly potatoes and rice. In the breeding centre at La Molina, 6,000 guinea pigs raise a quiet chorus of "kwee kwee," a sound that inspired the Quechua name for guinea pigs, cuy, used by both the Incas and modern-day Peruvians. Cuy signifies more than food for the family. It can be bartered for kerosene, rice, and other essentials. Okay so there’s the history.
Today at the home hosted lunch, which was delightful cuy was served qand we eah tried a piece. I was nicely spiced with native mint type leaves and was a little chewy. But not bad. A taste was enough for me.
Since the 1960s, efforts have been made to increase consumption of the animal outside South America  however because they are considered pets it’s not happeningg even though they are a low fat high protein source.
 
And THEN ...after lunch, we walked through the Plaza de Armas, explored the Qoricancha Sun Temple, the city's most important ceremonial structure during the Incan era. Historical records of the time note that its walls were once covered with 700 sheets of gold studded with emeralds and turquoise; when the sunlight streamed through the windows, the reflection off the precious metals was blinding.

In late afternoon we return to our hotel to SLEEP!!!

I am enjoying walking around Cuzco. So much of it's life is lived out in the open. So many people out and about. The sun is warm, the air is cool, and every type of music can be heard...however most of it is played on pan pipes. Can you imagine hearing Besa a me, Besa a me mucho on pan pipes? Strange.

The sidewalks are small and crammed with people and you take you life in your hands, or shall I say feet, when you try to cross the narrow street. The city is built on top of existing Inca bricks that have survived centuries of earthquakes. The last in the 1950s. It's fascinating for me to lean against a stone wall built in the 13th century.  I read somewhere that the most important thing to digest other than food is to ingest experience with new impressions  to stimulate and nourish the spirit. After all no one has yet been able to define where a thought comes from or the substance of the soul, if thatt's what it is, and of course there are our emotions and I'm getting too philosophical. I am really enjoying Cuzco, the people and the history.  I feel good, the food is good and the weather for us has been great. Must be because I brought my raincoat and hat.

Well off to finish packing for another full day tomorrow with a departure at 7 to get the train to Machu Picchu.   
..here is what I had for dinner tonight:
Andean grain soup and yellow potatoes, fresh trout covered with creamy garlic sauce with mashed potato puree and squash, broccoli and carrots. I didn't have desert the choices where elderberry mouse or Bruselina with white butterscotch sauce. mmm NOT!

Somewhere along the line we stopped at a ceramics Gallery and factory. The artist has been invited to display his works at the Chicago Art Museum. Beautiful work. The Seminario Ceramic Studio (Click on this link to see their work) is dedicated to the discovery of techniques and designs from ancient Peruvian cultures. Pablo Seminario & Marilú Behar present a new art expression, providing continuity to these cultural inheritances.

Day 7 Wednesday March 4 Train journey through Urubamba Gorge/Explore Machu Picchu

From the Brochure: Today we wake up before dawn for the spectacular train trip into the gorge of the Urubamba River. Before boarding the train at Ollantaytambo, we enjoy a brief visit to the village for a first glimpse of life in the Incan Empire. The station for Machu Picchu is located at a bit over 6,500 feet, well below the elevation of Cuzco. The bus ride from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo takes about one and a half hours. Then the train trip takes less than two hours. And what a trip it was! In Africa I got camera thumb. This time I got camera wrist and knees. Why you ask? Because only the top half of the window opened and there were so many fantastic scenes, so extraordinary they could be described in a fairy tale more so than in reality. Lots and Lots of photographic pimentos! I would hold the camera up so the window glass wouldn’t get in the way (camera wrist) or would stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, well now you know. But it was worth it! Mere words like: remarkable, incredible, amazing, delightful, and the song by Frank Sinatra came to mind:
You're just too marvelous, too marvelous for words
It's all too wonderful, I'll never find the words
To tell you that you're marvelous - too marvelous for words.

Most travelers visit Machu Picchu on a day-trip, which makes for a hectic pace and only limited time at this unique archaeological wonder. We take a closer look, and have a more relaxed pace, during our overnight visit to Machu Picchu. While the day-trippers rush ahead from the train station, we stop at a local restaurant for lunch and then drive to the ruins. Though the actual site lies only about 61/2 miles away, the trip takes about a half an hour, as we follow a zigzag route up a steep hill.

A picture may be worth a 1000 words but no number of pictures can even describe Machu Picchu. It sits between two phenomenal mountain peaks that rise from the fog and extend beyond the high clouds. Considered sacred by the Inca the site is at once mysterious, magnificently beautiful and fragile. The name Inca is a misnomer. Actually Inca refers to the King only not the people. Sapa Inca, Manco Capac founded the Kingdom of Cuzco (sometimes spelled Cusco and in quechua Qosqo) around 1200. and there in lies the true meaning - Kingdom of THE Inca. The planning of the city is remarkable. It is much larger than the pictures indicate, meticulously planned in the jungle, with much of the building in done with large stones, chiseled to perfection with copper and bronze tools, laid on each other with the wall tilting in at a 13° angle to protect it from seismic activity. No mortar was used and the walls survived. The best finished wall is the main wall of the Templo Principal (Main Temple), where the cut and polished stones are flawlessly fitted together. One huge stone in particular has over 30 flat surfaces carved into it so other stones fit exactly.

Pepe is very knowledgeable and is an accomplished expert on this site. He gave us an enthusiastic and powerful look at the fabled "Lost City of the Incas," which was discovered in 1911 by Yale archaeologist (and later, U.S. Senator) Hiram Bingham. Subsequent discoveries (such as Bingham's later unearthing of the Inca Trail and the 1941 discovery of nearby Huayna Picchu) suggest that Machu Picchu was not simply a "lost city" but part of a whole "lost region." Over 172 tombs have been excavated, and in 2002 Peruvian archaeologists uncovered the first complete burial site, with a woman's skeleton, bronze pins, and a clay pot. We visited haunting ruins like the Ritual Baths, the Palace of the Princess, the Main Fountain, and the Temple of the Sun, quietly contemplating the achievements of this most fascinating and mysterious civilization.

To access Machu Picchu you can either hike the Inca Trail (which is 25 to 35 miles depending on how many days you take and is just a small part of overall ) It’s a wonderful hike with an amazing mix of Inca ruins, mountain scenery, lush cloud-forest and rich subtropical jungle. Much like natives do even today, Inca Empire citizens used roads like the Inca Trail as a footpath through the Andes leading directly to the gates of Machu Picchu. It is and was their primary route of transportation. Walking was, and remains today, the main way of getting around the mountains. They didn’t have the use of the wheel, nor did they have horses. For more on the Inca Road system go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_road_system it’s fascinating. The Inca road system linked together about 40,000 km of roadway and provided access to over three million km² of territory reached heights of over 16,000’ and connected Quito, Ecuador to Santiago, Chile.

But alas ...not for me.

I prefer what we did, the little Machu Picchu train from the last bus stop, which is the last leg of the train. We made a few stops along the way during our bus ride and explored the Sacred Valley before we reached Machu Picchu in late afternoon.

The sun had a wonderful, low, soft, glow and made for lovely photos. Most of the visitors arrive by 10:30AM and depart by 2:30PM. Having arrived so late we just about had the place to ourselves and stayed until the shadows were so deep we could not photograph any more. But what a time to be there. Between the golden light and the silence and nearly no people, it invited you to join in being ageless with its stone buildings, terraces, and walls. I enjoyed just popping a squat and letting the others climb about. All alone, watching the alpacas mow the terraces. Just listening to the wind whispering through the windows. I just sat, admiring the views, sinking into the atmosphere and ambiance. Taking deep breathes and well...just being.

WOW!
We checked in for the night at a small hotel in the town of Aguas Calientes (which translates to hot waters). Funny thing... in the brochure it says, "the Inti Inn is ...a charming rustic style hotel in the village of Agnes Calientes," Hot Agnes.☺ There are a lot of natural hot springs around from the volcanic geography and I was going to go to one but was advised not to for sanitary reasons. A rushing spring runs though town dividing it in half. One side has the eating and sleeping places and the other has the shopping.

I walked around the town after dinner and believe it...I couldn’t find my way back to the hotel! A one lane town with several crossing streets and I’m lost. I KNOW I didn’t cross the bridge. Oh well. As I like to say...I never get lost, I have an adventure. I asked several people, in Spanish, if they knew where the Inti Inn Hotel was. Finally, the person I asked just looked at me like I was speaking Martian and just pointed to the next street corner. There is was! Right there! In all it’s glory. Or not. But it WAS the back entrance and not the front where we came in and out earlier. Good excuse. So I had a lovely explore around town and I felt safe and met a lot of locals.

Day 8 Wednesday March 5 Optional hiking at Machu Picchu/Return train to Cuzco
More about The Citadel of Machu Picchu:
Machu Picchu has two sectors: an agricultural sector and an urban sector. The agricultural sector consists of stepped terraces for cultivation (andenes) built on the slopes of surrounding mountains. The urban sector is "U" shaped and has two immense architectural groups with streets and stairwells that consist of a total of 3,000 steps, as well as a network of water canals suitable for domestic and irrigation use, interspersed with small squares and courtyards.
The construction in Machu Picchu has rectangular floor spaces. Many of the enclosures, called masmas, have only three walls, which at one time were all thatched with tree trunks and ichu (straw).
Doors and windows are encased in trapezoid shapes as are the niches in the walls where idols and other objects were placed; a typical feature of Inca architecture.
Some people rose early to drive back to Machu Picchu after breakfast, arriving before the day crowds. I chose to sleep in. These ambitious hikers walked up the final section of the famous stone-paved Inca Trail to the "Gate of the Sun," a small Incan ruin set in a mountain pass above the city. I spent the time, after a leisurely late morning breakfast with Mary Minor and Bo, photographing and ruminating through the local Indian market place. The colors are bright and brilliant and bedazzling! We walked up one aisle and down another. I don’t think MM missed a single stall. The vendor would say a price, MM would say $4. The vendor would come down by half. MM would say $4. The vendor would halve the price again. MM would say $4 and lay out the $4 on the counter and reach for the item or items she was bargaining for. Sometimes the vendor said no. But more often than not MM got her bargain. I stuck close to her and learned I really didn’t care if I got the bargain or not it was the $4 that made the deal. What fun we had.
We all met for lunch and then the train ride back to Cuzco. Traditional communities continue to barely survive, growing potatoes, corn, barley and other agricultural products which they sell and export to sustain the non-cash economy. Chewing cocoa leaves is a norm for several reasons; it dulls the hunger, provides energy and of course, in large quantities, is a source of cocaine. We passed through the spectacular Urubamba Gorge again. Amazing, awe inspiring, magnificent valley. We met and talked to people, drank with them, petted their alpacas and llamas, and took in the clear fresh mountain air.
Picture taking becomes addictive...you just can't take one. It's not that you haven't taken the same picture already you just can't stop! Everywhere you turn is another photogiraffic pimento. Being in the majesty of Machu Picchu and realizing the history and hearing the theories from the passionate and knowledgeable Pepe and actually exposing all your senses to the sights, and sounds, high mountain fresh airs and sounds of nature, touching the walls and terraces and niches and feeling the incredible energy. A veritable smorgasbord. Truly a wonder of the world!

Day 9 Wednesday March 6 Explore Pisac/Free afternoon in Cuzco

Remainder from Day 8
I am sitting at the Inti Inn´s PC on the 2 & 1/2 floor and it is slower than my typing. I have no connectivity in my room. Gee what a surprise. So this will be a quick note. (Dick- no food descriptions)
 
This is possibly one of the most amazing places. The trip getting here on the bus and train was excellent. We stopped in little villages, markets and the views are spectacular. Then 3 hours touring Machupiccu (That´s how it´s spelled here). I made most of it and some of it I sat all by myself and just absorbed it all. I used almost 7 Gig of the 8 gig card I put in my camera. Instead of going back up tomorrow I´m going to stay back and relax and sleep in a bit )I don´t feel like another 6AM wake up call) 
 
I´m really enjoying this trip. The weather today couldn´t have been more perfect. The people, the vistas, the atmosphere and, yes Dick, even the food are terrific. I think I´m liking traveling solo. I can do what I want, when I want and even walk around naky. I know more than you needed to know and I´m sure the visual is something you´d prefer no to have been exposed to .
 
Using this worn out Spanish keyboard is a hoot. The spell check is done when you cursor over the word and then it gives you the Spanish equivalent. So if you´ve spelled the English word wrong there nothing suggested. You´ll manage I´m sure.

Oh and Pepe told me the item (a silver pill box) I designed is ready for me when we get back to Cuzco tomorrow. Can´t wait to see it.
 
They just brought me the extension cord I asked for prior to going to dinner and being told it would be 5 minutos.  I´ll type up some logs tomorrow and send them hopefully from Cuzco. I tried to up load more pics but the slow connection speeds are killers for that type of thing.

After breakfast at our hotel, we travel north of Cuzco to Pisac, a town known for its splendid Incan ruins high on the mountain overlooking the city. We'll explore these ruins, but first we venture into the other attraction that Pisac is known for its lively and colorful market. We enjoy a walking tour of the town, with its colonial streets and artisan shops. Then, we explore the market, where you have the opportunity to browse through local, handmade crafts and trinkets.
email from Pauline: The bulls on the roof corners? Well, ... they're on the roof corners.
See me looking perplexed?

They're little clay bulls, terra cotta colour, about 6 inches high.

If you do the train trip from Cuzco to Machu Picchu you'll get a birds
eye view of them as the train proceeds up the hillside along the
switchbacks.

Take it easy there! The altitude can be a killer.
Response from me
I feel great! It's just like when I was in Tibet. I either like the altitude or it's the steroids but whatever it is it's great.

I have looked and looked and haven't seen one anywhere. See me looking perplexed? We had a birds eye view today and still I no see no damn bulls.

Cuzco is to me the perfect little town of 250,000 people for a visit to a foreign culture. It's delightful here.

We passed salt fields and Pepe described how the people who live in the villages here produce the salt for export. The salt is made from natural hot salt springs which form pools. The locals drink the water which naturally doesn’t have iodine. This apparently stunts their growth and because of their size they are shunned by outsiders. Therefore few ever leave. With the water depleting it’s unsure how long these people will remain.

Oh and yes I finally spotted the bulls and took not 1 but LOTS of pictures of them.

Day 10 Wednesday March 7 Fly from Cuzco to Quito via Lima/Welcome Dinner
email from Pauline
I looked and looked and I th8ink the bulls have all migrated to the towns on the way to MP. I finally saw them you evil ginning person

It was a fabulous day and I'll write more about it in my journals. Took lots of bull pictures giggle giggle
 
I thought that Cuzco was one of the most delightful places I'd ever been too.

Especially enjoyed the clay bulls on the roof tops. (evil chuckles...)

The train trip to M.P. was one of the greatest highlights of all my travels. I've done it twice.

Enjoy!

After an early breakfast at our Cuzco hotel, we bid farewell to our Peruvian Trip Leader Pepe and departed for our flight to Lima. From Lima we flew to Quito, Ecuador and arrive in the afternoon.

In Quito, we were met by our Ecuadorian Trip Leader Luis, a native of Ecuador and a certified naturalist who will remain with us through the rest of the tour. Ecuador is officially the Republic of Ecuador, literally, "Republic of the equator". Quito, Ecuador’s capital, is a city whose colonial splendor has earned it designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the older part of town, hundreds of colonial-era structures remain to this day, the largest being the 16th-century Monastery of San Francisco.

En route, it was very common to see the walls of houses, buildings, billboards and fences plastered with posters, or hand painted like graffiti, samples of how to vote for the presidential candidate who is being sponsored by communist prone Venezuela’s president Chavez.

Apparently there have been 9 presidents in as many years. Rafael Correa was elected in 2007. Prior to him the others served terms as long as 3 years and as short as 3 days. One that was thrown out had a woman as vice president but she was not allowed to become president.

The people aged 18 - 70 MUST vote or face consequences of no permits or licenses. More than 75% are illiterate. The current president is giving these poor people $30 a month and of course they are going to vote for him. Paid workers average $200 a month. Luis says they are a poor people but not destitute. At least here the children don’t beg. All the people I spoke to, who have good jobs, believe they are in danger of becoming a communist country and fear for their livelihoods and family.

This raises questions about the future stability of not just Peru but the rest of South America. We may want to pay attention to what is happening here.

Another interesting fact is Ecuador uses the US Dollar as their currency. I knew Panama did but not Ecuador. They are very distressed with the economic crisis because they are totally connected to whatever happens to the US dollar. Ever wonder what happened to the Susan B. Anthony dollar and the Kennedy half dollars...they’re all here! used and worn.

Day 11 Wednesday March 8 Inti Nan Museum & Middle of the World Monument the EQUATOR

Quito is a more or less modern city with divided 6 lane, landscaped medium, highways and pubic transportation. The population is 60%!m(MISSING)estizo and 30%!I(MISSING)ndian. The average wage is very low and you can have a housekeeper, laundress, childcare worker for $200 USD a MONTH!

There is no heat or air conditioning because the temperature is the same all year round about 70.
Ecuador was the first South American country to give women the right to vote. The exports are mainly sent to Europe; shrimp, bananas, coffee, cocoa and roses can be had for 25 for $1. So don’t expect those cheap flowers to be given as a present.
40% of the total income comes from mining production .of gold and copper in the Amazon basin.

These are all facts from Luis. He also said here the people may be poor but they’re not destitute. Perhaps. We weren’t taken to any shanty towns.

Inti Nan is the Quechua phrase for “Path of the Sun,” and the museum contains replicas of indigenous sun temples and other interesting artifacts—not to mention the fact that the equator actually runs through the museum. The Equator also runs through 14 countries. This is a perfect introduction to our next stop: the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world). Here we all straddled Latitude 0°0’0”. Two of the guys had GPSs and the 0°0’0” didn’t show on them. The driver of the bus said some other tourist found it. Since the building of this site the earth has rotated some and the 0°0’0” is in the middle of the road outside the Mitad del Mundo.

I asked them Where is zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude? They didn’t know so I Googled it. Gee what a surprise. The answer is: The point at which the equator (0° latitude) and the Prime Meridian (0° longitude) intersect has no real significance but it is in the Atlantic Ocean, about 380 miles south of Ghana and 670 mile west of Gabon. Of course I had to surf more. Latitude lines run horizontally, duh. Latitude lines are also known as parallels since they are parallel and are an equal distant from each other. Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles. The vertical longitude lines are also known as meridians. They converge at the poles and are widest at the equator (about 69 miles apart). Zero degrees longitude is located at Greenwich, England (0°). The degrees continue 180° east and 180° west where they meet and form the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. Greenwich, the site of the British Royal Greenwich Observatory, was established as the site of the Prime Meridian by an international conference in 1884.
Here is my address
Latitude = 28.9179, Longitude = -82.4130
Lat    = 28 degrees,   55.1 minutes   North
Long = 82 degrees,   24.8 minutes   West

To find yours go to Lat and Long .

There we interesting exhibits and of course the traditional pouring of water into a tub and letting it drain out. One time on the north side of the equator and one time on the south side. One went down the drain clockwise and the other counter clockwise. Some people were able to balance a raw egg standing upright exactly on the line. Supposed it’s the only place this can be done.

Following lunch at a local restaurant, we went downtown Quito, where we saw La Basilica, with its impressive 377-foot Condor Tower with gargoyles representing indigenous animals. We walked around Quito’s colonial nucleus: the Plaza de La Independenzia (Independence Plaza), featuring a winged statue representing freedom. The Presidential Palace has 2 stalwart guards in traditional uniforms keeping watch. Just like in London...but we did get these guards to talk. The Jesuit Church of La Compania de Jesus is the richest church in the Western Hemisphere. It contains more than seven tons of gold leaf, as well as remarkable artwork such as woodcarvings, paintings, sculptures, and period furniture. Known as “Quito’s Sistene Chapel,” it is arguably one of the most beautiful, and ornate, churches in South America.

The San Francisco Square has the usual church and plaza and the surprise was to see a couple who just got married taking their official photos there. Before returning to our hotel, we made the prerequisite shopping stop at the Folklore Olga Fisch, a gallery, museum, and store featuring an outstanding array of Ecuadorian folk art.

Olga Fisch was a Hungarian artist and a collector par excellence, Olga Fisch immigrated to Ecuador in 1939 and soon recognized the vast potential of the folk artisans of Ecuador. She was a humanist and a visionary whose main attribute, in her own words, was to "know how to recognize quality in a work of art ". She began working with Ecuador’s artisans throughout the country and guiding them to refine their artistic expressions so that the gap between folk art and traditional fine art could be linked.

In the early evening we enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant which is actually a museum with the second floor as a dinning room for our group. There were 4 floors and each floor had a glass hole that when you looked up through you could see the start in the sky. On particular nights this has special views as you can imagine. Very cool eating in a museum.

All went to their rooms early to rest up for our early morning flight to the Galápagos Islands.

The keyboard here is worn out with different keys in different places so I do the best trying to figure out what I'm typing.

Well the cliques have definitely made their boundaries. It's the group of 8 friends and I don't blame them they're friends and they travel together, but if it were you and me we'd include others into the group. Then there’s the 4 from Seattle and then Mary Minor and Bo and me. She's a hoot but I don't know as I could travel with her. Too much into shopping and bargains all the time. She's a real trooper and does everything she can and fun to talk with but...I reserve  making a decision which of course i DON'T HAVE TO MAKE. ooops. To finish this they have all been basically friendly. Some look for me when I lag behind and some offer help and certainly when I ask for assistance they've complied. But I think I am enjoying not having to be squashed at a table. The seat next to me is usually empty and it's funny because yesterday from the airport 2 couples split up and each sat in their own seat in the back of the bus where I was sitting.  I've started making observations as to how the alliances are forming like on Survivor and I'm just keeping under the radar. Like at the briefing they gave out recognition to Inner Circle mnembers abd when mu name was called they ALL said DOROTHY -I can't find the question mark to make kots of them so just imagine them. I also can't find the back space, the parens the at sign or ampersand. you' figure it out

As all OAT trips are... this pace is very aggressive but I am enjoying it tremendously. I think because of the pain levels being lower, Quito is at 10,000 also, or the meds or the constant activity or getting up and running so early and getting to bed early or all of it and I can't wait to get down to the sea and have all this energy from all this oxygenated blood coursing though me. '-(*that's supposed to be a smiley oh wait here's one  -

There was a movie on TV last night and I saw the General's Daughter for the first time with a bunch of well knowns and John Travolta. It was very enjoyable just to sit and watch a movie. And no I haven't watched any of the ones I brought. Probably will do some in Galapagos. The way it's been described by our new tour leader, Luis, everyday is going to be very busy with snorkeling, panga rides, hiking and swimming with sea lions.

I don't have my notes with me so I'll probably be repeating some of this in the journal.

Actually, now that I've reread this, I'll change the subject and send it out. Sorry Dick not just for you this time. But just for you dinner last night was Chilean sea bass and quite good but not as good as the meals in the past. The desert however was a warm chocolate brownie with ice cream and syrup mmm heaven! ooo I found the explanation mark!!

I'll try again tonight but no guarantees.

---