Hello! With illness finally behind us, we were finally ready to see Uros Island or the floating islands. The Uros people made there homes on the reeds growing in Lake Titicaca even before the Incas, centuries ago to stay away from some other more aggressive tribes that were in the area. The islands are built using layers of the bouyant totora reeds that grow in the shallows of lake Titicaca. Several hundred still live this lifestyle. Each reed island houses 3 to 4 families. They have a school and hospital on these reeds as well. When you walk on the islands, they are very soft and springy. A very unique experience. They have to replace the top layer of reeds every 15 days or so depending on the weather. They make their homes, boats, and crafts ... read more

Hello everyone, Well, we made it to Puno on Friday evening. We had reservations at the Bothy hostel in Puno, but when we arrived we found that they had overbooked. Two other couples were in the same boat. Anyway, we were transported to a new hostel but we were not happy with it. We stayed that night but quickly went out the next morning to find something else. Saturday morning we found hostel Vylena only block from the main square. We quickly checked in there. We have been there ever since because Macayla is ill. I think that she has the flu and is begging me to go home. Have tried to change to an earlier flight home but something is wrong with the airline website. Hopefully they fix it soon or I will have to ... read more

Hello We took an all night bus from Nazca to Arequipa with Cruz del Sur. It was so uncomfortable that we barely slept. Made it to Arequipa by 7 am and went straight to the Bothy hostel. It is very relaxed with very friendly staff. We settled in for a few minutes and went to see Juanita the Ice Princess at the museum. There was no photography permitted but it was an amazing sight to see. An archeologist found her buried in ice on one of the mountains nearby and she is very well preserved. They found that she was sacrificed to the Gods by the Inca (I think) and she was only around 12 or 13 years of age. She was killed by a blow to the head. There were other figurines and such buried ... read more

Hello I cannot seem to get my pictures to download lately and until I figure what is wrong, no pictures. We left for our tour to the Ballestas Islands at 8 am. It began at the beach where loads of people were waiting for the same tour and we had time to kill before the boats arrived for us. The tour operators had big bags of fish that they were feeding the pelicans and we were able to get some fantastic photos with hoards of pelicans. It was really great but Macayla was scared, she would not get near them. We then left for the tour and were able to see penquins, sea lions and various other bird life. Plus, we were able to see the famous three-pronged Candelabra, a giant figure etched in the side ... read more

After a rough night sleep due to very uncomfortable beds, we were awakened by the pidder padder of hammers and loud banging. Of course, the hostal is under construction. I have the luck. We traveled into Ica by taxi and went to the museum. We were looking forward to the museum because of the mummies and trophy heads that they claimed to have. The museum sure did not disappoint. Next, we went into town for a bite to eat and noticed in the Plaza de Armas was some sort of band playing. Macayla and I went in to investigate and found that they were having a celebration. Table after table was set up but nothing on them. There was a man who spoke broken English that tried to explain that they were making the world´s largest ... read more