Finally we arrived somewhere hot and, wow, Cartagena is hot and steamy. We have been using “AccuWeather” for our weather forecasts. I like this site because it provides a lot of information such as the current temperature and what it feels like, taking into account wind chill or humidity. In towns further south we got used to the AccuWeather temperature adjusting for the wind chill factor so it was a surprise to read the temperature in Cartagena as 33 degrees but with the humidity adjustment, “feels like 45 degrees”! Man it felt hot; even the locals were complaining! The other difference we noticed was there were more black people – much more than in Bogata. The stronger African/Caribbean cultural influence gives Cartagena a wonderful Caribbean feel. We stayed in a small hostel in Getsemani which is ... read more

Armed with plenty of insect repellent and malaria tablets, we boarded our Star Peru flight to Puerto Maldonado to begin our sojourn into the Amazonian basin. This was a journey that was on my “must do” list; to visit the Amazon region and see wildlife in its natural environment. We investigated visiting the Pantanal but we decided it was not quite what we were looking for and not very practical with our itinerary. Then there were other options, Manaus and Iquitos, but these options would have budget and time challenges which did not work well for us. I was becoming a little frustrated by the various obstacles when, at last, a young Lima travel agent came up with a solution. His solution turned out to be a great choice! Our transfer was seamless from the time ... read more

The Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) took place in Cuzco on 24 June. We decided not to buy tickets, which ranged from US$45 - $160, but to enjoy what was going on around town. We were woken at dawn by the sound of fireworks but we decided that a warm bed beat a splash of colour! At 10:00 am we heard drums beating and this time we ventured down to the street. As luck would have it we were only a few metres away from the parade route. We watched the dancers go by in colourful costumes, then the queen, the king’s entourage and the current Inca king, flanked by about 50 policemen. We rushed around to the main square to view what was happening there. We found a reasonable viewing place and found ourselves ... read more

The first part of our journey to Aguas Calientes, which means hot water, was aboard a bus which stopped at historic sites through the "Sacred Valley". After our 8 am pick up, we made our first stop at a very ordinary market to stock up on coca products and drinks. It was best described as a useful toilet stop. Then it was on to Complejo Arqueologico Pisaq which is an historic hill top settlement. The road went through a series of switchbacks and as we rose high above the valley we could see impressive Inca terraces and the remains of a village. After exploring the Pisaq site, we decended to the Pisaq market where we viewed a silver jewellery manufacturing operation before travelling to our lunch stop. Everyone on the bus had paid different prices for ... read more

One of the joys of travelling without a fixed itinerary, is taking a delightful side trip. Often these can be the highlight of a trip. So on the recommendation of our Lima travel agent, we departed Arequipa for a two day trip to the deepest canyon in the world at 3,000 metres (9,842 feet), the Colca Canyon. The drive out was interesting as we departed on the Interoceanic Highway. It stretches from the Coast of Brazil to the Coast of Peru and it cost of US$2,000 million to build. The first thing I observed was that for the first 10 kilometres out of Arequipa our bus had climbed, twisted and turned more than a 10 hour bus ride in Argentina. Our guide (Ebber) gave us a commentary of what we would see along the way. The ... read more