We left the Arenal area in the rain, sheets of rain, but the temp was hot. I had heard lots about the drive north around Lake Arenal but had no idea how bad part of it would be. The lake is man made, after the volcano erupted and covered part of the town of Arenal in 1968, a few years later they made the dam and flooded the valley to make this enormous lake and re-located the town. A guy told us that if you go on a boat in the lake you can see the church steeple sticking out of the water from the flooded town. The views were spectacular, driving around the lake in the rain forest, but the road needs work. There were mudslides across the road, some with vegetation already growing on ... read more

Travelling on American Thanksgiving turned out to be a good thing; the border & highway to Seattle were empty and getting here was really quick. Early next morning we flew to Dallas and on to San Jose. Mike & Kevin picked us up at the airport and we drove to their house. Victoria and Mike built their home in Guacima, a more rural area of the city, very quiet street just a block from the main roads so everything is close by to them. Harry & Sophie re-connected with Kevin & Marina immediately like they had never been apart and they kept each other entertained for the next three days. The first morning (Sat) they took us through Alajuela to see the mercados. We can count to 100 in spanish but all the prices are in ... read more

We´ve spent the past 3 days in Cusco again. Sunny and warm. We´ve spent our time shopping, touring all the museums and eating. Doug tried Cuy, guinea pig. It was so funny, it came on a plate wearing a tomato crown. We saw the Koricancha and the Cathedral which are both Spanish colonial churches built on top of the Inka foundations, toured in a group tour the 4 sites just outside of town. We both agreed never again would we do a bus tour, it was just a few hours and we had a guide explaining everything but it was the other people in the group that were so annoying. We were always waiting for someone or someone was complaining etc. We´ve never done a group tour before and won´t do it again. The markets are ... read more

Strike day in Peru, we are stuck in the Sacred Valley. The roads are blocked with rocks, can´t go anywhere. Luckily we arrived here yesterday - not today. We needed a day of rest, feeling the altitude. This place is a beautiful rural acerage just outside of Urubamba with andean homes on it, run like a bed and breakfast, it´s called the Kuchi Rumi. ( info@ urubamba.com ) We spent the day listening to Peruvian music and napping. Claudia, the owner produces whatever we need, the fireplace is lit at night, fresh flowers throughout the house from her extensive gardens, 2 fulltime gardeners are planting and pruning all day, there´s a creek running through the property, birds on the windowsill, enormous hummingbirds sipping all the flowers. We needed this forced day of relaxation, they thought the ... read more

Driver picked us up at 8am, his car all cleaned out, playing Peruvian music on his stereo, crucifix hanging from the rear view mirror which he would touch occasionally and then make the sign on the cross on himself. He needed some money for gas - adelente (thank goodness for rosetta stone spanish lessons) then we were on our way to Pisaq, up and over the mountain and into the Sacred Valley. We stopped at a llama farm outside of town where they demonstrate the weaving and dyeing process. All the ladies there speak Quechua not Spanish and so did our driver. He would speak to them and then translate to Spanish for us! ha ha but we mostly did understand. On to Pisaq ruins, a huge mountain of Inka terraces and stairs. The sun was ... read more