Hotel Cubita provided generous breakfast buffet each day with many different options. Over the three days we stayed here I had scrambled eggs and flavored drinkable yogurts. I tasted beef jerky, liver and onions, heart, sausages, runny oatmeal and terrible breads. the guava jam was very good but interestingly the other jam-like options were very grainy and had way too much sugar. Panamanians love their sugar. The hotel/resort has a spa next to the pool and a small grocery store, gift shop and florist within walking distance. It appears that many weddings and meetings take place here. We all enjoyed watching the slow and graceful entrances of beautifully gowned women and handsome young men as they approached the courtyard for a wedding. On another day several of us spoke to teachers as they broke from a ... read more

We began the day with a bus tour around the modern city of Panama. This new city has tall, thin buildings so designed to withstand the high winds and hurricanes that frequent this region. Panama has the largest tidal changes in world. On the Pacific side the tides run 16 - 18 feet high to as low as 2 feet during low tides within a 24 hour period. The highest point in Panama City reaches a nose-bleed record of 600 meters. We passed areas where fishermen used to work and live. Now these areas are overtaken by high rises and great wealth. These poor people have nowhere to go and wish to maintain their homes but are finding they can’t afford to stay. Sadly a common occurrence around the world. The bus stopped along the route ... read more

Once again we were ready for our 6 AM pickup, this time to the Lima airport for our return to the United States. The hotel provided a box breakfast, and Kaypi provided a taxi to airport. Still groggy, we drank our hotel coffee on the way to the airport and, once bags were checked at the airport we dove into our boxed breakfast before sinking into our seats waiting for our return home. I had booked a room in Miami for both the day before leaving for Peru and for the night upon our return from Peru to give us a little more time to relax and recover. The flight from Lima to Miami was again, smooth and seamless but I can’t say the food was up to the reputation for wonderful Peruvian cuisine, but hey, ... read more

Getting up at 4 AM is not my idea of fun but with the prospect of finally seeing Machu Picchu, I was up, dressed, packed and ready for breakfast in a heartbeat. Dave however began grumbling that there was water on the floor in the bathroom. Then as he grabbed his hat from the closet he found it was wet! Not a good find when you are half asleep. I thought we would be one of the first to arrive for breakfast but it turned out we were nearly last. In my haste I didn’t realize that our alarm was late so in reality I had gotten ready to go in ten minutes! Planning the night before really paid off. There were plenty of protein options, teas, fruit and goldenberry and elderberry jams for toast at ... read more

For breakfast we went back to the rooftop restaurant at our hotel and had the somewhat meager Hotel Polo breakfast buffet (no eggs and no avocado!). I had heard about the good avocados in Peru and the bountiful breakfasts where the rest of our traveling troupe stayed, but sadly had not had the pleasure yet. But we did drink cupfuls of coca tea to stabilize our rocky stomachs. Safe water is dear in Peru, especially when tourists can’t drink from the tap, so an early morning hike for bottled water was in order. Larry joined me in search of water while Dave and Celia went up to get ready to leave. Morning traffic in Cusco seems to be one dangerous bottleneck after the other which doesn’t impact pedestrians unless you want to cross the street. Then ... read more