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Published: August 23rd 2011
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Barranco Ocean View
Barranco, Ocean View Anticipating the Trip
Today is August 22, 2011, I am preparing for a trip to Peru, a month long trip. I am going on business and of course pleasure. Peru is to beautiful not to explore a little. I will land in Lima and have rented an apartment for the month in Miraflores. I plan to visit Cusco and of course Machu Picchu. Here is a link to a high resolution picture of Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu For those of you who are interested in the history of Machu Picchu, photos etc here is a good link
History of Muchu Picchu. My contact in Peru tells me of a city in the heart of the Rain Forrest that I must see.
Feeling the Pressure
I am actually packing today, preparing computer and camera, and of course trying to learn how to do this blog. My intention is to set up co-op to import Maca, If you are not familiar with maca here is a link from CNN on one of the few things Maca is credited to do.
CNN Maca. If you are interested in Maca google and read about it. I will try to post links of sites I find worthy. Be sure to subscribe and/or add rss feed so you will know when I post.
I will be taking pictures of trip to the Maca fields, the fields are a six hour drive from Lima, so I am expecting to spend the night with the farmers. Maca is grown at high altitudes in Junin. Junin is 15,807 ft above sea level, high, but not as high as Machu Picchu. Here is a link to Wikipedia about the Junin area
Junin and this is a link to you tube with a local woman in the Junin fields
Maca Fields talking about Maca.
One Week To Blast Off
I would never have thought it would take this long to be gone for a month, not to mention planning the trip. I know once I get on that plane my adventure spirit will soar. I hope everyone reading will take time to travel, find that adventurer and set it free. I must admit the preparation is a major hassle. You have to find someone to house sit, take care of the pets, get your mail, etc. Planning for the trip, getting air line tickets. Did you know most airlines charge for your baggage? If you go through a travel agency they will plan the whole thing for ya. I, on the other hand want to plan my on trip and have freedom of what I want to do when I want to do it. This has presented some problems, obviously starting with the airline tickets. I used Cheap Tickets to purchase, be sure to compare all of the discount travel company's. I am flying Delta out of Birmingham to Atlanta with a short lay over then on to Lima Peru. They now use paperless tickets and you can get on line 24 hours before flight and print out your baggage labels, this will expedite your check in. I was surprised to find Delta allows two bags check in, one carry on and a computer bag (carry on), all at no additional cost.
Once you decide to travel, take off for awhile, leave the rat race, you can't seem to find a good time to leave and be gone for that two weeks or a month. So, throw a dart at the calendar and go. Before I bought my airline tickets I thought about having a place to stay. I checked the hotel prices and at $200 plus a night on the high side and $75 a night on the low side times 30 days was out of my budget. From my reading about travel I knew Expat's had web sites for what ever country they decided to live. I have found Expat sites to be the more informative than most any other travel site, real, practical information. For example I found an apartment on
Expatperu. You can find apartments and houses of any size and convenience rented by the week or month for a fraction of the cost of a hotel. It's real nice to have a kitchen and washer and dryer. The washer and dryer is one thing I don't have in the apartment I rented. Laundromat down the street. This will give a chance to meet locals and practice my Spanish. Si! I do have two contacts in Lima, one is Martin who manages the Maca company I am negotiating with and Ian who owns the apartment. Martin is Peruvian (fluent English) and Ian is an Expat from Ohio. I have used Skype to make contacts in Peru, it's Free Skype to Skype and .02 a minute to call land or cell phones. I put $25 on my Skype account when I first started this and have used it almost everyday, I still have $16 and change left. Obviously I am taking my computer and I can use Skype to call home and to call around in Peru. Here's a great tip, purchase a "Magic Jack" and program for your local area, when you get to your destination you can make calls just like at home. Your friends and family can also call you, if your computer is off they can leave a message. All at no cost. How cool is that! Of course you can do the same with Skype to Skype, even video. It's always good to have a back up.
I have not made reservations for my flight from Lima to Cusco, hotel arrangements, train and bus to Macchu Picchu, I understand it is cheaper to do that in Lima. I will let you know how this works out for me. Martin will take me to Junin and arrange for a place to stay, no hotels there. This will be great to see where and how they grow, harvest and dry Maca for shipment to Lima for processing. Actually in the mountains with the locals, no tourist, no English. If you are not familiar with Maca Google and read about it. I have been taking Maca for a couple of years and have found the quality varies. I want the very best quality and good manufacturing procedures (FDA style). This co-op possesses all these qualities and more. It is possible I will private label. How doe's "Master Maca" sound. The largest Maca company in the USA is Maca Magic, you will find in all health food stores, on line and sometimes in the grocery and drug stores. Martin tells me his quality is much higher than Maca Magic, I obviously agree. I am excited to see the process from ground to bottle.
Thanks for reading, you can make a comment and I will approve and publish or send me a private message. I will get back to you as time permits. If you are not a subscriber to the blog be sure to sign up. You will receive an email when I post. I really would like to hear from you, suggestions or questions.
Last Night In USA
Tonight is the last night in USA for one month. I will land in Lima tomorrow night with a cool 58 degree temperature, how cool is that, cooler than here. I am Great uncle again, my nephew and lovely wife had a new bouncing baby boy today. Matthew Daniel, initials M. D., born an M.D. Beautiful baby, I had to throw that in. So, the next post will be in Lima, Peru. I hope to have a few photos for you.
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Jamie
non-member comment
Sounds great so far! can't wait to hear updates when you get there!