A Short Preamble

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March 22nd, 2012

Welcome everyone to our Peru and Bolivia travel blog! We'd like to take this opportunity to tell you where we'll be going, what we'll be doing, and how this blog works. This first post is to inform you that you are a participant in our blog, the only emails you'll get from us are ones regarding our trips.

The Plan

We'll be leaving for Bolivia early on Thursday (March 22nd) and arriving in La Paz at about six in the morning the following day. La Paz is the highest captial in the world standing at 11,913 feet (2 1/4 miles). We'll spend our first couple days here to acclimate to the altitude before heading south to the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats).

Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world, is devoid of almost all life and due to the annual flooding and smoothing of the salty surface, is used to calibrate satelites in space. After an overnight in the flats, we prepare for a grueling one-day journey by bus all the way back north to Copacabana. Copacabana - not to be confused with the more popular Brazilian town - is a small shore-town set against the backdrop of the spectacular Lake Titicaca. Known for being the highest navigable lake, Titicaca can also be found in inappropriate childrens' songs and jokes.

After a night in Copacabana, we make our way across the lake to Puno (in Peru) where we book it alongside the Andes to Cusco. At our final destination, we will spend the rest of our evenings here and make our way up to Machu Picchu. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and New Ancient Wonder of the World, Machu Picchu is still a mystery to archeologists and the most popular tourist destination in Peru. After our Machu Picchu adventure, we fly black to La Paz for one last day in Bolivia to celebrate Jen's birthday before our journey home.

In Conclusion...

During our travels, we plan to blog and post pictures about our experiences every few days or so. Unfortunately, our cellphone telephones won't work since they operate on a different network than our carrier, Verizon. Wifi and internet cafes are abundant so we'll keep in touch with everyone through that medium. Thank you everyone for participating and we can't wait to share our experiences with you!

- Curtis and Jennifer

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Comments

[Adam]

Have a great trip, i'm looking forward to the updates and photos.

[Don]

flamingos
You guys will have a blast! I went to the solar 3 years ago on a wfp trip. Took a four day tour and saw more flamingos than I thought were alive. It was amazing. Can't wait to see photos and hear more...

[Curtis and Jen]

salt flats
we only did two days but should have done more, the landscape was incredible. we couldn't go to many of the salt flat sites because of water. although I think they just had no faith in their 4x4.

[Jason Jeans]

cuisine
Have you had guinea pig yet? I've been told it's a favorite among Peruvians. Be safe

[Curtis and Jen]

guinea pig
no. they want so much money for it, like double everything else. we've had llama though.