Adventures in Peru: Lake Titicaca, Inca Trail and more

Flying anywhere from Montana is always a treat - I left my house at 4:30 am and flying from Missoula-Salt Lake-Atlanta-Lima, I finally arrived in Lima, Peru, by 11:30 pm. I was doing a slightly modified version of our Incas and Rainforest trip, and was extremely excited to finally arrive in the country and begin my Peru travel. After 6 months of …

This morning I was able to have a bit of a sleep-in and a nice breakfast at the hotel, before Boris met me again to take me to the airport for my flight to Juliaca. My destination was Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at 12,000ft. I arrived at the airport in the early afternoon, and local guide Manuel met me at the airport. …

Manuel met me at the hotel early this morning and we took a local limousine - a man-powered tricycle cart - down to the dock. There were lots of stands set up selling goods, so you could buy things there to take as gifts if you were doing a homestay. I had brought some colored pencils and sunscreen from home, and bought some bananas there to …

This morning after breakfast (more potatoes!), we bade a sad farewell to our hosts. I had really enjoyed my time with Velma, and I think she also enjoyed hosting a young woman. We continued on our little boat ride to the land island of Taquile - which is equally beautiful and serene. On Taquile the women are very shy and quiet, while the men are …

Today is the long bus trip to Cusco. The buses are quite nice - nicer than anything I have been on in the US, and come with a guide who gave us brief explanations of the various sites that we stopped at. I actually really enjoyed this day. It was nice to have some time to chill and watch the beautiful scenery of Peru unfold before us. We made …

Early this morning I flew out from Cusco very early to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado. My friend Corbin met me on the flight and we set off together to Sandoval Lake Lodge in the Tambopata Reserve of the Amazon. Our guide, Klaus, met us at the airport and took us to the office in Puerto Maldonado, where we left the majority of our luggage and …

This morning Klaus, assistant-guide-in-training Ronald, Corbin and I took off in a canoe together. We saw a caiman, a relative of the crocodile, along the banks, and an abundance of bird life. We were nearing the macaw nesting area and I was watching the macaws feeding on date palms, when all of a sudden Ronald spotted the giant otters! These …

We got up very early this morning and spent some peaceful reflection time drinking coca tea on the benches overlooking the lake. I really had pretty low expectations for the amount of wildlife that I would see in just a 2-night trip in the middle of the rainy season, but I was amazed! I had gotten to see so many different species in such a short …

This morning we met with Boris, a prospective new guide for Adventure Life. Boris is young and very tall for a Peruvian, but we quickly learned how much he knew about the history and culture. We decided to walk up to the ruins of Sacsayhuaman above Cusco, which was good aerobic exercise to get those red blood cells pumped up before the Inca Trail …