Exploring Lost Worlds: Peru and the Galapagos Islands

In January of 1997, the Batts, the Browns, the Hopkins, the Orrs and Linda Richards had traveled to Chili and Argentina. Originally we had wanted to include Peru’s famed lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, on our itinerary, but we were dissuaded by a friend of Lana and Joe’s who worked for the CIA. “Too dangerous at this …

Monday, May 7, 2001

We started our travel day by turning on to NBC's The Today Show. It was the week of “Where in world is Matt Lauer?” In the past, he has turned up in Nepal, Thailand, Africa, Iceland and other exotic spots. And there he was standing in the ruins of Machu Picchu, saying it was one of the most spectacular sights …

Tuesday, May 8, 2001. Sunny 70°

At 4:00 AM, wake up calls could be heard throughout the hotel. But at 4:45 AM everyone was ready to go, except for Chris who blew out her hairdryer when she forgot to use the adapter. We were told that we needed at least two hours for check in for our 7:00 AM flight. But at this time in the morning it would …

Wednesday, May 8, 2001. Sunny 70°

After a small breakfast of fresh orange juice, coca tea, and flat bread (similar to pita bread) with fresh jelly, we were off at 9:00 AM for a tour of Cusco. It was our first introduction to a Peru's style of serving coffee. First the cup is half filled with hot water to which is added a very strong …

Wednesday, May 10, 2001. Sunny 76°

We were up early this morning repacking bags for our trip to Machu Picchu. Marco had suggested that we leave everything at the hotel that we wouldn't need, such as the shorts and sandals that we were planning in wearing in the Galapagos. The goal was to get everything down to one small duffle bag and a …

Thursday, May 11, 2001. Partly sunny 65°

We are up at 6:00 AM so we could visit some of the ancient buildings in Ollantaytambo that are still inhabited. We walked through back streets, which still had the irrigation, and drainage systems initiated by the Incas. The walls were massive and curved inward to avoid collapsing in the event of …

Friday, May 12, 2001. Sunny 65°

Today we were up at 4:15AM in order to get to the ruins before sunrise. The hotel hadn't yet turned on the outside lights, so we stumbled our way to the registration desk. Normally the site doesn't officially open until 7:00 AM and the first bus doesn't leave Aguas Calientes until 6:30. Glenn's …

Sunday, May 13, 2001. Cloudy 65°

Once again we were up at 4:30 AM to catch the 6:10 train back to Ollantaytambo and Cusco. We thought we were going to be a special car hook up to the local train. Turned out it was backpacker's car. Backpacks were in all the overhead racks with straps handing down everywhere. Talk about a commercial for …

Sunday, May 20, 2001. Sunny 86°

That night we motored until about 5:00 AM. Lana was catching a cold and spent much of the night coughing in the main topside cockpit area because the crew was sleeping on the sofas in the lounge/dinning area. At 5:00 AM we stopped at Kicker Rock. Like Devil's Crown, it is a remnant of a vertical tuff cone …