Dick's 65th B-Day Trip to Peru from Cyndy
Our trip started on 01.17.2008 when we drove to Miami to spend the night and catch a flight early on the 18th to Lima. We flew to Lima, toured (briefly) the city and spent the night there. The next morning (the 19th) we flew to ICA where we caught a small plane to fly over the Nazca Lines.
A night picture of the big cross across the harbor in Lima.
Below are pictures from the Nazca Lines. We got to see all of the "lines"; but, the plane ride was bumpy, so only a few pictures came out well.
The Nazca Lines are in the middle of an enormous desert.
After touring the "lines" we landed back in ICA. We were able to visit an oasis which is a big "bowl" in the middle of the desert with sand dunes anywhere from 80 feet to 100 feet surrounding a "pond". Also, we visited an archeological museum containing many fossils found in the desert as well as living llamas and a beautiful condor.
Below is a picture of some dudes sand surfing the dunes.
Then, we returned to Lima where we toured the city, did some shopping, and had dinner with a friend of Jamie's, Anthony Burgeous.
Below is a statue of "lovers" in Lima. There used to be a contest every year where hundreds of couples would try and hold the same position as the statue for as long as they could. The record, supposedly, was 40 minutes.
The backdrop of where Anthony was kind enough to take us to dinner is an adobe temple (being restored). The food was great and the company better.
The next part of our trip was to Cusco and then up to Machu Picchu. Accompanying us, in addition to our guide(s), were our first set of "touring buds".
One thing we learned while we were at Machu Picchu is that the word Inca does not refer to the "Inca People" - this is a incorrect usage of the word "Inca". The word Inca only refers to the king of these people; the people, themselves, are correctly called Quechua.
Below are pictures from Machu Picchu.
This next picture is from our hotel room in the town of Machu Picchu.
To get from the town of Machu Picchu to the ruins one must take a bus ride. The next picture is the route the bus takes.
Dick shows the guides that his walkie-talkie is "bigger than theirs".
A chinchilla pays us a visit at one of the temple buildings at Machu Picchu.
The below pictures are from the "Sun Gate" located 300 meters above Machu Picchu.
Dick takes a siesta high above Machu Picchu.
To get from the town of Cusco to the town of Machu Picchu one must take a train (or walk, which we did not). On the train ride back we were "entertained". In addition to the scheduled "entertainment", there was a land slide which covered the train tracks. After 2 hours of digging us out, our ride continued with no further events.
The next (and last) part of our adventure took us to the Amazon jungle. To get there we took a plane ride from Cusco to Puerta Maldonato, a bus ride through unpaved roads to the river, a 2 hour boat ride on the river, and, then, a 300 yard, ankle-deep muddy path to the hotel. The hotel rooms have no electricity, no windows, and no doors. Hot showers? Forget about it! It was GREAT!!! Our guides were Oscar and Augusto - they were super. We were joined by our new "touring buds", Rory, Becca, and Stephanie.
Arriving at The Amazon jungle.
Steps leading to the mud path to the hotel:
At 4:00am were were awakened to go "bird watching", see the sunrise on the river and to go fishing.
Now, to go fishing one needs a 5 foot wooden pole with a 4.5 foot line, a hook, and some raw steak. We're going fishing for Pihranna. Yep, you got it. Cyndy caught the first one, Rory caught the second, and Dick caught the third.
Our new touring buddies (i.e., "the kids") go swimming with the pirhanna.
Some random pictures from around the hotel:
Below is a picture of a kitty that lives at the hotel with a rather large lizard he had captured. He spent the night with us (the kitty - NOT the lizard).
Next are pictures of birds, monkeys, bats, flowers, scenes around the hotel (including our room), and sunset on the river.
Finally, we visit the Shaman. We got a tour of his medicinal garden, an explanation of the medicines he prepares, got to taste the potions he conjures up, and were decorated with paint as a symbol of our jungle spirits. Fun was had by all.
We leave the jungle and all go home (01.27.2008).
