Jan 9, 2020 - Port of Salaverry/City of Trujillo

Today is Thursday January 9. We are settling into a routine - gym, coffee, eat, tour or lecture, eat, nap, read, eat. Very nice! Today we're still off the coast of Peru. Salaverry is a port located near the city of Trujillo. The city is rich with colonial architecture and very important archaeological centers of the pre-Inca era. It is Peru's third largest city. And it was once the home of Simon Bolivar. Bolivar liberated much of northern South America from the rule of Spain in 1819. What was very, very interesting is that the Inca's were...

Jan 8, 2020 - Lima, Peru

The weather is partly sunny and 78 degrees. There's a breeze blowing and it's very pleasant in Lima, Peru. El Callao is the port of the city. It was founded by Spanish colonists in 1537, just two years after Lima. It soon became the main port for Spanish commerce in the Pacific. At the height of Spanish occupation, virtually all goods produced in Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina were carried over the Andes Mountains by mule to Callao, to be shipped to Panama, carried overland and then transported on to Spain via Cuba. Our tour guide on the bus...

Oct 21, 2019 - Birding, Overlook, Sillustani tombs, farm visit, airport

Cindy had the curtains open to try to get pictures of the night sky and, hopefully, the Milky Way. She wasn't so successful with that, but she got a great sunrise picture! I was up for breakfast at 7 AM then birding with Kike at 8 down by the river. Cindy saw her many-colored rush tyrant. I saw little birds, but wasn't so successful with pictures. I was happy to see both the male and female flicker this morning, some doves, and a cute little bird. After a leisurely morning, checkout was at noon with lunch to follow. We went by bus in the...

Oct 20, 2019 - Floating islands on the lake

After breakfast, we walked down from the hotel to an enclosed tourist boat to see the floating islands in a bay near us. We were greeted by members of a family living on an island, and they explained how the islands are built. At the end of the rainy season, the roots of the tall reeds float! The people cut the roots into cubes and transport them to their island to either replace old ones or add on to their island or build a completely new one. They have to tie the cubes back together, then lay reeds on top of the roots. So, the roots are 6...

Oct 19, 2019 - Journey to Lake Titicaca

Another very early morning. Debby got up with us and saw us off on the bus. She will be spending the day with Percy by visiting a llama zoo before her trip to Lima and then to Chicago, via Miami. I will be rooming with Cindy for the last couple of night. We took a van actually to the bus station and made up half of the seating. Our first stop was at a church called the Sistine Chapel of the Andes in Andahualillas. It has a lot of gold leaf covering the items. The next stop was at another church where we couldn't take pictures again. I wish...

Oct 17, 2019 - bus ride to Cusco

I treated myself to a long hot shower this morning. After breakfast, we boarded a bus and visited the Maras Salt mines where families own and care for a pentagon-shaped pool with water that flows from a salt spring. They changed the rules so we didn't get up close and personal to see a demonstration of mining the salt - Percy explained it and again I couldn't understand him. The next stop was in Chincheros where we went into a big shop and learned the process of weaving, from cleaning wool to dying it to spinning it to preparing skeins, to...

Oct 16, 2019 - grounds of Hotel, train back to Ollantaytambo

Some went back to Machu Picchu to do some hiking, and some stayed back to explore the trails of the hotel. Kathleen had to have doctors come take care of her today. She got a shot, pills, and electrolytes. Still on a bland diet. We found the plaza, as we called it, and watched some hummingbirds at the feeders. Then we walked down the main path that led to the path to see the speculated bear they have in captivity, but we didn't go further because you need to pay and have one of their guides take you. We did see where they grew and made...

Oct 15, 2019 - Machu Picchu!

The 1.5 hour train ride is scenic ride if you are on the right side! It follows the Urobamba River. The only way into Aguas Caliente is by train, so there are no cars or tuk tuks there! It is built on the hillside and is made up of stores, restaurants, and a few hotels. We stayed at the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. Rooms were in different buildings on the hillside. Debby & I got a room at the edge of things without a view. She wasn't impressed. It's okay because we wouldn't be staying in the room much anyway. Kathleen has gotten...

Oct 14, 2019 - Puerto Maldonado - End of the River Ride

Our Audubon Journey ends with a rapid ride down the Rio Madre de Dios to Puerto Maldonado; where the Rio Tambopata joins the Madre de Dios. Why Rapid ? The boat for that ride had a 150hp outboard motor; for the previous two river sections our boat had a 60hp motor. Consequently this last boat also had a windscreen which prevented our clothing from being removed when the driver accelerated and flew down the river. No wasted time, or leisurely floating with the current. Arriving at the make-shift docks we disembarked, boarded the minivan, and...

Oct 13, 2019 - another travel day

Boat and bus back to Puerto Moldanado, repack luggage, off to the airport with a packaged lunch of a pot pie, a cookie, and a tangerine. Cindy bought me a coke and we shared some Pringle chips. We flew to Cusco, then boarded another bus for the 2.5 hour ride to the Hotel Pakaritampu in the Sacred Valley. We arrived at 6 PM, had dinner (trout!!) at 7 along with mashed potatoes, a baked tomato, and elderberry cheesecake. We are now at 9000 feet above sea level and advised to drink coca tea and lots of water.

Oct 12, 2019 - back to the Refugio Amazonas

Our luggage needed to be outside our rooms by 6 with breakfast at 6:30, leaving the hotel by 7:15 for our 4 hour ride back to our other luggage. A macaw joined us for breakfast, stealing a piece of pound cake from Kathleen, then coming back to sit on Meghan's shoulder. It flew to the next table and had a drink of juice before flying away. The workers there have named it something like Rosita. On our way back, we stopped by the Chuncho clay lick again to see the macaws. This time when we got back to the resort, it was claimed that we...

Oct 10, 2019 - off to the Research Center

It took almost 4 hours on the Tambopata River to get to the Tambopata Research Center. We saw a family of Capybara, geese, herons, macaws, howler monkeys, and a glimpse of a great river otter! I saw it move into the underbrush, at least. We also caught a glimpse of the Andes in the distance. The rooms were similar to the Refugio Amazonas, but there were hammocks in the common area. We took a late afternoon walk, had dinner, then listened to a short lecture on their Macaw Project.