Boobies, Frigates and Land Iguanas, oh my!
We left the hotel for our first full day adventure and headed down to the sea once more. The highlands, home to our hotel is often misty and grey in the morning. Heading down to the water, we passed land th...
Day 12, Galapagos, Part 2
Our excursion today began with a trip to South Plaza Island. Like yesterday, we left our hotel in the morning with Tomas, our tour director, and our guides, Xavier and Jose, heading to the coast where we boarded the Santa Fe for the one hour ten minute...
Day 10: Quito to Galapagos
Today’s Quito airport trip was another early morning wake-up call. We were sorry to be leaving the lovely Swissotel but very excited about starting the Galapagos portion of our adventure. If you are going to the Galapagos, there are strict protocols to...
Day 9 - Quito
Quito is the capital of Ecuador and is situated at 9350 feet on a plateau surrounded by volcanoes. Almost immediately we sensed a difference from Peru. To begin with, Ecuador is a much smaller country than Peru - it is about the size of Nevada, making...
Day 8 – Travel Day and Peruvian Thoughts
(Note: this was a travel day, so no pictures.)
We usually wait until the end of a trip to write an overview, but this trip is almost like two separate and distinct trips. While there might be comparisons between the two countries, Peru is pretty uniqu...
Day 6 (evening) and Day 7 - Cusco
Cuzco (or Cusco) was the capital of the enormous Incan empire which included modern day Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and northern Chile. Its population now about 500,000. It was the Peruvian capital until 1533 when it was conquered by the Spanish. It is at...
Day 6 - Machu Picchu, Part 2
One of the not-so-guilty pleasures afforded to us on this tour was the opportunity to stay at the Belmond Sanctuary Hotel, immediately adjacent to Machu Picchu. This not only saved us time, it also allowed us to get an early start on our second day be...
Day 5 - Machu Picchu, Part 1
This has been an amazing trip, so far, and it was about to get even better. Today, we finally achieved the primary goal of the Peru portion of our trip and made the journey to Machu Picchu. For those who prefer the short version, it was awesome - it e...
Day 3 - Lima to Cuzco and Sacred Valley
This morning, we awoke bright and early (i.e.4:30 am) to make our way once again to Lima Airport for our flight to Cuzco.
Cuzco was the capital city of the Incan empire and is nestled in a valley but its elevation is over 11,000 feet making it the hi...
Day 4 - Exploring the Sacred Valley
We are falling in love with the Andes. It reminds me of the Grand Teutons—every five minutes something new is around the corner, bigger and better than the one before with nonstop photo opportunities. And we haven’t even gotten to Machu Picchu yet!!
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Jim and Wendy Damoulakis
A journal of our major travels
Scandinavia and Iceland
July 2024
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Jordan and Israel
May 2023
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London and Scotland
Sep 2022
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Machu Picchu and Galapagos
May 2019
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Portugal and Spain
September 2018
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Southwest US
September 2017
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China
June -July 2015