We are back in Miami, Florida with better access to internet and so here’s a recap of the last two weeks in Peru & Ecuador.
The Overview of our travels
This trip has involved more air, water and land in a short span than we’ve ever done before-9 flights and multiple bus & boat trips.
To reach Machupicchu we took a train and various bus rides out of Cusco (better for us than the 4-day hike on the infamous Inca trail or the very cheap bus on a dusty winding dirt road to the electro power plant followed by a 3 hour hike).
The altitude in the Sacred Valley (including Machupicchu) was quite a challenge. We were in towns from 8,000-11,000 feet for a week. “Altitude sickness” is common and while we chose not to take “western medicine”, we gummed coca leaves daily supplemented with coca tea or a sweet, hard candy with coca leaves in the center. The Andean people continuously suck on a wade of coca leaves and bowls of dried leaves were offered on all of our buffet lines. I was told this gives “energy”, but really I think it is more of a stimulant like caffeine. Too much, though, gave us a headache or nausea. Mostly water was the best remedy—lots and lots (so much we were up 3-4 times in the night!). It was humorous to watch us huffing and puffing as we walked slight hills or even just while getting dressed!
The people in both countries were extremely friendly and only a couple of words in Spanish from us prompted a rapid conversation. Most people asked us where we were from (we could understand that) and were absolutely fascinated when we explained that we lived in a “caravan” or house on wheels. Most had never heard of that.
Peru was definitely less expensive to travel in, as their currency is the Sol and Ecuador is the US$. We’ve never been in a foreign country that uses the US currency! They mint some Ecuadorian coins, equivalent to our quarters and dimes, but use them interchangeably with ours.
Machu Picchu was magical and was less hiking than we expected. Of course there are other paths and Karen hiked out to the Inca Bridge which ended at a very spooky trail that skirted a 1,000 foot sheer cliff. Others in our group hiked further but this was just fine for us. We respected our limits.
We flew from Cusco back to Lima then ran to catch the flight to Quito,Ecuador. Every one of our internal flights were late- guess that’s just routine. Our group was certainly a “team” as we were constantly counting uno, dos to catorce (14) and looking out for one another. Great group of new friends!
Quito seems more modern and prosperous and we visited some great sights including the changing-of-guards at the Presidential Palace complete with political protest. We also heard a special performance of the
Sinamune Disabled Children's Orchestra.
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| Middle of the World-we are on both sides of the Equator at the same time |
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| shopping for unusual food in the open market |
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| Changing of the Guards (this happens every Monday) |
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| riot police on the ready |
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| Jack bought a handmade Panama Hat-these originated in Ecuador not Panama! |
The icing on the cake were touring the Galapagos Islands on the 95 foot boat, Carina. We were surprised at the population of people on the islands but thankful that there was no “high-rise” condos or resorts. We had a naturalist from the Galapagos National Park with us at all times which was awesome as there is so much to know beyond just what we could see. Ecuador is working hard to maintain, protect and bring back species of “endemic” animals, reptiles and plants. Endemic means those that evolved into a distinct species such as the swallow-tailed gull, world’s only nocturnal gull who evolved to hunt at night because of the competition from other sea birds. Many of the animals are only found in the Galapagos-penguin, hawk, dove, mockingbird, giant tortoise, and blue-footed booby.
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Karen ready for snorkling
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| we snorkeled with a white tip shark and a Galapagos shark! |
This was definitely a super special trip and more challenging than expected. We’re exhausted!
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The altitude in the Sacred Valley (including Machupicchu) was quite a challenge. We were in towns from 8,000-11,000 feet for a week. “Altitude sickness” is common and while we chose not to take “western medicine”, we gummed coca leaves daily supplemented with coca tea or a sweet, hard candy with coca leaves in the center. The Andean people continuously suck on a wade of coca leaves and bowls of dried leaves were offered on all of our buffet lines. I was told this gives “energy”, but really I think it is more of a stimulant like caffeine. Too much, though, gave us a headache or nausea. Mostly water was the best remedy—lots and lots (so much we were up 3-4 times in the night!). It was humorous to watch us huffing and puffing as we walked slight hills or even just while getting dressed!
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