. My trip to Peru begins tonight. I fly from Miami to Lima tonight. Tomorrow I'll be in the Amazon Rainforest @ Posadas Amazonas Lodge which is adjacent to the lush Tambopata Nature Reserve deep in the Peruvian Rainforest. After my sub-tropical excursion (weather similar to Miami) I return to Lima to meet the next group I'm touring with onwards to Cusco, Inka Trail and Machu Picchu. It'll be considerably cooler in the Andean Mountains. But I'm prepared with warm clothing that'll I'll wear in layers. But to tell you the truth, I'm kinda nervous about the cold nights in a tent... the overnight temps can be around freezing. BBrrrrrrr. In a sleeping bag in a tent. hehehe... YUP, I wouldn't miss this for the world. And the excitement of celebrating my birthday on the inka Trail will add to my excitement! Machu Picchu... that's all I'll say, cuz I'll know more after I've been there. Returning back to Cusco, I'll be there during the Winter Solstice and the Festival of the Sun--- which is South America's second largest festival. The first being Rio's Carnival. I'm going to take lots of pictures (and some videos too). And I want to go dancing while I'm there, too hehehe .

Today I°m in Lima, I fly out tonight (11:30 pm)... Here are some highlights of my trip {{{more details will be added soon, and  yes, with pictures}}}

So, I did take *lots* of pictures, around 700!!!  Everybody told me to take alot, so I listened.  

My trip started off in Puerto Maldonado, then a bus to the large market that sells anything from machetes to axes; fruits & veggies to meat & fish; candy to grains to corn to many varieties of rice.  From there we continued on our bumpy dirt  (dusty) road a large river, and a motorized canoe to The Tambopata Rainforest.  This was awesome... Hot days, cool nights, with lots of rainforest fauna & flora and wildlife, especially birds and monkeys. 

Then back to Lima for two days.  Lima is a large city 8 to 9 million inhabitants, the people are hard working and nice.  But the air pollution is quite heavy, due to the high amount of vehicles on the roads.   My lungs were gasping for fresh air.  As I explored, I noticed there was no skyline (buildings) in one direction..... was the Pacific Ocean that close?   I walked until I felt the air change,,, my intuition told me that the Ocean is near, I continued on. 

I saw hills and clouds and then heard the roar of the mighty Pacific Ocean.  WOW.   Unlike the Atlantic, which gently meets the land at the same elevation, the Pacific Ocean creates large cliffs as it kisses the hard rocks.   chRisto meets the Pacific Ocean. 

The next day I depart Lima with the group I´ll be hiking the Inca Tral with.  2 Norwegians, 2 Canadian..Koreans, 1 dude from the UK, and me.  A good international mix.  We´re in Cusco for one day and on the next day we depart for some regional tours, bringing us closer to Ollantaytamba, where we sleep one night before we begin our Hike the next morning. 

The four days and three nights on the Inca Trail are great.  The views are spectacular, and the high altitude didn´t really affect me (only a little headache, which is normal).  Our first day on the trail we hike for six hours, at night we´re all pretty tired.  The air temp is quite cold as soon as the sun sets behind the mountains.  The night sky is bright, as no city lights drown out any of the stars... and we see a satellite move across the sky (well, accurately, it´s the Earth moving). 

Day 2 on the Inca Trail is a long and hard one.  8 hiking hours (not including rest stops or lunch break), with large climbs and descents in  altitude.  All that on my Birthday... and I got to have a birthday cake with Raspberry icing and the Birthday song sung to me in Spanish on the Radio!!!  Another very cold night, but inside our tent is considerably warmer than outside.   Food is included but the Porters staff and includes delicious traditional Peruvian breakfasts, lunch and dinner.   Yummy.   Wait til you see the pictures. 

Ont the third day on the trail things got difficult for me, I was not recoverred from the previous days long hiking, my calves were aching.  Bad.  But what´s worse was my diarreah and *fever* ... wasn´t a food borne illness, no vomiting.  My body temp went high and then I got the chills (one of our travel companions from Norway is a nurse, she says the chills are the fever stregthening, a bad sign).  I take immodium, ibuprofin (for fever) and medicine she gives me, also for fever.   At least the pain is somewhat dulled in my calves.  I take a cold shower in the afternoon, as this day´s hike was only for hours and the rest of the day was ours to enjoy (rest). 

The next morning we wake up at 3:50 am to begin our final trek to Machu Picchu.    Amazing... I can feel the energetic vibrations of this Spiritual Space.     Yes, pictures to follow, soon.

Returning back to Cuzco, the celebration and large crowds begin to gather for Inti Raymi: the Festival of the Sun.   An awesome day-long parade that snakes around for many, many blocks.    The next day the ceremony begins in Plaza de Armas and then simualated Llama sacrifice in Saqsaywaman, where nearly all the crowd walks to after the first part of the ceremony. 

This trip was awesome... well timed with good weather (not rainy season), my birthday and the Winter Solstace (here) and Inti Raymi.  

But now it soon comes to an end... with lots of great memories (oh yeah, and pictures, too)   lol

=)  chRisto

. follow this link pbase.com/risto/ to see pix I started to post of my Peru Trip. ... More pix to follow soon =) chRisto

. My trip to Peru was great... I am met at the one runway airport by our Guide, Luis. We stopped briefly in Puerto Maldonado to visit the large community market that has everything from various grains of rice avaiIable to locally grown fruits and vegetables, to machetes & a sickle and axes and tools, to clothing & shoes, sunglasses, candy & cookies, to electronic items, to various types of meats hanging from the ceiling. I had no expectations, so I got easily excited, even about the ride in the vintage safari-style bus... complete with canvas roof and very bumpy riding conditions on a dirt road. There was alot of dust in the air and my eyes were beginning to water, but that's all part of the experience. The trees and shrubs beside this dirt roadway were all covered in a light layer of dust. We'd cross small rivers on a one lane bridge, and the truck bounced back and forth as it regained its point of center. However, it was noticably clean, hardly any litter or trash strewn about the roadside ---very unlike the United States, where, sadly enough, litter is common place all over. We again boarded our vehicle and continued forward. Puerto Maldonado is a smaller sized community with the tallest building being 4 stories high. There are *many* motorcycles on the road, with just the driver wearing a helmet (passengers are not required by law to don a helmet). The temperature is hot with some humidity, but not as hot as Miami has been. We exit the vehicle and walk towards our next vehicle::: a motorized canoe. We're told not to change seats once we've sat down, as the shifting of weight could throw off the canoes balance, and topple the canoe. Life Vests are available, they're hanging above us, tucked under the canvas roof of the canoe. The sun is strong, so that covering provides a necessary shield from the intense sun. The boat speeds through the cloudy river, following each bend in the river. We are given our lunch on the boat::: it's a wrapped/rolled banana leaf filled with rice and mixed with finely cut veggies... and it is delicious. We're told we can toss the banana leaf overboard when we're done with it, as the leaf came from the region, and it will naturally break down back into the environment. But hold on to your (plastic) forks! We can dispose of our apple cores the same way (toss overboard). Also in our lunch basket: a fruit drink and Brazilian (Peruvian) nuts. The boat driver slows down and we're told to look to the left... turtles are sunning themselves on the rocks. Cool!!! We see gold-miners, parrots, macaws, and a yellow-headed vulture, and lots of butterflies, We're also shown birds that are flying overhead and near the shore. After a while we reach our destination::: Posadas Amazonas Lodge. In the lobby (an open-air lobby) we're served refreshing lemonade... mmmmm. We're given some simple rules::: don't touch the oil lamps-- only the hosekeepers may do so. Be very careful with candles, never leave a candle burning unattended. Fresh, safe drinking water is provided here in the lobby... feel free to fill your drinking container as you need, this water is boiled and then cooled, and is safe to drink. Please be mindful of your water use in your lodge, the water from the sink and shower is not drinkable. lunch is served daily at 1 pm and dinner is served daily at 7 pm. Do not be late for the meals, or there may not be food left for you. Breakfast times will be told to you by your Guide. Electricity (to charge your camera batteries) is from a generator that runs from 5 pm to 9 pm daily. Between two buildings I see 4 large water tanks that supply our buildings with water for the sink & shower (cold-water) and for the toilet. The rooms have 3 walls and an fllor to ceiling, wall-to-wall window (no glass or screen) that's totally open air to the very nearby jungle. Beautiful!!! Each bed has a mosquito net above it. The entire complex is raised about 1 meter above the ground, crawling bugs and creatures generally stay on the ground and usually won't be a bother. Our first walk is through the jungle to the Canopy Tower. on the way we pass by a large colony of leaf cutter ants, awesome... I saw those on the Discovery Channel hehehe. We arrive at the Canopy Tower, 35 meters high with 185 steps to the top. We hear a variety of interesting birds. As the sun begins to set the stars in the sky are very bright (no city lights to obscure their viewing) we also see planet Venus-- really bright. On our return we seee a coiled venomous Green Viper snake. The night is REALLY dark, and we see a zillion stars... and it is stunningly quiet !!! The next morning I woke up at 4:14... wide awake... so I get up. I heard a sound sort of like a distant motor (chain saw) or something motorized... but not a smooth-running motor. As I walked to the lobby the sound was gradually getting louder (could it be a frog?)... closer, now, it sounds like two animals growling/fighting. I later find out that it's the Howler Monkey... the dominant males make this sound to mark their territory. We meet Luis @ 5:30... it's just beginning to get light. We walk to the macaw clay licks. Patiently we wait for them to head lower from the higher trees, and eventually they make their way to the clay lick, once they are sure it is safe to do so. ---to be continued---

I recently found this:::

Mountain • Altitude (feet//meters)
Mt. Everest 29,028//8848m Mt. Kilimanjaro 19,340//5895m Mt. Veronica, Peru 18,864//5750m Matterhorn 14,693//4478m Warmiwañusca (Dead Woman's Pass), Peru 13,769//4198m Cuzco, Peru 11,477//3495m Mt. Hood, OR 11,237//3425m Machu Picchu, Peru 7,970//2429m Denver, CO 5,280//1609m Stowe, VT 4,395//1340m

of course, recently visiting Cuzco and Machu Picchu, this caught my eyes.