Bird Watching Day!

Another very early morning!  It's August 12 - 5am start!  We are meeting our birdwatching guide at
6am.  No time to waste!  Getting ready, eating breakfast and off we went!   Our guide's name is William.  When I asked him where his name came from as it's not very Spanish, he told us his mother loved William Shakespeare and so she called him William.  What a great story!

We drove for about 30 minutes outside of Cusco.  On the way, we passed various little villages - each with their own specialty - fried pork, cuy (guinea pig), bread... People will drive to all these villages during the weekend to get what they need.  This bread village is the only place where this particular bread is made.  We were told that if you want to bring a nice gift when visiting someone - is to bring some of this bread!


We arrived at our destination - Lake Huacarpay - We started where it looked more like a marsh than a lake.  We drove around this lake and stopped at all the blinds and viewing spots.  All together we saw 40 species of birds.  My favourite was the plumbeous rail.  It's black with a lime green beak and bright red legs.  Rails and the likes are usually difficult to find and see.  Today was our lucky day as we saw quite a few of them!

Around the marsh parts we also saw wild guinea pigs!  Oh my! They are so cute!  They are all dark brown and a bit larger than domestic guinea pigs.  We are told these don't get eaten as they don't taste very good... After seeing where they live, I wouldn't want to eat one either! They are not grass fed that's for sure!  It would be like eating a muskrat that lives in a swamp... yuck!

After rounding the marsh part, we stopped and walked a while trying to find various birds.  We did see an endemic type of hummingbird: the bearded mountaineer - it's black and white and not easy to see!  Funny story to accompany this bird... William had it in his scope - we could see it very well - but I couldn't find it with my eyes.  So, William took out his laser pointer and was pointing near the bird.  I had just commented on how little butterflies we could see at this altitude when all of a sudden Remi says something like look at that bright green butterfly! It was no butterfly... it was the laser pointer beam!  Oh my how we laughed!

I was getting tired of just standing there.  I decided to walk ahead and see what I could find.  Bingo!  I came across the ruins or the Wari people - a people found before the Incas.  This site is called .  It looked quite different from the Inca villages.  These people used small stones and there seemed to be streets.  I walked around for a while, until the rest of them caught up to me.
Pikillaqta

We continued our tour around the lake where we saw fishermen on rafts made from bullrushes.  Our guide was explaining that these people make a new raft each time they go fishing.  I wished they'd been closer so I could've captured an image...

After going around the lake, William brought us to another site to see if we could find more hummingbirds.  We drove for about 15 minutes to an abandoned hacienda.  A huge property full of ruins from the time of the Spanish invasion.  These haciendas were something else! 

We did find a second type of hummingbird here - the sparkling violet ear hummingbird.  It sure was sparkly!  It's had a beautiful green colour!  It showed itself to us for quite a while.  What a little beauty!

After our birding tour, we headed back to Cusco where we decided to go to the square to find something to eat.  We headed up to a tiny balcony and had soup.  I chose the quinoa soup.  It was good - not delicious.

After lunch we went to explore the city a little more.  We ended up back at the market where we purchased yummy Peruvian chocolate.  When we were leaving the market, we could see a group of dancers and musicians about to perform.  We waited for about 15/20 minutes - we decided to leave as there was still no sign of them moving.  (We had seen a glimpse of them earlier on a different street so we didn't mind missing it).

I didn't write down what we did after that.  Couldn't of been to exciting as I don't recall.  We packed what we wanted to bring on our trek.  Oh and we had a group meeting.  Our real adventure starts tomorrow.  Early bed time!

Day 3

Aug. 11th - another spectacular day spent in Peru!  Today's outing - The Sacred Valley.  It's a pretty incredible place!  This is where much of the agriculture takes place - the Incas used to grow things on the side of the mountains - we can still see the terraces everywhere - although they are not used anymore as they are protected land.  I can't imagine how difficult this would've have been - working the land with your hands, and oxen... Today, much of the work is still done the same way - hands and ox - once in a while you will see a tractor - but only rarely.

We began our journey with a drive to the valley.  The morning was filled with fun activities such as the textile coop and shopping in a market. 

They get all these colours of this "dirt"

The textile coop was a neat visit.  It starts with feeding alpacas some grass - and lots of picture taking of course.  We learned how the wool is prepared - from alpaca to product.  It sure is a long process.  I found it interesting how these women use things in nature to dye the wool.  Beautiful colours can come out of dirt and plants - it's all chemistry!  These women work very hard.

She sits there all day weaving - phew! 

This coop had vicunas and guanacos - two types of wild llamas -that can be found at the top of mountains.  We also caught the first glimpse of a viscacha - the cousin of the chinchilla.  What a fast little critter! 

After our visit to the coop and shopping in their store, we made our way to Pisac - where we shopped some more in the village market place.  This is similar to the market in Cusco - just more "high class" more for the tourists.  We spent about 1 hour here.  Way too long if you ask me... as I'm not a big shopper.

As we were driving to our next destination, lunch, we stopped by a street vendor to purchase a Peruvian delicacy: the "cuy" - also known to Canadians as the guinea pig.  this little village had them everywhere.  People will come on weekends just to buy one!  It takes about 1 hour to cook the little fellow.   These were like spit roasted.  They actually quite tasty but very bony.  Not much meat on a guinea pig!  We were told that on your birthday you don't want chocolate cake - you want cuy.  I think I will stick to chocolate cake. 

 Lunch was served buffet style as a beautiful restaurant that used to be a Hacienda.  The gardens were just spectacular.  The food was not as good as the previous meals...but it was edible.  I'm not sure
why vegetables are usually served cold here... I like my broccoli and green beans hot...

so crowded! 

Going up Inca stairs

Our next visit was Ollantaytambo where we climbed something like 300 steps to see a temple and a grainery.  What an experience to walk where the Incas walked and worked in the early 1400s!  Wow!   It was raining and the stones we walked on were a bit slippery - had to take it sow.  Remi, Vesna and a couple others had enough time to walk all the way to the grainery.  Once at arrived at this end of the path, it was less crowded and so we could take time to take it all in.  There were some pretty steep stairs to take - which I didn't particularly enjoy... but you have to challenge yourself from time to time... which makes you proud of your accomplishments.  Jason and Tracey pointed out these stairs sticking out of the wall - Remi and I took time to do them - that was scary as well!  Lots of tears to be had here!  This place is simply magnificent.  It would've been nice to have more time here. 

We were supposed to visit one more site but we weren't able to as it was now dark.  We drove back to our hotel as we have a very early morning - 5am!  Looking forward to tomorrow! We will be going bird watching - just the 3 of us.

Peru Day 2

It's now August 10th.  I didn't get much sleep.  The bed is hard and not very comfy.  Also, Diamox, the drug you take for altitude makes you pee.  I got up 3 or 4 times to pee.  Each time I felt like all the energy had been sucked out... you would think I would be able to sleep... nope!

Today, we are meeting our guide for the next couple days - Juan.  We will be doing a hike to help acclimate to the high altitude.

Our guide med us at 9am.  We hopped on a van/bus and off we went for our first destination:  Sacsayhuaman (almost sounds like sexy woman)- Inca ruins - just outside of Cusco.  It's a beautiful and interesting place.  This site is believed to have been the center (geographically) of the Incas.  We learned all sorts of information about the site, most of it is gone from my brain already.  I will have to read up on it when I get home. I do remember that it was a very important place - religious, bureaucracy, fortress type place.  you can see a Puma print, a Llama and a snake.  I also learned that the huge stones are the actual ruins - all the little stones are part of the restorations.


As we were touring and listening to Juan tell us all about this place, I could see a group of teenagers harassing a spider.  How do I know?  I could hear them, and could see them throwing a rock at it.  Who would ever think I would come to the rescue of a spider?  Not me that's for sure!  This is exactly what I did though!  I stomped towards the teens, told them off and told them to move away from the poor thing they had done enough harassing for one day.  I don't like spiders, but I can't watch idiots harassing a living creature.  It was a huge spider!  After the kid
s left, I didn't stick around for a photo... now I regret it! Oh well!

Today, we also visited 3 other Inca sites, learning all about each as we went along.  Every place was just as beautiful as the next - each with different reasons of being.  Each sites welcomes you with groups of women and children who either sell things or want a few soles to get their picture taken with you.  We of course took lots of photos!

The mountains at the back...

Cusco is surrounded by mountains.  It's quite spectacular!  We had a glimpse of where we will be heading.  I saw a glimpse because the mountain was in the clouds.  My first thought was oh shit! That is not going to be easy!




After our hike, we had a "picnic".  O.M.G.!!!  Unbelievable!  We drove down this tiny dirt road - switch back style of course.  We arrived to the most beautiful site!  A beautiful white tent set up with beautiful tables - like 5 star restaurant type set up!  This is no simple picnic!  No sandwiches at this picnic either!

We were treated to a 6 course meal - each plate looked like a work of art.  Again, I will let the photos speak for themselves.  There was bacon, alpaca, potatoes, corn, stuffed pepper, fancy drinks, banana bread, it went on and on!  To think the chef is self taught... incredible!  He sure is gifted in mixing foods and making them look unbelievably beautiful!  He makes his own bowl with stones, as he believes what the food is placed on is just as important as the food itself.  Wow... just wow!

After this most special lunch, we visited the old hacienda and off we went to the hotel to relax.  There will be no dinner needed tonight!  Peru really is a country for foodies! 

Cusco -Day 1

It's the 9th of August and we are in Cusco, Peru!  It's 6 degrees Celsius - not what we would call warm!  We find out there is an hour difference with Ottawa.  Not bad!  This means no jet lag!  We will have enough of dealing with the high altitude without adding jet lag!

Altitude is weird.  It's already playing tricks on us!  Walking a single flight of stairs is proving difficult.  It's like an elephant is sitting on your chest.  No matter how deep a breath you take, you feel like you can't fill your lungs.  You feel like you are out of breath all the time.  Everything you do, even very simple tasks like putting on socks sucks all the energy out of your.  I've had a headache all day.  Luckily, it's not a serious headache and Advil took care of it.

Funny enough, the altitude is not affecting Rémi the same way.  He's not feeling any of the symptoms that everyone else is feeling.  He feels exactly like he does at home.  He wishes he'd brought his running stuff so he could go for a run!  Let me tell you, there is NO way I'm running anywhere!  Not even downhill!

When you first arrive in high altitude (Cusco is at 3200m above sea level), you are supposed to take it easy for the first few days so you can acclimatize.  You are to just slowly walk around, taking time for your body to adjust.  So, that's exactly what we decided to do after our debrief with the lady from Andean Lodges.

A group of us decided to walk to the market.  I found this quite overwhelming.  I had a few tears... the smells, the people, the stuff being sold (pig and sheep heads, tongues, feet, you name it they had it), it was just too much for me.  All I could think of was the Superstore... and this market... how can people shop here? Eat this meat?  Then you just get over it.  This is how they live.  This is all they know.  This doesn't bother them.  Don't let it bother you.  It's actually beautiful when you stop, look and take it in.  Simple life...Hard, but simple...




After this overwhelming experience at the market, we walked to the square.  Every town/city has a "square" where everything happens - as we saw on Sundays!  It's really a square with a beautiful garden in the middle.  There was also a big fountain and statues.  It really was a beautiful place!

After all that exercise, we tried to have a nap.  Well, something altitude does is not let you sleep!  I laid down for a while, no sleep came.  I felt like I was burning up, yet when you touched my skin, I didn't feel warm.  I did looked flushed though.  Not feeling feverish, I just blame it on altitude.

We finished our day with a very yummy Peruvian dinner at a restaurant called Morena. Wow! That was quite the dinner!  I will let the photos speak for themselves!  The plating was absolutely beautiful and the food was delicious!

Sophie's pasta dinner - OMG that was good! 

Remi's Dinner

I had chicken skewers

Dessert: Churros

Remi's dessert -inside a cocoa pod

Brownie and ice cream

Sophie's fancy juice

It's late and it's time for bed!  I'm hoping to get a good night sleep!

An we are off!

It's August 8th, 2018. The time has finally come!  Time for our Peruvian adventure to begin!  What kind of journey will we have? How difficult will it be?  How will the altitude affect each of us?  So many questions and no answers!  Only time will tell.

We made our way to the airport in plenty of time.  I have no idea why but airports stress me out.  Even the ones as small as Ottawa's.  Ridiculous I know.  I've been in many airports, nothing horrible has ever happened yet they stress me out.  The idea of a missing a flight or connection... Anyway, let's get back to the point.  We make it to the airport and try to check-in our bags using one of the stations.  The station would not give us a baggage sticker.  Said there was an issue with the passport and ticket names.  Great! Just what I need right now... more stress...  So we visit a teller (that's always better anyway...) No problem - he says it's because it's international flight.  Give him our bags and off to security we go.  No problems there - smooth sailing.

We meet the rest our group and wait to board.  Not very exciting until... I get a text from a frantic Melissa.  They won't let her through as the name on her passport doesn't match the one on her ticket.  Odd as both Remi and I had the same issue and we got through no problem... maybe we will have to stay in Peru?! They've now  giver her seat to someone else (she didn't do the check-in the day before) and so she's placed on stand-by for later flight as we are already boarding.

We get on the airplane, doors close and the pilot comes on the intercom: "Welcome on flight.... I have some bad news for you folks..."  WHAT?!  "Toronto is not accepting any flights at this time.  We will be on this tarmac for 45 to 60 minutes..."  He's kidding right?  And so we wait and wait, having fun taking pictures with our phones.  People are anxious to get out as they need to be in Toronto by a certain time.  After over an hour of waiting, two people get off.  I get on my phone to let Mel know to get on it that 2 passengers are leaving, this could be her chance.  She responds she's been called, she's on.   She's so full of shit!  The good kind!

We ended being on the tarmac for 2 hours 40 minutes.  We are lucky we even got to lea

ve as all other flights to Toronto were canceled. Phew! Big sigh of relief!  The problem now: will we make it in time to catch our connection to Lima.  Originally we had  2 hour layover... we were now left with nothing... Luckily, our flight to Lima was also delayed and we were able to make it in time.  We arrived just in time to board!  Thank goodness!

We arrive in Lima after 8 hours of being in the air, having a 4 year old kid pushing and kicking my

Mel thinks it's Prince Harry

seat most of the way. Fun! said no one ever.  Needless to say, I was not able to sleep.  We landed in Lima, made our way to our next connections - we had to go through customs and change sides of airports- but had lots of time.  

The flight from Lima to Cusco was about an hour I guess.  I'm not sure as I was fast asleep before we had even taken off!  On the flight, Remi woke up just in time to see the flight attendant pass our group quickly and laughing because we were all fast asleep!

I woke up a few minutes before landing in Cusco.  Wow! What a sight!  The mountains are huge!  It's beautiful!  My first impression when we landed was - where are we landing? This place looks abandoned!  Rest assured - it's not.  The city is vibrant and full of life!   Around the airport they are building I guess.  There are no windows and so everything just looks abandoned.

It's pretty darn cold here.  Had to take a long sleeve shirt and my poof jacket out of my backpack.  No wonder we didn't see anyone in shorts and t-shirts!  It's only a couple of degrees.

Well, let's see what this first day will bring! 

Looking forward to my MAC book! Can't pictures where I want on this computer! argh! 

Packing for Peru

It's packing time!  Woohoo!  It's really here!  It's really time to get going!  I'm so excited!  Let's just say that packing for a trip like this is not an easy task!  We do have a list to get us going -which is very helpful! You don't want to bring too much stuff as you have a weight limit.  At the same time you don't want to forget anything as it will make life not very pleasant!  This is what the room looked like before packing... that is only part of the stuff!  That's mostly Remi's and Sophie's things.  For once, I'm the organized one and my stuff is all in my bag on the floor. There is clothes, toilet paper, meds, poles, baby powder for the feet, the list goes on an on! 


Here are Rémi and Sophie organizing their stuff in dry bags.  It might rain and we need to make sure our things stay dry.  We have a bag for our hiking clothes, a bag for our night clothes, a bag for our tp, and other things that can get wet in a plastic type dry bag, a bag for toiletries, and one for miscellaneous.  In mine I have food like protein bars and snacks - just in case I don't like the food and can't find anything to eat.  There is also electrolytes for my water.  In my carry-on -which will serve as my day pack, I have my water bladder - empty of course, shorts, long sleeve shirt, my poof jacket, my rain jacket and pants and my meds... All this in case my bag gets lost on the way. 


Here is my bag - all packed and ready to go.  I just need to add my toothbrush, deodorant and I'm ready!  I hope I am not forgetting anything!  Time will tell I guess!   My bag weighs around 20 lbs - not bad as we are allowed to bring 44 lbs! 

May the adventure begin! 

To view larger image, just click on it!