After two nights in the Amazon we flew to Cuzco or Cusco, the heart of the Inca Empire. It is also a place where, if one studies the actions of the Spanish Conquistadors, one can feel distain for Colonialism and Imperialism in general, and the Catholic Church in particular (yup). Specifically, for putting churches on Incan buildings, ie. Qorikancha. Or the executions of both Tupac Amaru 1 & 2.

In any case, the center of Cuzco is charming old town, and when we arrived they were in the midst of Inti Raymi and other festivities. And, this would be the first of two visits. In addition to some fine dining (comparing Pisco Sours), we also visited the Chocolate Museum!

On our way to Ollantaytambo (next stop before our trek), we stopped in an indigenous community in the Sacred Valley to learn about their customs and enjoy a local lunch. Many more kinds of corn, potatoes, and clothing items…

OK Scholars, lots of links above. Please peruse them and consider the following study questions…

1. What would it have been like to be a Spanish explorer?
2. What would it have been like to be an Inca leader?
3. How might Inca civilization have evolved had not they been destroyed by the Spaniards?
4. Shouldn’t Spain and other European colonizers return the riches they stole?
5. What should be the statute of limitations on genocide and alleged evangelism?

After our walking tour of Lima, the next day we flew to Puerto Maldonado and took a two-hour boat ride up the Tambopata River to our eco-lodge in the Amazon jungle. These pix include a shot of the river from the plane, the boat ride, and miscellaneous points on a long travel day.

After settling into our accommodations (many precautions about bugs & critters), we took a night walk through the forest featuring tarantulas, other creepy crawlers, and lush botanicals. Dinner pic and some local skulls, etc…

For our full day in the Amazon, we took a hike then another boat ride to see some howler monkeys and various birds, including scarlet & hyacinth macaws. After lunch we went on another hike to a huge tower that rose above the rainforest canopy. Great views and cell reception (called Mom). After dinner that evening we took a night boat ride to see turtles and caimans. No sightings of jaguars, anacondas, or river otters, but good times…

Couple pix of the tower, a couple signs, my little friend whose family came with us, the resort crew, and more boat action…

Just of few of various video clips – best one: #5 – macaws flying above the jungle canopy (may add more later)…

Thanks for watching, more to come…

Our trip started with a two-day stay in an AirBnb in the Barranca neighborhood of Lima. Weatherwise, it was not great, the hood was marginal, and my suitcase didn’t make it for two extra days. But we had some great Peruvian food in local restaurants, walked around the Miraflores neighborhood, and got ready for our tour…

Just after I got my suitcase back from the airline, we moved to our little hotel for the first night of our Intrepid tour. We had an initial briefing with Giscard, then he took us for a walking tour of downtown Lima (including a very packed city bus ride)…

That was it for Lima as we took a plane east to Puerto Maldonado and the Peruvian Amazon the very next day…

Years ago on an educational summer trip to Europe with high schoolers I learned the value of tour guides. Previously, I’d been a solo, do-it-yourself, independent kind of traveler. However, there’s a lot to learn and time is money and why not use the experts if they’re available? Furthermore, so many details are taken care of when one uses a tour company: hotels, meals, transportation, and package deals are often much cheaper than doing it a la carte. And, you get guides who have knowledge and insight that adds so much value to the travel experience. But not all travel companies are the same…

It was on a trip in China before we had kids that ML & I learned about “Intrepid” from our fellow travelers. But it wasn’t until we were on our world trip that we used them for a family tour in Morocco. That turned out to be a great experience for Charlie & Veronica since there were eight kids and six adults in the group. (I’ve got seven Morocco posts, but check out this one.)

So this summer, considering that we had not gone to South America and that Machu Picchu is a big bucket list item, we decided to book a tour with Intrepid. They have several itineraries, but we went with “The Sacred Land of the Incas.” Scroll down to see the map and the day-by-day activities.

Early on in that adventure, my computer glitched hard – the “Black Screen of Death,” and I’ve been unable to post until now. (In fact, it’s currently still in the shop by I’m using ML’s in the wee hours…) But the trip was outstanding! We had two nights in an AirBnb in Lima, Peru before the start, and three nights in another in La Paz, Bolivia after it ended. And we were able to do a one day tour in Panama City on account of a very long layover on our way home.

The Intrepid tour group was great: Giscard was our main guide throughout, but we had several other local guides in various places. In addition to our family of four, there were four New Zealanders (two military gals from the North Island, Kirstie & Charlotte, and a couple from the South Island, Andy & Paul), an Aussie doctor of Lebanese extraction, Vicki, and a fun-loving Londoner of Indian extraction, Mona. We became a pretty tight group and our kids really enjoyed the camaraderie.

This post is also a kind of Table of Contents: Lima, the Amazon, Cuzco (& Ollantaytambo), the Andes (Inca Quarry Trail trek), Machu Picchu (& Aguas Calientes), back to Cuzco, Lake Titicaca, La Paz, and the Panama City layover. Stay tuned…

A lot happens in a day, week, month. Here’s a recap of the last few months of the 2018-19 school year (since my last post).

First up, a field trip to Stanford University thanks to a Library Access grant from the Center for Latin American Studies. In collaboration with Kevin Allen & Jose Perez, we took most of the 11th graders and several others from Pescadero High School. In addition to a great tour by curator Adan Griego, we perused parts of the campus…

There are always a few hikes and nature encounters over the course of a couple months (can you find Charlie & Julian off on another hike?), here are some highlights…

This year, the La Honda Fair included an Art Show which I helped organize and participated in. In addition to some photos, I helped out with the signage. It was the first year that South Coast Artists Alliance put on an exhibit in the old restaurant, courtesy of Charlie Catania…

Both the kids at HMB & Mary Lynn at PES had performances near the end of the school years. However, I’ll have to add those pix later as I’ve been having some computer problems. I want to get on to our Summer 2019 adventures in South America…