We are getting to the end!

We are back in Huanchaco for a day, the last load of laundry picked up by the efficient lady with the scooter, a last stroll in the little beach town, a last ocean stroll. We are on our way to Lima for a last day at Luis' house. We get there early morning, hang out and assemble Joaquin's trampoline. At lunch we have a delicious ceviche at the corner restaurant and take a last stroll in Miraflores. The last night in Lima will stay memorable, let's just remember that the 3:30 am departure was beyond rough. Love all this trip...my traveling addiction will stay on!

Chiclayo

We decide on going up north to Chiclayo to visit some interesting ruins and a rescue center with still spectacle bears! It is a four hour bus ride from Trujillo, it seems a very easy trip. Chiclayo is small but chaotic, we have a very welcoming hotel owner who take care of us like kids! Next day we take a trip to the Reserva Ecologica Chappari located in a dry forest and we have a walk with a very knowledgeable guide. We learn about nature and animals and the spectacle bears are the attraction of the trip. It is a two hour ride to get back to Chiclayo but nature all around is interesting and we don't mind the bumpy road. Next day we visit the site of the tombs of the Lord of Sipran, the findings of the tombs are in the incredible museum with all the treasures found on the site. Even the kids are super interested into this museum!

Trujillo and the ruins

Well restored colonial town with an amazing main square and some beautiful colorful colonial buildings. Most amazing of all the Casona where we have a finally perfect coffee and superb hospitality. On the surrounding of Trujillo, we visit some impressive ruins at Chan Chan. We learn about the Chimu` and we realize how we should stop thinking of Peru` in terms of Inca! Next day we visit another incredible site of Huaca del Sol y de la Luna, built in the Moche period. Mario takes us around and in the process we learn about Peruvians!

Huanchaco

The south Pacific has a scary charm. Rough and gray at this time of the year but tons of fun for the surfers. We stay at Luis "delicious" house by the beach and we really appreciate to be in a house again! We literally take the day off, Matthias sleeps all afternoon and through the night!

The Atacama Desert

Ready for the departure to the desert, few miles outside Lima and you can smell it, the desert offers all its variety of colors landscapes and I start get in the "desert" mood. We stop at the big dunes of Huacacina for a slide. The site is a beautiful oasis even if it is not very well maintained but still lots of fun! . We get to our location kind of late, the place is exactly what we were looking for and the people at the lodging are very charming and hospitable. Next day we wake up late and we discover the beauty around us, and I can't get enough of this place where I would have want to stay longer so by the time we explore the surrondings it is already midday. We visit the Inca wells and take stop at the miradores to see the Nazca Lines. At sunset we enjoy a beautiful sunset by a pyramid, the drive there is a little though and Luis is getting worried that it is getting dark and the place apparently can be dangerous (go figure it must be a Peruvian thing!!!). Oh well we speed a little and we are on time for the pachamanca, typical dish cooked underground! The ceremonial is as interesting as the food, I am the madrina of the pachamanca which is real the only thing that matters! Next day we are on or way back, with a stop at a hacienda turned into a hotel for lunch. We are back in Lima at a decent time beating Lima's traffic.

The long trip

Leaving the Amazon on a one hour boat ride, getting to Iquitos, waiting forever at the airport and having to change planes, getting to Lima and one hour later getting to the bus to Trujillo and arriving next morning. Forgot to mention that Matthias threw up like 4 times fortunately without disaster. Needless to say we needed a day off.

The River

The greatest of all rivers, the overpowering nature, the tranquility of a serene flow of water, it is low water level at this time of the year, three months ago it was record high and the islands were flooded. We enjoy all the activities related to the area, pirana fishing, nature walk, tarantula hunting...but most of all I just enjoy looking at it and could never really get tired. On our 2 hours boat ride to go to the canopy walk the river had changed colors so many times. It is warm here but very pleasant, can't get enough of this trip. The kids enjoy most of all our visit to the rescue center, those little monkeys were really adorable.

Ollantayambo and the Sacred Valley

It is a Little Inca village with house built of rocks. Our hotel is comfortable and the owner very welcoming. After a very early start we are ready for the Macchu Picchu. The location is incredible, we walk around the ruins and the amount of majestic engineering work is really impressive. We have a beautiful train ride, the kids get front seat and full view. I can stop looking at the variety of landscape even the kids are fascinated, there is no need of electronics to entertain them! 

Cusco and around

What a beauty! A colonial town with a twist of fresh air. Our neighborhood is up in the hill overlooking the old city. The cathedral is magnificent and the palace and everything in between. Alexandra join us for our first tour of the city. The next day we explore the ruin on the outskirts and we spent the day walking. During dinner we experience two black outs and start wondering how will we go up to our dark pedestrian street. I guess we just had to wait for the end of the black out and our new discovered Peruvian drink pisco sour makes the wait really pleasant.

Lake Titikaka

We get to Puno by bus from La Paz at night and it seems uncharming. However our hotel is very pleasant. After a good night sleep we are ready to explore, we visit an Inca and pre-inca burial ground on the top on a hill with a magnificent view of a salt lake lagoon. On the way back we stop to visit a farm and the kids gets excited to see guinea pigs and lamas. Next day we take a tour to enjoy Lake Titikaka...we stoped on the floating island build of straw. Touristic but still interesting. Then we have a 2h30 boat trip to Taquile island. The island has an esquisite flavor with a very distinct population and nature. We climb to the village where we enjoy a magnificent view of the lake...it has a Mediterranean color except for the fact you see the Bolivian mountain with snowy peak on the other side of the lake. On the way down we take another path 500 plus cobblestone steps. We are the last one to get on the boat! Oh well there were too many pictures to take.

The surprising La Paz

With some regret we left Bolivia, La Paz is a city with its own charm. People in Bolivia told us about the provincial air of La Paz. Every neighborhood has its own identity. We experience it at our own expenses a procession in El Alto delayed our departure of two hours. There were big preparation for the independence day that unfortunately we missed, but we saw flags everywhere (apparently imposed by law), lawn and garden manicured and a lot of movement in the markets. There is ton of street life and at no point we felt insecurity. We had lunch in a little fixed menu restaurant where you find all kind of clients: the bag man, the policemen, the old women, the students, the busy professional and us the tourists. The food is good and we got no food poisoning! The second day we go up to a mirador where we have an incredible view of the city and we enjoy in a play area a giant slide!!! We end up have go to lunch at a little place with lots of charm owned by a Spanish guy, hat was able to arrange a quick lunch even if the restaurant was officially closed. You have to love flexibility. Our last day we visit Valle de la luna an incedible canyon not too far from the city. It is a pleasant little walk and we get to see some mariaci filming their video clip on the rocks.

Salar de Uyuni

It is the kind a place where everybody should see before they die...amazing, surreal desert of salt where the blue of the sky and the white of the salt makes you feel in a different planet. We got lucky we had a beautiful sunny day, we had lunch in a cactus island in the middle of the salar. Rarely life gets better than that.  We have a three days tour with an overnight stay in a hotel made of salt and the second night made of desert rock. The view from both hotels in the middle of nowhere is breathtaking. We explore deserts, caves, geysers and  lagoons. The red lagoon (litterally tomato sauce red) being the most amazing and the green having the greatets surronding with volcano on the back. Bolivia amazes me by its beauty, the richness of the land and in a way the fact that people knows that all that wealth goes really in a hand of few or abroad. We see the train that crosses the desert 3 times a week to reach Chile...a train only of minerals. Half jockingly they say that the only thing Bolivians make is baby!!!

Potosì, the top of the world

, We felt the thin air, going up the stairs can be a little challenging, an occasional morning headache but over all the altitude is not as bad as we had anticipated. It's chilly but the sun is warm. We tour the little town and the mint house that tell you all about the history of this land. Silver, colonization, slavery, greed and the decadence of empires.  Next day we are not sure about visiting the mine and in the afternoon we decide to go with a very fun group and our miner guide Pedro. It is really a lifetime experience, as Matthias put it (considering his already long life), we walk 3 km in the tunnel, saw Tio the protector of the underworld, and the miners of course. It is a Friday afternoon at the end of a long week of work, the miners hang out, for their happy hour in the mine with coca leaves, strong alcohol and good companionship. The most incredible that they don't feel the need to get out !!!! They serve alcohol also to their little Tio.

Sucre, the little jewel

The stroll in Sucre is sweet, and the name does not come from sugar but from the name of the second president of Bolivia. The main square is full of life, the temperature ideal and the hotel really charming. We see foot print of dinousaurs and the kids are in heaven. La casa de la libertad is the pride of town. We discover a little homeopatic pharmacy with incredile good cookies made of quinoa and all kind of medicine for the altitude...we are ready for 4000 meters!

Santa Cruz

After a layover in Paraguay we get in Bolivia. We really need a relax and we have the perfect hotel for it! We take a dip in the pool, a little freezing but the sun is out there. Later in the afternoon, we walk to the cathedral square that seems the only interesting part of town. There is a medium town size atmosphere, with people strolling and paying only attention not to get any pigeon poop on their head. We climb up the clock tower to get a view of the city. Next we are ready for another lazy morning, even if not completely with homework at the pool, then we visit the zoo, we see some never seen animals such as giant ant eater...I thought after 10 years of zoo I had seen them all!!!

The Amazing Falls

This is nothing like Niagara Falls, Iguaçu is an experience not to be missed. It is a natural wonder that totally deserves it's title. On both Brazilian side and Argentian side we enjoy every view, every trail. It is the power of the water and the beauty of nature. It is violent and harmonious...can't stop looking at it. Of course Oscar being Oscar is fascinated by the coatis all around. We spot also some very friendly monkeys and what we call capibara but there are actually not.

Drive around Sao Paolo

We have few hours to kill so we decide to take the recommended walking tour of Lonely Planet by car. We don't feel like leaving our car parked with all our luggages. The city is congested, actually terribly congested. Some spots and monument are interesting but overall in a side of Brazil that it is not the most appealing. Well it was good to have an idea but I don't regreat to have spend more time there.

Ilhabela

It is raining in Ilhabela, the chalet do Lala in the middle of the jungle is great, confortable and with good internet connection. Oscar has a stomach bug, good day to recover and stay cozy at home. Next day the rain is over, we explore up and down the island. Cute but I expected more. Mainly there are summer houses, little towns and not much charm, I guess comparing to the rest we have seen so far...We leave next day in the late morning to drive to Sao Paolo and take our plane to Iguaçu Falls at night.

Paraty

Let's mention that on the way to Ilha Grande, once we step on the boat I realized that we left all our passports in Petropolis!!!! Just great...However, if you really have to loose your passport once in your life just choose the guest house in Petropolis where the nicest man run the place. We call him and the passports are secure, however on the way back from Ilha grande we will have to drive back to Rio 2 and half hours way to meet the man and then drive down to Paraty 3 hours down south again! Oh well the day is cloudy ... Because of this little incident we get to our Pousada in the jungle outside Paraty in the dark. The apartment is super cozy and has bay window all over with the jungle around and the noise of the waterfall! You can't get more nature than that! Next day we visit Paraty, Colonial town with huge cobblestone and with lots of charm. I buy a ring that I really like and enjoy the strolling around and visit the fort with a great view of the bay.

Ilha Grande

A real virgin island, the only way of moving around is either by foot or by boat. The entire island is a natural reserve with trees up to the shores except for few unspoiled beaches that we were able to explore through our daily boat tour. I Love the spirit of the place, local tourism and some occasional backpayers at least at his time of the year which makes you feel that no one will find you here. Our bungalow is a little rustic with a mezzanine where the kids sleep, but we have a great view of Abreeu and the three palm trees that welcome us every morning makes the day already a great one.

Petropolis

It's raining in Petropolis, it doesn't stop us for a quick exploration of the imperial town. The mansions are incredible and the town has an alpine flavor. I guess there is a Switzerland in every country. The most unexpected surprise is the hotel/ guest house where we are staying. A 300 year old house where personalities were staying as guests of the grandparents' owner. We are sleeping in Evita Peron room! (Why not!) It is also an educational and rescue center. Just for the house is worth the stop and there is no better experience for a kid to pet a tucan!