We were a group of 8 friends which was a just a perfect group!

We began with a night in Lima, a large nice colonial cit y. We toured the historic city, the picturesque coastline and sampled the Ceviche (raw fish “cooked” in marinade.) We stayed in a really quaint hotel in a great location – it was there that we 1st sampled the famous local drink – “Pisco Sours” which were just yummy!

Next, we were off to the Amazon Area and few nights stay at a jungle lodge. We first travelled by motorized canoe on which we were fed a great lunch inside a banana leaf. Once off that canoe we were issued rubber boots and then set off down a muddy trail on a 3 KM hike. Along the way we saw some monkeys, birds and a huge snake. After the hike we travelled once again by canoe the rest of the way, this time being paddled by our guides. Once at the lodge, we went out on boat expeditions and hikes to explore and learn about the local fauna and wildlife. It was very beautiful and our guide was outstanding!

Next we flew over to the City of Cuzco located high in the Andes Mountains. Cuzco is a beautiful colonial city so we enjoyed our time here while we acclimatized to the altitude prior to setting off on our highlight of the trip. Hiking the Inca Trail while it had its challenges, the scenery was absolutely spectacular, our guide and porters looked after our every need and the reward of arriving at Machu Picchu in all its grandeur was simply indescribable!! We are between 50 and 60 so we did have some concerns about how well we would fare on the hike – it may have been the Cocoa Tea (illegal in North America) but we all did fine and were quite proud of ourselves.

After a much deserved days rest in lovely Cuzco, we were off to Lake Titicaca – the highest navigable lake in the world at almost 4000m above sea level. On a crisp, clear morning under a blue, blue sky we headed off on a boat trip to visit the Uros islands where local natives live on islands make completely from reeds. They make boats out of the reeds as well and we got to ride in one! Amazing how some people live in this world!

Our last venture had us heading north to the beach area of Mancora for a well deserved rest just before returning home. We arrived late at night and our driver spoke no English so could not explain where were going and what was happening. We were apprehensive when he headed down a dirt road where all we could see was some fences on one side and a hill on the other. He dropped us off at our resort where a security guard let us in and distributed our keys. There was not another sole awake in the place – a little erie. There was a campfire going near the ocean so we gathered around for awhile wondering where the heck we were. The next morning we awoke and looked out to a beautiful view of the beach and ocean right out our windows and a lovely resort. Mancora offers spectacular, unspoiled beaches boarded by dry desert area. Although, Mancora is growing, it is still at this time, quite undeveloped and quiet. We stayed in a lovely resort with small villa type rooms right along the beach. Beautiful view to wake up to!!

All in all our adventure to Peru was full of wonderful experiences you just could not predict or imagine! An amazing trip of a lifetime!!