Today is a travel day. We will take our van with Liliana to Puno, about 6 hours away. We pack up, grab breakfast and leave by 8. By then we are the last guests at the Lodge. Apparently most tourists only stay 1 night, just enough time to go to Condor Cross. Then they make the long drive to Puno afterward. Adventure Life arranged for us to have 2 nights at the Lodge instead, and we were really glad they did. While we didn't do a lot yesterday after seeing the condors, it was nice to have time to relax. Our goal is to see flamingos today! Liliana is wearing a pink top and says she will stand in the water on one leg if we don't see any real flamingos! Andrea says she is fairly certain that we will see 50-60 flamingos, and Liliana says to expect more like 5 or 6. We come to a marsh where there are a lot of them, more than 30! We have to cross a field where alpacas graze in order to get close enough to take pictures. The flamingos are beautiful, especially when they open their wings. The color is a bright salmon pink. We determine with Liliana that we are seeing both Andean and Chilean flamingos. She tells us that there is another spot up the road where we might see some more, a bit closer. Unfortunately, it's on a bridge where we're not supposed to stop. We do anyway, and Liliana even lets us cross the road to get a better look. There must be another 20 flamingos here! We can't stay long--the trucks passing us honk their horns and we need to move along--but Andrea was right. We saw 50 or 60 flamingos! When booking this trip, we arranged for Santiago, our guide from Machu Picchu in 2011, to guide us at Lake Titicaca. We thought that we would meet up with Santiago in Puno, but instead he contacts Liliana to pick him up in Juliaca, the largest town in the area, about 45 minutes from Puno. When we arrive at the town square in Juliaca – a very busy, noisy, crowded city -- Liliana tells us to keep a look out for Santiago. I spot him and wave, and he waves back. While I wait with the driver, who has rounded the corner to find a place to pull over, Andrea and Liliana go get Santiago and bring him to the van. It's so good to see him and his smile says that he's happy to see us too! We arrive in Puno, which is much bigger than I expected it to be (population of about 100,000, I think). We hug Liliana goodbye at the hotel and then check in. It's about 2 and we are hungry, so after freshening up we walk to a nearby restaurant for pizza and to catch up. After lunch, we change some money for the next couple of days, and then Santiago suggests we go the market for some food for the family we will be staying with tomorrow on Amantani Island. He feels we should plan to cook dinner for them, and maybe even breakfast as well. This enables us to do something nice for them, fills the time, and ensures that the food is prepared to our standards of cleanliness. Sounds like a good plan! We decide that we will make spaghetti for dinner and cereal and hot chocolate for breakfast. We take a moto taxi to the market, an open-air affair with fresh foods and packaged foods for sale at various kiosks. We buy spaghetti, tomato paste, onions, garlic, a box of cookies and some fruit. Then we go to the supermarket for everything else we need: canned milk, packaged cheese, water, chocolate, etc. We also purchase bags of rice and beans and pasta for the family to use after we leave. The supermarket is exactly like going to Walmart in the States! We are loaded down with bags and return to the hotel to stow them until tomorrow. In the evening we take a cab to see the statue of Manco Capac (the Inca chieftain believed to be a direct descendant of the sun and who rose from Lake Titicaca to found the Incan empire), and then to a city park with a huge statue of a really skinny puma. After a light dinner we return to the hotel and get ready for our trip to the islands tomorrow!
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
2 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
3 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.