Create your Trip Journal [click here]Our flight left Friday, September 23rd from Jacksonville, FL. We made a pit-stop in Miami and then continued on to Lima Jorge Chavez International (LIM).
From Miami, Florida, USA to Lima, Peru. We arrived in Lima at 4:25 am and spent only a few hours there, by choice, so that we could have more time in Cusco. Having the options to customize our tour, was one of the many reasons we chose Adventure Life to travel with.
Being a native Floridian and used to an astonishing 12 feet (3.7 m) in Jacksonville Beach, FL, we were in for a change when landing in Cusco, 3399 m (11152 ft). We immediately felt the initial stages of altitude sickness, but our adrenaline was overpowering and we were ready for our travels to begin.
We found our guide, Juan easily at the airport. He was wearing the same hat that Adventure Life had sent us, so it was easy to spot him.
He took us back to our hotel to get settled in, shower, and refreshed for our afternoon tour through the city. When we met Juan in the afternoon for our tour, my husband and I feared that we might be touring with a guide that carried a flag and megaphone. To our surprise and delight, we were the only one's on our trip! It was private guided vacation for the two of us. On the tour, he showed us many Inca attractions.
That night he gave us some suggestions for locations to dine. We took him up on one of those suggestions and made our way to La Retama in the Plaza de Armas.
Our time spent in Cusco was great because our hotel was conviently located near the city center, Plaza de Armas. It was a quick walk through safe passages to get to the main square. This made our stay in Cusco more enjoyable, since we didn't have to worry about getting taxis.
Today we met Juan for a trip to the Cusipata section of the Upper Urubamba River. During our drive there, we traveled past terraced fields of corn, potatoes, and other crops.
Once we arrived at the river, we put on our wetsuits, while Juan blew up our raft. To our surprise, we were the only two (plus Juan) on our raft. This was a little intimidating, since we have only been whitewater rafting once before. However, since it was the dry season, the rapids were only Class II-III, which made the 3 person raft easier to manage.
Throughout our rafting adventure, one of the people that rode with us to the river, raced alongside us to take pictures of us rafting through the rapids. This was unexpected, but an awesome keepsake that captured great memories of our rafting adventure.
After the rafting, my husband and I hiked around to capture some of our own memories near the river, while our cook and guide prepared our meal.
After our 3-4 course picnic by the river, we drove back to Cusco to explore the monasteries, cathedrals and other Incan ruins of Cusco.
Today we drove up to Allpachaca, 12,000 feet elevation to begin our biking tour. Before we started our biking journey we visited a weaving demonstration and learned how the villagers make different color dyes out of bugs and plants.
After the demonstration we started our biking tour for 4 hours, around the Piuray Lake. Along the way, we saw local farmers plowing their land and beautiful landscapes. We also rode through local villages.
Once we arrived at Don Francisco's house, all of the camping gear was already set up for us. After we washed up and ate, Juan took us on a short hike through the surrounding mountains and villages, where we saw lots of wildlife and local children playing.
When we returned to the campsite, we washed up and dinner was prepared for us. Again, it was a stellar meal with local flavors and dishes. After dinner, we got cozy in our tent and went fast asleep from our busy day.
After breakfast, we began our trek through the mountains. The hike today was about 8 miles in length and was very difficult due to the altitude. We made multiple stops to catch our breath. Even though my husband and I were are physically active and fit people, the altitude really made us weak. Our guide was more than willing to stop as often as we needed and never pushed us. This made our hike much more enjoyable, since we were able to go at our own pace.
We were able to see amazing views of the Sacred valley and the Urubamba Mountains with glacier tips. We hiked over the pass through the tops of the mountains and down the other side. On the way to Huchuy Qosqo, 'Little Cusco', we walked next to a waterfall and then over the last hill we saw the beautiful ruins and archaeological site. In the backdrop were white peaked mountains.
Our tents were already set up for us again, and they were ready for us to get freshened up and ready for lunch. After resting, we toured around the ruins, with no other visitors present. Later that evening one other group of tourists arrived and set up their campsite on a different plot of land away from ours. So it still felt like we had the place to ourselves.
Dinner was then prepared for us again later and then back to bed once it got dark, so that we could get up early with the sunrise again the next morning.
In the morning, we explored the ruins with our guide and then began our hike to Lamay, which was approximately 3 miles. We descended on a trail through the Sacred Valley and spotted other smaller ruins off in the distance.
At the end of the trail, our kitchen tent was set up for and lunch was just about ready. Again we had an exquisite meal prepared for us. Then we said our goodbye's to our cook, horses that carried our equipment, and Don Francisco.
Our driver then took us through the city of Ollantaytambo, where we visited more Inca ruins. After this quick stop, we continued on to the train station to head for Machu Picchu.
We got great seats facing the back window. It was like our own personal movie landscape. The train followed the Urubamba River towards the Amazon and then to the sacred city of Machu Picchu. It was a gorgeous ride, as we descended from the Andean highlands to the Amazon rainforest.
Once we arrived, we checked in to our hotel and then had free time to explore the city and eat some local food. We had a great meal this night at Inca Wasi. After dinner, we walked down the alleys and found a nice little bar to enjoy another Pisco Sour before heading back to our hotel for the night.
Our guide instructed us on the best time to head over to Machu Picchu, which was early, but well worth it, since we avoided the mass crowds.
Juan showed us all around the ruins and explained the significance of Machu Picchu. After he finished showing us around, he gave us free time to explore on our own.
We trekked up the back of the ruins and over to see the bridge which kept out unwanted visitors and was one of their defense areas.
Once we finished hiking around we headed back down to the valley where the town was on the adrenaline bus ride that takes you back and forth on the narrow rode of switch backs.
For a few hours we wandered aimlessly around the Macchu Picchu Incan ruins. It was an amazing site to explore and one of the main reasons we wanted to visit Peru. This was the 100th year anniversary since it had been discovered.
Once reached the town below, we had some free time to explore the markets near the train station and get some lunch. Then we headed back on the train to Cusco.
The train was again a beautiful journey in itself and entertaining, since the Inca Rail put on a show for everyone with music, and even a fashion show.
Once we arrived to Cusco, we checked back in to the same hotel we stayed in when we first arrived, which was nice because we were already familiar with the area and how to get to the downtown square.
We freshened up and headed out downtown to experience a festival, that had dancing and music in the Plaza de Armas. After the festivities and a few drinks at the Mushroom bar, we headed back to our hotel to rest up for our trip to Puno.
Today we said our goodbye's to our driver and our guide and we headed onto a luxurious bus that took us from Cusco to Lake Titicaca.
We stopped at various locations along the way, one of the first was in a beautiful pre-Incan church with paintings from different eras. Then we traveled to another site with Incan ruins to learn about the structure of the houses and walls.
The bus trip had wonderful views along the way and nearly once an hour we stopped somewhere to get out and stretch while viewing some historic site. Our next stop was lunch, with a buffet and live music. Then back on the bus to a town with a museum visit.
We drove past Juliaca's rubble dirt roads and busy streets and then finally made it to our destination, Puno. Once we arrived, the hotel had a shuttle transport waiting for us and again we got settled into the hotel, cleaned up and then went out to the main drag to walk along the streets.
We found a great little restaurant on the main street, which was very near, or only a couple of turns from our hotel via walking. The restaurant had a set menu, with a few different courses and live music.
After dinner, we walked around the city a bit more and then made our way back to the hotel.
We got picked up and transfered to Esteves Island, where we met the kayak guide. Our guide had an additional person in her kayak to help her paddle, while my husband and I were in the other kayak. We paddled through the reeds towards Uros Floating Islands. This was about a 45 minute paddle. We saw a variety of different birds along the way.
Once we approached our destination on the floating islands, we departed the kayak to visit with a family. This family shared with us how their culture began and how it continues. It was very interesting to find out that when families marry, they tie their islands together and all share the living space. If they ever get separated, they simply cut through the island and float apart. In the middle of their island they had a fish farm, where they were able to harvest fish for dinner.
Once our visit with the island people was complete, we headed back onto the kayaks to paddle our way back to shore.
Later this afternoon, we hiked to the nearby Huajsapata Park, which was atop a hill very near our hotel and Plaza de Armas. The trip up was quick, and we made it to a grandeur view of the city and lake next to the statue of the first Inca Manco Capac looking out over the legendary site of his birth.
After the hike we went back to the town, had some coffee, relaxed and walked around the city.
As this was our last day in Peru and Puno, we took a moto-taxi down to the lake to look through the nearby market and pick up some last minute souvenirs for family and friends back home.
We walked around the lake area some as well, and then headed back up to the city on a bicycle taxi to the main square where a festival was going on. We watched various school march around the square and be honored.
After the procession, we made our way to eat one last Peruvian meal before heading back to the hotel to be transported to the airport in Juliaca.
Overall our trip to Peru was magnificent. It was definitely an adventure of a lifetime. It was nice knowing that all of your accommodations were already taken care of and most of your meals were prepared and ready for you. If some part of the adventure was too much for you, whether biking too strenuous or even the hiking, there was always some sort of back up ready for you.
We felt like our trip was tailored to our liking and it made for a fantastic vacation! We would highly recommend anyone to take a trip with Adventure Life, as we have been looking into a few other trips with them as well. No other travel company comes close to the private, tailored trip like we had. They even made it possible for us to travel by creating a trip based on our travel dates.
