Elizabeth’s Adventures

Category: South America

  • Snorkeling and Sea lions in the Galapagos

    The Galapagos. We learned about them in countless biology and history classes. Darwin’s finches, the giant tortoises, volcanic islands, and friendly wildlife. My grandparents took my parents on a cruise to various islands in the Galapagos while my mother was pregnant with me. In a way, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands were my first overseas…

  • Amazon Jungle Adventure

    The day after we explored Machu Picchu in the rain we headed to the airport and flew into the Peruvian Amazon jungle. Our tour started in Puerto Maldonado, Peru. This town is at the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre de Dios rivers, which is a major tributary of the Amazon. We had booked a…

  • Inca Trail Express

    After altitude sickness in Puno the last thing I wanted to do was go trekking. However, we had booked a tour from Cusco to Machu Picchu with Intrepid that included a 3D/2N trek called the Quarry Trail. The first day of the tour we explored Cusco with a guide. The other (all much older than…

  • Lima to Cusco with PeruHop

    Instead of flying to Cusco from Lima we took buses. Why? Mostly because I was scared of altitude sickness and had read it was better to slowly acclimatize. Cusco is at 11,200 feet while Lima is at sea level. The summit of Mt Hood in my home state of Oregon is 11,239. Only 39 ft…

  • Language School in Lima, Peru

    April 2022. The covid pandemic finally seems more manageable. Vaccines have been out for 1.5 years. Omicron has peaked. Travel restrictions have finally started to ease. Now it was time to go on a “big trip”. A “big trip” for me is more than a week or two vacation. It is travel where you have…