- Start of trip and Quito
- Flight to Baltra and underway — our Galapagos adventure begins!
- Española Island, Galapagos Islands
- Floreana Island, Galápagos Islands
- Isabela Island, Galápagos Islands
- South Plaza Island, Galápagos Islands
- Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Islands
- A quick stop in Lima, Peru
- Ollantaytambo, Peru
- Machu Picchu — we finally got here!
- Back to Cusco, Peru
- Back to Lima and end of trip
At this point in the trip, we were pretty exhausted. We had done two weeks of hiking, snorkeling, climbing, etc., last part at altitude. I think it is safe to say that we were pretty done. But after flying back to Lima, we all decided that we were “cathedral’ed out.” Instead, we went to the Larco Museum, which has a collection of over 45,000 pieces of pre-Columbian art. Starting his collection as a young man (after being gifted his first piece by his father), he devoted himself to studying ancient Peru and collecting along the way. What is amazing, is that the total collection is available online for the general public to view (https://www.museolarco.org/catalogo/). And what you see in the exhibits (including the Erotic Gallery) is only the surface layer. When you go into the Visible Storage area, there are over 30,000 catalogued artifacts there. In addition to the collection, the museum has and excellent restaurant that we enjoyed as well as lots of gardens. From there, we went back to the hotel for a rest before the evening’s event.
As I mentioned in the first Lima blog post, this city is a gastronomic delight, hosting two of the world’s top-50 restaurants. We were able to get reservations to the #4 restaurant in Latin America (Astrid y Gaston), housed in a mansion from the 1800s. Everything about the atmosphere, service, and food were excellent; a great way to finish off our trip. But it was time to get back to the hotel, given that we had to leave for the airport at 4 am.
I guess some final thoughts on the trip are in order. First of all, both the Galapagos and Machu Picchu were on our bucket list and both of them proved themselves to have warranted being on there. In both places, being fully immersed in the environments just could not be recreated in movies or TV. You feel it; it moves you greatly, whether through the power of nature to evolve in response to isolation or the power of man to create structures that stand the test of time and through which significant history has passed. The question, then, is doing them together or on separate trips. It’s a tough one to answer. This is a long way to travel for just a week and, since you are in relatively close, proximity, you can do both. On the other hand, both trips are pretty demanding and you squeeze in a lot in 16 days. We did this as an integrated package. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have planned both elements of the trip and took a more leisurely pace to the Peru portion. There’s also more in Peru we would like to see. Having said all that, we feel incredibly lucky to have seen both of these jewels. Increasing restrictions on the number of travelers allowed is happening to both places to keep them from being loved to death. If you want to go to either (or both) of these places, I would encourage you to plan soon.
Until next time!
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I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
