In the Fall of 2002, Christie and Dixie flew to South America where they joined twelve other travelers on an Overseas Adventure Tour. What follows is a summary of their trip.
 

Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Christie and Dixie spend the night at the Hacienda Hotel by the Los Angeles International Airport. Tomorrow the adventure begins!

Thursday, October 31, 2002 — Day 1
Up at 5 a.m. and thanks to Express Checkout, we are on a full shuttle bus and zipping toward LAX by 6. Our flight leaves at 7:50 and we land in Miami at 3:52 local time.

Sunset over the wing of our flight to Lima, Peru.

The flight to Lima, Peru departs at 4:50. It’s dark as we land in Lima and are greeted by Raul Gamarra, our tour guide from Overseas Adventure Travel. A quick bus ride and we are settled into the Sonesta Posada del Inca Hotel in the Miraflores section of town.

Friday, November 1, 2002 — Day 2
After breakfast in the hotel café there is a short meeting where we introduce ourselves and meet all of the members of our group. Soon we leave for a tour of Lima aboard a private bus with Maribel, our local guide. Our first stop is the Rafael Larco Herrera Museum, a private art museum, where we get a history lesson as well as see an extensive collection of pottery, jewelry, and weaving. We stop at the Lima de Antano for lunch.

Next we walk to the Plaza de Armas where we visit the cloister and catacombs of the San Francisco de Asis church before making our way back to our hotel. For dinner, our bus takes us to La Rosa Nautica restaurant at the beach front. We make a quick stop at the Parque de Amor on our way home.

At the Dominican cloister, our tour guide Raul is joined by Thomas, an OAT tour guide in training.

Before lunch, we pose for our first group portrait.

Many buildings present a neat face to the street hiding their true condition.

Saturday, November 2 — Day 3
The 4:30 wake-up call gets us to breakfast on time and we are soon on our way to the Lima airport. We land in Iquitos at 8:40 a.m. and take a short bus ride to the Amazon River where we meet our local guide, Basilio. A fast riverboat takes us on the three-hour ride to the ExplorNapo Lodge in the Amazon rain forest. After lunch we take a hike to the ReNuPeRu Ethnobotanical Education and Research Garden to learn about a variety of Amazonian plants and their uses. In the evening, we board an open boat to explore the Amazon River at night while a thunderstorm races toward us. We are back in our room, safely ensconced in our mosquito nets, before the rain begins.

The streets of Iquitos are filled with merchants and noisy motorcycle taxis.

Guillermo, a young shaman, explains the medicinal use of native plants.

Sunday, November 3 — Day 4
We’re up early and hike to the Amazonian Center for Environmental Education and Research and the Rain Forest Canopy Walkway where we spend the morning observing the vegetation and inhabitants of the rain forest. We are back at the lodge in time for lunch, then board our riverboat and cruise to the Explorama Lodge in the Amazon Rainforest Reserve. At a local Yagua village we see traditional dances, learn how a blowgun is used, and have the opportunity to purchase traditional handcrafts. We relax on the hammock porch until time for dinner.

Basilio, our Amazon guide, and Christie enjoy the view
from platform number 8 on the canopy walkway.

Suspended between trees, the aerial walkway gives us a birds-eye view of the rain forest.

Joan shows a Yagua youngster his picture on the screen of her digital camera.

Three macaws entertain Christie, Sharon, and Phyllis as we wait to hear the dinner drums.

Monday, November 4 — Day 5
Parrots awaken us in time for breakfast. We board our riverboat to search for pink river dolphins. We find them in a small tributary and continue observing wildlife as we cruise downstream for a tour of La Clinica Yanamono, a local medical clinic. We walk next door to a rum distillery and are given a demonstration of the equipment and a taste of the product. We return to the lodge for lunch, then board two small open boats and go fishing for piranha which the lodge chef cooks for our dinner.

The path to the medical clinic is not an easy one.

A one-horse-powered sugar cane press is used to start the process of making rum.

Piranha, although not large, are tasty as Christie finds out during dinner.

Tuesday, November 5 — Day 6
After breakfast we travel downstream to the Yanamono School where the students greet us with song. On our way back to the lodge, we stop at the Centro de Conocimiento Compartido Library and talk to the founder and librarian, Nancy Dunn. A quick lunch and we board the riverboat for our return to Iquitos. At the halfway point, we transfer to the Amazon Queen and complete the trip at a relaxing pace. A quick tour of Iquitos and we are at the airport eating a box lunch while waiting for the plane from Lima. It finally arrives and we fly to Lima. At 10 p.m., a hot shower seems more important than food, so most of the group skips dinner and heads straight for our hotel rooms.

Two teacher assistants and a young student watch our group enter their school.

Nancy and her young helper Freddy greet us at the Centro de Conocimiento Compartido Library.

A floating medical clinic, run by the Peruvian Navy, ties up at a small river village.

Wednesday, November 6 — Day 7
Another 4:30 wake-up and we’re on the plane and off the runway by 7. The flight is rough with thunder storms chasing us all the way to Cuzco, but we are soon checked into our rooms at the Novotel. We have time to get settled before we walk to the main square for lunch. Raul gives us a walking tour of the town including the Qoricancha Sun Temple and the sixteenth-century Cathedral. Several of our group members suffer altitude sickness and stay in their rooms during our buffet dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

Raul leads us to our bus as the Nesquick bunny challenges us to conquer Machu Picchu.

The Cathedral del Cusco was built over a temple honoring the Inca god Wiracocha.

Thursday, November 7 — Day 8
Everyone is feeling good enough to join the morning tour to the sacred spring of Tambo Machay and Saqsaywaman. We receive a lesson in Alpaca and Llama goods at a local factory and participate in a traditional curandero healing ceremony. Back in Cuzco, we have lunch and then pile into several taxis for a ride up the hill to the San Blas artist colony. We tour several studios and museums, then continue to shop as we leisurely walk back down to the main part of town. We’re on our own for dinner and several of us stop at an Internet Café to send email to our families before returning to the hotel.

At the Saqsaywaman ruins, Christie uses sign language and broken
Spanish to communicate with children who are on a school field trip.

Enrique explains the significance of the offering he prepares for the healing ceremony.

Friday, November 8 — Day 9
We’re up and on the bus early to catch the train in the city of Poroy. The four-hour train ride to Aguas Callientes is beautiful as we travel along the Urubamba River. Arriving at the Hatuchay Tower, we have lunch at the Hanaqpacha Restaurant and Pizzeria before heading to the Machu Picchu ruins. We spend the afternoon exploring the ruins with Raul. The shadows are lengthening as we board the bus for the half-hour ride back to town. We visit the local market and do some shopping before the buffet dinner at the hotel.

Our train follows the rushing river to Machu Picchu.

Any time the train stops, vendors sell their wares through the windows.

Large windows in the modern trains keep the tourists busy looking at the scenery and taking pictures.

Afternoon light emphasizes the Inca terraces.

Saturday, November 9 — Day 10
We walk through thick fog to catch the 7:30 a.m. bus to the ruins. Raul takes us to the guard house and the group splits up to explore the site. We hike to the bridge, a good one-hour climb up steep steps and over a muddy trail. The view, when the fog lifts, is worth the effort. Returning to the main ruins, we use a guidebook to find areas of the ruins that we did not see yesterday. All too soon it’s time to go back to Aguas Callientes for lunch at Toto’s Place. We walk around the town until time to catch the train back to Cuzco and watch the sun set from the train. We’re back at Novotel for the night and walk to the plaza for dinner on our own.

The fog starts to clear as we begin our climb to the guard house.

Christie and Dixie enjoy an overview of Machu Picchu as they return from the Inca bridge trail.

There are no lights or guard rails to protect shoppers
at the market when the train comes through town.

Sunday, November 10 — Day 11
After breakfast we ride the bus to Pisac, a colonial town in the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba River. We spend several hours at the Sunday market place and tour the Inca ruins and terraces. Stopping at a private home for lunch, we are served a special meal which includes roasted guinea pig. That evening we go to Restaurante Turistico for dinner and a show of traditional music and dance.

At the scenic overlook of Pisac, vendors sell handcrafts
as women dressed in native costume pose for pictures.

While dressed in a modern t-shirt, a young man bakes empanadas
in a traditional wood-fired oven at the Pisac market.

Dixie and Christie try the roasted guinea pig.

Monday, November 11 — Day 12
Wake up call is at 5 and we’re off to the airport for our flight to Lima. We were supposed to fly to Quito today, but that airport has been closed because of volcanic ash. Raul takes good care of us, getting us on a flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador, and reservations in the Continental Hotel. We have a good lunch on the plane and quickly pass through immigration and customs. We arrive in time for a walking tour of the Malecón 2000 urban renewal project along the Guayas River with Fernando, the local guide, before having dinner at the hotel.

As the bus driver fights thick traffic, Fernando welcomes us to Guayaquil.

The new river front walk is popular with tourists as well as with the locals.

Tuesday, November 12 — Day 13
After breakfast in the hotel, Fernando leads us on a walking tour of the Las Penas area. Soon we’re on our way to the airport and the flight to Baltra Island in the Galápagos. A quick bus ride and we board the San Jose, a 90-foot boat that will be our home for three days. We are given an orientation to the islands by Julio, a Galapagos naturalist who will accompany our group in the park. After lunch, we cruise to Bachas Beach on the north shore of Santa Cruz Island where we spend the rest of the afternoon hiking and swimming. Back on board, we have a group meeting and are introduced to the ship’s crew before dinner.

Bright colors mark the recently refurbished houses in the oldest part of town.

On the other side of the newly erected wall, the true condition of the houses can be seen.

The yacht San Jose, our home in the Galapagos.

Wednesday, November 13 — Day 14
It’s 4:30 a.m. when the sound of the anchor being raised wakens us and we are soon underway to South Plazas Island. After breakfast, Julio leads us on a long walk where we have many close encounters with sea lions, lava lizards, thousands of birds, and other creatures. Back on board, we cruise to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. After lunch onboard we tour the Darwin Research Station and leisurely stroll through the seafront town on our way back to the dock. After dinner the boat starts its all-night cruise to Española Island.

Christie and Phyllis agree the top deck is the best place to check out the shoreline.

Christie admires a Galapagos-style beavertail cactus at the Darwin Station on South Plazas Island.

Julio, our Galapagos naturalist, talks a local tortoise into sticking its neck out for the tourists.

Thursday, November 14 — Day 15
After a quick breakfast, we go onshore at Punta Suarez for a long walk among sea lions, marine and land iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs and flocks of blue-footed boobies, gulls and a few solitary albatross with their chicks. Back on board, we have lunch before setting off for Gardner Island where we make a wet landing at Gardner Bay. We do some snorkeling and view the varied sea life before returning to the boat for a dinner barbecue.

A sea lion shows Don and Verlee the best path to take on Espanola Island.

A blue-footed boobie shows off its colorful feet for us.

A baby sea lion watches us prepare for a swim while its mother takes a nap.

Friday, November 15 — Day 16
During the night we have cruised to Seymour Island and after breakfast we go ashore to watch frigate birds and blue-footed boobies nesting and raising their young. After a quick cruise to Baltra Island we bid the crew farewell and board a flight back to Guyaquil. Fernando meets us at the plane and we are soon checked into the Continental Hotel again. We have time for a tour of the local black market and city market before meeting in the hotel bar for before-dinner drinks.

Frigate birds hover over the San Jose as we cruise toward Baltra Island.

We take one last look at nesting birds before we leave the Galapagos Islands.

The black market at Guyaquil is known for its low prices and absence of sales tax.

The City Market spills into the street, blocking traffic.

Saturday, November 16 — Day 17
We have breakfast at the hotel then begin our return to the USA with a wait for the airport bus. The check-in line moves slowly, giving us the opportunity to talk one last time to the people with whom we have spent the last two weeks. Then it’s time to say goodbye to Raul, our faithful tour director, and board the plane. In Miami we bid each other goodbye as we enter the terminal to find our individual flights. Christie and Dixie board the flight to Los Angeles and soon we’re watching the setting sun as we fly over Arizona. At LAX we are waved through immigration and customs, find a shuttle bus, and arrive home in time for a late dinner.

Glad to be home again, Patty Bear counts the rolls of film we have exposed on the trip.