Hello from Ecuador!

Day 2: Quito

Updated: June 8, 2026

Despite getting in late last night, today’s early wake up time didn’t seem so bad. We were excited to start the day and the trip. After getting ready, we went to the roof of the hotel for breakfast. We were served coffee, juice, fruit, delicious rolls, and scrambled eggs. Although the roof is only on the third floor, we are able to take in the view of the city for the first time (since it was dark when we arrived last night). After breakfast, we met Santiago right on time at 8:30 am.

Ecuadorian coffee confirmed good

Dogs and cable cars in our future

The first stop of the day was the TelefériQo, a cable car from Quito up to the Pichincha Volcano. The ride took about 10 minutes and provided some nice views of Quito from above. Once we got to the top, we started our hike. On clear days, you can see the mountains in the highlands region, including Cotopaxi. It was pretty cloudy all day, so we never got a clear view of the volcanoes. But hey, that’s OK, we are headed that way tomorrow and will see them up close… take that, clouds!

Not much mirador-ing from up here today

We were expecting this to be an easy loop trail with some gentle ups and downs, but ha ha, no. It’s a totally legit hike. Not to mention the top of the cable car sits at about 13,000 feet in elevation, and the hike goes up from there. The entire trail is very long, goes to the summit of Ruta a Rucu, and back down the other side.

Suggestions for a legit hike

Along the way, we saw a hawk and a few Cara Cara’s. Santiago pointed out the Chuquiraga plant, which is referred to as the Flower of the Andes because it is the only flowering plant seen at this elevation in this area. It also provides nectar for hummingbirds.

Santiago explains the Chuquiraga plant

Flower of the Andes close up

Since our plan was never to go full volcano — and being our first hike in elevation in a while — we took it slow and steady. Plenty of friendly dogs (with their owners) shared the trail and stopped by to say hello. After making it past the radio tower, but not quite the cave, we turned back in order to leave plenty of time to explore the city for the rest of the afternoon.

Kicking it

Descending safely

After the hike, there was no line for the cable car, so we hopped right on. Back at the car, we drove to a parking lot near the hotel to start the afternoon exploration of Quito. The entire city of Quito is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to having the largest and best-preserved historical center in Latin America. We started our tour on Calle de Ronda, a short pedestrian-only street with restaurants and a lively nightlife. This is also were Casa de Las Artes is located. Casa de Las Artes is a small museum showing what life was like in colonial Quito.

Historical Quito

This guy is ready for the World Cup

This sewer lid is also ready for the World Cup

We (but mostly a hungry Jo) decided that the next stop will be lunch. Along the way, we walked on a street officially called Calle Gabriel Garcia Moreno, but commonly known as Calle de las Siete Cruces due to the seven churches on this street. We made sure to count as we passed by.

Our lunch at Lavid Restaurante included an appetizer, entire, and dessert each. We were also eyeing juices form other tables, and Matt ordered a guabábana juice, a sweet and tart, tropical fruit. The restaurant had a great view of the Plaza Grande, one of the town squares were there were lots of vendors and visitors to watch as we ate.

After lunch, walked through street markets to the Basilica del Voto Nacional. The construction of the Basilica started in the late 1800s. It’s built in the gothic style, but instead of gargoyles, they used condors and other local fauna. A Basilica can only be named as such if the Pope gives it that name. We were able to climb to the top of the bell tower and view the church with the surrounding stain glass windows.

The Basilica is church #7 on Calle de las Siete Cruces

View from Basilica tower

Did you know, TWO broken clocks are right FOUR times a day???

Orchids in the stained glass to rep local fauna

When we left, it started to rain. The weather reports were threatening rain all day, so we were prepared. We put on our rain jackets, covered our bags, and continued on. The streets were much less crowded, but the vendors selling ponchos and umbrellas were crushing it.

Next stop was San Francisco church. On the Panecillo, the hill in the very middle of Quito, there is a giant statue of the Virgin Mary with wings. Inside the San Francisco church is the original artwork, only about a foot tall, that was used as a sample of what the statue would be. There is also a larger, human-sized version as well near the alter. We learned about the original construction and size of the towers on the church and how an earthquake hit and destroyed them. They were rebuilt, but made to be smaller.

It rained on San Francisco, but did not pour

That concluded the Quito tour and we were back at the hotel. Santiago went home for the night while Matt and Jo walked back to Calle Ronda (literally a block from our hotel) to find some magnets. Let’s get the shopping out of the way. We found two that we liked and secured our purchase. By the way, if you see people wearing robes and cone shaped hoods (in purple, not white!), it’s not what you think. It’s a religious symbol representing penance and devotion.

Church gift shop item. They know. The googly eyes help, maybe?

As we meandered on the street, the various restaurants were calling out their specials, trying to get you to come inside. Still full from lunch, only one one caught our attention – a place selling cups of something called canelazo for one dollar. Using our limited Spanish, we figured out that a canelazo is a hot, sweet and spiced drink, kind of like an apple cider. Oh, and it has cane sugar alcohol. The women at the restaurant gave us a small sample and we quickly ordered two. This version also added naranjilla juice to give it a bit of a sweeter taste.

Best $1 we’ll spend the whole trip!

Back home to the Alquimia

We walked back to the hotel to enjoy our warm, spiced, alcoholic cider, and relax. Little sleep, busy days, and probably a bit of the altitude has made us pretty tired. Tomorrow we leave Quito and head towards the highlands.

Day 1: Chicago to Quito

by Joanna

Updated: June 8, 2026

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It’s day one and we’re off! It was a hot and humid day in Chicago when we left at 7:30 am, so we were happy to travel to cooler climates. We hopped in a Lyft and made it to the airport in good time. O’Hare was not very crowded and we were able to check our bags and breeze through security — until they flagged Jo’s bag.

Turns out little containers of fruit and yogurt you might make yourself for breakfast are considered a liquid. Or as our conversation with the friendly TSA lady went… TSA Lady: “They didn’t let you take your food thru???” Us: “No, they said no yogurt.” TSA Lady: “Ohhhh yeah. No Yogurt. Can’t do Yogurt!!!” We could have tossed them, but it was not busy, and we were gonna consume them in about five minutes anyway, so we opted to exit security for our snack. TSA Lady also suggested the “freeze your liquids” trick might work on yogurt. Hmmm… would it work on sunscreen?

Pointing at security lines since we didn’t take a train

Eating yogurt in a very empty security line

Having finished our snack and banished any trace of liquid from our bags, we went back through securtiy, said hi again to our new TSA friends, and went to our gate (B10) just a few steps away. We sat down behind some balloons and a table with big light-up ORD letters and a bunch of United employees hanging around. Turns out our flight is part of an unofficial (but supported) United Hub Marathon where about 60 people are attempting to fly thru seven United hubs by the end of the day.

O’Hare dino celebrating United’s 100th birthday

Hub Marathon set up

Soon after arriving at the gate, we were notified that our flight was delayed by about two hours (mechanical issue on the inbound flight?). Since we are paranoid fliers, we still had plenty of time to make our connection in Houston and weren’t concerned once we saw the connecting flight take off. Plus, we figured United had some incentive to keep their 60 Hub Runners on track!

Meahwhile, we relaxed at the gate until the flight arrived and observed/joined in the Hub Marathon party. The United staff made signs and cheered the passengers as they deplaned. O’Hare was hub stop number three, and Houston was stop number four. The plane boarded quickly — regular folk as well as the Hub Runners who only moments ago de-planed. On the way down the jetway, everyone was given a bag of Garret’s popcorn, and each passenger had a first-class style bag on their seats. Bonus.

Hub runner t-shirt showing the route

As it turned out, our row-mate was one of the hub runners. We got to talk to her and learn more about what was going on. Apparently, there were a few people in the group who were not planning on completing all seven hubs, so… I mean… that basically makes us honorary marathoners with a total of two hubs. When we landed in Houston, we were about three hours late, but we still had plenty of time before our next flight.

Our rowmate and her homemade hub runner dress

We strolled up to a Priority Pass lounge which was (surprise, surprise) not letting in anyone other than Emirates first class passengers (Don’t they get enough?!?). BUT! We successfully negotiated entry by promising the desk agent that we would only be there for 30 minutes in order to get to our gate for our flight, and we were obviously Emirates first class passengers if anybody was asking. We took the time to rearrange our carry-ons, and enjoyed some food and drinks.

Who is this guy, Houston?

Lounge speed run

Keeping our promise, we departed the lounge after 30 minutes and made it to our gate a few minutes before boarding started. Everything went smoothly. Boarding was quick, we left on time, enjoyed a tasty dinner (sheppard’s pie and cheese enchilada), watched TV (Jo watched Pluribus and Matt watched Chernobyl), and when the pilot promised BIG turbulence, it ended up being one of the smoothest landings ever. Underpromise, overdeliver!

No hub runners on this leg

Why are there stilettos?

Once we landed and got off the plane, everything was quick again. The line for customs was only a few minutes and we got a REAL stamp in our passports. We got through to baggage claim, and our bags were on the carousel waiting for us. And — as an added bonus — we saw that our previously-booked American flight (that was supposed to arrive two hours earlier) actually just landed.

Future friend

We exited and found Santiago, our guide for the mainland was ready and waiting for us. He drove us to the hotel for the night and we reviewed the plan for tomorrow. Since it was already past midnight, we agreed on a late start of 8:30 am. We arrived at the hotel and immediately went to sleep. Tomorrow, the real adventure begins, starting in Quito.

Made it to Quito!

Time to sleep!

Getting Ready for Ecuador

by Joanna

Updated: June 8, 2026

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School’s out for summer, so it must be time for another adventure! We are headed back to South America, to a country we’ve never been — Ecuador! Land of rainforests, mountains, and Darwinian research. Having exhausted all of the currently available (and reasonably priced) Explora locations, we went with Tierra del Volcán for all our planning and guiding needs. We also consulted with our Youth Corespondent to make sure we hit all the cool spots.

Lily didn’t know she was actually scouting for us

Over 14 days, we will have a highlands, islands, and rainforest adventure. First stop is Quito to explore the city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

First stop, Quito

From there, we’ll travel south to the Cotopaxi National Park area for some mountain hikes, including Cotopaxi (but not summiting this one).

Non-stop, to the middle

After the highish altitudes and large mountains, we’ll hop over to the Galapagos for some warmer weather, ocean swims, and giant tortoises (the real reason for going).

Giant tortoises deserve a beach vacation too

Finally, we will have some relaxation time in the cloud forest of Mindo where we can go birding and visit a chocolate factory (no golden ticket required)

Up in the clouds

Turtle time

Day 16: Colca Canyon to Chicago

by Joanna

Updated: July 27, 2025

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Today is our last day in Colca Canyon and Peru. But on the bright side, we did not need to set any alarms in order to leisurely watch the morning sunrise from our lovely casita patio. When we made our way up to breakfast, we went with the usual… a cappuccino (or two), smoothie bowls, eggs with aji, and — a new twist — farewell french toast! Afterwards, we spent the rest of the morning relaxing and packing until our transportation arrived at 11AM.

The Belmond breakfast we’ve been raving about

Adios, casita

At checkout, the hotel gave us two handmade, embroidered bookmarks with patterns representing the flowers in the area. They also gave us two chocolate condors. The chocolate here is very good and we have some bars to take home (thanks, complementary minibar!).

Chocondor!

Froiland and Jorge (our same driver and guide team from Wednesday) stashed our luggage in the trunk of the car and we were off. We requested one stop in Chivay — at the same alpaca store we stopped before — in order to use our last remaining soles on some 100% alpaca yarn. Jo will be making a cardigan with the yarn haul (but don’t worry Cordwood, not for Matt).

Alpaca yarn lady comes up clutch

With that task accomplished, the drive proceed south from Chivay, ascending back toward the high pass thru the Andean desert landscape. A great opportunity to view the scenery — or nap. Dealer’s choice.

Up, up and away from Chivay

Back to the high life

The farewell committee

Volcan Misti is shrouded today

Pit stop at Sumaq…

… For one more Misti mate

We already got our yarn, relax bro

Not long after our pit stop, we re-joined the main road, and after ~15 minutes, traffic came to a halt. As we observed a few days ago, this main road features a significant amount of truck traffic (given the heavy influence of the mining industry in this part of the country). Well, sometimes high Andean desert roads and large trucks don’t mix. Turns out there was an accident on one of the hairpin turns ahead of us and a truck was blocking the road. Traffic came to a halt in both directions for ~30 minutes. People getting out of their cars and wandering down the road to see what was going on.

Well that’s not great

Jorge told us he’s seen delays like this take up to 3+ hours, which, would obviously put a small wrench in our travel plans. Fortunately, the police were already on the scene (it takes about 45 minutes to get here) and were clearing the road. With what appeared to be an assist from another truck, the jackkniffed semi was relocated to the side of the road. Soon enough we were back on our way (barring the moronic drivers who were now trying to pass on a two-lane road).

Cement factory outside Arequipa looks sci-fi

From that drama to the outskirts of Arequipa, it was mostly smooth sailing. There was some Saturday afternoon market traffic to contend with, and the occasional double-parked van straight-up blocking the road, but nothing too bad. We had allotted four hours for a three-hour ride, so we ended up getting to the airport right on time. Jorge helped us check in and directed us on which way to go. We navigated through security and found another functioning Priority Pass lounge in the lower-level to hang out in until boarding. We had some light snacks and water before heading back up to the gate.

Not jackkniffed, just jackass

We made it AQP!

The flight to Lima went well, as expected in our super-fancy premium economy seats. Well, the kicking and loud kids right behind us weren’t so great. But the sun was setting and we got some nice views out the window. Pro tip for you fancy LATAM fliers: go with the second row (not first) in premium economy so you don’t have to put your personal bag overhead for takeoff and landing. Also, moveable armrests.

Premium economy influencer

Good bye South American sunset

When we landed in Lima (at their brand-spanking new airport, once again), we deplaned on the tarmac and took a shuttle bus to baggage claim. Not exactly sure why the plane couldn’t pull another 20 feet forward to the jetway, but we’re guessing it has to do with the “brand-spanking new airport” part. In any case, we collected our bags and proceeded to the international terminal check-in on floor 3.

LIM so new, the jetways are still TBA

We found the American Airlines counter and the self-check in kiosks. An AA employee helped us print our boarding passes and the bag tags and directed us to the right line. Appreciate the help, but we might need to have a chat with all these airport/airline employees also touching our selection screen for us. Knock it off! Also appreciated is the fact American Airlines does not have a 3-hour restriction on accepting your checked bags. We were ~4.5 hours early for our 11:45PM flight but we were able to check-in, pass security, and clear customs right away.

One thing you can’t do more than 3 hours ahead of your flight is get in “THE CLUB LIM” which is the Priority Pass lounge in the new airport. So, we sat on the floor outside the club to kill the time before we were allowed to enter. Our sad puppy-dog faces apparently did not faze them. Once inside, life was good. We found some comfy captain-chair seats and enjoyed a very tasty dinner spread with cocktails (last hurrah pisco sours!) while working on the blog.

Please sir, can we check in yet, sir?

Finally clubbing at the LIM

After enjoying the lounge for a couple hours, we made our way to the gate. On the way, we sorta noticed some huge crowds as we passed the security/immigration hall. Then we heard an announcement informing all passengers of regrets about some sort of electronic system delays in the airport. Ok, strange, but whatever. We made it to our gate with perfect timing, and immediately strolled onto the plane when our group was called a minute later. Everything seemed a-ok here! Of course, this is an international flight to the US, so raccoon security was in full effect to jack with all your stuff (like American Kestrel feathers in your hat). So, so stupid (Matt is right).

Anyways, we boarded and there were a ton of open seats all around us. We were plotting what to do with all the extra space, but as it turned out, boarding was not complete. Due to that security system crash, American was kindly waiting to depart, as a good chuck of passengers were slowed down by the near-riot in customs when the computers went down. The girl who eventually joined our row recounted the harrowing story. In the end, the pilot said one additional passenger “opted” not to take the flight (not sure how voluntary that was, lol), so they needed an extra 10 minutes to pull their luggage. Not long after that, the plane took off and were on our way to Miami.

After a small dose of blogging, we slept most of the overnight flight . Even with the delay, we were only about 10 minutes late. But the Miami airport is comically large, and we still needed to hoof it to make our connection. First, a walk to the tram. Then a tram to customs. Then Global Entry thru customs. Then pick up our bags. Then re-drop our bags. Then TSA pre-check, but everybody and their grandma now has TSA pre-check, so really just TSA. Finally, we cleared security and got to our gate five minutes before boarding. I guess another way of looking at it is… PERFECT TIMING!

Look, I only start the boarding music (previous flight), not the Exit Row PRAM

From Miami to Chicago, it was all academic. We landed, picked up our bags and hailed the next taxi. This taxi driver did not have a death wish like the guy who picked us up from O’Hare in March. Instead, he drove like a normal person and — being Sunday — was even listening to “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” Good stuff. Another great trip in the books!

Day 15: Cruz del Cóndor

by Joanna

Updated: July 28, 2025

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We were tempted to do nothing today, but wisened-up and realized we didn’t travel all the way to Colca Canyon to NOT afford the final one-hour drive west to Mirador Cruz del Cóndor — a popular site for watching Andean Condors in action. We figured even if the condors didn’t cooperate, we’d still enjoy getting the spectacular views deeper into the canyon. The best time to see the condors is in the morning, and that’s when the Belmond offers the excursion, so be it… that’s when we’ll go.

Informing Wida of our Condor plans

But first, breakfast! Now that we know the secrets of the kitchen menu, we didn’t bother with the buffet (except for some mango) and went straight to our favorites… ordering cappuccinos, eggs benedict with the spicy aji sauce, a fruit smoothie bowl, and the green apple quinoa porridge. We finished right on time and headed over to the reception desk for our 8AM departure.

All aboard the Belmond Condor Party Bus!

Once again, we were the only guests on our excursion today. The drive to Mirador Cruz del Condor took a little under an hour. As we approached the lookout, we stopped at the park entrance to purchase our tickets. They have a well-run system, with workers running up to your vehicle, collecting your money, running to the ticket booth, and running back with your tickets. After a few more minutes of driving along the canyon, our driver Luis parked along the side of the road near the lookout. The Belmond’s decision to decorate their condor van is very smart, because every other vehicle parked along the road was one of those omni-present white “Service Turistico” vans. We were free to roam and return when we were finished.

Immediately after getting out of the van, there were condors. A park ranger pointed us towards a group of people watching a couple condors sitting very close to the edge of the lookout. Despite the crowds, we still got a great view (being tall goes a long way in Peru). We stayed in that first general area for a while as a multitude of condors flew overhead.

Condors immediately spotted

Calling this Condor meeting to order!

A staircase and path led down the cliffside to another lookout area. We checked it out to get some different views of the condors and the canyon. Both looked great. We put our monoculars to good use for excellent close-up views of the Andean Condors in flight. Eventually, with so many condors in the air, we began challenging ourselves to get selfies with the condors. Very Fun.

Lower observation deck

Condor selfie #1

Condor selfie #2

Condor selfie #3

Condor selfie #4

After about 45 minutes of jam-packed Andean Condor action, the birds called it a day and dispersed rather quickly — as did the crowds. Turns out the hotel is dead-on when it comes to the best time to view the condors. We saw a few strays remaining, but even those were on their way out. We used the empty viewing areas to get a few more good looks at the canyon. This isn’t the deepest part of Colca Canyon, but from the viewpoint at 3270 meters, the Rio Colca is looking pretty thin down at 2000 meters.

Where’d all the condors go?

Where’d all the people go?

Two talons way up for Mirador Cruz del Condor

On the return journey, we stopped at a different lookout with more great canyon views. This area was back outside the official park area, so there is more residential agriculture and terracing to see next to the Rio Colca.

Heading east back toward Maca

Passing thru the town of Maca, Luis made a pit stop for us to continue Matt’s search for a 100% baby alpaca sweater. This town is known locally for their markets, so fingers-crossed! The first shop had promise, but no sweaters that fit. Instead, a stone condor was added to our little stone animal collection. We also found a store with a perfect condor magnet for the fridge. Minor victories.

Maca town church

Market street

But we really wanted that alpaca sweater. So we walked down the market, ducking into each store that didn’t look like it was selling mass-produced stuff. We were almost out of shops when we found the sister shop to the one Jorge suggested in Chivay. They had the legit Alpaca, but nothing was fitting. Ls were too small, XLs were not the right style, etc. Before walking away, we tried on one more L, which was surely going to be too small. But somehow, it fit perfectly! Some half-hearted negotiating ensued, and with two charming alpaca magnets thrown in, Matt walked out of the place wearing it triumphantly. And that, dear blog reader, is surely more than you cared to know about our quest for the perfect dark red, 100% baby alpaca sweater. Full-zip!!

Perfect sweater weather today

Luis finished driving us back to the hotel and we had the rest of the day to enjoy the property. Our very busy afternoon itinerary included: feeding the alpacas again at 2:30PM, walking along the canyon trail, wandering through the vegetable garden, and watching the Peruvian Paso Horse “Dancing/Stepping” show in the courtyard — featuring Pascual riding Bailarine (Jo’s horse from yesterday)!

Wida! I just got this awesome baby alpaca sweater!!!!

We also walked through the spa to check out the pool, but it was a bit cloudy today, and without that completely unobstructed midday sunshine from the last couple days, it now makes sense why all the locals say it’s cold. So we decided against a swim. Back to the house it is!

Condor keychain

Today’s complementary Belmond activity was a pisco tasting at 7PM. Today is Friday, so several more guests have arrived and there were 10 of us at the tasting. The word pisco is a Quechuan word for birds. It’s made from distilling grapes (any of eight varieties) in a process that is similar to wine or champagne, but takes extra steps to make it a Liquor. There are pure versions, which are made from a single variety of grape, and blends which tends to be better for cocktails.

The traditional recipe for a pisco sour is 3oz pisco, 1 oz lime juice, 1 oz simple syrup, and eggs whites. Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass and add a few drops of bitters on top. The bartender made one as an example/demonstration, and then had one of the guests make another. The brave volunteer was about 18 and managed to get the job done with some prompting from the group. Meanwhile, the kitchen staff made a pisco sour for everyone else. As expected, it was quite tasty.

We moved over to our favorite dinner table by the fireplace and made our choices for tonight. For Jo, pumpkin and orange salad, quinoa risotto, and an orange mousse dessert. For Matt, shrimp chowder, rocoto relleno, and another crack at ponderaciones for dessert.

STILL Making People Happy CONFIRMED!

We returned to our casita where we lightly packed and lightly blogged to the midnight hour. We don’t leave until 11AM tomorrow morning, so we weren’t too worried about having everything in order before we dozed off to sleep. Good night condors!

Day 14: Mirador de Achomani

by Joanna

Updated: July 27, 2025

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The only item on our agenda today is a horseback ride, with a departure time of 11AM, right from the hotel. So no alarms today! Plenty of time to wake up naturally and bask in the morning sun while drinking espressos and birdwatching. The “peak relaxation” portion of this trip is well underway.

Good morning Colca Canyon

Heading up the walking path to breakfast, we were recruited by a groundskeeper to help feed a couple of the permanent residents — a 45-day old alpaca named Wida and a 4-month old llama named Misky. He handed us their bottles and we delivered. They were very cute and friendly. On the way, we also passed the fish pond, and they obviously needed some breakfast too, so we obliged.

For our breakfast, we enjoyed the typical Belmond buffet options, along with some items from the kitchen menu. We couldn’t resist the eggs benedict topped with a local “spicy sauce” called aji de la casa. It was great — just don’t use too much. We also had a couple smoothie-bowls (veggie and fruit/honey) and an apple cider quinoa porridge, all of which were quite tasty.

After breakfast, we geared up for our horseback ride. At the front desk, we signed our waivers, got our helmets, and met Pascual, our horse guide. Pascual does not speak much english, so the front desk agents helped with introductions until we were geared up and on our way. Matt was riding Cocoa and Jo was riding Bailarine (aka. Ballerina). Usually, when we sign up for horseback rides, they might give you a short lesson on how to hold the reins, how to control the horse, etc. Maybe even do a few laps. Nah! Not this time. Once we were on the horses, we were off! (Don’t worry, we had it under control)

Suns out, Horses out!

The first portion of the ride was up the Las Casitas “driveway” switchbacks to the main road. We then followed the main road west until coming to a path that meandered through farms with bulls and cows. That led us to a different road entering the small town of Achoma. We passed an elementary school, the university athletic field, and a town square with a few shops. After clearing the town, we continued up another set of switchbacks to the Achomani lookout.

Achoma traffic jam

When we arrived, Pascual parked the horses and we walked up to the top of Mirador de Achomami, an Incan archaeological site that probably saw both residential and military usage back in the day. It’s currently in the process of being restored/studied, so there were several very chill archeologists milling about with digging and science equipment.

Archeology in action

Mirador de Achomani

Colca Canyon to west of Achoma

From this viewpoint, you can see up (east) and down (west) the Colca Canyon. To the east (from most distant to closest), we could see Chivay (the “entrance city” to the canyon, where we stopped yesterday), then Yanque (still partying for Inti Raymi until 2:30AM), then Las Casitas (our hotel, not a village), then Ichupampa, and finally Achoma right below us.

Looking east

To the west, we could see the town of Maca, followed by more distant villages of Lari, Madrigal, and Pinchollo. (Although at some point, the “villages” get difficult to differentiate from the terraced farmland.)

Looking west

Once we finished taking in all the natural splendor visible from Mirador de Achomani, we fetched our horses and followed Pascual’s lead back down our 9km track to the hotel.

The Gates of Achoma

Upon our return to Las Casitas at ~2PM, we immediately returned to relaxation mode. The hot tub on our patio was calling our sore hiking muscles, and the bright afternoon sunshine was once again nap-worthy. We also discovered a fantastic cherry-flavored soft drink called Kola Escocesa (aka. “Scottish cola”) which bears that name because some Scottish guy/company started making it in Arequipa with local mineral water in the 1950s.

Goodbye sore muscles

Delicious

Decorative stonewear

Tonight’s free Belmond activity before dinner is canapés and drinks on the restaurant terrace. Fancy! We donned our headlamps and walked over. The staff had just stoked up a cozy fire pit on the terrace. We were the only ones in attendance (we think the other guests checked out), so we grabbed two seats and settled in for some pre-dinner blogging. The very attentive server staff brought us red wine and a Colca sour — made with pisco and cacti fruit. They also brought out fried potato appetizers — similar to a small falafel ball served with guacamole.

Colca sours are also delicious

When the tasty appetizers were finished, we went inside for dinner. For starters, grilled eggplant salad and shrimp chowder. For mains, rosemary sea bass and aji de gallino (with parmesan cheese as per Luis’ recommendation). And for dessert, apple pie and ponderaciones, a traditional Peruvian dessert that “has been making people happy for the past 400 years” according to the menu. It is made with crispy dough dipped in chocolate. So yeah, we’re happy.

Making People Happy CONFIRMED!

Random observation… in the dining room they play Andean music, which has a lot of flutes. But we both stopped and did a double-take when an Andean flute music cover of Kansas’ Dust in the Wind started playing. A few other songs seemed vaguely familiar, but they might have been actual Andean songs.

After dinner we briefly pondered not signing up to do anything tomorrow, and going full lazy/cheap mode. But thankfully, we came to our senses and stopped by the front desk to confirm our excursion to Mirador Cuz del Condor at 8AM in the morning. Apparently, this is THE spot to see multiple condors in the wild as well as an excellent view of the deepest part of the canyon.

Day 13: Cusco to Colca Canyon

by Joanna

Updated: July 27, 2025

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We are back on the road (and through the air) today as we depart Cusco and head to Colca Canyon via Arequipa. According to Google Maps, the trip from Cusco to Colca Canyon COULD be made in about 11 hours via bus, but we much prefer feeling like kings on LATAM, so… 4:30AM wake up call it is. In preparation, we completed our packing last night, so all we had to do was grab some breakfast of fruit and pastries from the buffet. Turns out 5AM is a bit too early for eggs benedict.

Early morning Monasterio Courtyard

We also arranged transportation last night, and the taxi was right on time at 5:30AM. With almost no traffic on the streets (everybody must still be passed out from Inti Raymi), we made it to the airport plenty early and checked in. A bus full of EF students arrived at the same time, but no problem, hello premium economy checkout line. Woo!

Out the quarter door

Only in theaters! And Peru!

We cleared security and found a working Priority Pass lounge in the AQP. Everyone else in the room cleared out to catch an earlier flight to Lima, so we had the place to ourselves to grab some second breakfast. Heading to our gate, we each carried a backpack and duffle bag (as per the rules). For the first time, we were “asked” if we wanted to gate-check our bags, and when we declined, they made us “try” the luggage-size-checker. Don’t they know we are PREMIUM ECONOMY!?!? Anyways, our bags fit easily, duh. Left us alone after that.

We got the whole lounge

Boarding was a breeze (after all the nuns with military babies) and the flight to Arequipa was only about an hour. We also got some great views out the window on the way.

Looking canyon-y

Volcán Chachani (left) and Volcán Misti (right)

Mining is kind of a big deal here

Arequipa’s airport is pretty small, with only two gates. Our bags came out immediately (Matt’s was first and Jo’s was fourth). We strolled outside to meet our pre-arranged ride to Colca Canyon, four hours away. Froiland was our Spanish-speaking driver, and his co-pilot Jorge was our English-speaking guide who provided fun facts and information about the area along the way. There are many large volcanos visible from Arequipa, with a total of 98 in the entire region. Of these 98, 16 of them are active, and eight of those are extremely lively these days. It’s no surprise the stones used in the White City area of Arequipa are made of volcanic tuff and pumice.

Pausing at a shop at the outskirts of Arequipa, we finally caved and bought a bag of coca leaves to try later with Jorge. We continued onward and gained elevation into the Andean dessert region with vicuñas grazing in the vast open spaces along the side of the road. After a couple hours, we stopped at a roadside cafe/tourist trap and drank some very delicious mates with seven different herbs (and spices) including coca, muña, lemongrass, and a cherry tomato.

Andean desert

Vicuñas can drive 55

How to make the Misti mate

Got the Andean desert blues

The drive continued up to the high pass at 4,910 meters (about 16,000 feet). We determined now was a good time to try chewing those coca leaves. Spoiler alert! We’re not huge fans. Unless you want a numb tongue… then they’re great! Not even that sweet coca buzz was gonna keep Jo from falling back asleep for a good portion of the remaining drive. To be fair, Froiland’s musical preference was some serious easy-listening, put-you-to-sleep music.

A real high point of the drive

Lunar Landscape

After traversing the pass and several more volcanoes, the final portion of the drive descended into Colca Valley toward the city of Chivay. We stopped at the town square and Jorge pointed us in the direction of a shop that sells legit 100% baby alpaca products. With a few soles still burning a hole in our pockets, we tried hard to find something, but no luck… for now.

Hey Hey Chivay

Caylloma Province Bicentennial was June 21, 2025

From Chivay, it was only another 15-20 minutes to our final destination for the day — Las Casitas: A Belmond Hotel. Upon arriving via the narrow switchback gravel driveway, we said farewell to Jorge and our driver (until Saturday), and were whisked off to the reception building via a golf cart that travelled maaaaybe 30 feet. Lol. This place is definitely our vacation from our vacation.

The hotel is called Las Casitas because each room is actually your own little house, complete with a fireplace, porch, plunge pool, and an entire bathroom wing. On the way to our Casita, we passed the pond where you can feed the fish, the pond where you can go fishing, and several grazing llamas and alpacas. We were shown about our new house and had the rest of the afternoon to relax with the complimentary minibar (again!).

La Casita

Vacation from vacation

The backyard

Taking it easy for the rest of the afternoon, Matt immediately dozed off for a nap. It’s June, so the locals act like they are freezing, but at 3600 meters with clear skies, napping in the midday sunshine is glorious. Meanwhile, Jo continued exploring the grounds — including the spa/pool, the working vegetable garden, and some walking trails that offered great views of the Rio Colca heading east into the Canyon. Later on, we both continued relaxing on the patio with our monoculars bird-watching. Very excited to unlock this new level of vacationing.

Rio Colca

By 6PM, the sun had set, so we grabbed our house flashlight and made our way up to the restaurant. Prior to dinner there was a complimentary “cooking class” for guests, which was really just a salad preparation demonstration by Chef Mario. But that’s ok. Chef Mario constructed two incredible salads (wielding tongs with the precision of Mr. Miyagi) featuring fresh ingredients from the Las Casitas vegetable garden Jo was exploring earlier.

The first salad was lettuce, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes, as well as the herbs and a super delicious creamy lime dressing. The second salad was grilled eggplant and zucchini with a golden berry honey dressing. Both were amazing and we got the ingredient list to make the dressings at home. When Mario was done with the demonstration, we asked him what he recommended for dinner. He suggested the flame-broiled orange and pumpkin salad as a starter, and the slow-roasted braised lamb for the main course.

Super Mario salads

At dinner, Matt made sure to order those two dishes. Mario was spot-on. Both were great. Jo got trout and pineapple tartare in quinoa waffle cones (amazing) and rococo relleno (a traditional meat dish stuffed in a rococo pepper). It was so tasty and the right amount of spicy. We somehow managed to save room for dessert. Jo got the chocolate lava cake (obviously) and Matt once again asked for Mario’s recommendation. It was the carrot cake, and Mario proceeded to go three-for-three.

After dinner, we strolled back to our casita and quickly went to bed. Tomorrow’s adventure is horseback riding!

Hot-water bladder Alpacas if you are cold

Day 12: Inti Raymi Cusco

by Joanna

Updated: July 27, 2025

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Today is Inti Raymi, the traditional religious ceremony of the Inca Empire held in honor of the god Inti (which is the Quechua word for “sun”). Historians say the OG Inti Raymi ceremonies took place from 1412 to 1535, at which point the Spanish put the kibosh on it (too subversive!). But since 1944, indigenous actors have been putting on a theatrical re-creation of the ceremony each year in Cusco on June 24th.

And whaddayaknow… we’re IN CUSCO on June 24th! We did not actually plan to be in Cusco for Inti Raymi — because our trip dates were dictated entirely by the Explora expedition — but once we learned the biggest festival of the year was going down at the same time we’d be passing thru, we were IN! Even more fortuitously, we stumbled on this information the night before the Teleticket — aka. Peru Ticketmaster — onsale for 2025 Inti Raymi tickets. So at 8AM on Monday, April 7th, Matt refreshed his browser a couple times and scored us tickets to the hottest celestial deity bash in town.

Cusco’s Inti Raymi Festival is a three-part affair — the first part starts at 9AM at the Coricancha, the second part moves to the Plaza de Armas at 11AM, and the third (and main) part takes place at the Sacsayhuaman Ruins at ~2PM.

All the advice we read about the first part at the Coricancha said you better wake up and claim your viewing spot on the street by 5AM or earlier. But thankfully, we’re be rolling in with our Coricancha bleacher tickets, which allowed us to wake up at a normal time and enjoy our standard Belmond breakfast.

Yeah, thank goodness for those bleacher seats

Even though we had tickets, we still wanted to arrive early and enjoy the festivities. Apparently, we were still a little bit too early because the bleachers hadn’t opened yet. With tons of people already milling about on the street, it was hard to determine if there was a specific line for the ticketed folk. One obnoxious lady was certain she was in the correct line and was losing her mind yelling at us. Yikes! When they finally opened the bleachers, it all worked out. We got great seats near the top and there was absolutely no rush. We ended up sitting next to a friendly couple originally from Mexico, who now live in Nebraska, and were actually at Machu Picchu three days ago as well. Go Cornhuskers.

At 9AM, the ceremony was underway. Hundreds of musicians, dancers, and actors in traditional clothes march onto the Coricancha grounds, representing the four different regions of the Tawantinsuyu. After the Incan general (aka. Sinchi) and his warriors secure the premises, the Incan king (aka. Sapa Inca), eventually appears to thank Inti (the Sun god) for the day and his good fortune, while also asking permission to continue the Inti Raymi Ceremony at the secondary locations. (Spoiler alert: It’s gonna be YES!)

Opening Act of Inti Raymi at the Coricancha

Next up, the show moves up the street to the Plaza de Armas. Some people skip the morning show at the Coricancha and camp out to secure their spot. There are no seats or tickets for this second part, so you have do brave the crowds. And holy crap, are there crowds!

Chill Cusco dog says, “you sure you want to go the Plaza?”

Extremely accurate sign at the SW corner of Plaza de Armas

We navigated clockwise around the Plaza thru the mass of humanity. We weren’t really trying to get a prime spot, as much as we wanted to be on the NE side of the Plaza when the second part of the show was over. It took about 45 minutes to walk three blocks. And then another 45 minutes to make it halfway around the Plaza. The entire place was basically a mosh pit. We followed a woman selling food out of a basket who did an excellent job of keeping the crowd moving.

Finally, it got so crowded, we couldn’t move anymore — guess this is where we’ll be watching the show! Our immediate neighbors were a group of Spanish-immersion high school students from Cincinnati. They were cool and brought some much-needed “concert crowd” street-smarts to the table, which seemed to be in short supply among many other pushy people who thought they were actually going get somewhere attempting to pass us in this crowd. We tried our best… “Yo, turn around! Cerrado! Cerrado! Cerrado!” But they’d try anyways, and fail.

Our final Plaza de Armas spot

WKRP in Cusco

In this second part of the Inti Raymi ceremony, the four different regions are once again represented. The Sapa Inca and the current mayor of Cusco meet up in the center of the Plaza. An Incan shaman steps forward and uses some coca leaves to determine if today is a good day for the ceremony (Spoiler alert: It’s gonna be YES!). Then some other dignitaries haul in their khipus (knotted-string Inca recording devices) and the main characters have a riveting accounting discussion in Quechua before they proceed out of the Plaza.

Second Act of Inti Raymi in the Plaza de Armas

Sapa Inca exiting Plaza de Armas

Following the procession’s exit from Plaza de Armas, the show now moves to the third and final location at the Sacsayhuaman ruins located on the hill north of the Plaza. Assuming traffic was going to be bonkers and the fact that Sacsayhuaman was only a 20 minute walk, we opted for the hike. This portion of the festival is ticketed with assigned seats, so we were in no rush. We followed the crowd and meandered our way up to the entrance.

Bienvenidos Saqsaywaman

Second intermission break for the performers

Our seats were in the orange section, which directly faces the stage. We also happened to be directly in the middle of the orange section (thanks Teleticket onsale!). As such, we were sitting RIGHT NEXT to the announcers and camera crew. (Ok, technically there was one seat between us, but the guy in that seat slept for most of the first half, then woke up and left, lol)

Performers start to make their entrance at Sacsayhuaman

The show was impressive. It included another two-plus hours of dancing, music, and rituals. The actors read their lines in Quechua, while the broadcast team narrated what was going on in Spanish, and then in English. In preparation for the show, Matt also found a script (and translated it into English) which was really helpful.

Here’s the Cliff Notes version… First, the band arrives (always rockin’!), then the dancers and the Chaskis (messengers), followed by the armies from the four regions of the Tawantinsuyu and the top general (Sinchi). The Sinchi calls out the Sapa Inca, who then asks each region how things are going. Collasuyu (SE) says bad. Contisuyu (SW) says not so hot. Antisuyu (NE) says great! Chinchaysuyu (NW) says really bad, plus lots of lying, cheating and Spainards. Sapa Inca tells team Antisuyu to perform a dance number to make everybody feel better. Four key ceremonies follow… including the Chica ritual, the Sacred Fire ritual, the Llama Sacrifice ritual, and the Sacred Bread ritual. Then (eventually) Sapa Inca concludes the show and everybody marches/dances off in reverse order.

Playing Where’s Waldo with the Vicuña actor

Inti Raymi Broadcast booth

It was sunny and warm all day, but during the final 45 minutes of the third act, the sun went behind some clouds and the temperatures dropped. People starting filing out of the stands like the Clouds were up 4-1 over the Incas in the bottom of the 8th. To be fair, there were about 3,000 people in the seats (and many thousands more sitting on the hill behind us), so they were probably just getting ahead of the post-game traffic.

We observed the announcers sitting next to us starting to wave and gesture to the actors on stage to get a move on. The english-speaking announcer said that the new actor playing the Sapa Inca was taking forever and really milking the part. Lol. Britt told us later that the actor who previously held the role for nine years tripled his price, so they went with a new guy. Maybe this new guy was just method acting and wanted to look a bit lost when the sun went away. What’s a sun god without the sun?

Sapa Inca exiting Sacsayhuaman

Despite the chill in the air, we definitely opted to stay until the very end. Sure, the Clouds held on for the win, but that didn’t stop people from running onto the field and joining the band on the main platform as they played themselves out with a rocking beat. So we jumped in as well, taking the opportunity to snap some photos on stage and warm ourselves by the remnants of the sacred fire. After security gently nudged us off the stage and out the exit, we made the hike down the hill back to our hotel. Took about 15 minutes — significantly shorter than the hour or so it would’ve taken in a vehicle.

Inti Raymi stage rush

This guy does NOT break character

You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here

Tomorrow, we have an early flight out of Cusco to Arequipa. So upon our return to the Monasterio, we spent some time packing and getting ready to go. We also opted for a snack and minibar-palooza for dinner (plus leftover pizza!). We are fancy, for sure. By the time we finished packing, Nan and Britt returned from dinner and we met up with them at the bar for a goodbye drink. We all decided that Inti Raymi was an amazing experience that everybody should do once, and that once is plenty enough. Quite a day. Farewell Cusco and farewell Nan and Britt!

Day 11: Cusco

by Joanna

Updated: July 27, 2025

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Having no concrete plans for our first full day in Cusco, we happily slept in for the first time on this trip. However, we did rise in time for the breakfast buffet (ending around 10:30am). Our traditional Belmond breakfast is fresh fruits, colorful pastries, and eggs Benedict (plus cappuccinos, obviously). Just for the fun of it, there was also a barista sampling different regional coffees and bottling fresh cold brews to go. Whatever we decide to do today, we’re gonna be awake for it.

Coffee time!

Fully amped up, we gathered our things and ventured out the Monasterio’s giant wooden doors to walk around the city. The hotel is located in the Historic District, just a couple blocks to the east of the Plaza de Armas — which appears to be the epicenter of all Cusco’s pre-Inti Raymi festivities. A large grandstand near the cathedral featured booming speakers and a PA announcer shouting excitedly as a constant parade of groups, bands, and dancers passed by the dignitaries and the rest of the crowds lined up along the streets.

24×7 party here in the Plaza de Armas

Following the source of the parade to the south, we exited the Plaza de Armas and turned left onto the Avenue El Sol, where the endless line of parade participants continued. On this jam-packed street, everybody was getting organized, warming up, and preparing for their big turn into the Plaza. Each group was hundreds of people strong, decked-out in their team colors and festive outfits.

Getting in formation

Warm up the shells

After successfully navigating the crowds and moving at least two or three blocks away from the Plaza, we ducked off the main street and took a couple smaller alleys to reach our primary location of interest for the day — the Coricancha.

El Sabor del Perú!

The Coricancha was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, located at the epicenter of the Tawantinsuyu (which is the more correct Incan terminology to describe their realm, aka. “The Four Regions Together”). Three real quick facts… (1) The temple was dedicated to the Sun God (Inti); (2) Gold was the top interior design preference; and (3) Eventually the Spanish showed up and plopped their Church and Convent of Santo Domingo right on top of it. Rude. And that was after they stole all the gold. Anyways…

Coricancha and Church of Santo Domingo mashup

Coricancha courtyard with symbolic Incan landspacing

We found the entrance and were quite pleased to learn the Coricancha/Convent was open for visitors today (including Nan and Britt, whom we ran into as they were leaving, right outside the gate). After purchasing our tickets and entering the museum, we found plenty of interesting stuff and spent the next couple hours taking it all in — including Incan art, modern art, textile displays, archeological restorations in progress, a wide variety of ornate wooden doors, and even a bell tower to climb.

Santo Domingo Courtyard

Bell tower

View of Coricancha from Bell Tower

Staff putting Inti Raymi props into place for tomorrow

Inti-Inti stare down

One particular item Matt wanted to see in the Coricancha was a modern art piece by Miguel Araoz Cartagena depicting the Seqe System of Cusco. The Seqe System was a series of imaginary lines (“seqe” means line in Quechua) that radiated out from Cusco and “connected” various important shrines, temples or objects called wakas. Think Incan Trip Advisor with 41 different itineraries to check out 328 cool things to do around the empire!

Aside from the fact the painting is cool, the main reason Matt wanted to see this piece is because it’s also the cover art for the “A History of the Inca” podcast by Nick Machinski — which Matt listened to in full prior to the trip. If you are considering a trip to Peru, do yourself a favor and give this excellent podcast a listen as well!

Thanks Nick! Your podcast was awesome!

After our quite enjoyable visit to the Coricancha, we ventured back out to festive streets of Cusco. Jo was on the hunt for an alpaca shawl, with fridge magnets and Christmas ornaments on the shopping list as well. One store took care of the magnets, ornaments, and even a pair of Machu Picchu wool socks for Matt. We also were looking for a Cusco flag (which was surprisingly hard to find). There were lots of little paper flags along the parade route, but even those were elusive.

IMPORTANT! We did find the Chocolate

We continued to walk up and down the streets, shopping and parade-watching. The folks representing the wheat and quinoa farmers team looked like they were having the most fun with their giant wheat hats and quinoa-inspired dance routines.

The Quinoa Shuffle

New Kentucky Derby hats just dropped

Navigating side streets to get around the parade crowds, we eventually found and negotiated for the perfect shawl, as well as a Cusco flag. Mission(s) accomplished. Then we crossed thru the Plaza de Armas to get a closer look at the ceremonial props for tomorrow’s Inti Raymi Festival. It appears Inti is currently shrouded in a Cusco flag until the big reveal.

Band needs a breather

Plaza props are ready for tomorrow

Plaza de Armas parade entering 300th hour (probably)

We considered going to the nearby Inca Museum next, but we stopped by the hotel to recharge (ourselves and our phones) first. It was about 3:45PM when we were looking up information on the Inca Museum to see if it would be worth going, only to find out it closes at 4PM. Well then! That makes our decision easy — hotel pool it is!

Back to the peaceful Monasterio courtyard

All hotel rooms should be double-level rooms!

Technically, the Monastario does not have a pool, but their sister hotel right next door does. The concierge said they needed to call over to make sure there was availability — and there was. When we arrived, we realized they had ALL the availability — we were the only ones there, lol. We forget that people here think it’s cold this time of year (about 70 degrees). But it’s darn-near perfect.

Available to pool

The Monastario offers a free art tour every day at 5:30PM. We quickly changed into some art tour-worthy clothes, grabbed some beverages from the minibar, and joined the fun. Our guide talked about the original paintings hanging along the walls of the hotel from the monastery days, primarily in the Colonial Renaissance style. She noted that Europe was probably sending over mostly JV-level painters to support the cause, so the technical expertise wouldn’t be quite the same as your traditional European Renaissance works (ie. perspectives, body proportions, and lighting effects are sometimes wonky).

But what these artists lacked in skill, they made up for in superb messaging to convince the Incans to adopt Christianity. (Hey Incans, you like family? We do too! Here’s a bunch of paintings depicting the Virgin Mary’s parents! You know, Mary’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. ummmm… Joaquin and Anna! Anyways, Christianity!) Other noticeable Andean influences in the paintings include big earrings, big hair, jungle scenery, and feathers being heavily emphasized with angels.

Weath of knowledge on Monasterio art collection

Classy art tour attendee

We ended the tour in the Chapel of San Antonio Abad to observe the architecture (walls are original, roof is not) and the additional art pieces. Nearly every painting in the chapel featured a cherub in the corner with a mirror (representing justice). But more importantly, each cherub has also been given a wild “staring-into-the-camera” expression. Like, “Get a load of this angel!”, or “Can you believe what this saint just said to that demon?!?”

We worked up an appetite during the art tour, but rather than searching for a sit-down dinner place, we opted to find a nearby pizza place that would let us order takeout. The place we found had a Cubs game on TV and we chatted with some other similar-aged travelers who raved about the benefits of being international teachers. We returned to our awesome hotel room and enjoyed our fantastic pizza and minibar dinner.

Easier to watch the Cubs in Cusco than Chicago

Tomorrow, we Inti Raymi!!!

Day 10: Parcco to Cusco

by Joanna

Updated: November 23, 2025

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Plotting our trip itinerary a couple months ago, we figured today was simply a travel day at the end of our nine-day Sacred Valley expedition. Or better yet, a sleep-in and travel day! Either way, not much was planned, except Explora would bid us adieu at some point and drive us to our next destination in Cusco.

Then during our return to Explora last night, the staff asked us about our plans for today. They mentioned breakfast, a half-day exploration, lunch, our checkout time, and our transfer to… WAIT… did you say “half-day exploration”?!? Heck yeah! We can sleep-in when we are back in Chicago. As long as we are in Peru, let’s set those alarms and get after it. So we asked Brai for his favorite half-day exploration and inquired if Mati would be available as our guide. The exploration was good-to-go, but it was late and the Explora guest/guide speed-dating hours had concluded, so we didn’t hear back from Mati. Only (morning) time would tell.

Walking into the dining room at 6AM today, it was a promising sign when we saw a Patagonia R1-Air Hoody-draped figure sitting mysteriously in the corner like Explora Strider. He tried to make us sweat it out a bit, but we got our guy. “See you at the big map shortly!” Mati said. We’ve won the guide lottery and the day was off to a very good start.

Yapa Cappucino!

Speaking of incredible, Luis was spot-on about the French Toast

After stocking up on Sublime chocolates and stepping over to the big map at 6:45AM sharp, Mati filled us in on additional details about our hike for the day, called Parcco. The hardest part was the two-hour drive to get there, up windy dirt roads for the last 30 minutes. Jo got pretty car sick, and needed 5-10 minutes of fresh air, but recovered quickly and we were on our way.

Welcome to ACTUAL Peru Dry Season™

The hike started at over 4300m with a steep uphill over the straw/grass vegetation we’re familiar with in the Puna zone. Much easier to walk on without the snow. We walked along nature paths built by white tail deer (we saw one!) and pumas (we saw none) until we got to a high point with an unobstructed view all around us. There were zero clouds in the sky and visibility forever. We had a better view of Salkantay on this hike than we did from the Salkantay trail.

Explora guide lottery winners

Picture-perfect Sahuasiray

Picture-perfect Panorama

We continued to hike, walking along a ridge until we reached another high point. We saw more great views of the surrounding hills, mountains, and lagoons. To the south, Mati pointed out his favorite full-day exploration called Huchuy Qosqo (we’ll have to do that one next time). To the west, we could see the Auzangate Mountain Range, quite a distance away. And while Explora’s official “Five Lagoons” exploration is not too far away from this location, we found a “Four Lagoons” version at our feet.

Pointing out future Peru hikes

Puna primary color palette

Hear me out… FOUR Lagoons Exploration

Perfect Parcco day with Mati

Mati remains a huge fan of botany, so he also talked about the various plants we found along the way, including the one that looks like the emoji flower on WhatsApp.

There is definitely a resemblance… 🌺

We grabbed a snack break on a flat section just below the high point and kept a lookout for pumas that have been known to wander and nap in this area. Given our luck spotting Pumas, we were completely safe. We took in one last 360-degree view of the landscape and continued hiking down the mountain, passing hairy cacti we made sure not to fall on. As we got close to the car, we opted to skip the picnic table of snacks and drinks and eat in the car in order to save some time. We weren’t in a complete rush, but we still had a lot to do back at the hotel before our departure at 3:30PM.

Don’t argue with these guys

No Pumas sneaking around today

One more for the calendar

Parcco hike details

Fortunately, our ride down to the valley went much better and Jo did not get car sick. First order of business back at the hotel was using our gift shop credit for a collection of Explora t-shirts and a snazzy teal zip-up jacket for Jo. Second order of business was lunch! We started Explora with ceviche and we ended Explora with ceviche. It’s so good. The server also recommended sharing ALL the appetizers on the menu, and we gladly agreed. Beet pasta, causa de pollo, watermelon ceviche, and caprese salad were all amazing.

One more delicious Explora lunch

After lunch, our third order of business was a mad dash back to our room to pack up ALL of our stuff in time for our 3PM checkout. The later checkout was extremely helpful last night when we needed to go to sleep for our morning hike, but now we had about one hour to re-organize and re-pack. Thankfully, we made it just in time. The staff grabbed our bags, we gathered in the lobby, and awaited our transportation to the Montesario Belmond Hotel in Cusco.

Only Puma we saw today… on our way thru Calca

Leaving Explora is sad, but there is some great news! In a complete coincidence, Nan and Britt are also travelling to Cusco for the next several days AND they are also staying at the Montesario Belmond Hotel. What are the odds?! So, in addition to sharing our ride to Cusco, we’ll get to spend a couple more days with them (if they don’t mind).

Upon our evening arrival to the Montesario in Cusco, we bid our Explora diver farewell and we checked in to the new hotel. As the name implies, it is a refurbished Baroque seminary built in the 17th century on Inca foundations. So yeah, the place has plenty of character. They even presented our room keys in a tiny little treasure chest with a dramatic flourish. We somehow got upgraded two levels to a room with a lofted living room area, a nespreso machine, and a minibar with everything included in the rate. This is an excellent way to ease of pain of leaving Explora.

Montesario has character in spades

300-year old Andean Cedar is courtyard centerpiece

Nan and Britt had dinner reservations at Limo, a Peruian and Japanese fusion restaurant located on the Plaza de Armas, and invited us to join. The food was amazing — as was the company! — and, as a bonus, the restaurant overlooked a parade below. We already knew the city’s Inti Raymi festival was two days away. What we didn’t know was that the entire city has been celebrating for the last 12 days in preparation! We went outside to watch the parade for just a few minutes before heading back to the hotel and immediately falling asleep.

Quebranta tabernero pisco, togarashi ginger, passion fruit, and limo chili. YUM.

We’ve had a lot of early mornings, but tomorrow we have no set plan! Just eat breakfast before it ends, wander around Cusco and see if any of the places/museums we want to go to are open, and maybe catch a hotel art tour later in the afternoon. How relaxing!