I have long wanted to go to Peru and more generally South America. Until this year, my only experience in “Latin America” was a few cruise ports in Mexico. Then, two months ago, I ventured to Guatemala for a long and enjoyable weekend to visit my friend Kyle who has been living there since January. But the venture to South America would be a new continent for me. I have previously been in 20 different nations. Peru became my 21st when I arrived there on Friday, June 28.
The biggest attraction to Peru for me has always been Machu Picchu, which is listed as one of the “new” seven wonders of the world. As someone who majored in history in undergrad and obtained an M.A. in history, with a concentration in Latin America, visiting Mayan (Guatemala) and Incan (Peru) ruins has been a dream for a long time. However, the pinnacle has been Machu Picchu. I have been trying to get there for a long time, most especially over the past five years, but other trips and opportunities seem to have filled my travel destinations. I can’t tell you how many friends have told me they were interested In joining. Then two years ago, I saw my friend Robert Agrusa take a trip to Peru that included an Amazon experience. And I saw my friends Brendan and Randan Steinhauser go around that same month. And just last year, my friend Steve Bierfeldt headed to Peru and hiked the Inca trail. All reported back to me that their experiences were truly amazing. I collected their itineraries and kept dreaming of Peru.
Then last December, I was in upstate New York hanging out with my friend James O’Keefe. I finally got to meet his girlfriend Jessica that night. James brought up our fantastic sailing trip in Greece back in 2015 and suggested that we needed to do another fun vacation like that. I suggested to them Peru and they immediately thought that was a great idea. “Let’s do it,” said James. We immediately got out our calendars. I originally thought going in late May or early June would be best to avoid the higher tourist season in the rest of the summer. But with Jessica being a teacher, we all thought it best to plan something for late June or early July. That was actually more advantageous to my schedule as well.
Within about 30 days, we booked our travels and we started inviting other friends along. A few were seriously interested but not able to pull the trigger. One of my favorite travel buddies and close friends, Marshall Polston, decided he would go. It would make for an excellent college graduation trip for him. After reviewing itineraries from my other friends who had already gone, we put a plan together. We bought our tickets for Machu Picchu in February and over that next month I booked hotels for Lima, Cusco, Aguas Calientes, and Puerto Maldonado. Yes, we added the Amazon experience (near Puerto Maldonado) to this itinerary.
As the trip approached we learned we needed to get some vaccines to travel to Peru: most especially vaccines for Hepatitis A and Typhoid. And for those of us going to the Amazon, we needed the yellow fever vaccination as well as malaria pills. Those needed to all be taken at least two weeks before traveling. I was fortunate to get all my vaccines and medicine from Passport Health in Orlando.
The date we arrived in Lima was June 28; this was James’ actual birthday and it was two days after Marshall’s birthday. James and Jessica flew in from New York late on Thursday night, arriving in Lima around 6:30am on Friday. Marshall and I flew on Avianca airlines from Orlando. We arrived around 8:30pm on Friday night and immediately met James and Jessica at our shared hotel room (which was really a private 3-bedroom apartment) in Miraflores that I booked on hotels.com. Miraflores is a very trendy area, with nice hotels but it is mainly very residential. From the apartment we stayed at, we walked to a nearby restaurant, Pitahaya Bar, for a late dinner. We celebrated the beginning of our trip. For all of us, Peru was a new country, South America was a new continent, and going south of the equator was also a first.
It was hot and humid in Orlando (and it has also been hot and humid for James and Jessica in New York). But where we were it was the beginning of winter. In Lima this time of year, the temperatures range from around 50 to a high around 70. What I didn’t know was that Lima is also very cloudy and overcast for about half of the year – including during our time there. They tell us it doesn’t ever rain here this time of year, but we did notice that it sort of “spits” from the sky from time to time – kind of like a mist.
We didn’t stay out too late on our first night. We got our food and headed back to the hotel. The next morning we all shared that we had each had some very strange and vivid dreams while sleeping in that apartment. These dreams didn’t include Machu Picchu or anything distinctively Peruvian. But I had to wonder why we all had these dreams. Maybe it was the spirits of the Incas welcoming us to Peru. In any case, the dream of making it to Peru had finally been achieved. Our upcoming explorations of Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu, and the Amazon were still ahead and will be detailed in future posts. Stay tuned!