We were both thankful for a couple of Sea Days after the long overland trip. It was great to sleep in my accustomed bed, not worry about drinking the water, and being able to sleep in a little! Ron went to the cooking demonstrations with our new guest chef from Peru. Ron picked up some new recipes. I got to attend my watercolor classes. Here are two watercolors based on things we saw in the Galapagos.

Next Morning we traveled by Bus back to the ship from Lima to General San Martin port. Before we left Lima, I wanted to mention that a very special person was due to arrive in Lima in two days: The Pope!

Luckily, we were gone by the time he showed up. I believe that the city’s security would go up about 1000%. As we rode from Lima to the port where the ship waited for us, we saw quite a few preparations for the Pope’s visit… new landscaping spelling out his name, setting up grandstands, etc.

Our trip to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu were amazing, but it was really nice to get back “home”, the Prinsendam!

A 3:30 a.m. wakeup call started our busy day. We started with a quick 1 hour flight from Lima to Cuzco where we were met by our van drivers for the next leg of our journey. We drove 1-1/2 hours to Ollantaytambo to catch our ride on the train to Machu Picchu village. On the way, we saw several women in traditional Peruvian attire (mostly for the tourists), but several other women we saw were wearing garments with traditional accents.

On the train they served us a quick lunch/snack and a mug of Coca tea. Coca tea is an old Incan remedy for Altitude sickness (further refined it can be used to make cocaine). It started to rain during our trip and was pretty heavy by the time we reached the village. We also saw numerous Incan sites most with terraces that are still in use today.

To get to Machu Picchu you have to board a shuttle bus to take you up the mountain. I believe there were 8 hairpin turns to get there and no guard rails for 99% of the way. Sheer drops galore. We finally made it to the top and to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu is probably the largest Incan site in their vast empire. No one knows for sure why it was built at the top of a mountain. But is is magnificent!
Walls with blocks so finely carved they they fit like a glove with each other. Other structures that appear to be temples (no one knows for sure), dormitories, storage buildings, working fountains and in some places running water.

On the hillsides and terraces of Machu Picchu we also saw llamas. Ron tried taking a picture of one of them.

We spent about 3 hours touring the site before the death-defying ride back down the hill, a 1-1/2 hour train, and another 1 hour van ride to reach our new hotel.

Again it was an early day with a quick walk to the Darwin Research Center. Here we saw the process where Galápagos turtles are raised and released back to their islands.

After this quick visit we re-boarded the bus for our final 45 minute journey to the Ferry and the Airport.

We had two flights this day: A 1-1/2 hour flight from the Galápagos Islands to Quito, Ecuador and then another 2 hour flight from Quito to Lima, Peru. We got to our hotel around 8:30 pm that night. Luckily, the hotel was right across the street from the airport.

We left the hotel at 6:00 am for our bus ride to the Ferry and another 2 hour ship ride to the island. There was a chef on board so we got a great breakfast on the way.

About an hour into the trip, we also sailed around another island, Daphne Major (an extinct volcano), where we saw the famous Blue-footed Booby and various other sea birds.

The highlight at Daphne were the giant Manta Rays which swam all around us. Two of them actually jumped about ten feet into the air before diving back into the water. Unfortunately it happened so fast that no one was able to get a picture. After about 1/2 hour we sailed on to Bartolome.

Bartolome is a large volcanic island with hardly any ground cover at all. It was created by multiple volcanos (all extinct) thousands of years ago. However the scenery around the island is terrific. Several scenes from the movie “Master and Commander” were filmed here.

We were able to climb to the top of the island via a set of very well built wooden stairs and boardwalks. Our guide talked about the geology along the way. I lost count as we climbed but someone said if was about 400 steps. Did I tell you that it was hot again? Paul and I made it to the top. The views made the climb worth the effort.

After we descended back to the boat, we sailed around the island in search of penguins with no luck. We had a terrific lunch on board the boat and sailed back to the Ferry for another 45 minute ride back to the hotel.