TravelPhotos

Machu Picchu

bliew — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 20:56:55 +0000

Machu Picchu itself is a pretty stunning place, and much, much larger than we’d thought. It’s actually so large there’s no way to get a sense of scale while on the ground. So in addition to seeing the sun rise over Machu Picchu while arriving there on Sunday morning, Anthony and I took an extra side trip in the afternoon to climb Mount Machu Picchu. From the peak there’s a 360-degree view, including looking right down into Machu Picchu.

Inca Trail hike

bliew — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 00:41:00 +0000

The 40+km 3+day hike along the Inca Trail is a phenomenal experience. Our Gap group of 16 dealt really well with the altitude, peaking at 4215m (nearly 13,000 feet) on Dead Woman’s Pass. As you can see, in addition to spectacular views all along the trail, even the views from our tents were amazing!

Cusco

bliew — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:46:14 +0000

Cusco is an amazing city, we really loved it. From the gorgeous climate up at 10,000 feet altitude to the Incan ruins a short walk from the city center, it’s a wonderful starting point for hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Tambopata Clay Lick

bliew — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:36:52 +0000

A further 2 hours or so up river, the Madre de Dios splits in two. Taking the Tambopata River fork another 2 hours further upstream led us to our camping site just a few minutes away from the world’s larger Macaw Clay Lick. 4:45am wakeup calls got us ready to hide in the bushes to await the hundreds of macaws and parrots that come here to eat the unique minerals that help them digest their seeds. Also around the area are some hiking trails, where we saw more wildlife, including a few monkeys that had likely never seen humans before!

Tambopata Eco Lodge

bliew — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:12:48 +0000

About 45 minutes by dirt road from Puerto Maldonado is the launch up the Madre de Dios river and a 3-hour boat ride to the Tambopata Eco Lodge. While there is no electricity at the lodge, there is running water and comfortable facilities. Some of the highlights included seeing a family of capybara and a family of red howler monkeys along the river, having monkeys visit the lodge for some banana treats, and night excursions.

Lima and Victor Delfin

bliew — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:28:00 +0000

For our one day we had in Peru, we stayed at Second Home Peru, which includes the studio of prolific Peruvian artist Victor Delfin.

White Mountains – Franconia Ridge Loop

bliew — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:53:03 +0000

This hike has to rank as one of my top 10 of all time. With a very similar overall elevation gain and profile as Mount Washington, this trail encompasses Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Lincoln and has really wonderful views along the ridge. We were once again very fortunate with the weather, although it was intermittently cloudy along the top.

White Mountains – Mount Washington Hike

bliew — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:39:44 +0000

We were very lucky with the weather, it was sunny and quite clear. Although we needed a hat and mittens for a few portions near the top of Mount Washington, overall we had very pleasant temperatures.