South America

August - September 2023

- Peru
- Bolivia
- Chile
-Argentina Read more

31footprints
5countries
36days
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21.8kkilometers
18.1kkilometers

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Traveler South America
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- Aug 19, 2023, 8:59pm
- ☁️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 26 m
- United States California Los Angeles County Westchester Los Angeles International Airport 33.943306, -118.41067833°56’36” N 118°24’38” W
Day 1
Deja vu
August 19, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
So this seems to be a recurrent theme... tried to get out of US and it just wants me to stay! Flight to Lima cancelled so an impromptu adventure around LA...
Made a friend at breakfast, Adam who I hung out with for the afternoon at Venice (was also on the cancelled flight)... saw the canals and beach... and also met a lady from Cuzco who owns a cat cafe there that I shall visit! 😀
All in all a good day if unexpected!
Wish me luck for take 2 flight!!!Read more
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Traveler South America
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- Aug 21, 2023, 4:30pm
- ☀️ 29 °C
- Altitude: 410 m
- Peru Ica Huacachina Laguna Huacachina -14.086402, -75.76523814°5’11” S 75°45’55” W
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Day 3
Sand dunes and sunsets
August 21, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Met the people I will be now travelling with for the next 30ish days... long day on a coach but went to the desert, and did buggy riding and sandboarding... Needless to say sand got EVERYWHERE!!!
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8/22/23Reply
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- Aug 22, 2023
- ☀️ 19 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- Peru Ica Las Ballestas -13.734206, -76.3980913°44’3” S 76°23’53” W
Day 4
Ballestas Islands and Pisco
August 22, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Went with a few of the group to the Ballestas Islands this morning (as one of them described it, the poor man's galapagos 😅) and saw a lot of pelicans, boobies, penguins, dolphins, sea lions and amazing scenery...
I was wildly unprepared, thinking the overcast sky would turn brighter after an hours drive to the boat but it just turned very wet and cold... chose possibly the worst seat on the boat which was the target for sea spray, but it was hilarious... luckily Margaret had a poncho I was trying to sneak under... it worked for half of me!
Rejoined the rest of group and headed to a pisco winerynfor a tour and tasting 🙂 before moving on to see Nazcar lines... so strange to think how long they had been there for!Read more
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- Aug 23, 2023, 4:16am
- 🌙 15 °C
- Altitude: 590 m
- Peru Ica Nazca -14.827442, -74.93713614°49’39” S 74°56’14” W
Day 5
Nazca
August 23, 2023 in Peru ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
Spooky morning in Nazca visiting Chauchilla Cemetary where learnt about a lot of the old civilisations of Peru... there are so many, not just Incas... and saw lots of mummies.
In the afternoon we chilled out and went for a swim and a traditional Peruvian dish... not sure what it is called but it was cooked in the ground and very tasty!
On the night bus in the evening for moving accommodation down to Arequipa... (Harvey and I had a shared enthusiasm for the night bus... not sure the others were as excited!)Read more
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- Aug 24, 2023
- ☀️ 22 °C
- Altitude: 2,350 m
- Peru Arequipa Plaza de Armas Arequipa -16.398693, -71.5368316°23’55” S 71°32’13” W
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Day 6
Arequipa
August 24, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Woke up from none existent sleep on the night bus (yer the novelty wore out) in Arequipa which turns out to be a beautiful city and really reminded me of Spain... except the backdrop of glorious mountains/volcanos...
Had a pretty chilled day just wandering around (Harvey had a baby lama basically thrown at him... was hilarious!), went to a market and found a cute little residential area as well... we all met for drinks and sunset watching before dinner in a rooftop terrace with pretty epic views (and well all were given ponchos as it was quite cold... although they were nothing on Soph and Nicky's!)Read more
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8/25/23Reply
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- Aug 25, 2023
- ☀️ 13 °C
- Altitude: 3,637 m
- Peru Arequipa Chivay -15.636675, -71.60228415°38’12” S 71°36’8” W
Day 7
Altitude acclimatisation
August 25, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
So most the group are battling with altitude at the moment but this tour is organised to give us time before Machu Pichu hike to get ourselves acclimatised... we went to a small town called Chivay and stopped off at various places along the way including lovely little communities for herbal tea and weaving, viewing points of mountain ranges and through a national park where we saw lots of wildlife (and even made friends with some llamas and alpacas!).
When we arrived in Chivay there was a festival happening so obviously saw some of this and went to some local hot springs which was bliss.
In the evening most the group went to dinner where there were some traditional dances shown (including one with whipping! Was the funniest thing when a member of our group was chosen to join in! 🤣)Read more
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- Aug 26, 2023, 7:30am
- ☀️ 10 °C
- Altitude: 1,987 m
- Peru Arequipa Choco Piucirca -15.594245, -72.03976815°35’39” S 72°2’23” W
Day 8
Colca Canyon
August 26, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
Early morning trip to Colca Canyon this morning to see condors...
In the top 10 deepest canyons in the world with the deepest point being more than 4000m deep... we were very lucky to see so many and almost instantly...
Very warm walk to the point - hard work with the altitude (which we are all reacting very differently to)
After the canyon we had a long bus ride back to Arequipa where we had our first group night out (although it wasn't a big night out as half the group were feeling rough)... Had three very strong g&ts and when I got back to my room it was the best night's sleep I'd had since arriving in Peru! Woke up refreshed and with no signs of a hangover! Great!!!Read more
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- Aug 27, 2023
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 2,354 m
- Peru Arequipa Plaza de Armas Arequipa -16.400827, -71.53406216°24’3” S 71°32’3” W
Day 9
Arequipa take 2
August 27, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
We were left to our own devices today, so we decided to see the mummy Juanita and visit a monestry... I don't have many pictures but learnt so much about the incas in the mummy Juanita tour... so interesting...
The monestry was beautiful and huge... very Spanish feel to it!
Another night bus in the evening to go to Cuzco... this one had a lot more space and comfort... Will see how well we'll sleep! I'm having a sleeping tablet!Read more
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- Aug 29, 2023
- ☁️ 7 °C
- Altitude: 4,967 m
- Peru Cusco Pitumarca Vinicunca -13.869903, -71.30297213°52’12” S 71°18’11” W
Day 11
Rainbow Mountain
August 29, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
Arrived in Cusco after night bus and had a quick tour of the area and got much needed washing done...
Had a pretty chilled day, Chino, our guide, took some of us to watch the local football then we had an early dinner and bed...
3:45am start to head to rainbow mountain where we all managed to hike to the summit... altitude made it very difficult but it was worth it... Good practice for Machu Pichu (which is lower altitude but longer!)Read more
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- Aug 30, 2023
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 2,858 m
- Peru Cusco Ollantaytambo -13.258588, -72.26363313°15’31” S 72°15’49” W
Day 12
Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo
August 30, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Packed up all the gear for the r day Machu Pichu hike and travelled to Ollantaytambo via Sacred Valley.
The incas believed that the river that runs through the valley mirrored the milkyway which is why it was sacred.
Saw a lot of old inca temple ruins and infra (terracing on this hills) which was really cool.
Along the way we visited a women's weaving community and learnt about how they made yarn from the alpacas, llamas etc including the dye and how the project they are a part of helps with eduction and betterment of the community...
I think we all bought something from the work they do.
We also stopped off at a brewery - got to love a bit of day drinking... and yer, tried a local dish - guinea-pig... there is a photo somewhere I'll upload if it isn't too grim!Read more
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