Almost Gypsy Soul

In May, Military Friend and I went on a really big trip to Peru, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. We visited Cusco, Peru , hiked to Machu Picchu , explored Quito, Ecuador and snorkeled the Galapagos Islands . While I took tons of pictures, my favorite part of returning from this trip is the movie that Wyoming Hunter and I made of the South American adventure. Click here , here and here for my packing lists for Machu Picchu and Galapagos Islands as well as what I would have packed differently.

Quito is a diamond in the rough, a pleasant surprise. I'll be honest after Peru, Inca Trail, Machu Picchu and the Galapagos, I really wasn't overflowing with excitement about Quito. I mean a city is a city right? Wrong. I loved Quito and was left wanting more days in Ecuador! Quito is the capital city, high in the Andes mountains at an elevation of 9,350 feet. Quito is home to approximately 2.7 million people and is known as the cultural capital of Latin America. It's mix of colonial and modern architecture. Its also home to the newest international airport in Latin America. Ecuador is known for its rose exports, which I was very disappointed to not visit a rose farm. A dozen "reject" roses can be bought for a couple of bucks around the city. Other exports include petroleum, bananas, shrimp, coffee, cocoa and fish. The American dollar is the official currency so that was nice! I know how much those are worth! Overlooking Quito from Panecillo Mirador W...

I'm not sure that they call the Galapagos Islands a wonder of the world, but to this girl well, I think I'll refer to them as a wonder of the world. Day 1 was clear full of anticipation. If you don't know what anticipation really feels like google Galapagos Island pictures. Anticipation grew (or turned to anxiety) as we stood in line to board our ship, the Galapagos Legend, and realized that we were the youngest people on our ship.....by 20+ years. Note to self....ask your travel agent the average age of travelers on your ship. I was shocked by the vegetation of the islands....or should I say lack of vegetation. I didn't realize how dry and deserty most of the Galapagos really is. The afternoon we took an introductory dinghy ride to view wildlife in the mangroves on the north shore of Santa Cruz Island. We saw lots of blue footed boobies and other sea birds. A few turtles and stingrays. Galapagos Legend, largest ship in the Galapagos fleet Infamou...

Because I can't pronounce most of the names that I learned nor even begin to retain all the information that I learned on my hike, I'll likely be letting the pictures do the talking for me. The hike to Machu Picchu was amazing, with a capital A! I often found myself thinking that if people don't believe there is a God, then they should come here! And I love our porters, I thought that a lot too! We opted for the 4-day Classic Inca Trail hike. All hikers are required to be guided by a professional company. We chose to hike with Condor Travel and Paul. Paul gave us the advice of not focusing on the destination, but to instead enjoy the journey. He couldn't have been more right.  I can't give a higher recommendation to both Paul and the company. Paul was friendly, knowledgeable, patient, funny and spoke very good English. We followed the same itinerary shown in the picture above, even though yours truly didn't make the picture above....that credit goes to  A...

I'd like to say that I have a really good reason while I deserted you, my dear readers, but I'm going to go with the honesty route....I've been back from the trip of a lifetime for a little over two months now, I haven't slowed down and I just didn't feel like I had all that much to say. I'm a little rejuvenated now and I think I'll try to write, so bear with me and keep reading. So....vacation of a lifetime. Stateside. Lima, Peru. Cusco, Peru. Inca Trail. Machu Picchu. Aguas Calientes. Quito, Ecuador. Galapagos Islands. Equator. Stateside. and it was AWESOME!                                            Cusco, Peru A little city of slightly less than 1/2 million people in southeastern Peru, in the Andes mountains. It sits at approximately 11,200 feet (3 , 400 m). Cusco serve...

Its no secret that I'm not exactly a well traveled traveler. Most of my adventures involve adventures that can easily be classified in the weekend warrior category. Weekend warrior is my comfort zone, but every once in a while I get a little crazy and break out that ole' passport. Here and here I wrote about my packing list for traveling to Peru and hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and cruising in the Galapagos Islands. I told you I would check in when I returned and let you know how well my packing served me in South America. I'm happy to report that I nailed it!.....mostly. Between Military Friend and myself we didn't really need to buy anything other than our treasures to remind us of our trip, but there are a few things that would have made our trip a bit smoother. Peru was a bit warmer than I anticipated. I would have traded in a pair of long pants for a pair of shorts or capris. I might even invest in a second pair of hippie pants (those are those ones ...

You read here what I'm packing for the first leg of our trip (Machu Picchu hike on the ancient Inca Trail), now going to the equator....still packing light. So what did I pack for spending a few days at sea? Camelbak Ante Hydration Pack the same one going with me to Machu Picchu. Its big enough to carry my stuff in and I'll never find myself without water. No dehydration is going to slow me down! Atika Hiking sandals -  These will be good for wet and dry landings. They can go from hiking to snorkeling just like that. I don't want to be wearing any socks on this part of the trip so these should come in handy!   Olympus Tough 860 - waterproof to 50 feet, shock proof to 7 feet and came in a bundle with a 32 GB memory card, case and float strap. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of memory space and batteries. Since my camera and phone are both rechargable, I decided to go with an underwater digital to try to capture the best of the Galapagos Islan...

I'm always looking for a good excuse to buy some new outdoor equipment so of course for the biggest trip of my entire life I purchased a few new items. My rationale? I would have to be packing light for a trip that includes hiking for 4 days, topping out at nearly 14,000 feet (yes, I'm going to be coming close to this bucket list checkmark again) and includes cruising, snorkeling and hiking at the equator. The ancient Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. 30 degrees to 70 degrees. Layers is the name of the game! Porters can be hired to carry some of a person's stuff....sign me up for that. They will carry anything you don't need during the day ie sleeping bag, some extra changes of clothes etc. The weight that you are allowed to have a Porter carry for you is about 11 lbs. Prior to leaving the US of A, I made an appointment at the Travel Clinic with the University of Utah. The staff there was very knowledgeable and helpful in helping me d...