Krajicek’s Take Peru!

In this story our 2 youngest sidekicks came along for the ride…

Where to even begin?!?

With Peru being such a large and diverse South American country and home to one of The Seven Wonders of the World there was so much to research, look up, consider so of course I did the best I could to prioritize certain experiences but this is definitely a country I will have to see again with so much still left on the table. I’m thinking road trip from Argentina to Alaska is in our future…

What we prioritized:

Sky Lodge. I’m a sucker for a unique hotel experience and Sky Lodge had been on my list of dream hotels long before Peru was in its planning phase. I believe it first hit my radar via Instagram. After looking into it I learned that you have to be at least 15 years old to stay at Sky Lodge but as young as 12 could stay at their partner property Star Lodge and you can package the zip line/via ferrata experience with your overnight stay. Liam is 13 and very comfortable at heights and on ropes so a part of me thought it might be a slightly disappointing compromise but I have to say after experiencing it all it definitely was not. We passed the Sky Lodge capsules during our via ferrata activity and although they may have been higher on the cliffside they were no more impressive than the capsules at our stay in Star Lodge, in fact Star Lodge also provides a cliffside hot tub experience that really rounded out the lovely adventure and ultimately I was glad we were forced into that change! If you want to hear more about our experience at Star Lodge click HERE to read my blog detailing the experience!

Inca Trail/Machu Picchu. The Inca Trail is an iconic hike that follows the original stone paths built by the Inca to connect their vast empire. The trail passes through remote Incan archaeological sites that can only be reached on foot, preserving the journey as it was centuries ago. Taking you back in time in awe of what life in the Andes would have been like. (News Flash: they must’ve LOVED walking uphill! HA!) This historic route ends at the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu, just as Incan messengers and pilgrims once arrived, making it a living piece of history. Conner had recently studied the history of Machu Picchu and was super curious, we deemed the trek the best way to fully immerse ourselves in it. We chose the 4 day/3 night option camping in tents along the route. No regrets! Hard walking is my thing and even better when it ends at such an impressive viewpoint. Due to overcrowding at this site limited permits are given out but if you ask me for my unpopular opinion I think they should consider limiting it even a little more. Anywhere that is deemed a Seven Wonder of the World is going to have a crowding problem so I’m glad we made sure the journey was the point, not the destination! If you are interested in experiencing this wonder I encourage you to be all in on the experience and either take the Inca Trail or Salkantay Trek, be more than a tourist! Read more about our trek here!

The Amazon Jungle/River. What sounds more exciting than an Amazon River experience?!? There are countless movies and cartoons dedicated to the wonder and mysterious creatures of the river and jungle so is there any doubt we wanted to experience it too?! I had of course heard about the infamous “Jungle Cruises” but we wanted to get a little rougher experience, less of a pampered boat ride, more like living in the middle of nowhere for a few days so that’s just what we did! Our experience included taking a dip in the Amazon River and swimming where both the pink and grey dolphins live. Internet does not work out there so do yourself a favor and google pink dolphin before you get there, they do not look like dolphins! They look more like creepy pink river monsters – LOL! We also went caiman hunting (catch and release), piranha fishing, night walks searching for poisonous animals and great food the entire time! No regrets! If this sounds like your idea of fun too then check out my pros and cons about the options we chose!

🗓️ Our Itinerary at a Glance:

Via Ferrata is something of a compromise between rock climbing, a ropes course and extreme hiking/scrambling.

It’s Airport Day!!! (Day 1)

Our Route: Tulsa ➔ Houston ➔ Bogota ➔ Cusco

We started our trip in the evening so although we stayed in the same time zone we were pretty wrecked from our overnight flights being broken into short flights leading to inconsistent sleep.

Day in Cusco/Flight recovery Day/Overnight at El Bacon

Land 11 am, we went ahead to our hotel, although we were too early to check in they were more than willing to hold our bags while we ventured out into the city to check out our surroundings for a bit, we ate lunch, we checked out the city square (a place we would return to over and over again) and finally got into our room before heading to our Trek Briefing. Typically briefing meetings are done the day before your adventure but I had emailed ahead that we would be staying in Olyantambo the night before our Trek and since it was closer to the starting point of the Inca Trail than Cusco that put our morning pickup time a little later for a little more sleep. The company said that is a common detour they do for their guests so no problem we just had to do our briefing seperate from the rest of the group. No biggie!

After our briefing we headed to dinner!

This is when the altitude hit me! Going from sea level to 11,152′ was enough to make me sick! Our dinner was not far from our hotel, I began feeling too nauseous to eat so the boys said they would have them wrap my food up and I headed to the hotel and tucked in early.

Overall review of our hotel, El Bacon, was great! Rooms were absolutely gorgeous and we loved that it was set up family style. They had a nice breakfast and were very helpful to us with suggestions on how to get around and where to go. If you take my suggestion and book here just note that there use space heaters for heating the rooms so just find it and plug it in! They make the room perfectly cozy! Or you know, book your trip not in the dead of Peruvian winter like we did!

First official FULL DAY in Peru! (Day 2)

I had spent my night running from my bed to the bathroom throwing up and with a gnarly headache. This isn’t my first time getting altitude sickness and it won’t be the last time so we knew what the solution was: Diamox. It has officially been added to our “Don’t Leave Home Without It” medication list.

So as soon as the sun was up Jake and Conner hit the streets to find a pharmacy and let me rest some more, Liam was still kind of messed up from the overnight flights so he chose to stay and sleep in with me.

First they came back and delivered the meds… next they came back with giant smiles on their faces and several bags of souvenirs they were very proud of! Ha!

El Bacon did us a huge favor in getting us late check out after me being sick all night and perfect timing too because it was right about the time the van from Starlodge came to pick us up!

Star Lodge Via ferrata + Ziplines (2nd & 3rd Day)

This was by far my favorite part of the whole trip!

We first get picked up in a large passenger van with a group of people that will be our new friends for the next 24 hours – and boy did we pack a lot into that time! They drive us to the location of the via ferrata and ziplines first, we harness up, get our water bottles situated and get a little briefing before heading up the mountain! During our briefing we were asked if we wanted to add the photo and or drone package. We chose both which totaled $262.94 in USD and very glad we did! The video they made for us looks like we starred in a commercial! So fun! The activities took nearly all day so by the time we got back down to basecamp of Sky Lodge it was immediately time to drive over to Star Lodge for dinner at basecamp then back up the mountain for a stop for night time hot tubbing then finally to our room, a little glass capsule hanging off the side of the mountain! Make sure to bring your headlamps!

We woke in the morning to a gorgeous view, took it all in before our videographer showed up to record then packed our small packs back up and hit the hot tubs one more time before breakfast and drop off!

If you want to read more about our personal adventure at Starlodge click >>HERE<<

Sacred Valley/Ollantayambo (3rd Day)

After breakfast and saying goodbye to the friends we made at the Star Lodge (5 capsules housing 4 people each, not all capsules were full when we were there so we made 8 new friends!) we were dropped off in the town Ollantayambo. Again most people were taken back to Cusco but we would be starting the Inca Trail the following morning and chose to stay in the Sacred Valley for a later wakeup call (7am as opposed to 4:30/5am from Cusco).

It took a bit of looking around from our driver to find our Refugio because it was built onto the back of a restuarant and had no sign but at last me made it! We had booked a family suite once again and the room did not disappoint! I had booked online through Hotels.com and got the room at Refugio Andino for less than $75 USD but smaller rooms are available for less than $50. Would highly recommend!

Chocolate Tour – I had booked this on Trip Advisor but when we got there they apologized and said there was a mistake on their bookings and they did not have a tour that day, after a little talking to the girl running the museum she said she could fit us into a cooking class that was happening right then. We were slightly disappointed but that was made all better once we were hit with the smell of fresh cocoa beans roasting! We ended up loving learning how to take cocoa beans still in shell and transform them in to delicious chocolate treats! Double Thumbs Up!!!

We spend the rest of the day strolling the adorable streets of Ollantayambo, It was the perfect little town for strolling in and out, trying snacks every few doors (including the infamous guinea pig!!! And then heading back to the refugio to organize our bags for tomorrow’s trek!

4-day Inca Trail Trek (Days 4-7)

Taking off from Ollantayambo

First off let me just say I will have a more detailed post of what you need as far as gear and prep work so if you are considering adding the Inca Trail to your bucket list or just want to hear our stories from the trail go ahead and check that blog out >> HERE <<.

Before our departure from home I had received an email stating that due to landslides part of our trek would be adapted. So just a heads up when you are looking at companies online know that slight changes in the plan are infrequent but do happen and those changes are just moving campsites by adding mileage to one day and taking some miles off another. The Inca Trail sees a ton of people everyday and campsites are nearly fully booked. At our briefing earlier in the trip our guide laid out our new plan for us and fortunately the Peruvian people had actually reinstated several areas affected by the landslides so the changes were not as dramatic as warned in the email.

The Inca Trail is 26 miles spread out over 4 days, hitting an altitude of 13,828 feet on day 2 and then hitting a second peak at around 13123 feet that same day or in our case we camped between those two peaks and hit it early the 3rd day. We had booked with Alpaca Expeditions and had a group of 15. As always we loved getting to know the people in our our group, it was an all english speaking group, the majority were Americans but from all over the country, a Canadian solo traveler, a Lithuanian solo traveler and a group of 3 British women that had dreamed of the Inca Trail as a life goal! The cooks from Alpaca Expeditions were great and some of our favorite times on the trail were spent in the meal tent enjoying the company of our new found friends!

The altitude does keep you breathy most of the time even though the mileage isn’t that much each day but you actually get quite a few breaks during each hike to explore the minor ruins on your way to Machu Picchu! On most of the days villagers have set up a few trail-side stands so bring a few Peruvian soles with you so you can grab some quick snacks!

When checking out the packing list that each guide company should have don’t ignore the water proof layer! We went in June which is supposed to be the dry season but we were rained on quite a bit! You just never know what the mountains have in store for you! Layers will be your best friends, I’m always a bit cold so I wore a long sleeve base layer with a cropped sports tank under every single day, my down came on at night the first night and then was on and off the next few days. I also used a flannel that I like the colors of but noticed others were usually wearing a fleece when I was in my flannel ( but I still had my base layer under). Also, pro-tip for any kind of multi day outdoor travel we love this >>Anker Power Bank<< because of how much charge it holds! Don’t leave home without it – just remember to keep it in your carry-on at the airport, 1 time, only 1 time have I forgotten and left it in my check bag and then I got flagged and wasted a bunch of time I could’ve been chowing down on airport food! Ha!

The last day is pretty long, our guides had us up at 3am to get our spot in line to get to the Sun Gate early and allow our porters to get all tents and cooking supplies packed and out so they can make the local porter train for that day, apparently it leaves pretty early in the day so they are in a bit of a rush! Trekkers take other trains out of Aguas Calientes and those trains run all day long, several times a day. The morning trek to the Sun Gate isn’t too long although I had twisted my ankle and was one of the last ones to get there. Then from the Sun Gate its all downhill to get to the entrance of Machu Picchu. Be aware that when you get there in all your 4 days of wilderness glory you will be met with tourists wearing fancy and seemingly abnoxious clothes that have bussed in for the day. There is nothing like a group of instagramers in Balenciaga hogging the best photo/viewpoints. I am usually a nothing-gets-to-me kind of girl but man being so tired at that point I had little to no patience for rude people who clearly didn’t appreciate the site for what it was. Why oh why would you be dressed like you are at a fashion show at an archeological site? Sigh… okay maybe I wasn’t my best self at that point!

We had 2 hours at the official Machu Picchu site, then hopped on a bus into town for one last lunch with our group and head guide then off to the train!

During our booking process Alpaca Adventures offered an add-on to take the Vistadome, a wide windowed section of the train to get spectacular views. I believe it was an extra $75, the regular train ticket was included in the price of the trek. Unfortunately for us it was raining so the beautiful views were hard to see – you just don’t know what the weather is going to do so its a gamble but thats the excitement of travel, sometimes you win big and sometimes its just okay! AFter the train we hopped on 1 more bus to drive us all the way back to Cusco for the night!

Day 8 – Scheduled Rainbow Mountain Tours

Before I get to what we actually did on day 8 let me just rewind a bit, remember when I said I was one of the last people to make it to the Sun Gate? Well we had some company, food poisoning had hit a couple people from our group in the night so one of the girls woke up really struggling. As the morning went on and my ankle seemed to get worse and worse, we sent the boys ahead so that they wouldn’t be late for the big tour of the ruins. Conner has taken several years of Spanish at this point and was looking forward to actually being at Machu Picchu after studying its history this past year in class. We caught up with the boys and the rest of the group a little later, as I gimped along.

And then, on the bus ride back to Cusco one of our other friends got hit with what she thought was carsickness… but could it have been the same thing that hit the other two? Just about the time we were getting off the bus and into our taxi Conner started feeling it. It hit him hard. I dumped everything out of a bag just in the nick of time for him to not throw up right there on the seat of the taxi! Nothing like a true “mom” moment! We get to our hotel where we were actually in seperate side by side rooms from the boys and he spent the next 12 hours throwing up. Jake went down just a few hours after Conner. Yuck. While at lunch earlier in that day I was still unable to bear weight on my ankle and realizing that we had another hike scheduled for 3am the next morning we made the decision to contact the guide group that we had booked Rainbow Mountain from and see their cancellation policy. It stated that you can recieve an 80% refund if cancelling before 6pm the day before so we did and they went ahead and refunded it fully and sent a very kind response about hoping I felt better. I love a company that puts customers first and for that reason I have to recommend Rainbow Mountain Tours even though we didn’t get to do the actual hike. When booking they were the highest rated company for customer satisfaction and they make it a point to be the first ones there to get the best pictures. Rainbow Mountain can experience some of the same troubles as Machu Picchu, overcrowding deluxe. I must add that you can go to Rainbow Mountain without a guide and if it was just Jake and I we would’ve probably planned it that way. When I travel with the kids I am way more likely to book things in advance and with guides just for added peace of mind. Now back to my ankle… once we got to the hotel and I was able to take my hiking boots off and put on sandals the pain was completely gone. What. The. Heck. So I’ve now retired those boots, they have seen a lot of miles over the years so I guess it was just time. In a weird sort of divine-intervention kind of way I am actually glad that because of my ankle we had cancelled. Jake and Conner would have ended up in way too bad of a position to go on that hike that morning!

Day 8 – How We Really Spent It

We were booked at Tierra Viva Cusco Centre for 2 nights, so we had the night we got in from the trek, the day we were supposed to do Rainbow Mountain and that evening and then the next morning before we took our flight out to our next adventure!

We embraced the extra day by taking a slow morning, the hotel had a decent breakfast spread and good wifi. We took this opportunity to relax and catch up with people from home, giving Conner a few extras hours of sleep we ventured out to the markets. This hotel was while still in historic city center of Cusco it was on the opposite side of the main plaza and almost had a completely different life to it!

We had come at the perfect time to Cusco and I didn’t even know it while planning; it was the city of Cusco’s centennial celebration! The whole city square was alive with color, parades with floats and parades with people dancing and marching broke out all day long long! Food was EVERYWHERE. It was a blast to see and be a part of! We checked on Conner around lunch time and he decided to come out for a bit with us. We were in and out of little shops trying to find the most perfect trinkets to bring home with us! It was a great day.

Day 9 – Flights and Ambulances

We got to enjoy another slow morning at Tierra Viva Cusco Centre before catching a taxi to the airport! By the way, highly recommend this hotel. Service was great there, rooms were beautiful and it really was nice to have a long timeframe for breakfast and endless coffee.

Our flight route was Cusco to Lima, Lima to Iquitos.

Notice only 1 of us hasn’t thrown up yet.. yet… ha! Liam’s head started hurting about 30 minutes before the taxi was scheduled to pick us up and on the drive about halfway to the airport he frantically rolled down the window and threw up all over the side of the taxi. Yikes. We left a good tip for that driver. lol

Got to the airport, took Liam to the bathroom to clean up, learned that this airline only allows for 1 carry on and no personal item we did a quick bag shuffle making sure we had all our lithium batteries with us and no liquids in the carry-ons, I was frazzled, got into one of the longest security lines I’ve ever been in, Liam is looking like a ghost, they were pulling certain flights out of line and rushing them, we were included in one rush, told to hold in another, finally make it through to a PACKED gate area. Due to conrtruction, multiple additional gates were being managed through a space meant for 4 gates. People were just standing everywhere and it seemed like there were atleast a hundred more people than the room was intended to hold. We first had to seperate to sit but then someone saw and offered to make room for us to be together. Thank you kind stranger!!! Then his stomach started to roll again and we were on the complete other side than the bathroom. We sprinted across that room and he *almost* made it. Luckily at this point he was only throwing up water. So there I was on my hands and knees with paper towels and what little spanish I know had completely left my head in the panic. I’m afraid that while we were staying at the nicer hotel the last couple days he had gotten comfortable enough to forget not to drink the water. Bummer. Our flight was slightly delayed but eventually we made it on and Jake took Liam straight to the back to the toilets because… more throw up. Oy. The airline attendants were so sweet and kind, I could not have asked for them to treat him any better, they brought us vomit bags and a pillow and blanket for him for the rest of the flight. We were running low on meds since we had all already gotten sick but we had just a bit more zofran and since he said his head was hurting we gave him tylenol and hoped that he would be able to fall asleep on the flight – which he did, he laid across my lap. Its a strange thing as a mom and your kids are growing up, when they are sick they return back to your little kid briefly so although this whole experience was chaotic and I sure didn’t want him to feel bad, I did really enjoy the cuddles!

Flight landed late in Lima, now for the next little chaotic adventure! The Lima airport is large and we are taking small local flights so we were ushered down a million stairs to one of those ground level type gates. We’ve become accustomed to all kinds. of airport setups but if you are new to traveling abroad sometimes these flight gates can sketch you out a bit but Lima’s at least still looked like it was apart of the airport and was nice and clean. We’ve been in some that feel like you are waiting in a dark alley just asking for something crazy to happen! Ha! But like I said Lima’s was nice and clean, it was unfortunately outside of the main airport area with food and at this point it is night time and we were realising we weren’t going to get a chance to eat. We looked around to see if we could find vending machines but we found 1 lady with one little grocery cart style kiosk standing in the corner. I got Liam comfortable on a bench and the rest of us shopped this lady’s cart. Although we couldn’t speak the same language I think she was getting a good chuckle out of us trying to decide how many bags of chips vs what the heck are these vs how many warm drinks should we get vs are we each sharing or is this a grab what you plan to eat day! HAHAHA! We pay for our snacks just in time for an airline worker to come up to us and ask if we are sure Liam will be able to board the flight. “oh yes, we have some disposible bags with us if he gets sick again but we think he might be done with that, he’s okay, he’s had medicine.” she says okay if you are sure… Then we get hurried onto a shuttle bus and they close the doors. The bus doesn’t move. another 30 minutes goes by, Liam is now laying on my lap on the ground of the bus and it still doesn’t move. another 15 or so minutes pass and people start raising their voices in spanish. I think it was one of those ignorance is a bliss type of things but we were just sitting/standing there zoned out while everyone else just seemed to be feeding on eachother’s grumpiness. Then the flight attendants opened the doors and said something so I had to seek out the one that I knew spoke english and asked what we needed to do. She said the flight isn’t ready so they were letting us go back inside to wait. Back inside I am pulled to the side again to ask if Liam was flight ready. I said yes, it had now been hours since he threw up last, he just feels very tired and drained now. At some point jake had to pull the “I’m a doctor card” and that seemed to suffice. We weren’t inside too long and they ushered us back on the bus and finally to the plane!

We made it! …or so we thought. As we sit there waiting for takeoff a new airline worker comes to us, one I haven’t seen yet and starts asking questions about Liam, we again tell them that everything is fine, he’s doing okay now, she asks if we are sure and we are like yes, he gets migraines and/or it was from the water, we’ve given him meds to help he’s okay. She walks away and we wait. Then I catch out of the corner of my eye an ambulance! OMG. I’m like, this cannot be for us. But yes, the ambulance was in fact for us. Realising what is happening we turn to Liam and Jake says “No matter what act cool. Tell them that you are feeling better okay?” Liam nods his head, grabs a vomit bag and throws up one more time in the most quiet nonchalant manner I have ever seen. Dang.

The paramedics board, come over to us, talk to Liam for a bit, Jake once again pulls the “I’m a doctor card” they offer more meds, show Jake what they have he pilfers through and picks a couple things that might help and then they give us the thumbs up and deboard! Wild y’all, it was wild. It still takes the plane another half hour or so to take off. Again ignorance is a bliss, we never knew what was going on with the flights! We finally made it to Iquitos around 1 am.

The hostel.

Now Jake and I have found a pattern we enjoy while traveling. I don’t want to be a posh-style traveler but yet we can afford some luxuries and if there is an experience to go along with them (like amazing views – I’m a sucker for trying to find hotels with great views) we will do it. But I’m also not ready to lux all of our trips to the point we miss out on the adventure of doing the backpacker style roughing it. If you get me talking about our trips I don’t really care to explain the thread counts of the bedding at a highrise in Sydney but I will have a giant smile and wide eyes explaining how I kept headphones in on the sleeper train in India so roaches couldn’t get in my ears! I mean everyone can imagine nice, you have to actually experience the “rough” to get it! I do tend to book mostly mid range when the kids are with us but for this trip I wanted them to experience a hostel just once… Unfortunately we got there so late they didn’t really experience much of it. Our driver had to wake the poor girl up to get us keys, we are now in the tropical zone of Peru and we are sweating our butts off but they had a small ac unit and most importantly a bed. We were ready for sleep!

Lupuna Jungle Tours – Day 10,11&12

Up and at it bright and early! Pick up for the drive to the river was at 7am so we woke up early and rearrange our bags, bringing our hot weather clothes to the surface and putting away the winter stuff. After a quick coffee and a hawaiin roll with butter we were out the door and into a van while they strapped our luggage to the top! A short ride around Iquitos to pick up the rest of our group and then out onto the rural roads of Peru!

3 days in the Amazon Jungle – after a couple hours in the van we finally make it to the boat taxi! Liam is starting to feel much better, we finally start seeing some smiles form him. They load our bags on the boat and then its time to sit carefully distributing weight appropriately through the boat. In hindsight we should have checked our big bags at a hotel and brought only our backpacks but since we got in so late there was no time to find our after-jungle hotel to do so. It really wasn’t too much of a problem though, we just noticed we were the only ones who had not done that.

Booking through Lupuna Jungle Tours there were quite a few options, you can take just a day tour from Iquitos, or an extended tour staying several days and nights. One traveler that made the transit with us was only on a day tour but if you ask me that isn’t enough to really get the experience. One other couple had chosen the same time frame as us (3D/2N) and he was from England, she was from Belgium and although I want to say they were living in Belgium they were actually living as nomads in the present! Always exciting meeting people on extended adventures consisting of months and months of travel! Then once we made it to the lodge we meet several other people staying various day and night combos. Most of the travelers in fact we on extended leaves from “normal” life and in all different seasons of life as well. We were the only ones that brought kids. Ha!

The days at the river lodge are pretty chill, you potentially have a sunrise outing if you are up, breakfast, after breakfast outing, lunch, after lunch outing and/or at dark outing, dinner. Most outings involve taking a boat ride out but a couple are right off the lodge. Nature and wild life walks are fun, I was surprised by all our night time activities just what all can be hiding in the dark! Just because you are on a boat doesn’t mean you aren’t going to be “immersed” in wildlife, your boat will in fact run up into the marsh to find things, meaning any insects or small creatures that were outside of the boat can now crawl inside the boat!

The setup is pretty bare bones, there are couple spots made for congregating with the other guests, then each room has walls but ceiling is open air (but covered), mosquito nets on the beds, and a personal bathroom. Here’s what had us confused: our toilet water was brown like the rivers water so us and a couple other guests were pondering where it led to after. I mean taking a river swim feels a lot different if I consider our toilets might be leading directly to it… so finally we just asked! And it turns out that they have a septic system, duh. We met more travelers while at the lodge, each on different days of their trip. One guy was on his last few days of 14 days at the lodge! They had to get a little more creative with him to find “new experiences”!

Seriously there was so much about this experience that was great that I’m having a hard time wanting to post anything negative but if you all are considering booking this (and you absolutely should) I HAVE to suggest not booking on a Saturday night. The village only a 10 minute walk away throws a huge dance party. I’m talking, it sounds like you are in a downtown club until 2:30am. The craziest part is I have NO earthly idea where they get enough to power to supply those lamps, we walked the village during the day and there didn’t seem to be power! LOL I did see a sign that in handwriting said WIFI HERE but tried it and it most definitely did not. But clearly somewhere they have some sort of power to run this dance party. I mean this is so out there that the lodge has to boat in drinking water every day so HOW are they getting that power?!?!!! I was just confused at the whole thing!

If so far you are IN and want to hear more of our personal stories of our 3 day adventure on the Amazon Jungle here: >>LINK<<

Day 12 – Where We Ended.

After our last lunch with the travelers there we boarded the boat taxi for a ride back to civilization! Finally after a few hours we were back in Iquitos and checking in to the Double Tree there. After 2 weeks of infrequent showering and the last few days “roughing it” on the Amazon River it felt like it might be nice to end the trip with a hotel that we’d know we would get a good solid shower, comfy beds, easy access to food and just not need to leave the hotel until late checkout. Shower, then lounge, then late dinner, then sleep, wake, breakfast, then swim, snack and lounge until the taxi got us!

It was bittersweet leaving Peru, we had such a great time but I think we were all ready to head back home! We were missing Kaylee and the dogs!!!

Day 13 – Our Return via Lima ➔ Bogota ➔ Tulsa

Day 14 LANDED HOME

Usually or 2 week trips come out to 16-18 days and we just “don’t count” the travel days but this trip had to be smushed into a particular time frame so door to door we made it all fit into just 2 weeks!

Where do you wanna go?

Everywhere.

-Jake and Kristi Krajicek