Heading to Peru

After much debating and pondering, and then talking with my doctor, I’m heading to Peru.  I was actually able to get tickets through Alaska Air with miles (only 35,000 to South America, wahoo!).  Two hops and I’m there on Tuesday.  I’m a bit excited.

After talking with my doctor about various South American locations he visited, he convinced me to hit Peru first.  I’ll be spending most of my time there in a mix of jungle exploration near the Bolivian border and then I’m hoping to tag along on a 5 day trek to Machu Pichu up the Inca Trail.  I might be a bit late for that, but it’s worth the try (only 500 trekkers are allowed in each day).  The other main activity I want to experience is some rafting.  I’ve been jonesing for some white water since Nepal and what better place than the Amazon??! 

I’ll be carrying my Spot Satellite Messenger if you’d like to follow along.  It sends current positions to a satellite that can be accessed from a webpage on Google Maps.  Just email me and I’ll send you a link to the maps.  I also plan on blogging as I go but don’t always know where I’ll have internet access.  But it’ll be more ‘real-time’ than the Nepal trek. So be sure to subscribe to this blog here, if you aren’t subscribed already. 

The pack list is changing a bit to add in a warm layer for the trek in the mountains (passes of up to 13,000′) but there isn’t much time, as I leave tomorrow.

I’ve never been south of 17 degrees north so this will be a new world for me.  I am keeping my expectations in check and trying, in vain, to not plan too much like I normally do and just let things unfold as they do.  And now I must get to more packing!