I’ve seen “Blue-footed Booby’s” before but never a duck with a blue bill?

And this one has a knob above its beak!

Well now, we survived Puno and Cuzco and some other very high places (Machu Picchu was easy in a sense because it had a lower altitude). It was a wonderful trip seeing Peru. All I can say is thank God we are back down to sea level. None of us had expected that altitude could affect us all so much…..some more than others. At last for me, I could breathe without having this giant weight on my chests (especially at night. I could not sleep on my back, the pressure on my chest was so great) or that the weight I had suddenly gained (to walk the stairs between the 1st and second floor, I had to stop & rest 4-6 times), was gone. I felt I could almost bounce as I walked. For others, they had varying degree of headaches. One thought it must be like a migraine (she had never had one in her life before). The lack of energy was incredible. This altitude sickness is serious stuff!

Our guide Rogger (like Roiyer) was absolutely wonderful, taking care of our every need. Gate one…. incredible. All our hotels were really very, very good especially Jose Antonio in Lima and the 5-star Palacio in Cuzco, bags were always picked up and delivered (like at the airport)…. no need to tip, free dinners, little gifts, calling doctors when needed, oxygen on the buses, yadda, yadda. We were spoiled!

We saw spectacular scenery, went to amazing archaeological sites, the Peruvians we met couldn’t do enough for you…. nice, nice people but I’m ready to go home. Gee, on reading this it sounds like Peru was the only country that counted but that’s not true. It just happened to be the last of a series.

I am so grateful that I am able to experience all these different and wonderful places in the world.

I’m going to repeat a quote from Mark Twain. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

We are all now home safe and sound.