Day 8 & 9 – Home & Thoughts
This morning was a late departure and we were all thankful for it. After breakfast we met back in the hotel lobby to gather our carry-on items for our flight back to Lima. Once we boarded our bus we found out that our original flight had been canceled and we had all been rebooked on another flight. This is one of those times where you realize that the extra money you pay for
ABD is worth it. This was a major headache that was sprinkled with fairy dust and made to go away before we even realized it was a problem. We had a little bit longer layover at the airport but as I mentioned this allowed my wife to find that perfect alpaca sweater that she hadn’t been able to find the entire trip. Needless to say we were all exhausted from this long and very active trip. Aaron, if you end up reading this I hope you don’t mind me using your picture from the airport as a perfect summary.
After an uneventful flight back to Lima we boarded our coach and headed into town where we had a tremendous lunch at the stunning Casa Aliaga. Once lunch was completed we were escorted into one of the interior rooms where a projector was setup for us to enjoy a wonderful slideshow of our trip.
Afterwards it was off to the hotel and final farewells to our guides and travel companions for the past 8 days. Well, we had the official good byes and then a bunch of us found the bar and tucked in for few hours before heading to the airport for our 1AM departing flight.
This unbelievable trip couldn’t have happened if it weren’t for our wonderful ABD guides Zoe and Rudy. If you guys happen across this trip report I wanted to make sure you know that we are so thankful for the effort, support, friendship, education and general herding of cats that you must do trip after trip. While the destinations are the reasons we all go on these trips the ABD guides make it happen. Thank you!
Now that we are home and going through our 1000+ photos we are thinking back on some of our trip and have some suggestions for those that may go on future trips to Peru.
· Listen to your guides for suggestions on what to wear at different destinations. Many of us that didn’t wear long sleeve shirts to Machu Picchu and were eaten alive by unseen bugs.
· Pick up some walking around money from your bank before you leave for Peru or hit up one of the recommended ATMs when you first arrive. You have much more bargaining power with vendors with cash instead of credit cards.
· Ignore whatever the weather reports are. I think we had one day where what was actually predicted happened.
· Get lost in the cities when you have on your own time. The best places are off the beaten path.
· Trust in your guides as they know what and where to go.
· Keep in mind that if something does go wrong your guides are under more stress then you are and they aren’t allowed to show it.
· More importantly than anything tip your ABD guides well, they deserve it for all the reasons that you know and don’t know about!