In December, David, myself and our daughter Kelly took the trip of a lifetime! In the next series of posts, I will try to explain why we went, what we saw and relate to you memorable pictures and thoughts; the wildlife, the people, the gardens, the architecture, the food and the landscapes. We went with the idea of documenting our travels as seen through the eyes of a city planner, an horticulturalist and a designer. We prepared ourselves by reading books...
The Beak of The Finch,
Botany of Desire and travel books of South America and whatever else we could read about on line. We bought gortex hiking boots and walking poles, rain gear and daypaks. We got shots, pills and packed toilet paper in anticipation of having none! We started our trip in Quito, Ecuador. After a few days of exploration we flew to the Galapagos Archipelago situated 800 kilometers off the Ecuadorian coast directly, on the equator, to view the many different volcanic islands where the unusual animal life has no natural predators. Our travels also took us to the mountains of Peru and a seven hour 3500 foot climb on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, situated 8000 ft above sea level in the Andes. We saw many Inca ruins in the Sacred Valley, spent time in colorful market places, and ate native food. We traveled for many hours by plane, car and boat to reach an ecolodge in the Amazon and much more. Lots of detail and photos to follow!
