Perusin´

Sorry to anyone who is actually reading this! I´ve been lazy. Or rather having too much fun! And have not had a chance to update my blog.

I attempted to write a day by day summary of our four day Inka Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu, but it was just getting way too lengthy. So instead, I present you with the journey in photos: click here to view. See the comments for a slightly more detailed description.

Since then, I returned to Lima, said adios to my travel buddy Alecia who returned home to Salmon Arm and said hola to my boyfriend Mike who joined me in Peru for my last two weeks! I had 5--surprisingly unterrifying--days alone, during which I went to surf camp in San Bartolo! I am pleased to report that I took public transit there alone and did not get lost or ripped off once. Apparently Alecia was an excellent teacher as my Spanish skills have improved muchly over the last 7 weeks and locals actually seem to understand me!

Surf camp was awesome and I got to practice my skills a little more when Mike and I headed north to a little surf town called Huanchaco just outside of Trujillo. We took the most luxury bus I´ve been on yet so the 8 hour bus ride seemed like a breeze compared to the other horrid transit experiences I´ve had in South America. This bus actually served food and beverages! Unbelievable.

After a couple nights in Huanchaco, we headed back down south to Pisco (3 hours south of Lima), which we discovered had been hit by a massive earthquake in 2007 (7.9 on the richter scale, killing 1000 people). The town is still dealing with the crumbled remains, and is just starting to rebuild, so it was not exactly the nicest place to visit, but we figured that they could definitey use our tourist dollars.

From Pisco, we headed out on a tour of the Islas Ballestas (aka The Poor Man´s Galapagos) today, which was incredible! Stay tuned for photos. I even got to see some penguins in their natural habitat which was on my ¨to see¨ list for South America. Check! The second half of the tour was spent in the national park where we bounced around the desert (literally--our van driver was crazy) to different viewpoints and attractions.

Monday we fly to Cuzco where I get to show Mike all the sweet spots I discovered last time and discover some new ones! I´m not doing Machu Picchu again, but there are apparently plenty of other free ruins to visit around the city so hopefully that will do.

I can´t belive I´ll be home in less than a week! Hopefully I´ll get a chance to write again before then, but if not, you´ll just have to hear it in person!