Amazon and machu pichu

[deec]

Waiting for our flight to Lima. Will join the vantage group in a couple of days.

Promise to report once we return ...not sure I will try the guina pig but we will enjoy the pisco sours that we loved in Ecuador and the Galapagos.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Waiting for our flight to Lima. Will join the vantage group in a couple of days.

Promise to report once we return ...not sure I will try the guina pig but we will enjoy the pisco sours that we loved in Ecuador and the Galapagos.

 

Should be lots of really good Chilean wines too! Enjoy!

Edited October 18, 2015 by Host Jazzbeau

[H2Otstr]

Waiting for our flight to Lima. Will join the vantage group in a couple of days.

Promise to report once we return ...not sure I will try the guina pig but we will enjoy the pisco sours that we loved in Ecuador and the Galapagos.

 

I will be very interested in your report since we are on the same trip next March.

 

Have a wonderful, safe trip.

[jpalbny]

DeeDC - Enjoy! MP is simply amazing. We have yet to visit the Peruvian Amazon but it's on my list - a co-worker, and my Aunt, have both visited so I'm a little envious. We are looking at a trip there with friends in a few years.

 

Host Jazzbeau - there are plenty of nice Peruvian wines to taste as well. I have looked for them in the States for the past few years and have not had much success. Nothing against Chilean wines, mind you, but when in Rome...

[Di Princess]

Fair Winds and Following Seas, Dee. :D

 

I was on a South American cruise (Star Princess) several years ago with my Aussie friends and they love their wines so in one of the ports of Chile, we went to a grocery store and in the wine section there was a gentleman in a white chef's coat (sommelier-like) giving advise on the wines. So cheap and good. Go to the grocery store. I loved Macchu Pichu. ;)

[Shorex]

So glad to look forward to first hand reports on this Vantage trip. Also happy to get the compare/contrast between the high water season and the low water season. Have a wonderful time!

[Host Jazzbeau]

DeeDC - Enjoy! MP is simply amazing. We have yet to visit the Peruvian Amazon but it's on my list - a co-worker, and my Aunt, have both visited so I'm a little envious. We are looking at a trip there with friends in a few years.

 

Host Jazzbeau - there are plenty of nice Peruvian wines to taste as well. I have looked for them in the States for the past few years and have not had much success. Nothing against Chilean wines, mind you, but when in Rome...

 

Good to know. Haven't seen any in the US, and didn't notice any in Quito, Ecuador or on Celebrity Xpedition in the Galapagos -- the best wines in both places were from Chile.

[xpcdoojk]

Fair Winds and Following Seas, Dee. :D

 

I was on a South American cruise (Star Princess) several years ago with my Aussie friends and they love their wines so in one of the ports of Chile, we went to a grocery store and in the wine section there was a gentleman in a white chef's coat (sommelier-like) giving advise on the wines. So cheap and good. Go to the grocery store. I loved Macchu Pichu. ;)

 

Completely agree... Chilean, grocery store, giant and lots of awesome wines from 5 to 10 dollars.

 

jc

[deec]

We have had 3 very interesting days in lima. Happy we opted to come early and avoid overnight flight from Miami. Some tired looking travelers in the lobby this morning waiting for room availability. The JW Marriott is a great hotel with a perfect location for exploring Miliflores by foot. Not sure why vantage is switching next year.

Meet and greet tonight with dinner and city tour in am. Reportedly the ship is full. Lima has been cool and overcast...plenty of spring flowers fill the multiple parks.

[pbnjrockette]

Waiting for our flight to Lima. Will join the vantage group in a couple of days.

Promise to report once we return ...not sure I will try the guina pig but we will enjoy the pisco sours that we loved in Ecuador and the Galapagos.

 

Try the guinea pig---tastes like chicken!! LOL and enjoy those pisco sours--they were delish!

[H2Otstr]

Dee, can you provide the details of your flight?

 

How did you get from the airport to your hotel? Cost?

 

Thanks.

[deec]

We flew delta from Detroit to Atlanta then Atlanta to Lima arrived about 1130pm

Had a driver pick us up at the airport $25 since same company did private tours next two days. Marriott was going to charge $50 I think.

[deec]

We had 2 very good tours today with a local guide. Missed the audio boxes we have had previously. My husband is a photographer and tends to wander so he can keep track of the group.

 

I had read about a light show at a fountain park and our great tour manager rented a small bus and took a small group..it was a beautiful park.

 

Early morning flight and we are off to the Amazon and no internet for the week.

This has been a great group of people so far.

[H2Otstr]

Dee, are you still on your Amazon trip? Anxious to hear about your trip.

[H2Otstr]

Dee, did you ride on those yellow boats at Lake Titicaca (like the ones shown in the video that Cruzer Two posted) ?

[deec]

YES!!!

we really enjoyed the extension!

[H2Otstr]

We are back from our trip with Vantage. We spent a couple days in Lima, then flew to Iquitos where we embarked on the Amazon Discovery. After the 6 nights spent on the river boat we flew to Cuzco where we spent a couple nights in a hotel. From there we took the train to Machu Picchu, returned to our hotel and then did our post trip to Lake Titicaca.

 

DeeDC posted a review of her trip, so I won't duplicate her report.

 

If anyone has any specific questions I would be glad to answer them.

 

Here are a few items that I wanted to address about the trip:

 

The river boat was very nice, but there is no place to hang wet clothes and since we were in the Rain Forest we did encounter some downpours. The staff handed out heavy ponchos, but the rain was so hard that it rained in the neck of the poncho. We had wet clothes laying everywhere in the room trying to dry them. A small, wooden or plastic clothes rack would have been nice.

 

There were several people on our trip who had altitude sickness, including my husband and myself even though we were both taking Diamox. A couple people used the oxygen in the hotels and on the bus. One woman was so sick that she stayed in the hotel in Cuzco and missed the tours.

 

The air was very dry at the higher elevations and I had several nose bleeds. I wished that I had a small tube of Vaseline to help moisten the inside of my nose.

[deec]

Glad that you are back. Were there many animals/birds on the Amazon part of the trip? Wondering if the wetter season had better sightings and access to smaller bays. We only had a few sprinkles while off the boat....downpours usually in the evening. How were your bugs?

Sorry to hear about the altitude sickness I wonder if the hotter weather contributed.

[H2Otstr]

Glad that you are back. Were there many animals/birds on the Amazon part of the trip? Wondering if the wetter season had better sightings and access to smaller bays. We only had a few sprinkles while off the boat....downpours usually in the evening. How were your bugs?

Sorry to hear about the altitude sickness I wonder if the hotter weather contributed.

 

I think that we saw a lot. Our Naturalist, Sandor, indicated that we saw much more than those who traveled in the dry season. We saw several sloths, iguanas, many types of monkeys, frogs, tarantulas, snakes, and so many types of birds. I was disappointed that we only saw a few pink dolphin, though.

 

I did use bug repellant, but didn't notice too many bugs. The sun was a lot hotter than I anticipated, so we had to be very careful to apply sunscreen, too.