Reflections from Home

I cannot begin to sum up my trip to Peru or even the few days I spent in Panama but I will try in as few words as possible.  Peru is a country of many facets and incredible beauty.  I fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit Machu Picchu, overcame fears of the jungle and altitude sickness and loved pretty much every minute of it.  I went from one of the highest lakes in the world, to deep in the Amazon rainforest to the cosmopolitan city of Panama City.  What made this trip for me, though, was the people I met along the way. I've enclosed pictures of some of the people who I was fortunate enough to photograph.  There are others, though, that I didn't.  Manuel of K'usillus is one of those people who I will never forget for waiting for over two hours at the airport while my plane was delayed.  He drove me all over Lima and was a very kind man.  Thank you Manuel.  Also, Fernando, Graciela, Bichina and Pedro from Amazonia Expeditions, Doro, an artist  from Germany who gave me Soroche Pills and, because of her photos, convinced me to make the trip to Lake Titicaca.  Thank you Doro and good luck with your show. Also, Blanca in Cusco, and Camille (a wellness tourism writer who I liked a lot but was, literally, on my way out of town - too bad.).

Ricardo from K'usillus in Lima

.  He was a big help - and cute too!

                                                                                                                    Julio, also from K'usillus and a sweetheart.

 

Helen from Sweden.  We spent a great deal of time at the Hitching Post to the Sun.

Lernessio from the Uros Islands.  He invited us into his home.

Luke and Cindy.  We discovered the Amazon together!

Luke and Cindy learning to make a thatched roof.  Cindy and I did our first zipline but she inched her way to the platform single-handed while I had Jack hoist me up!  Way to go, Cindy!

Sarah and Ellis, mechanical engineers from Alberta - Hope you don't mind, Sarah, I altered the picture of you catching the piranha (just took out the fishing line).  Looks like the piranha caught you! Ha!

Angela - Currently a teacher in Chile.

Jack - Who hoisted me all the way up to the platform!  Muy fuerte!

Haller - What a nice guy!  I couldn't have done the zipline without his encouragement.

Bob - An amazing fellow who has done incredible things in his lifetime, including kayaking the Antarctic, ballooning over the Serengeti, skydiving and spending two weeks in the Amazon!  That is a blowgun in his lap.  Really!

Dorilla - The star of the show!

 The people shown here were all presented on my blog previously,
but I didn't want to leave them out.  Starting to the right is Lilia from Cusco, below is Natasha and Andy from Alberta, then Soledad, my friend from Aguas Calientes and below Soledad are Victoria, Cary, Alan and Tom from Santa Barbara.
All great people who contributed great memories and helped to make the trip really wonderful. 

Jhonatan, my guide who taught me a lot about the jungle - Thank you Jhonatan, mi nuevo hijo!

Winnie - He has an amazing knowledge of the jungle and a gentle, kind spirit.

Poly from Panama City.