Well we finally made it to the Amazon after over 24 hours of delays and weather issues. Once we arrived we were greeted by extreme humidity, which was quite different from the rain and cold of Cusco. We were also greeted by a really cool bus that took us to the Madre De Dios river. Our boat ride was quite scenic with different kinds of birds and beautiful brush. I just want to add this this blogger did get injured on our boat ride because I was not paying attention to the huge board in the middle of the boat. I must thank my wife and a medic from DC for saving me. What would we do without great women in our lives???
Once we arrived at Amazonia Eco Lodge, we dropped off our bags and it was off to Monkey Island. Monkey island was very cool. The monkeys really like bottled water, bananas and oranges. They really like any kind of fruit. We saw three monkeys on our trip to the island. Our pictures are very cool and you can see how close we got to the monkey and we were able to pet the monkey too, which was great. After Monkey Island we went on a hour walk through the Jungle. We saw Caimon's, spiders and lots of different kinds of birds. It was also quite muddy on our journey through the jungle, but we were lucky that the lodge offered rain boots. I want to add that the food at the lodge was delicious. If you ever get a chance to visit this lodge I highly recommend it. Our final day in Peru, we had a real early wake-up call for another hike and Kayak ride through the jungle. It was a fun three hour journey through mud and heavy brush. After our hike and kayak ride, it was a quick shower and off to Lima for our departure back to Detroit.What a long 29 hour journey back home. It was a 1.5 hour boat ride, 2 flights back to Lima (3.0 hours), a 5 hour wait for our flight to Miami, another 4 hour layover in Miami and 29 hours later we arrived back in the D. What a long day, all that matter is we arrived home safe and we arrived home to some really great parents. This year is in the books, please watch for information on our picture exchange that should happen early May and watch for next year, Dubai, Germany and Mexico, possible Italy again if I continue to get a lot of interest. Next year we will be offering a Service learning trip: More details soon.
0 Comments
It was a very early wake-up call today, 4 am, but we were heading to the highlight of our trip Machu Picchu, one of the wonders of the world. Machu Picchu did not disappoint. Again, we had a four hour journey to reach Machu Picchu, which I hope one day to do the hike to this great destination, Who is In? Trimer-Hartley, Any teachers, Ornstein ??? We first took a two hour bus ride to the Inca train station for our two hour train ride to Machu Picchu. The bus ride was again through winding roads, mountains and valleys. Once we arrived at the station, we grabbed a very light snack and hoped on our train through the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu. Once we arrived, it was another thirty minute bus ride to the most fascinating place that I have ever been. I am not going to talk to much about it because I don't want to ruin it for those who have not been here yet, but I suggest you visit this great place. We spent about three hours at the site and all I can say is WOW!!!
After our wonderful tour of this wonder of the world, we took another bus ride down the mountain to the city below. We had lunch at this wonderful place overlooking a waterfall and the beautiful river that it flows in. Lunch a little more Americanized than I would have liked, but the kids loved it. I also noticed that every time we have lunch somewhere in Peru, we here 80's music. I think they do it for us?? After lunch, we enjoyed for first chance to shop. Some of the students bought some great presents for their parents. We shopped for about two hours, much less than our regular shopping days in Italy a few weeks ago. After shopping it was back on the train and another four hour journey back to Cusco. Once we finally arrived in Cusco, We decided to go out to dinner at the restaurant next door. That is where we met Jason. In Peru, the Guinea Pig is a delicacy that many Peruvians enjoy for special events. One of our students decided to order this delicacy for their main entree. I must say when Jason came out with his helmet, teeth still intact and eyes, I became quite horrified, but our student was very excited to try this unique dish. In Peru, they bring out the Guinea Pig to take pictures before they cut it up and you dig in. I guess it was good because almost all of the student tried it and dissected it. Tomorrow, we tour the city of Cusco and finally get to sleep in a extra few hours. This is much needed after the last few very long days. I also want to remind the parents that we will be off the grid starting tomorrow. We will have no phone service, no internet until Saturday afternoon. Today, we started at 5 am to catch a plane to Cusco. This was the first time that we caught a plane within a trip that I can remember, but it is a lot better then taking the 24+ hour drive to reach Cusco. Lima and Cusco are about the same distance from Detroit to Chicago. Can anyone tell why it takes 24 hours to get from Lima to Cusco?? Our plane ride was very nice, and very short, about an hour over the Andie Mountains
Once we arrived in Cusco, we were off on our tour of the ruins, we visited Ollantaytambo. These ruins have great accomplishment for the Inca, because it is home to one of the greatest victories against the Spaniards. On this journey to these ruins, we had the great opportunity to visit a Peruvian school. We visited a third grade class and donated pencils, crayons, markers and coloring books. The children ere so appreciative of the school supplies. It was greatly needed for these students who live in a very poor area in the Inca valley. The visit also allowed some of our students to use the Spanish that they have been learning in school. It was really great how our students interacted with the third grade students that we visited. We were at the school for about an hour, but it was an hour that our students as well as the Peruvian students will never forget. After our visit to the school we enjoyed lunch and then headed off to the ruins. It was quite a long bus ride to the ruins through the mountains, valleys and steep hills. Some of us began to get a little motion sickness from the movement and I think the change of altitude really didn't help us to much. Once, we arrived at the ruins, it was amazing, but very rainy and cold. The temperature change was pretty dramatic from our days in Lima to what we experienced in the Inca Valley. We had the great opportunity to climb the Inca ruins and see how this magnificent civilization built these amazing communities in the mountains. It still makes me wonder how they achieved these accomplishments with the lack of technology or that we think they have a lack of technology. We also found out on this journey that a few of us are extremely afraid of heights and I am proud to say it wasn't this blogger this time. After our visit of the ruins, it was a long painful journey back to Cusco. It was also a very long day for us, so we hit the sack very quickly. We also have a very early wake-up of 4am tomorrow to head to Machu Picchu. More Soon!!! Today was not your ordinary Easter Sunday, We started the day by taking a walk though the district that we were staying at here in Lima, Mediflore. We visited the park of Love, then John F Kennedy Park add finally the park of Dance. There were about 100 or so people doing what we would call Zumba, but the people of Lima are beyond our dance of Zumba and seemed to be quite offended that I called it Zumba. I was told no no no we don't do Zumba that is below our style of dance. We did have some students and adults go out on the street and dance with the locals, it was quite entertaining. After we danced, we visited a local market and did a little shopping. After shopping we headed to lunch and to the chocolate museum. The chocolate here is very delicious and locally made in Peru.
After lunch, we went on out afternoon to with our local guide Fernando, what a wonderful guide. We visited downtown Lima, where we walked through the Government square and headed to San Francisco Cathedral. When we arrived at the cathedral it seemed to be like any other church, but it was far from that. We walked through some areas with very beautiful art, wood ceilings and a library. Fernando then took us to the catacombs, it changed everything. In this area of burial, you can see thousands of burial spots for the ancient wealthy people of Lima and their bones. I thought a few of the students were going to lose their lunch. The faces when they saw thousands of bones and skulls was priceless. After our encounter with bones and skulls, we headed to a more tame museum that showed us ancient Inca pottery and jewelry, very exciting since I teach about the Ancient Inca's when my students are in 6th grade. After our tour of the museum it was time to say goodbye to our local guide Fernando and we headed back to our hotel for Dinner and a early bedtime since we have a early flight to Cuzco. Tomorrow, we have a 8:00 am flight to Cuzco, in which we have to be up at 5 am to make this flight. Once in Cuzco, we will visit a Peruvian school and the valley area. More soon. Today, we started part two of the University Prep Schools Study Abroad Program and headed to South America for the first time. Our history had led us to Asia, Europe and Central America, but today we landed on out fourth continent. We met at the airport at a very early 4 am for our long day of travel. Once everyone arrived we headed towards security which was quite fast, but we were lucky to all have TSA pre check. Once through security we found our gate and had a light breakfast.
Our first flight was to home of the greatest University in the country Miami. I would have loved to have more time to take the kids on a quick tour of my Alma mater the U, but unfortunately we had little time. Once in Miami I introduced everyone to Guava and Cheese pastries and Cuban Sandwiches. Absolutely Delicious. We had a three layover in Miami then it was off to Lima, Peru. Our flight to Lima was quite shaky at times, a lot more turbalence then our flights last week to Europe. We arrived in Lima about 6 pm local time. They are on Central time like Chicago in the United States. Once in Lima, we jumped on our tour bus and headed towards our hotel. Did you know that the people in Peru have a six day work week, not five like us? So of course we arrived right at rush hour and with ten million people living in the city it was very busy. The city is very beautiful on right on the Pacific Ocean. It is also a very religious city and was ready to celebrate Easter Sunday. Can you guess what religion they Practice? Once at the hotel, we checked into our room then headed for dinner at a beautiful mall right on the Pacific. For dinner, some of us ate chicken, steak and Pasta, but one student was very brave and tried Octopus. Peruvian food was very good. After dinner we enjoyed a Peruvian Movie and then headed back to our hotel for the night. It was a great start to our week in Peru. Tomorrow, We tour the city of Lima, where we will visit a museum and a church in the afternoon. More soon. Day 7 and 8: Colosseum, The Forum and another Country
First of all, I would like to apologize for not having an update the past few days. There was a quite a problem with Internet access. Day 7; We sang goodbye to Sorrento and said hello to Rome. We took about a four hour bus ride from the south of Italy to the central section of Italy (Roma). Our bus driver Walter and tour Director Oshry first took us to a self service lunch at a wonderful train station. The food was quite delicious. Then we continued our trip to the Colosseum and Forum where we met our local guide Jerry. Jerry is from Venezuela, Jersey and Rome. He is quite a colorful guide and really kept the students engaged throughout our tours of the Colosseum, Forum and Vatican City (Did you know that Vatican City is a foreign Country??) The ruins of the Ancient Roman empire can be quite overwhelming, especially when you don't have a lot of time to tour these wonderful places. Our guide Jerry did a excellent job explaining both and was very detailed with every explanation of the ruins. After our tour of Ancient Rome, we jumped on a bus ride to Gladiator School. Day 8: We visited the Vatican, this was not my first time to this great country, but each time you visit you see something new. On this trip our wonderful local guide Jerry, took us to the Pope mobile garage. (Please check out our pictures at University Prep School Study Abroad on facebook. The garage showed us over 500 years of how the Pope traveled in style around the world. It was amazing to see. The walk through the Vatican Museum is always an adventure. They pack way too many people in and it is very hard to walk around, but the art is something you just can't explain, absolutely priceless. During our visit through the Museum you see the Sistine chapel, St. Peter's and like I said above the most amazing art in the world. After the Vatican, we did a little shopping, some of us rode a Ferrari (Mr. Holley) and we had a wonderful final lunch in Rome. Once we left the area of the Vatican in Rome, We looked at a beautiful Piazza, the name has slipped my mind at this moment, we saw the Spanish Steps and we did more shopping. I have to say out of all of the groups that I have taken abroad, this group shopped by far the most. Our final dinner in Rome, we visited the medieval area of Treverstae. We had a wonderful final dinner and then more shopping. Our final night gave us quite a twist because once we walked all the way to our bus stop, we realized we were missing two of our principals. Oshry jumped into action and went back to find them with no success. Eventually, we found them back at the hotel. From what I heard they had an adventure of their own, but I will let them explain. Day 9: Once we arrived at the airport, we found out that our flights back home were cancelled because of a power outage in Amsterdam. Again, our rock star Tour director jumped into action with some help from this blogger. We were able to get everyone on separate flight back home, Two through Philadelphia and one through Chicago. Everyone returned home safely after almost 24 hours of travel. This is the last blog for our Italy trip, please for the Peru trip staring this Sunday. Also Like our facebook page at: University Prep School Study Abroad Those who traveled with us please give our page a review. Our picture exchange will be in early May. Please put together your ten favorite pictures and make up to 30 copies of each. Italy 2015 signing off!!! |
To see pictures of our adventures find us on:
AuthorMr. Lopez is the primary author of our blogs. However, on each trip Mr. Lopez invites guest bloggers to add their flair to our experiences. Guest bloggers will be noted at the bottom of the blog. Archives
April 2018
TRIPS |