Back in September 2021, just as COVID travel restrictions were lifting, we scheduled a bucket list trip to Machu Picchu, Peru and Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. As with many areas of the world during that time, Peru suffered a new outbreak of the virus and closed its boarders to US travelers just as we were to depart on the journey. Although very disappointed to miss Machu Picchu, we were still able to visit the wonders of the Galapagos where we made some amazing new friends. You can read about that journey here.
Fast forward 4 years to 2025 and we once again made an attempt to visit Machu Picchu, this time with some wonderful friends we met in Cambodia during Sue’s 2023 retirement adventure. It was an amazing success and well worth the wait. As an added bonus, we also traveled back to the Galapagos and revisited some of the sites we visited in 2021.
Posts from the trip. Pictures do not do justice to the experience
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Time get ready for our next bucket list trip
We leave October 30, 2025. We tried to do this trip with Celebrity back in September 2021 but unfortunately a COVID outbreak kept us from completing the Machu… Read More
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Tomorrow, we Fly to Peru to start our bucket-list trip.
Tomorrow, we leave on our Overseas Adventure Travel trip to Machu Picchu, Peru and Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. You can read how this trip came about here. We have… Read More
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Today is the Day! We’re off to Peru!
We woke up early this morning and caught the hotel shuttle to the airport, checked in, dropped off our luggage and preceded through security via CLEAR (a great… Read More
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A quiet Halloween in Lima, Peru
We landed in Lima late last night and arrived at the Jose Antonio Hotel in the Miraflores district at around 1AM this morning. We slept in, had breakfast… Read More
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Peruvian Cooking Class
Wow, what an amazing day! We intentionally arrived in Lima a couple of days before the start of our Overseas Adventure Travel tour so that we could take… Read More
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Hopping Around Lima
Today we booked a Hop On Hop Off (aka HOHO) bus tour so that we could get a good overview of the city. The Turibus Yellow Route would… Read More
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Meeting Friends and Starting Tour
Our friends arrived in Lima yesterday to join us in our adventure to Machu Picchu & Galapagos. We first met Deb, Charles, Becky & Kim in Cambodia in… Read More
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Lima Fish Market, Museum & Old Town
Today we woke up early and set out on our extended exploration of Lima. Today started with a visit to a working fisherman’s market in the Chorrillos area… Read More
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Fly to Cusco, Weaving and Sacred Valley
Today we left Lima early for out flight to Cuzco, Peru. In Peru, senior citizens (over 60’s) get to board after people needing assistance and before 1st class.… Read More
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Coca, School Visit, & Home Cooked Meal
Today was a day of many local experiences Urubamba, Peru. We started off meeting a local farmer, Irma, who grows coca leaves and sells them at the local… Read More
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Blessings, Inca Rail and Machu Picchu!
Today left Urubamba and the Sacred Valley to finally venture off to Machu Picchu. Before we left, a local medicine man, Juan Pablo, led a ceremonial offering ritual… Read More
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Machu Picchu and a Broken Toe
A couple of mishaps yesterday after we left Machu Picchu. 1st: Sue got up in the middle of the night in search of snacks and managed to kick… Read More
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Heading back to Cusco, Peru.
Sadly, we had to leave Machu Picchu this morning so while Sue did the last-minute packing, Dan went out exploring before we had to catch the train. Dan… Read More
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Laundry Day and a Walk Around Cusco
Today we got up early to take our dirty laundry down to the lobby where they were picked up by a local woman who washed them and returned,… Read More
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Flying From Cusco, Peru to Quito, Ecuador
We had to have our bags out by 4:45 a.m. this morning and departed our hotel in Cuzco at 5:15. Todays journey was a flight from Cuzco, Peru… Read More
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Quito, Sinamune School, Equator and Old Town
Today we explored Quito, Ecuador. Quito means “Earth in the middle of the world” from the indigenous Quitu people. We began the morning with a visit to the the… Read More
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Quito Shopping & Mindalae Museum
Today was a “down day” for Sue and Dan in Quito. While Deb, Charles, Becky and Kim went for a day at the Termas de Papallacta spa, we… Read More
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Off to the Galapagos Islands
Today we flew from Quito to Guayaquil and then on to the Seymour Galapagos Ecological Airport on Baltra in the Galápagos Islands.. We were greeted by a large… Read More
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Coffee, Carving, Boat & Boobies
We started the day with a visit local coffee/sugar cane farm, El Trapiche Ecológico Galápagos. They demonstrated how to process coffee beans from harvest through roasting. They also… Read More
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Hike & Snorkel: Santiago & Bartolomé
This morning we anchored in Sullivan Bay just off the island of Santiago, Galapagos. The first activity of the day was a pre-breakfast, hour long hike on the… Read More
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Sombrero Chino, Santa Cruz, Hike & Snorkel
We started our day with the captain maneuvering the ship so that we could see into the center of a small island that had a brackish pond. On… Read More
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Heading Home, Travel Chaos, Another Check Mark
November 18, 2025: The day started off normal enough. The crew of the Carina loaded all of our luggage on the zodiacs and shuttled it the 15 minutes… Read More
And that’s a wrap! Another bucket list item checked off!