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 from where we were anchored to the dock on Baltra then came back for us passengers. We said our goodbyes to the ship and climbed aboard for […]

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 the pond were several pink flamingos and some flamingo babies. We stopped the engines and drifted by so that we could catch a view from the top […]

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 “young” pahoehoe (smooth) and a’a (rough) lava flows of the island that were formed when the volcano erupted in the late 19th century. It is amazing how plants and animals […]

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 showed us how to squeeze liquid out of raw sugar cane stalks and make it into juice and/or ferment into aguardiente (aka moonshine). The group enjoyed sampling […]

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 Galapagos land iguana as we entered the terminal. We were last here in 2021 just after opening from COVID , and besides being a bit more crowded […]

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 stayed back and explored near our hotel. After getting some local currency from the ATM across the street (aka US$ : )), we walked to the nearby […]

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 Sinamune School which was created with the purpose of providing training and musical therapy to people with disabilities, by Maestro Edgar Palacios. The school’s orchestra gave us […]

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 to Quito, Ecuador (with a short stopover in Lima Airport, Peru). Sue and Dan were last in Quito in 2021 when we did our Galapagos Island adventure […]

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, pressed and folded, in the afternoon. She charged by the kilogram weighed and paid in advance. We were told they would be left in the lobby cabinet […]

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 managed to find another statue of Paddington sitting on the bench near the train station. Our guide, David managed to get us upgraded to the first-class rail […]

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 the bedpost quite hard. It was sticking out at a 45-degree angle and very /painful. We suspected it was broken. (It was. We verified this with an […]

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 to Mother Earth. He presented many gifts to Mother Earth and blessed all of us and prayed for our safe onward journey before burning the gifts. It […]

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 market. It takes her a day by bus, train and trail to get to her farm high in the mountains where the leaves are all harvested by […]

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. They let youngster Sue board along with the rest of our group :-). The elevation in Cusco is 11,400 feet and we certainly felt every inch of […]

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 of Lima. Here we saw fresh fish that, were caught this morning, being gutted, cleaned and displayed for purchase by local buyers. The local fishermen talked to […]