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Digital Travel Journal: Visiting a Llama Farm in Peru
After we left Cusco, Peru. we headed down into the Sacred Valley and stopped along the way at a the Awana Kancha weaving center to get a glimpse at how the beautiful Peruvian wools are produced. This small spot provides a self guided tour of the different steps it takes to make wool for weaving. In the first area are penned up animals (llamas, alpacas, vicunas and guanacos) where you discover the differences between these camelids and can see how their wool varies. (Vicunas have the most coveted wool, as it is very soft.) All the animals are domesticated and quite friendly, and of course love to be fed. The…
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On Location: Machu Picchu After the Tourists Have Gone
The bus careened up the narrow one-lane switch back road. The densely forested road made visibility almost impossible, but at each turn, the driver somehow managed to narrowly miss the oncoming buses filled with tourists just like us. I was convinced our driver possessed some ancient Incan secret for predicting oncoming traffic. At the top, we unloaded and filed into line to enter the historic site that ranks high on most travelers’ bucket lists. After paying the fee and getting stamped, we headed up the crowded trail to get our first glimpse at the Lost City. We formed a single file line and followed a path along a meticulously built…
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Art on the Go: Create an Infographic of Your Trip
Infographics (or information graphics) are all the rage these days. We are very visual people, and it’s clear that we don’t want to read much, so an infographic is the perfect way to relay a lot of information in one quick shot. There is an infographic for almost everything these days, infographics about social media, infographics about a movie, infographics about food pairing, there are even infographics about infographics! So, why not join the trend and create an infographic about your recent trip? Your friends and family will want to know what you did, and how your trip was, so whip up an infographic and share to all. Here’s how……
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Culture: Cooking Class in Cusco – The Versatile Aji Amarillo Sauce
My mom has always been a wonderful cook. She’s a lot like me in that she loves to cook delicious dinners with rich sauces, spices and flavors, but is not much of a baker. She’s also been a huge proponent of eating various ethnic foods. Before she and my dad would head off on a big adventure, she’d always come home with what seemed to be very exotic ingredients (exotic ingredients to a pre-teen, that is!) She’d whip up various dishes typical to the place she was traveling. Of course, we kids would complain. She’d just inform us that if we didn’t try it, then we just weren’t up for…
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Pattern+Place: The Art of Andean Weaving, Peru
While traveling in the Sacred Valley of Peru, we were lucky to meet a group of local traditional weavers and have a demonstration of their talents. The demonstration was put on by an organization called The Center for Traditional Textiles. Their mission is to not only promote this traditional Incan art form to tourists and stimulate economy to local artists, but also to educate the local community to continue their weaving traditions and pass it on for generations to come. Their weaving is a beautiful art form — not to be missed. They demonstrated the process, from spinning the wool to thread and making their colorful looms, to actual weaving…
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Culture: Coca Leaves and the Andean Culture
Flying from San Francisco, CA to Cusco, Peru can be quite an altitude adjustment. 11,139′ to be exact. Before our family trip to Peru, I definitely did my research about altitude sickness, and things I could bring, or do to help prevent it for me and my kids. My doctor prescribed me Acetazolamide without a blink, but our pediatrician said, “Sorry– can’t prescribe the same, that medicine is not allowed in kids.” So, I started doing a little research about other remedies. It didn’t take long (maybe one click on the internet) to have the mysterious coca tea pop up in my search results as a common remedy to prevent…
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Travel Stories: Peru, South America, Map of Day One
My family’s adventure to Peru last summer was amazing. Our kids were quite the troopers– up before dawn many times, long travel days, and even educational seminars… and they still had a blast. The first day of a trip can sometimes be the hardest, though. Although everyone was so excited for the adventure, exhaustion from travel, and acclimatizing to our new environment was harder than expected. I decided to illustrate this first day as a map (above) to show of our adventures. Here’s our story. Day One: South America: A Rough Start Leads to a Little Piece of Heaven Lima, Peru: Adventures don’t always start out as planned. [After a full…
