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 day of travel], we arrive in Lima, Peru and headed to bed at midnight for our 5:45am wake up call. Sleep deprived on day one, the adventure beings.

! – Bumpy landing and thin air make for a hard transition on tired bodies

Cusco, Peru: Noted as one of the most dangerous airports in the world to fly in to, our bumpy but safe landing started our Andean journey. The thinner air was immediately noted to us seafaring folk. We indulged in coca leaves to help “stimulate” our bodies and drank strong tea.

! – Our bus driver bombs out of Cusco down the winding road to Pisac. An emergency stop is made for an adventurer who looses her lunch.

Llama Farm: Stopping at a llama farm helps ease our stomachs and introduces us to many types of animals used in Peru for their wool – llamas, alpaca, vicuna and more.

! – The viewpoint of the Sacred Valley is gorgeous, but 2 more adventurers get sick. Will our bus driver slow down?

! Pisac, Peru: We’re down the winding road and stomachs are holding, but some passengers (me in particular) are in desperate need of a bathroom… too much coca tea!

! – A bathroom is found in a small local restaurant. The whole bus practically unloads. No toilet paper is found, but we are very grateful anyway!

Urumbamba, Peru: We arrive at the gorgeous Sol y Luna hotel nestled against the towering Andes mountains with the Nevado Chicon glacier peaking through. The hotel is pure heaven! Incredible rooms, grounds and a stellar view. Our rough beginning to our trip is magically washed away!