What can I say to all of you who read my blog? I apologize for not talking about this incredible expedition until now, but we have been going not stop from the moment we arrived in Miami, the day before flying to Quito, South America.
There is so much that has happened in nearly two weeks, and I am not even going to come close to telling you how extraordinary this trip has been.
As many of you know, this expedition was divided into three separate trips: the Galapagos Islands, the Amazon, and Machu Picchu. Here are some of the highlights from this trip:
The Galapagos Islands brought us sea lions, iguanas, sea turtles, a very nice cruise ship, daily excursions, exotic plant life, unusual birds and reptiles, the giant tortoises, resting in hammocks on the ship, getting in and out of zodiacs, spectacular snorkeling, penguins, manta rays, the blue footed booby, a visit to the Darwin Institute, and so many other unbelievable things, I just can’t remember them all.
Our Galapagos Islands portion of this trip gave all 30 of us in the group, the opportunity to bond as a family. Our quilters and their spouses were all well traveled, and many of them had been on a Sew Many Places trip with me in the past. So it really was like family.
The second part of the expedition was staying in a very nice, first class lodge in the middle of the Amazon Jungle. We arrived into the city of Iquitos, and were transferred to the Explorama dock for a nearly 2-hour cruise on the Amazon River. We all had great accommodations, and to be honest with you, it reminded me a little of my experience at the Kishwa Tembo tented camp in Africa.
Highlights from our Amazon expedition include: piranha fishing, visiting remote villages, holding baby sloth monkeys, seeing anaconda snakes, watching a lizard go after a poisonous coral snake, marveling at giant six foot lily pads, seeing banana trees, passion fruit trees and all kinds of fauna and flora-typically found in the Amazon, participating in a blow gun demonstration and some tribal dances, walking through a local villager’s hut-seeing six inch snails being prepared for their dinner, enjoying music and dancing by local people, watching the incredible life of the people and animals on the Amazon River, walking across the Amazon Jungle forest on an extended canopy-hundreds of feet in the air above the tree tops, watching local shamans demonstrate the use of plants for medicinal purposes and shopping for local handicrafts.
Our expedition now leads us to where we are right now-MACHU PICCHU. Wow is all I can say. Very few things impress me any longer, not because I don’t appreciate them, but because I have seen so many places during my 23 year travel career. But Machu Picchu was certainly one of those places that took my breath away.
Highlights of Machu Picchu include: a great visit in the city of Cusco, staying at a fantastic hotel, watching a professional weaver demonstration and learning more about baby alpaca wool and yarns, enjoying a spectacular 3-hour train ride through unbelievable mountains, hotel accommodations at the world famous Inkaterra Hotel, a tour of the orchid garden and tea garden, the indescribable visit to the ruins in Machu Picchu, where Ricky Tims played his flute as we pinched ourselves in our surreal surroundings, and now here I am relaxing at our hotel, which is giving me an opportunity to write all of this to you.
It has been so wonderful having Ricky with us as our special guest. His creative process is always nonstop, and our group was privileged to have three special encounters with Ricky during this two week expedition.
The food, accommodations, tour guides, shopping have all been out of this world. I am so anxious to hear those who have participated on this trip, comment on this blog, so you can have an even better idea of what this expedition was all about.
We leave Machu Picchu tomorrow and stay one more night in Cusco before flying to Lima to meet our flight back to Miami. As the group travels north, I am traveling west. I am meeting Kaye England in Australia to start our first annual Australia/New Zealand expedition. I am certainly looking forward to that three week tour!
