January 11, 2025
LIMA, PERU to CUSCO, PERU
On the morning of 1/3/25, I left the Ship with 10 other residents and flew from the airport in Lima to Cusco, on an excursion that we cobbled together ourselves. We arrived in CUSCO by noon and started taking our altitude medications. Cusco is in the Peruvian Andes at an elevation of 11,152' , which is a big jump from the sea level where we have been residing. A dull headache was the symptom most of us had. We grabbed a quick lunch and went on a 3 hour walking tour of the City. Above is central town square Plaza de Armas.
View more
The tour ended with complimentary Pisco sours, we had dinner at a local Mexican hot spot and ice cream on the way back to our hotel.
Today we went to see the coastal Naidiri Village that has recently won the Top Prize in global restoration, for their ocean reef project. The reef restoration was borne out of necessity to solve their dwindling food/ main protein source for the village, of fish. It was started by 2 of the villages rugby players and today is run by the local teenagers (mostly boys) in the village. It was great seeing how empowered and proud they were of their amazing efforts.
The port agent offered several trips to areas around Lautoka . We chose the trip to Serenity Island Resort which included van and boat transfers and lunch. It was a really nice day enjoying the sun, reef, pool, turtles and amenities!
I organized a group tour for a fun day experience. We had a great day despite the rain that decided to join in. We started with a 45 minute van ride out through the city, into the countryside. Then we got in long boats and went up river to a waterfall, some swam or cheered on the guides to cliff dive. Then back in the boats to visit Sabata Village where 50 family members live as a community existing totally off the land, along the river. Next was a quick boat ride to our BBQ lunch spot. After lunch we got to tube down the river, through light rapids, for just about an hour. We ganged our tubes together with the guide - we had a chain of 14 in my group and the guides totally blew us away singing hymns for a good chunk of the journey. It was truly moving in that place with the rain drizzling and all of us linked together. Loved it!