Matador - Peru

Volunteer Abroad in Peru, Lima, Cusco, Piura, Volunteering www.abroaderview.org

A Broader View Volunteers Corp — Sun, 6 Jul 2008 11:11:00 -0500

Volunteer Abroad in Peru: Volunteering Opportunities

Volunteer Abroad in Peru: The third largest country in South America, it shares borders with Ecuador, Columbia, Brazil, Bolivia and also Chile. A large mountainous country on the Pacific coast of South America, Peru offers a range of...

Musings-La Casa Amarilla-Exped Leading-Political Intrigue-Panamá

ricardo_emp — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:39:42 -0500

Like a broken man I have returned from leading a six week expedition through Peru and Bolivia. One that found me close the edge, considering murder – there is no extradition between Colombia and the UK…but there is to the US – and then led me to almost walk out on the job. I prevailed and am...

Blazing the trail....sort of

geotraveler — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 20:18:35 -0500

The First Kilometers

The pounding drums of Quechuan music playing in the background couldn’t keep up with our heartbeats as our little minibus rolled towards Km 82. Sure, we were elated but our crash course around the Sacred Valley the previous day had deflated our parachutes and promptly brought...

No Donkey Service on the Trail

geotraveler — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 05:52:46 -0500

We had to leave our training wheels behind in Pisáq (Písac).

“Phew! We must have done like what, 6km?!” I ask Aly, panting to catch my breath as we explored ruins in Pisáq (Písac), an hour or so from Cusco. A quick fitness check before we started the Inca trail the next day.

Back in Mompos

ricardo_emp — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:53:15 -0500

So, I am back in mompos after a six week job leading youngsters from the UK and US through Bolivia and Peru. Part of my journey can be found on MatadorTrips on my first piece for them - How To Trek the Inca Trail . The trip itself was beset with problems. On the Taquesi trail in Bolivia after...

On the fourth day

geotraveler — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:08:24 -0500

Wobbling on calves hardened like lead with my trekking pole in a death grip, I raced with the others in pitch darkness through the rainforest towards the Sun Gate. I had nothing left except pure adrenaline pushing me forward.

Two days earlier, fellow trekkers atop Dead Woman´s Pass (

Transmitting from Lima

geotraveler — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:48:16 -0500

I overpacked.

I knew I would. Staring at the monster from across the room, I can`t help but feel embarrassed.

Humiliation seemed to have welcomed me into Lima. After an arduous journey with turbulence that had me reciting last prayers, I get to customs only to be pulled aside. This time around,...

Pisco, The Earthquake Zone - 9 months on

ricardo_emp — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:32:50 -0500

In August last year the town of Pisco some 4-5 hours south down the panamerican highway from Lima was pretty much razed to the ground by the effects of an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the richter scale. I find myself here leading another expedition through Peru and Bolivia and having not visited the town...

You Want Fries With That?

chrysser — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:45:40 -0500

No, this is not what I say in my time away from the computer mining a few decades of traveling stories into some sort of cognitive narrative. Besides being an election year in the U.S. and the Year of the Rat on the Chinese Lunar calendar, this year is dedicated to a very famous vegetable....

Gearing up for the trail

geotraveler — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:24:17 -0500

“I told you Dominica is beautiful”, Sherry tells me of her native land. “Very mountainous”. We were playing with Google Earth after feasting on massive salads. We were tilting hilly terrains, rotating the horizon, laughing when someone zoomed in too fast or couldn’t control the mouse...

Bitten by the Travel Bug: Blessed by a Paca in Peru

senoritaburrito — Sun, 9 Mar 2008 17:03:27 -0500

Hmmm, my first travel blog. Ok, here's the deal. I first traveled out of the country just last year. It doesn't seem that long ago! I went to Peru for a week and got bitten by the travel bug bad. I live to travel. Life? Who needs a job when you can wander...

Trip Taco: Part II “Sudamerica de Bus”

Akmonki — Sat, 1 Mar 2008 19:19:15 -0600

This is Trip Taco: Part II from the reproduction of Facebook notes that I've been posting since May 23, 2007. It's an impromptu but thoughtful account of what I like to call "Trip Taco." I'll post it in three parts correlating with the three general areas that the hand of Trip Taco has touched:...

To book or not to book?

geotraveler — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 20:51:41 -0600

Finally booking flights to Bermuda, I went to bed at 3 am last night. Like a woman possessed, I'd obsessed over this decision for the last few days; rationalizing it and trying to convince myself it was essential to my wellbeing.

A sort of quick belated Valentine’s celebration jaunt, I explain...

The Inca Jungle Trail, Chevy Chase style

lyza — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 16:46:25 -0600

We got to Cusco, and naturally had not made any plans regarding our trip to Machu Picchu. We scouted out different travel agencies, fully aware that we were too late for the classic Inca Trail trek. We decided on the Inca Jungle Trail as a fun alternative....mountain biking and hiking through the...

Quick and dirty picks for Peru

Ross — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:59:45 -0600

My new friend, Jill is off to Peru and possibly Bolivia for three weeks and wanted to know if I had any advice, so herererererererere, we go!

I only spent a day in Lima. It was a sunny Sunday and we went down to the beach, which was PACKED. Out of literally thousands of urban Peruvian beach-goers,...

The madness in South America continues: Scaling volcanoes in Peru

Ross — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 17:00:30 -0500

Saludos a todos de Santiago,

Still alive down here in the old sur de america, and a lot has happened since I threw out the last grouper billy buddy so fasten your seatbelts low and tight across your lap and brace yourself for turbulance and a loss of cabin pressure, because we have a lot to talk...

Pura Adventura in the Peruvian Andes

Ross — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 14:59:58 -0500

Saludos a todos a Arequipa,

I have now been in Peru for almost nine days, It feels like a month or more.
I met up with Huntington, Ben and Cody in Lima last Sunday night. The next day we reluctantly boarded a bus for Cusco that would take 22 hours. A day later we arrived, eager to ease the...