A Trip in Pictures: Peru

A picture tells a thousand words right? I'm going to be taking a trip down memory lane, easily done by going through photo archives, to some of my past travels. I will tell the story with some of my favourite photos as a guide. I hope you enjoy!

I suspect this post will be the longest Trip in Pictures I've done... I spent ~20 days in Peru at the very start of my first trip of my 'gap year'! I had wanted to visit South America for a while and Peru was top of the list. Peru has so much to offer and is so diverse... rainforests, coasts, deserts, mountains, you name it - Peru has it! I was travelling in a group which really helped make the most of my limited time and also gave me the confidence for solo travel for the rest of my trip.

I landed in cloudy Lima and the next day left to our first destination...

And we saw plenty of wildlife!

...And our first destination was Puerto Maldonado for some time in the rainforest. It was very humid and a super special experience. We had a 2 hour boat ride to our eco lodge and were staying in raised huts with limited hours of electricity, cold showers and no glass windows (just covered in netting)! We were woken in the morning at dawn by howler monkeys and had to lather up in insect repellent before daring to leave!

The whole time here (only a couple of days!) was so special - to be off grid and remote is just so relaxing.

Unfortunately when we arrived back to Puerto Maldonado, disaster first struck! For one, our flight to Cusco was cancelled so we were stranded for a while. And on top of that, I fell ill and spent all day and night and all the next day in a sort of hot sweat/dizzy fever. Even when we finally arrived in Cusco, I struggled for a couple more days. And I actually collapsed on the plane right after landing and had to get wheeled off in a wheel chair - all in the experience right?! It possibly didn't help that Cusco sits at a lofty altitude of 3400m! Thankfully I finally recovered just in time for my bucket list day of visiting stunning Machu Picchu (see in Instagram pics below!).

From here we went on to an even HIGHER altitude, the town of Puno on the edge of Lake Titicaca - sitting high at around 3800m (for reference this is around double many ski resorts in France). Of course we got out onto the water, and visited the Floating Reed Islands of the Uros people.

Also part of our lake trip was a visit to Isla Taquile

The Colca Canyon region, famous for Condor-spotting!

One of the many pinch-me moments of the trip was a visit to Huacachina - a real life desert oasis.

At the end of my time in Peru, we visited the Islas Ballestas (the 'Poor Man's Galapagos'). So many birds, penguins and sea lions!

Okay I know this last one isn't pretty but I LOVED Peruvian food/drink (Adobo de Chancho, INCA KOLA, Pisco sours, Tacu Tacu) - but especially this! This is Lomo Saltado and I applaud the double carb effort (yes that is chips with rice).

If for some reason you need more pictures, check out my Insta'd pics from the trip below!