December was a little bit of a crazy month. I will tell of my last days in my next blog. I left the 4th to go and get Mom at the airport in Lima and then we headed to Cusco! That was a beautiful time.....along with the scariest taxi ride I had EVER been in! It should have taken us 1.5 hours or so to get to Urdubamba but with a stop for pictures and a bathroom break, it took us about 55 minutes! We were FLYING through the mountainous roads...Mom in the back with NO seatbelts. If you know Mom, you would understand that she was NOT happy about that! We got to the seminary where my friend Rachel Tarvin serves at and got settled into our room! It was a relaxing time and that night we went out to dinner and had AWESOME pizza! It tasted almost as good as Mom's home-made pizza! Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Tarvin for dinner! That next day we went to Machu Picchu! This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! They are Incan ruins that have been preserved after all these years! We took a taxi to Ollataytambo, which wasn't far, and then took a BEAUTIFUL train ride up into the Andes Mountains! Some people trek it, but we didn't want to do that! That would have been vigorous for Mom and I and would have taken several days to do! When we got there it was POURING down rain and then took a bus up to Machu Picchu! It was a long trip but well worth it! We then climbed MANY stairs (which I am glad we did at the beginning instead of coming down them.....if you don't know me, I do NOT do well with heights!)!! It was still raining/drizzling at this point and we could hardly see the mountain Machu Picchu which means "old mountain". It was a challenge for both Mom and I and we got to see God's beautiful creation once again! He really amazes me with His majesty! There was one point in the climb that was REALLY scary for me! It was a drop off and we had to walk down these short stairs right on the side of the mountain, but I conquered it! I do have to say that was one of my favorite parts visiting this amazing place! I believe the best thing was that Mom and I were a few minutes short of seeing a llama born right there in Machu Picchu! We saw it take its first steps and hobble around, which was really neat! I hadn't seen an animal born in real life other than on TV! The saddest part of the story was that they took down part of this ruins just to fly the Queen Elizabeth of England there by helicopter. They needed a place to land her and I guess this was the best place for it to happen. None of the tourists walk on the grassy parts, which I think make the grassy areas just a bright green! Well this trip was a great one, and I got to spend it with the bestest mother in the world! I wouldn't have traded this time with her for the world! We did go to Rachel's church, and then headed back to Cusco to visit a few places. We did some touring and then some shopping. We stayed in a really cool hostel, but we had to walk LOTS of stairs to get there with our luggage, but found out there was a road a lot closer that we could have taken!!! Thanks to a nice guy, we didn't have to carry all of it very far! We then headed to another part of the country, the coast! We went to Paracas, which is where there was an earthquake in August of 2007. There was some damage to some of the buildings, but our hotel didn't seem to be damaged at all. We had 2 relaxing days near the "beach" so we thought! It was the beach part of the time, but we had to walk to the beach where you would swim. We took a tour of the Islas Ballestas, which have a lot of marine life! We saw penguins, sea lions, lots of neat native birds, and would have seen flamingos if they would have migrated a bit more north!
Welcome to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Perú, Momma!!! This isn't how packed it really gets though!
Her flight arrived from Houston a little late, but that was ok! At least she made it safe and with all her luggage!
Doesn't Mom look tired? It wasn't fair that she got to go through and not hit the "button"!!! The "button" tells whether or not you get your luggage searched after going through customs!
Mom and I seeing the Andes Mountains for the first time....other than the foothills near the orphanage! This was our "break" during our CRAZY taxi ride!!
Mom in Ollataytambo before getting on the train! Isn't it gorgeous here??
Amy in Ollataytambo with the train in the background!
Our train with the vendors, which is where we got Amy's present (Mom's coworker, not me!)
Mom and I on our first train ride together! We are on our way to Machu Picchu!! YEAH!!
Look at that bridge!!! And isn't the terracing gorgeous?
Yes, it was raining, but eventually it stopped and you could see the beauty of God's creation in Machu Picchu ("old mountain")!
Here the clouds are starting to clear out.....how AWESOME our Creator is!!!
Look how high we climbed! It was a fun adventure, and yet a challenge for both of us!
Look at the drop-off! Yes it was scary at times being that I do NOT like heights! But Mom and I survived and it was awesome!
We say this little fellar right after he/she was born! Here it is with its mother! What another experience in Perú!
Mom with the Aloe plants she likes....and this one is a small one!!!
Rachel and I! We stayed at the seminary she is serving at! Mom was a blessing to her by filling up one of her luggage pieces full of things for Rachel....packed by her parents! I miss her already!
The cobble road we walked to get to our hotel! It was a long trek! When we first got there we could have taken this road, but instead we hiked LOTS of stairs with our luggage, but a nice gentleman carried our luggage up a lot of the way. What a blessing!!
Why in the world of all this beauty is a McDonald's?? Mom and I were thinking "Why put one in the center square next to all these beautiful, ancient buildings?" Oh well....
What?? A CHRISTMAS tree in Perú?? Yes, they do have that tradition also...even at the albergue this year!
Here is Cusco! It is a colorful city!
A museum we went to that was underground! It was kinda neat!
And this is where you come out of the museum! How bizarre!! It was like walking out of a dug up grave or something!
Oh the traffic in Lima! We are on our way to Paracas.
Our hotel from the pier!
The Nazca Lines we saw on the way to the Islas Ballestas!
A Peruvian penguin! YES.....they do have marine life....YEAH!!!
Some of the architecture that wasn't destroyed by the earthquake in August of 2007.
Mom likes this one, and we wish that it wasn't so blurry!
I loves this picture.....and the shape of the heart! Maybe they are lovebirds! HAHA!
Look at all the birds!
Oh and the sea lions!! They would "pose" for you, which was really cute! You can't "get" on these islands, but rather tour them on a boat!
One of the hotels that is being rebuilt because of the damage of the earthquake. They had a sign that said "No Vacancy", which I thought was hilarious....of course there isn't any!
Damage from the earthquake August 2007
Mom fed the pelican a fish, and then of course they wanted money for it! We gave them some, but they wanted more.....oh brother!
Here I am with our seashells we collected....AFTER I chased the bag, while Mom laughed and laughed, but didn't take a picture because I had the camera!
What a wingspan and beautiful creature! We watched this birds dive for fish! It was fun, and we probably stayed out for an hour or so! What great mother-daughter bonding time!!
What a fantastic sunset!!! How gorgeous our God ends our day!!
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