Sacred Valley, Peru Nov. 2010

We left early this morning by van for a private tour of the Sacred Valley, we travelled with a driver and the best guide ever Norma. The first place we went to was a Llama/ Alpacha Education Centre. I fed the Alpachas and named one Albey the Alpacha and now Bill wont let me bring him home...I think Kai would love him but Indy would never speak to me again! From there we drove through some of the most beautiful land I have ever seen. Lush greens, mixed with flowering cactus and towering mountains, all this brought us up to Pisco. Literially up and then we walked up somemore then down and then back up, then we turned around and went back to the beginning! The site is amazing and Norma passed on so much information about the Inca people and their culture. After that stimulating ( but exhausting) trek we loaded back into the van and headed to a small town called Urubanab where we ate a great buffet lunch and got to try some of the local specailities. I still have not and don't think I will try Guinee Pig! From there we headed for Ollanantaytambo, otherwise known as Tambo. Here we toured another Inca site and somehow became very popular with a school group from Lima here on their version of a Graduation trip, and spent at least twenty minutes posing with them for pictures. Very strange these kids. We're staying here in Tambo for tonight and tomorrow as we take the train first thing tomorrow to Machu Picchu. We have a very nice B and B that Bill, again found on the net...go Bill! and have met the most fabulous couple working there.

First Day In Peru Nov. 2010

We flew into Lima, Peru very early this morning on Lan Airlines ( who I highly recommend) and spent 3 hours hanging out in their airport. It's nice but small and we didn't get to see much as the fog was pretty thick. Then we flew to Cusco, Peru, the fog disipated and the sun came out and I finally managed to sleep. Cusco is extrodinary. There is history and beauty everywhere...and altitude sickness that I'm hopeing will go away soon! We ventured out this afternoon to just kind of get a feel for the city. This is a town you could spend weeks exploring and never get bored of. Tomorrow we plan on some more exploring and maybe alittle shopping and then a guided city tour, followed by dinner at one of these great restaurants they have here. The we'll head out on a private tour to see the Sacred Valley and the the day after that Machu Picchu. EXCITED! Oh yah Bill wanted to book our hotel when we we arrrived in Cusco but at the last minute we booked alittle hotel from Hotels.ca and Oh My Goodness, Oh My Goodness it's a beautiful little hotel just off the main square with amazing rooms and an open court yard in the middle where you can sit and have a meal, or go inside to the bar where there's a fire burning to help keep the chill of the evening away while blogging over a glass of wine. What a way to spend your time....now if i could just get rid of the altitude sickness life would be bliss!

Vegas Nov. 2010

Our trip to Vegas for our Dive Show was uneventful, except for the snow on our layover in Calgary, but since we didn't have to go out in it... no biggy! It was our first time staying at the New York, New York hotel and it was quite nice and I won big at the nickel slots there, came away a big winner of twenty dollars, so I cashed out and spent the cash at the dive show. Our buddy Ed from Nanaimo, Bill and I played hooky from the show one day and drove out to Rachel, Nevada. Rachel is home to "Area 51" didn't see any alien activity but the lady at the only reataurant was crazy in a fun kind of way. We went to see KA by Cirque de Soliel and it was amazing as always! We hit the buffets at Treasure Island and Bellagio, TI was good, Bellagio was insanely fabulous! There was so much food we all ate ourselves into oblivion and then went back for dessert! By the way, we heard about your mishap with the weather on Vancouver Island with the snow, and we're thinking of you and laughing ... with lots of love of course. A big "it was great to see you" to all the people we only get to see at the DEMA show miss you and thinking of you. Now off to South America!

Still in Haiti March 2010

Today was our first full day in Port au Prince at the J/P HRO hospital. It's hot and beautiful here. The colours and vegetation are lovely but the destruction is devistating. The people are incredible such a strong people, the other day it rained and the tent city below the hospital flooded, and when it was over the Haitian people gathered together to sing. I'm learning and doing so many things that I would never have done back home. I washed my laundry in a bucket in the insane heat (not to crazy), I spoked with Sean Penn about where he wanted to send CMAT's X-ray machine (kinda cool!), I'm helping in the pharmacey (guess I should figure out what I'm doing) and I learned how to give Tetanuis Shots to actual PEOPLE! No medical back ground here!!!! Any takers back home....practise makes perfect!?! I've met some great people and have burnt myself again, but I wouldn't trade this experience for anything and would come here again in a heart beat.

My first days in Haiti March 2010

It's hard to explain my first reactions to Haiti, especially in the small amount of Internet time I have right now. It's hot with high humidity and the mixture of mountains of rotting garbage and the smell of so many people without water is suffocating, but even with all that people survive. There is laughter and smiles, Leogane has after 2 months has opened a pub and an outdoor movie theatre. The theatre is across the street so we go to sleep at night hearing shoot'em up movies in french. The clinic in Leogane is closing so I went with Bill yesterday to deliver some Medical supplies to a lady named France she's a nurse and has opened a basic clinic in the local tent city. She's running a vaccination clinic right now and trying to get people to donate old eye glasses for people who lost them in the earthquake. She's amazing and doing such good work, and yet she arrived last night with a gift she made to thank us for being here and helping the people of Leogane. I also met the cutest little boy about 1 1/2 - 2yrs old he wanted badly to show off a coin he found and even trusted me to hold it. I then praised him for finding such a beautiful coin and he was so proud and full of smiles. This country is truly beautiful and hopefully I can send photos next time. All my love.

Grand Cayman Baby!!!

So we have arrived...safely and with all our luggage. The trip was uneventful with the exception of the snow fall warning in Toronto (the plane took off just in time)! So the five of us (Bill, his Dad, Ryan, his son Hayden and myself) have been here for 3 and a half days now, the half day we arrived in Cayman around 5pm dropped our bags at the condo put on shorts and headed for Coconut Joe's and a traditional Mudslide (a very good local drink), then to bed early because we hadn't slept in a long time. The first full day took us to the grocery store and then the boys headed for the beach to finish some of the diving for their open water course and while they were under I snorkeled. Days 2 and 3 have found us up early and heading to the boat for our days of boat diving. There's been a good breeze and sunny sky's, water temp has been about 80 degrees and the fish have been friendly. We've seen so much, from angel fish to turtles, huge tarpon to sting rays. We've done 5 dives and Hayden has discovered a love of wreck diving. The trip has been great and we're all having a great time. We've all discovered some part of each of us is burnt, and we all feel a need to head for bed around 9 o'clock most nights. But we're all having a great time, and can't wait to see what we see tomorrow.

Our Tour of Jordan, Nov. 08

Jordan was amazing! The trip started out a little rocky when we arrived in the country only to find out nobody in Amman (the capitol) knew where our hotel was and after 2 hours wondering the city with our backpacks on foot, we got stopped by the police who also tried to located the hotel through their dispatch. That failed! But 10 mins after they left us, they came racing back because they'd found the hotel. Bill and I climbed into the back of the police car (sitting on their bullet proof vests and shot gun) and they delivered us to the door of our hotel. Very exciting, very frustrating! The next morning we rented a car and headed South for Petra. We saw "Petra by Night" which is Petra after dark lit by 1500 candles, it was a lovely experience but nothing like seeing it the next day during daylight which is incredible. Petra is an entire city carved into the multi-coloured sandstone. The Bedouin people still live in the caves within Petra and make all kinds of things to sell to tourists. The next day we headed off to Wadi Rum, a nature reserve, the colours, textures and sheer size in this desert are awesome. From there we made our way up to Al Karak for a night and then a visit to the Crusader Castle there. An early morning visit to the castle followed by a scenic drive along the Dead Sea back up to Amman. We stayed at a great hotel and spa there, and I spoiled myself with a Dead Sea mud facial (no, Bill didn't get what the draw was either!). We went up North towards the Syrian boarder and saw the ruins of the Roman City Jerash. Their temples and theatres are so different from everything else we've seen so far on this trip. For our last day in Amman we decided to see the city itself, so we explored the Citadel, went to the museum there and saw the Dead Sea Scrolls. From there we wandered till we found the Roman Theatre and then went to the bazaar the locals shop at, where we spent a little money and savoured the smells from the spice shops, the colours of the fruit and veggie vendors and the noise of the people doing business. I was kind of sad to go. The mini shake down at the Cairo airport after our flight in from Jordan changed my mind. After our checked baggage was collected and we had to go through security again so we could deal with our transit papers, the very young security guy stopped our luggage and pulled out my zip lock bag of liquids (from checked not carried on luggage) and claimed it wasn't allowed but for a small fee he'd let it pass. At this point I'm trying not to slap him! Bill and I spent down to the last penny our Jordanian money, Bill packed the Egyptian money somewhere but couldn't remember where, and all I have to my name is $5 us. So I gritted my teeth and shook his hand handing over the last of our money. Once we got to the hotel we found the Egyptian money at the bottom of Bill's backpack, which was good. Other than that the trip home was rather uneventful. Bill and I are slowly re-adjusting back to our clock here but I still find I'm asleep by 8.30pm, which even for me is a little early! Bill and I have already decided we'll do this trip again in the next two years! I can't wait!