COSTA RICA

Before we reentered the good ol' USA we decided to chill in Costa Rica!We selected a couple of resorts for the last week of our travels intending to relax and refresh. The Springs Resort and The Peace Lodge, related resorts, fit the bill. Three days in each which were very different experiences - The Springs Resort is a new resort with an incredible spa and workout room and has more than 20 pools to choose from at varying temperatures fed from mineral springs with amazing and spacious rooms facing a volcano and then The Peace Lodge for three days in a rain forest with many native animals, birds and insects to enjoy! We loved them both! We especially enjoyed the tour of the miniature nocturnal frogs! Finding them with a flashlight and then photographing them in the dark was quite a challenge-but rewarding!

CUZCO AND MACHU PICCHU, PERU

We arrived into Cuzco, Peru and 11,000 ft in altitude and needed to spend a couple of days there to get adjusted to the altitude and lack of oxygen before we headed out to Machu Picchu! We found Cuzco to be a beautiful city situated around a large square which was beautifully lit at night! We loved the food there, especially a little restaurant called Limo which served the best ceviche, sushi!, and lomo saltado! The lack of oxygen was somewhat off putting and we drank coca tea to adjust. The people of Peru were also warm and welcoming. We took a 4 hour train ride DOWN to Machu Picchu from Cuzco.

We were fascinated by the Inca culture from the beginning and learned more through guided tours of their amazing intelligence and industriousness.The mystery and magic of Machu Picchu was captivating and breathtaking. It was hard to leave and one of the most fascinating parts of our entire trip. How they build their civilization to avoid destruction during the powerful earthquakes (or terramotos) was an incredible feat. The buildings are perfectly preserved with not mortar between the stones! Perfect engineering and perfectly amazing to see!
While we did not hike the 4 day Inca Trail we did read a great book called, "Turn Right at Machu
Picchu" which was the story written by Mark Adams who rewalked the path  of Hiram Bingham who originally discovered Machu Picchu in 1917. A fascinating and fun read. We left Peru through Lima, which we found unmemorable except for a fabulous dinner we had at Herve's celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. We passed this random sign outside a hotel on our anniversary! Tacky but funny! Off to Costa Rica...

SANTIAGO, CHILE

We flew over the Andes to Chile. They were a sight to see in an airplane! We arrived in Santiago and had one of nicest rooms yet, looking back at the Andes, watching the sunrise over the mountains every morning from the 18th floor of the Park Hyatt. It was breathtaking! A friend of a friend, Sylvia, who is from Santiago, showed us around Santiago which was wonderful! She took us to special restaurants she liked and we spent a day shopping with her daugher. We look forward to seeing Sylvia in Sun Valley!

Behind us in the photograph is an Easter Island statue (or head) that her grandmother bought years ago and an auction. We loved Santiago! We found her family also to be incredibly warm and welcoming.

MENDOZA, ARGENTINA

We took a wine tour through Mendoza on a beautiful sunny day and started tasting wine
no later than 10am! We toured 4 very different wineries all specializing in 100 percent Malbec which we discovered we both love. Our first stop was a very old one begun in 1928-Mendel with very high end boutique wines; another new and very modern winery- making Gran Estirpe; and one that also made delicious olive oil as well as wine named Tapiz and where we had a 5 course meal and I can't remember the fourth one...haha! Just kidding! It was Clos de Chacras. Each one was unique and special. We loved Mendoza after Buenos Aires. Clean, safe with very friendly people.

We spent three days in Mendoza including a trip to the foot of the Andes and an hour walk up the incredible Aconcagua, 22,000 ft at the summit and the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere! The Andes are enormous, rugged and majestic. Off to Chile and then Peru!

IGUAZU FALLS AND MENDOZA-

Amazing Falls and beautiful Wine Country. We loved Mendoza-very walkable, clean, great restauarants.