OK, I feel obligated to mention our travel day, which was Sunday, August 14, 2011. It took up an entire day, from our 3:30 AM rise-and-shine to our 1:30 AM fall into bed. But don’t be deceived–much of that time was sitting in airports!

My friend Gwenn had arrived on Saturday from Seattle, and my friend Denise came over to spend the night since she was driving us to the airport at O-dark-thirty. Despite preparing most of what I planned to take, I didn’t actually put things into the suitcase until Saturday night. Everything fit! I was having a hard time deciding what clothes to bring since on this trip we’re going to be in cool Lima, warm Tambopata rain forest, and chilly Cusco. I didn’t actually decide the last things until we were about out the door when I threw in a warm vest. You know, it’s hard to imagine chilly weather when it’s been over 100 degrees for 40 days straight.

Anyway, off we went. The flight to Fort Lauderdale on Spirit was 30 minutes late, but only because they did the fastest turn-around I’ve ever seen on an airline! The first passengers boarded I swear not 5 minutes after the last deplaned. The seats were tight and the backs didn’t recline, but for the price, it was a pretty good flight.

Then we had a loooooonnng layover, especially since our next flight–the one to Lima–was 1.5 hours late leaving. We almost had to wait for the luggage of five passengers to be taken off the plance since they hadn’t shown up, but they came screeching in at the last minute (they’d been shopping) and we were on our way.

The actual flying time on this leg was five hours and 20 minutes, and then we were in Lima! Going through the usual immigration and then customs stops weren’t really too bad, but wow! Lots of people for flights getting in after 11:00 PM.

We met up with our guide and most of the group after customs, and they were a welcome sight. Our guide, Steve, had arranged the taxi ride, so we were soon on the road to our hotel for the first couple of nights, El Patio.

This is probably a good time to reiterate an important fact about this blog. I’m an “experiential” traveler. That is, I don’t try to remember all the names of where I am or the historical facts and such. I love taking pictures and through them remembering the experience of the travel. So that’s what you’ll get. This is not a travelogue; it’s more of a pictorial.

With that caveat, continue on to Day 2 to start seeing some pictures!