Update:  Hi, I just realized I’m on the wordpress homepage today!  I feel so internet famous!  Welcome to my blog everybody and thanks for stopping by!  To see more “Imaginary Vacations” you can click the subcategory under visual learner in the sidebar. 

Ooh, I am SO into this series!  Next up is my friend Rachel.  Rachel is both creative, fun and kind.  Everything you want in a friend.  She spent the last 3 years living in the Peruvian amazon as an agricultural missionary with Food for the Hungry. Yeah I know, v. cool!  She specializes in tropical agricultural and did lots of cool stuff like teach composting classes.  When she went she spoke zero spanish.  I’m so proud of her!  It’s one thing to study abroad for a year like I did in a big city, it’s quite another thing to spend 3+ years in a remote city with 80%+ humidity.  

This is Rachel(on the left) cruising around Peru in a Moto Taxi.

Here’s what Rachel has to say about Peru:  I put together a collection of photos from all over Peru since I could not just pick one place. Peru is comprised of 3 regions, the coast, the mountains and the jungle. And the people living in each of these areas think their area is the best. Most Peruvians do not have the opportunity to travel and only know of other parts of Peru by word of mouth. On multiple occasions I would tell people in Lima (on the coast) that I lived in Pucallpa (the jungle) and they almost all responded, “Oh it is very hot there and there are lots of insects.” And I would ask, “Have you been there?” always anxious to meet people who knew the jungle, but they would say “No, no. I have a friend (or a cousin or an uncle’s brother) who visited there.” And yes the jungle was hot and there were lots of insects, but it was also quite beautiful and so very different than the coast. I feel so blessed to have had the time and resources to travel in Peru. There is so much more to see within this tiny country than Machu Picchu.  But don’t get me wrong, Machu Picchu is pretty spectacular and the mystery behind it only makes it all the more enticing to see it for yourself. But treasures of beautiful people, fabulous food, wild animals outside your lodgings, motorcycle transport make it a destination well worth a longer visit. I miss Peru and forever it will hold a piece of me. ¡Viva Perú!  

Hangliding along the coast of Lima

Huanchaco, Peru is famous for their grass boats.

The Peruvian Jungle - Absolutely beautiful

Llamas, llamas everywhere!

Local-motion. Anyone whose been to Latin America knows the drill!

Macchu Picchu - I am officially putting this on my life list.

10 little monkeys jumping on the bed... I mean trees.

In Spanish sloths are called "osos perezosos" or "lazy bears" So cute!

Sand dunes along the Peruvian coast.

Rachel says that this sign sums it up. Peru is VERY GOOD!

Thanks for sharing Rach!  To see more pictures of Rachel’s time in Peru  as well as her beautiful pictures from the trip we took together to Colombia you can check out her blog here.  

Note:  If you are a blog reader and would like to submit a vacation for consideration leave me a note in the comments and I’ll contact you!