..Hot, Cold, Jungle, Rain, Fog... In 7 days I saw it all!.

This may or may not be my longest blog ever since I haven't done it for 9 days. But hey give me a break, I have been to the jungle and back to Lima, to a wonder of the world, and back to Lima in 7 days. That's a lot for a person to take in but every minute was worth it. So here we go.

Our trip to Iquitos started on the morning of February 2nd. We had to be at the airport at 4 am so due to me living in the boonies in Lima, I stayed the night at Nikki's house the night before so Missy, Nikki, Adam, and I could all take a taxi to the airport. Let's just say getting sleep before traveling to the Amazon did not happen. We arrive to the airport 2 hours ahead of our scheduled flight time. We wait... and wait... and wait... and wait even more and we're still in line for Peruvian airlines!! Holy crap, we're gonna miss our flight I thought to myself but no worries due to Peruvian time, our flight left at 7:55 instead of 6:20. We arrive safely to Iquitos.

We then jump on a bus with our trusty tour guide Neil and our bus driver named Jason. Yes I know we heard the names and were all a little unsure ourselves! They were very nice. We were taken to a local market where they had all kinds of different things like fruit, a lot of fish, turtle soup, and roasted worms. Yes roasted worms. I was too nervous and freaked out to try them but Nikki was a champ and ate 2 of them. You go girl!! :) 

We then left the market and went to a port to get on our boat that would take us to our lodge. We get all of our belongings and hop on our boat. We take off and we think YES Amazon River Lodge here we come....until our boat shuts off!! Missy, Nikki, Adam, and I look at each other and think well here goes nothing. Our trusty tour guide Neil says, "It will only be 8 minutes. We just have to clean the spark plugs!" And seriously when this guy gave you a time limit or a specific time, he wasn't kidding. In 8 minutes we were on our way. We arrived to the lodge safely and it is beautiful. We unpack our things, get an orientation of the place and it is now time for Paranha fishing. What??? Is this real life?? Yep!

We finished the day with seeing some pink dolphins in the Amazon River, and then the jungle night walk. This was something very cool, but at the same time extremely hot. We were all drenched in sweat within minutes and saw a lot of tarantulas. Cool but scary and gross at the same time. 

Day 2 of the Amazon:

We are woken up with a 5:30 wake up call from Neil to go bird watching. It was very early but it was still cool to see. After we were informed we would do this for 1 hr and 15 mins on the dot, we had breakfast and then a day jungle walk. After the night walk, we weren't to sure but we went ahead anyways because after this we were going to visit a local village with a sloth and a monkey. We were beyond excited obviously. I think after the night jungle walk, we had all had our fill of Amazon jungleness. We even got to play a little Tarzan and Jane with the vines. :)

When we arrived to the village, we had the cutest welcoming committee that were so excited to see us. This is when all my dreams came true and I held a sloth and a monkey. Once in a lifetime experience I'll never forget. 

We then were able to see a local tribe and they performed music and dance for us. It was amazing. What wasn't so amazing. was after the sloth and monkey, Missy got extremely sick and then Mama Jen came out. We headed back to the lodge and I was ready to help her get better. That night we went on a night boat ride.

Day 3 of the Amazon:

WE got to sleep in..until 7:30 today!! Woohoo!! Missy was still not feeling the best and due to the mosquitoes loving me on the night boat ride the night before, I had 2,000+ bug bites on my legs. Yep I counted! So I stayed with Missy at the lodge while the rest of the group went to a sugar can distillery nearby. After all of our wonderful activities and experiencing the jungle, we were on our flight back to Lima. We arrived back to Lima, and had to be at Dr. Miller's the next morning at 6 for our trip to Cusco. Exhausted doesn't even explain it. 

 **fun facts from the jungle**

- Nikki aka Jane, found her love Neil aka Tarzan in the jungle. She may become a resident of the jungle. :)

- No matter how many times you shower in the jungle, you're still sweating.

- Bathing in sun block and bug spray is not always a bad thing.

- Full body mosquito suits would not be looked down upon.

-Seeing 4 tarantulas in a matter of 10 minutes is enough for me. 

- Missy gained some dang good ab muscles. 

- An experience of a lifetime!!!

On to the trip to Cusco

Day 1 of Cusco:

We left at 8:50 from the Lima airport and landed safely in Cusco. I have 2 bags and don't even know what I packed due to being delirious when packing. Hopefully I packed warm clothes because it is chilly. Not only is it chilly, the altitude level is way high and I ask myself, dang Jen are you that out of shape that you are gasping for air? Then I realize, nope it's the altitude. We drop our bags off at the hotel and they tell us you have 2 hours to get acclimatized... oh but you have to go eat lunch yet too and be back in time for the city tour. Well so much for getting acclimatized. A group of us go eat lunch then on to the city tour. On the city tour we see many things like Qoricancha, The Cathedral, Sacsayhuaman, Q'enqo, Puka Pukara and Tambomachay. Of course they are all beautiful. Here are a few pictures... 

At the Cathedral. So beautiful. 

View of Cusco city. 

After we had visited all of the wonderful places, we were ready to head back to the hotel, eat and relax. Due to the altitude and going non stop all day, we were tired. Oh and the fact that we were leaving for Machu Picchu the next day at 3:45 but I knew it was gonna be amazing so I didn't even care. 

Day 2 of Cusco:

My alarm goes off at 3:00 am and I ask myself what is going on. This has to be a dream... nope but today is a day a dream comes true. I am going to Machu Picchu!! We eat breakfast and we are on our way. Some of us still may have been sleeping. We arrive to the train station. I am even more excited because this is my first train ride ever! It was so exciting!! 

Our train stops at Cusco and guess what?! One step closer to Machu Picchu. We hop on a bus that takes us to the start of our hike up to Machu Picchu. The views are of course spectacular and something you would only see in movies or on the internet. When we see Machu Picchu, we are beyond excited and cannot believe us. Our guide, Roger, has to keep telling us, I will give you time for pictures...or there is a better view up ahead but we are all too busy taking pictures already. He then took us to places for a better view and we were even lucky enough for the fog to lift to get really good pictures. He then told us the history while we walked through the Inca Ruins. 

Machu Picchu was by far the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. It is a wonder of the world and there is a reason for that. The history behind it is amazing and so interesting and being there in the same spot the Incas were in many many years ago was something not explainable by words. Below are a few pictures.

It was so beautiful. This is our signature pose!

There it is! Machu Picchu

The whole group!

We like to have fun!

We got done walking and exploring Machu Picchu just in time because it started raining. We then waited and waited for our train to arrive and finally we were on our way back to Cusco for some much needed sleep. 

Day 3 of Cusco:

After our much needed sleep we are ready for a new day in Cusco with new experiences. We first traveled to the Sacred Valley of the Incas which of course was awesome. Then we traveled to a town called Pisac and went to a market there to buy some souvenirs. Of course we were allowed to barter which is always fun. Our final stop was Ollantaytambo which is a famous Inca sun temple. After exploring for a while, we left to go back to Cusco to pack up and get ready to leave the next morning.

Day 4 of Cusco:

This was our last day in Cusco. It was bittersweet because the weather and everything we saw was absolutely beautiful there but also the altitude was still kicking my butt so I was not feeling so well. But who knows maybe it was being in two completely different climates in a matter of days with minimal sleep. Maybe my body was just sending me some signals. I was ready to return home... which in this case was Lima! How crazy right. We arrived back in Lima around 2:00ish in the afternoon, and the rest of the day consisted of.....nothing for me!! I was relieved.

Some of the fun/ side notes while traveling:

-Adam forgetting his backpack with EVERYTHING in McDonalds--> definition of heart attack

-The group named me Mama Jen- due to my pharmacy kit, and always looking out for everyone

- The cheap North Face coats- they were a steal

-waiting, and waiting, and waiting for our train "I'm so sad!" (giggles)- Emily

-"Can I please give you a double wet willy?"- Me

   "Yes!! Please!! I'll give you a reverse wet willy!"- Jorge

-waiting, waiting, and waiting for our flight "I hate Peruvian airline!"- Missy

-Dan not wearing shoes after walking in the cold rain...in a public train station. Enough said.

-Getting whistled at numerous times for being places we should not be...

   "I'm gonna lose my job!"- Roger (our guide)

This last week of traveling was exhausting but at the same time exhilarating. I saw things I would have only seen on TV, on the internet, or in books. I am so thankful for this experience and I cannot believe it's already been a month since I'be been in Peru. Time is now flying by and before I know it, it will be April, and I'll look back and have no regrets!! So sorry for the very very lengthy blog, but it was much needed!! Keep reading..if I didn't bore you!! Adios!! Love and miss you all :)