Suprise Ending

Well.

Dreamers Journeys is officially on hold.

As we were leaving Lima on Tuesday we hit a bird that made a huge impact on the present situation.

This bird, must have been an Andean Condor because it cracked the whole windshield of the plane during takeoff and left a red mess behind on the nose of the plane.

We then had to turn back and land in Lima for safety.

This delayed us 4 hours.

We missed our connecting flight to Costa Rica and the airline covered one night of accommodation in Miami and we changed our flight to the next day.

Spent a great night around the buffet table and slot machines.

Today we boarded our flight to Costa Rica and when we arrived we didn’t make it passed immigration because we didn’t have our yellow fever vaccination.

Now, we did do our research about this before travelling in Peru the yellow fever vaccination is recommended but not required.

It is not required in Costa Rica either, however, if you are traveling from Peru to Costa Rica it is mandatory and you have to prove so with documentation, which we did not have.

There was no way around it, we were directed back into a flight to Miami quicker than we could process what was even happening.

This was the airlines responsibility to check this before we even boarded. But with the bird commotion a lot was forgotten…

So,

We’re still in Miami airport, waiting for our flights home to Toronto (me) and San Fransisco (Sergio). We tried to make the most of Miami, but it is so damn expensive. $250 minimum for a hotel and everything is full because there is a huge art event going on in South Beach.

Really can’t afford another $500 flight back to Central America either..

Saving the last of my money and heading home.

If ayahuasca has taught me anything it’s that whatever will be will be, don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t be upset over things you cannot control.

Peru was meant to be and the others were not at this time.

It will be nice to be home to my family and loving boyfriend… I guess I will be home for Christmas!

Stay tuned for more Dreamers Journeys.

I’m not putting away the passport and pack quite yet.

Nicole 🌻

Last Day in Peru

Spending our last day in Peru in the wonderful district of Miraflores, we’re back at Enjoy Hostel near the ocean.

What an overall experience. I cannot wait to come back… Yes, I will be back!!

Tommorrow morning our journey continues in Costa Rica. It will be an airport day without doubt, connecting in Miami. What a tease.

Looking forward to the warmer climate, jungle, beaches, fruit and surfing!

Spending the last of my Peruvian Soles on shorts, bathing suits and beach clothes. Leaving behind some warmer clothes and getting ready to be kissed by the sun.

Welcoming a new currency tomorrow. The Costa Rican Colon. Where $1 CAD is 454 Colons… This should be a fun conversion… Thankfully I have an app.

Happy with everything that has come my way! We saw a great portion of the huge country. We were blessed with good situations and great people. With memories made and a few things crossed off the bucket list I’m ready to move on to country number 2 of this trip.

Spent a total of 42 days in Peru.
Spent way too much money.

Nicole 🌻

Tattoos

Getting excited for our flight tomorrow to Iquitos. But today we are spending a good part of our last day in Miraflores in a tattoo shop so Sergio can get inked!

Pictures of his to come, I already got mine on my 21st birthday on this past Wednesday (November 19th) I got lyrics from one of my boyfriends and I’s favourite bands, Brand New. My placement is in a little bit of a sultry spot so I will not be sharing the final (for select eyes only) but I have a picture I took during the session… It says “I don’t mind you under my skin”.

Amazing experience, clean equipment and shop. The healing process is what I remember. Keeping it clean with GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract spray) and moisturizing multiple times daily with my natural face cream.

If you enjoy tattoos and can ever get to Zhimpa Tattoos in Miraflores Lima it’s well worth it. $77 Canadian (200 soles) for a hour long tattoo… That’s unheard of where I am from. All the artists were talented. Ivan worked on me, excellent lines and he works well on script!

Ink me some more!

Nicole 🌻

Healing With Homeopathy

I’ve been sick since Huacachina, on and off with stomach upset, cramps, hot and cold spells, dizziness, loss of appetite, star seeing, nausea and the unspeakable.

I’m feeling sparse on the stores of activated charcoal so I was more than relieved when we walked by a Homeopathic shop today. 20 soles for a remedy that will knock this parasite or whatever out of my lovely intestines!

A combination of Nux Vomica, Carbo Veg, Lycopodium and Bryonia and then a separate bottle of China CPTA.

Choosing Homeopathy to HEAL rather than drugs to temporarily sooth the situation.

Holistically,

Nicole 🌻

Back in Miraflores

Took the Tepsa bus line for 18 hours (plus afew) from Cusco to Lima on Friday. It was $50 cheaper than flying and just as uncomfortable and long as I thought.

But by 1pm the next day we were back in Miraflores checking into Flying Dog Hostel beside Kennedy Square.

I didn’t think it was possible to fall in love with this little district of Lima any more! I absolutely love it here. I’m happy to be near sea level again, I can breathe! I also find it lease pressure driven by locals trying to sell you things, it’s much more home like.

My favourite thing about Miraflores is all the cats in Kennedy Square. Like atleast 50. They just chill here. They have a little booth for adoption. It’s cat world.

Taking in the moments,

Nicole 🌻

Machu Picchu #2

Number two because I think I deleted the first post. Which is a huge bugger because I worked so hard on it 😅.

Tough luck Nicole, you gotta share the experience and the pictures, so get those little fingers a-typin.

I can’t even share all the history cause I deleted the note I took in my phone because I’m anal about organization and so I delete things I no longer need. I’ll share what I remember but Wikipedia will have your answers.

…

We woke up at 3:40am to leave Aguas Callientes for 4am. With only 3 hours maximum of sleep we made our way over in the dark (but with the help of Sergio’s flashlight) to the Machu Picchu gate.

Doors opened at 5am and the line was growing with eagers like ourselves. It was at this point we remember and then regretted not having any water at all, before leaving or for during what was coming up for us.

We climbed those lovely placed stairs for an hour and a bit. Taking a few breaks on the way up. More because of the dehydration, less because of the intensity. Or maybe it was a combo. Regardless it was draining.

We arrived at the top aka the second gate for Machu Picchu where I secretly sneered at the busses that were gracefully transporting people up.

Main goal now was water. I wanted infinite water! And what did we get, water for 8 soles (normally it’s 2) except… It didn’t come out of the vending machine! Gaaaaah.

Continued without, started our tour at 6:20am. Learned all about the different temples, rooms and gardens of Machu Picchu. It was so magical to see the pictures I’ve dreamt myself into become a reality. We were there in perfect timing to get some great shots before the place was packed with tourists.

I am still fascinated with how the incas, like other ancient cultures built their sacred spaces using guidance from the sun and constellations. They used shadows as a form of message that display the changing seasons. You can see resemblance in the shadows of llamas on this rock and faces in the mountains on certain days. (Llamas were the sacrificees)

Machu Picchu has over 1,000,000 visitors annually and 3,000 – 4,000 visitors daily. Due to the high volume of energy and trekking brought through the abandoned city it is true that within the next 5 years Machu Picchu’s visitor rights will change and it will only be seen by a terrace that over looks the ruins in order to preserve this sacred city. If it’s on your bucket list, see it now! And you don’t have to pay a crazy price and book ahead there are tons of tour options that you can literally sign up for 2 days before (like we did).

I should mention that we found water! After our tour, drank about 4 bottles. We then continued our trek and hiked Machu Picchu mountain for a good two hours to get to a more distant view of this world wonder.

It was all divine. We were pretty tired but then at the same time the view had us mesmerized.

Best part, waking all the way back down – NOT!

So worth it now but I’m trying to speak like how I was thinking at the time.

Left at 4am got back into the town at 4pm. Total time hiking 12 hours. Dehydrated for half.

Took one (or two) recovery days after all those stairs 😅

But I got some sweet pics and I crossed something off my bucket list!

(I’m smiling)

Nicole 🌻

MagicaLEE Reunited

Title pun intended and inspired by my dads somewhat admirable sense of humour.

Returned to Home Sweet Home B&B in Cusco and met Lee at the breakfast table again! Hallelujah!

She was upset, like we were, that we didn’t have a proper goodbye so it was great to reconnect again and swap FB/ emails while talking about Peyote and San Pedro trips over our Turkish coffee.

Love this soul, so glad to reconnect, indubitabLEE

Nicole 🌻

Beauty

This country offers such a vast beauty if we just look beyond its tiny ruff spots. Every place in the world has its blemishes some hide it a bit better than others that’s all. If we look past all this we open up to a beautiful culture, a beautiful people, a beautiful land.

The people of Peru to have the same warmth as the people of Central America, and as I go on meeting more and more people from Latin America I’m drawn to the idea that all Latin America is like this but I will only know by experiencing these places personally. My conversations are met with a welcoming, comforting and helpful tone always. When you are able to reach out to someone on the same level I find you will find the most genuine loving people despite appearance or living conditions and its such a rewarding feeling.

Despise a little garbage on the streets the vastness of this place take over all else. Compared to how large Peru is its large population areas aren’t so many. It land is still wild and has a sense of lawlessness almost. In the time I’ve been here I’ve experienced urban areas, high deserts, sand dunes, lush fertile valleys and my favorite rainforests. In a land so mysteriously beautiful like this what more could I ask for but to just soak up its beautiful wonder.

To experience this place on all its levels truly is a blessing for me.

Sergio✌️

Altitude Confusion

How high are we?.. I mean high like altitude. When coming here I honestly thought that Machu Picchu was the place that we were going to need to worry about for getting altitude sickness. Now we learned that Cusco is higher than Machu Picchu? How is this even possible.

How high am I right now?

When we went on a two day trip to Colca Canyon I don’t think we realized that this would be our highest peak. Since Colca Canyon we have been preparing ourselves to feel the real wrath of the ol’mighty altitude sickness. We thought Colca Canyon would be prep for Machu Picchu.

Besides not being able to breathe as deeply the excruciating headache and nausea has been non-existent in Cusco and in Urubamba (Sacred Valley)

So where do you get altitude sickness? Not Machu Picchu… And not Cusco if you did Colca Canyon first!

Here’s the facts:

Colca Canyon: highest of 4,800m, valley is 3,500m

Cusco: 3,339m

Urubamba: 2,800m

Aguas Calientes: 2,040m

Machu Picchu: 2,430m

Yay! We beat altitude sickness!

Nicole 🌻

Searching For Lee

In every hostel we stay at, the morning conversation at breakfast is either nonexistent or awkward. Maybe most people just don’t like conversation before coffee?… Understandable.

While staying at Home Sweet Home Bed and Breakfast we met Lee.

We quickly became acquainted and loved her genuine spirit, we stayed talking around the breakfast table until all the dishes had been cleared (A first).

Lee has got to be in her 70’s by my configuration in the timeline of her stories. This women has done some travelling. She was raised in a Peruvian mining area, lived in Berkeley California and then moved to Arizona, She has backpacked Europe and spent some time living in the Dominican where she began to learn fluent Spanish. I’m sure that I am missing more details and that there are more stories she still has to share with us.

We connected so deeply over our cowboy coffees and when we left the bed and breakfast on Friday morning we didn’t realize that this might be the last time we spoke to Lee.

So now we are searching for Lee, to say a proper goodbye. We will take a trip back to the Bed and Breakfast to see if she is still bunking there. If we don’t meet again we wish Lee the best on her travels of Peru and hope she finds the time to see the jungle and try some ayahuasca like she’s dreamed.

Lee is an original spirit, it was a pleasure to share stories over breakfast. Thanks for being a travel friend.

Nicole 🌻