Write On!: Shane and Rella's Sojourn to South America

(originally emailed July 16, 2022)

Rella and I got back today from South America, we had a great time! Here is a write-up and some pictures if anybody is interested in reading:

Alicia took Rella and me to the airport on July 4 for a 3pm departure. We flew to LAX, and had several hours to kill. We then flew (overnight) to Lima, where we had a short layover, and then continued to Cusco.

Tuesday, July 5 (Cusco, Peru) - We didn’t have anything formal planned, just some time to walk around the city and get acclimatized to the altitude (Cusco is at 11,150 feet above sea level, so about the same height as top of Mount Timpanogos). We wandered around the city a bit, and soon learned that the Peruvian street vendors were pretty aggressive. Although Rella didn’t mind when somebody just walked up, handed her a baby goat to hold, and had a llama to pose with (and expected some money in return). We bought a Tourist pass, which provides access to several different ruins, museums, etc. The first we went to was Sacsayhuaman (casually mispronounced “Sexy Woman”), where we were impressed with the Incan ruins, and Rella was even more excited to see (and quickly pet) some wild llamas. We were pretty tired and a bit jet lagged, so we went back to the hotel on the early side and got room service for dinner.

Wednesday, July 6 (Machu Picchu, Peru) -- We woke up early so we could be picked up at our hotel around 6am. We rode in a shared van for about 2 hours to Ollantaytambo, and then from there, took a train to Aguas Calientes. Then we rode a bus for 20 minutes to Machu Picchu. We had a nice tour guide, and 4 others in our little tour group (2 of which were also a daddy-daughter-duo with a 15-year-old daughter) that were also friendly. The weather was perfect, and we got some amazing pictures. And of course, Rella was excited that she was able to pet a llama. After the Machu Picchu tour, we had lunch at Aguas Calientes, and took the train and then van back to our hotel.

Thursday, July 7 (Cusco, Peru) -- We slept in a little bit, and then went to Qorikancha, which was really neat. It is a museum built on a church built on a monastery built on an Inca temple; with the Incan foundation stones still perfectly arranged and set without mortar. We were able to go up to the bell tower, which was one of our favorite parts. Then we got more pictures with llamas, and got some souvenir shopping done. We had lunch (opting for a good burger place to take a break from the traditional Peruvian cuisine), went to a contemporary art museum, and then attended a dancing performance where they showed some indigenous dance rituals.

Friday, July 8 (Cusco, Peru > Lima, Peru) -- Today we took an hour taxi ride to a town called Pisaq, which has a nice market and some hikes to Incan ruins. We got a few souvenirs, then did some hikes. Apparently we went the hard way, as most take a taxi to the top and hike down, but by the time we realized that, we had gone through the park entrance and couldn’t go in again at the upper entrance. But it was fine, and we saw a lot of really cool ruins and views. After that, we took a taxi back, had a very late lunch (or early dinner), walked around the Don Blas section of Cusco, and Rella bought some cool shoes (Rella says “they are blue and other colors and I like them a lot and they are the coolest shoes ever”). Then we took a cab to the airport and flew to Lima, and checked into our hotel in the Miraflores district.

Saturday, July 9 (Lima, Peru > São Paulo, Brazil) — We checked out of the hotel, and stored our bags while we went to explore Lima. We walked to Huaca Pucllana, which is a site of pre-Incan ruins of temples made of mud bricks around 400 AD. We had a guided tour of that site, then had some lunch at a nice restaurant right next door. Then we walked a ways to the coast, and walked along the coastline for a while, then took an Uber to the Larco Museum, which has a lot of archeological artifacts (and a pretty garden outside, which Rella loved, because plants). After that we took an Uber to this “magical waters” attraction where they have a laser / water fountain (kinda like they have in Disneyland). Then went back to Miraflores for dinner, grabbed our bags from the hotel, left for the airport, and took a red-eye to Brazil.

Sunday, July 10 (São Paulo, Brazil to Iguaçu Falls, Brazil) — We had a really long layover in São Paulo, so we left the airport and grabbed a cab to see downtown São Paulo. But I had not planned this at all, so we ended up in a less picturesque part of the city. But we made the best of it, saw a cathedral, grabbed breakfast, walked through Chinatown (all with luggage in tow), and then went back to the airport, where we flew to Iguaçu Falls and settled into our hotel there.

Monday, July 11 (Iguaçu Falls, Brazil > Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) — We got breakfast at the hotel/resort, and then took a cab to the Iguaçu Falls park entrance, where we got our passes and waited for our turn to take the bus to the falls. We walked along the Brazilian side of the falls, taking tons of pictures and enjoying the wildlife. We especially liked the coati and their funny bendable noses as they scavenged food from around the trail. We got a snacky lunch of açaí and coxinhas, and I was so glad that Rella really liked them both. Then we went to the Bird Park, and saw lots of really cool species there. Then we went back to the hotel for our bags, and headed to the airport. We were supposed to go from Iguaçu Falls to Belo Horizonte to São Paulo to Rio, but after landing in Belo Horizonte, we found out our connecting flight to São Paulo was canceled, so we got with the airline and they got us a flight directly to Rio, getting in earlier than we would have originally, and to an airport closer to our hotel, and with better seats, so that was a blessing in disguise.

Tuesday, July 12 (Rio, Brazil) — We slept in a bit, then walked around Copacabana beach for a while. We ate lunch on the beach, right next to some incredible foot-volleyball games. Then we did some shopping, rested at the hotel for a bit, went back to the beach to go swimming, then back to the hotel to clean up. After that we went back out to explore more of Copacabana, Ipanema, and other sections of the beach. We had the song “Girl From Ipanema” in our heads almost constantly .

Wednesday, July 13 (Rio) — We ate breakfast at the hotel bright and early, and got picked up for a most-day tour of Rio sights. First stop was Corcovado and Cristo Redentor, the enormous statue of Christ with his arms outstretched. The good news is that it wasn’t crowded, the bad news is that it was really cloudy and a bit rainy, so we could barely see the statue, and couldn’t see the great views below at all. So we booked tickets to come back on Friday . After that, the tour group drove us to see the Maracanã stadium, the Sambadome, the cathedral that looks like a Mayan temple, the Praça Cardeal Câmara, and the Selaron steps. All very cool, but the steps were really neat, and I hadn’t known about those before. Then we went to lunch at a churrasqueira in Botofago, and then went to Pão de Açúcar, where it was still a bit cloudy and rainy, but at least we could see the views of the bays, which were cool. We got back to the hotel earlier than planned, so we went swimming on the rooftop pool that looked out across Copacabana. After that, we changed and went out for dinner and to do some shopping.

Thursday, July 14 (Rio) — After sleeping in and getting breakfast, we went to the city center. We walked around a bit, Rella tried coconut water (not her favorite), and went to the Museum of Tomorrow. Then we had lunch at a churrasqueira, which was really good. After that, we went to the Botanical Gardens, where Rella was in heaven with all the cool types of plants. We stayed until past closing time, and after they kicked us out, we took an Uber back to the hotel, then did some shopping and grabbed dinner to take back to the hotel.

Friday, July 15 (Rio > São Paulo) — We packed up, checked out of the hotel and stored our luggage, and went back to Cristo Redentor. It was very clear this time, but also crazy busy. We spent plenty of time enjoying the fantastic views all around the bays. Then we headed back to the hotel to get our bags, and got an Uber to Rio Galeão airport. We flew from Rio to São Paulo, and then started the flight to Atlanta.

Saturday, July 16 (São Paulo > Atlanta > SLC) — we arrived in Atlanta early in the morning, had a 3 hour layover, and flew home where Leashee picked us up at the airport.