Peru
We didn't have enough vacation days to spent the time we wanted in New Zealand or Australia, so we decided on Peru because we knew about Machu Picchu. It was a great choice!!
Peru is a pretty big country in S. America. The maps don't do it justice for size and distance, it still takes 9hrs to fly there from San Diego. The country has a very diverse environment, from the high Andes mountains where Machu Picchu is located, to low jungle where the first 1,000 miles or so of the Amazon river flow, and the Pacific coastline.
We flew into Lima on the Pacific Coastline, then to Iquitos in the Amazon and finally to Cusco in the Andes mountains.
Amazon (click for more pictures)
The main city is Iquitos, which is separated from the mainland by huge rivers, therefore everything has to arrive by boat or air. The people are largely Amazon Indian with a reasonable proportion of people who originated from Spain several hundred years ago. The weather is tropical; 70-80F and humidity of 85% or more. Wet clothes don't dry it is so humid, we know, we tried!
Andes Mountains (click for more pictures)
The main city in this region is Cusco at an altitude of about 11,000ft. Plan on spending a couple of days acclimatising to the altitude and don't forget the altitude sickness tablets need to be started before you arrive. Believe us when we say its hard to breath when you arrive, plan on a slow first day.
