Peruvian cuisine…Cui (guinea pig).  Having had a pet guinea pig in the past…I didn’t have the nerve to try it.

Lots of dogs just running around!

Some of the locals at the market, modeling for change

Alpaca!

After the ruins, we hopped the train to Aguas Calientes, the town underneath Machu Picchu.

Cool reflection in the window…

Machu Picchu:
My God this place was breathtaking.  Situated in the middle of the Andes, this Incan city was constructed from stones hauled from neighboring mountain tops.  Yeah, that’s right.  They literally hauled 20 ton stones from one mountain peak, down the mountain, then back up the mountain.  How the Incans did this without any heavy machinery is simply amazing.

The trail to Machu Picchu is a 4 day hike at elevations upwards of 8,000 feet.  Sherpas are a must, since our bodies simply aren’t used to carrying 50 lbs of gear uphill with such thin air.  Guides must haul oxygen tanks with them for the travelers that get altitude sickness.  Yeah, with that in mind, we trained it and bused it up to Machu Picchu. 

After our first day at Machu Picchu, we made our way back to Aguas Calientes and I saw a cool set of rapids that I had to get a snapshot of.

The next morning, we got up at 4:30am to get to the bus stop in time for sun rise.

This little guy was proudly chirping away a few feet away from me, overlooking the ruins.

After the sunrise, we decided not to climb Wainya Picchu since the view doesn’t quite do Machu Picchu justice.  It’s a much harder hike on a higher viewpoint.  However, from the peak, you’re essentially simply staring straight down at the ruins (which seems a bit lame).  We wussed out and hauled ourselves up to the Sun Gate on the adjacent mountain.  This was the final stop of the Incan trail before Machu Picchu, which is pretty nifty.

See that winding road going up the mountainside?  That’s a single lane dirt road with no guard rails.  They send tour buses up that road.  Not just one up and down…we’re talking an entire stream of buses running up and down at the same time.  These bus drivers had the most amazing car control I have ever seen.

After we left Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes, we made our way back to Cusco and toured some of the ruins there.  While these were cool, they weren’t nearly as cool as Machu Picchu.  Hence the stupid pictures.

After a few more days in Cusco, we headed off to Quito, Ecuador (our connection to the Galapgos).  The hotel knew it was our honeymoon (hey, ya gotta milk it), so they left us some chocolate covered fruit.  From now on, I think we’re just going to tell everyone we’re on our honeymoon whenever we travel.

They had some cool graffiti in Cusco…although I’m sure locals hate it.

And finally, from Quito, we flew to San Cristobal island in the Galapagos.  We got transported from the airport to the dock to board our cruise ship, which is apparently the way to get around the Galapagos.  This dude was hanging out on the benches, catching some Z’s.

Our first stop – a beautiful beach on the opposite side of San Cristobal.

While we saw some sea lions on San Cristobal, we got a much better view of the Galapgos wildlife on Espanola.  We had to watch where we were walking so as to not step on the animals while they slept in the sun.  I’m jealous.  Here we have some marine iguanas baking in the sun.

Watching the albatross mating ritual was hilarious.

A cool blowhole in the rock caused by the waves, shooting water about 50 feet in the air.

I has a stick.

And here you have the famous blue footed boobie.  They’re really strange birds, but quite cool.

Later that afternoon, we visited an immaculate beach on the opposite side of Espanola.  The massive number of sea lions here was unbelievable (we’re talking HUNDREDS).

Breathtaking.

Perhaps boring to others…

Next we visited Santa Cruz and the Darwin Research Center.  Here we saw a bunch of tortoises (from babies to centennials) and land iguanas.

Om nom nom

On the walk from the Darwin Research Center, there was a local fish market in town.  Apparently the fisherman somewhat adopted one of the local sea lions.  He literally hangs out underneath the tables and waits for scraps.  Reminds me of our dog…

On Baltra, there pretty much was nothing interesting.  What a waste of a day, but we did see a lot of pelicans in action.

And off we went to Costa Rica!  The Baltra airport was literally a shack with no walls.

Arenal:
This is an active volcano, but hasn’t really been spewing lava for the past 6 months or so.  On a clear day, you can see steam still rising from it, but that’s on a clear day.  The most I saw of it was what you see below.

Our first night in Arenal, this little stray followed us back to our room.  She was really vocal, meowing repeatedly at us.  I know you’re not supposed to feed strays, but she was just TOO cute (and I don’t even like cats).  She chowed down and ate like she hadn’t eaten in a week.

We took a day trip to Cano Negro, a wildlife reserve.  The trip included a 2 hour boat ride down the Rio Frio, through the reserve.  We saw a TON of wildlife here…more birds, caymans, and monkeys than I have ever seen in my life.  If you want to see wildlife, THIS is the place to go…it was unbelievable.  However, if you want to shoot photos, you may want to bring your long lens with a teleconverter.  I felt a bit hindered here by my gear.

Howler monkeys make the most insane noises – if I heard that in the middle of the night in the jungle, I would cry.  These five pound monkeys sound like a sasquatch.

There was also this really cool albino howler that was out and about.

She didn’t care much for us.

These Snake Birds hop in the water to fish (this little guy caught his next meal).  However, their feathers aren’t waterproof, so after they are done, they dry themselves by holding their wings out.

Spider monkey!

Marcel!

Yeah, it was pretty hot out.

Monteverde: the cloud forest
Here, we ziplined and walked the hanging bridges hundreds of feet in the air.  I HATE heights, but I still had to do it.  It was pretty amazing…

This line, the longest one we rode, was a full kilometer long.  That’s a lot of time to start worrying about your equipment.

Guanacaste: beachy tourist trap.
We finished off our trip at Guanacaste, which was a resorty beach town.  Everything is really expensive there, like in most of the touristy parts of Costa Rica.  But the sunsets made everything worth it…the pictures below simply don’t do reality justice.  It was gorgeous.

The weather was so bad, Amanda had to cheer Chad up a bit!

FLORENCE: After figuring out how the Italian train system works, we moved on to Florence. This was a really cool city filled with tons of high end stores. Too bad I’m broke and I’m not trendy. Florence is perhaps the most influential art city in all of Italy. The world-renowned Ufizzi is there, along with the Accademia which houses Michelangelo’s David. Despite being a photographer, I’ve decided that I am not a fan of museums. I don’t know what it is, but all paintings start looking the same after about 10 minutes. Maybe it’s just me. But the street lights illuminating the river at night were gorgeous.

CINQUE TERRE: Hands down, Cinque Terre was the most relaxing place I have ever been in my life. We stayed in Vernazza, which gets a little touristy during the day but was absolutely amazing at night. We met a really cool couple from Colorado, Mark and Sarah. Mark is a blossoming photo nerd, so he and I had plenty to talk about. Clara and Sarah both shared the same disappointment in their men, so they got along just fine as well. It is a quaint beach town filled with pizza, pasta, and wine. There are numerous sights to be seen nearby, and even a dude walking through the train station in a white speedo (you had to be there). The stray cats all beg at the side of the dinner table like dogs…it was hilarious! In all, Vernazza was amazing. Imagine soaking up the scenic hikes during the day, and then sitting on the pier under the stars at night, with a bottle of wine (per person). If anyone is getting married in Cinque Terre, I will shoot your wedding for free…just get me there.

VENICE: And then on to Venice. Oh what can I say about Venice…everyone seems to love Venice. Except for me. I am absolutely convinced that Venice was mapped out by a blind man. There is no clear path from one location to another. Navigating through the city is like getting stuck in a concrete maze. Even with a map, it is incredibly difficult because the street signs are horribly lacking. When you’re trying to sightsee and can’t get from location to location, that can make for a frustrating day. Regardless of the flustering navigation, you gotta admit that the city is quite pretty. I just need a tour guide next time.

All in all, an awesome trip that I would gladly do over again. More pics inside the link!

First, Jessica and Mike. What can I say…they just work, and their wedding was simply amazing. Don’t get me wrong, big weddings are wonderful and ridiculously fun events (especially when there’s an open bar). But there’s something to be said for a really laid back evening with just your closest friends and family – no stress, no frantic preparations, just celebrating the union of two very lucky people. Amazing food, a great atmosphere, and 55 great people for company. All in all, a really awesome night. And you know me…I can’t leave without a few pictures at least.

Next, check out this adorable little thing. Nia is quite possibly the sweetest baby I’ve ever met. She obviously takes after Audrey rather than Joel, but I digress. We had a blast just shooting the breeze, snapping photos at will. I may have suckered Joel into thinking about an SLR as well. Muhahahaha.