Cusco

Spent a couple of days in Cusco acclimatising to the altitude and drinking lots of coca tea. Had a lot of fun at the chocolate factory, being dressed up by the locals and some good nights out before starting the Inka Trail to Machu Picchu.

Lima

Landed in Peru! We spent a couple of days in Lima, a really nice city bordering the coast, exploring the town and shopping in Mercardo Indio and Larcomar. 

Cali

Salsa is a way of life in Cali! We arrived and aftera couple of beers and cocktails to give us some confidence we headed out to practice our salsa moves. This led to a fairly unproductive morning the following day as we were both struggling a little... In the evening we had a free salsa lesson at the hostel (El viajero) followed by another salsa club. The locals were incredible - found out after that most of them were professional salsa dancers and teachers which made us feel slightly better about our moves on the dance floor!

A 2 hour bus ride from Cali is the subtropical forest of San Cipriano. When you arrive you go on an old railroad track in a Brujita (wooden cart) to be pulled by a motorcycle! You pass through the jungle and across rivers to reach a remote village. There we went tubing across the clear river which was so much fun!

 Our method for staying together..

The local children were fascinated by the underwater cameras!

We finished the day with some amazing falafel and mint lemonade! 

And finally some words of wisdom from the hostel....

Salento Coffee Region

Salento is a small town with peaceful streets selling hand crafted items and of course coffee. It's surrounded by in thick lush forest. We stayed in the Plantation House for three nights. On the first morning we were given a tour of the coffee farm and shown the process of making coffee from scratch.

Coffee Plant

The Plantation House

Pineapple Plant!!

iPod the Dog

On our way into town, we brought a sweet snack that this lady was making on a post in the middle of the street, it tasted like melted caramel marshmallow and was pretty sickly!

Just a day trip from Salento is Valle de Cocora were went on a five hour hike up to the hummingbird sanctuary and up into the mountains! The scenery from the top was  amazing. We were lucky enough to get the executive seats on the way, hanging on to the back on the Jeep.