Peru Prep

Double checking when departing for a trip like Peru is key. I nearly walked out of the house without my Marmot rain jacket. That would have been a bummer up on the mountain. I’m sure I could have rented one, and since I’m renting plastic boots, crampons, an ice axe and a harness as it is, they may have thrown it in for free… maybe.

But as I was doing my final FINAL sweep, I noticed I hadn’t packed my toothbrush! Agk! So, I threw it along with some paste and floss and a small bottle of Dr. Bronner’s in my “Toothcase” that I got from my dentist. I then promptly set it down and probably left it behind.

I got a ride up to LA because when I was trying to book my flight from San Diego, I was being routed through Atlanta! That’s a lot of extra air time I don’t need. Also, when I did a search for flights from LAX, an American Airlines flight came up, direct to Lima. But since LAN (a South American carrier that code-shares with American) did not show up on the kayak.com search, I went directly to their website and found the same flight for $200 less. Boom.

So, the big plan, pending I’m not able to post again before I’m done:

Thursday – Fly to Lima (arrive at 12.30am Friday)
Friday – Visit my hosts boat yard where he builds custom catamarans
Saturday – Take 30 kids hiking up to a waterfall in the Andes for DiscoveryBound
Sunday – Church and Lima time
Monday – Get ready to go to Cuzco
Tuesday – Fly to Cuzco
Thursday-Sunday – Lares Trek/Local village visits
Tuesday (23 June-1 July) – Ausangate Trek
3 July – Back to USA

Stay tuned!

About the author

Adventure Correspondent Cameron L. Martindell is a freelance adventure travel and expedition writer, photographer and filmmaker who founded Offyonder.com in 2000. He has contributed to Elevation Outdoors Magazine, The Gear Junkie, National Geographic, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Outside, Backpacker, Wired, Australian Geographic, Mountainzone.com and others. He has been to all seven continents and lived on five of them, including a four-month stint at the South Pole. Cameron has more than 10 years of mountain search and rescue experience, is an Eagle Scout, has been an Australian bush firefighter, competes in sailing regattas, plans national and international youth programs, guides Oregon rafting trips and Australian bush backpacking trips.

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