Our South America Trip's Highlight in Photos

Figured it was about time to finally put together a so-called highlight reel of our trip to much of South America from last fall! It was so hard coming up with the following from the thousands and thousands of photos I took but I hope it represents the breadth of what we saw on such an amazing journey.

Steven and I were both really glad that we'd had the opportunity to see a ship pass completely through the Panama Canal's Miraflores Locks on September 8th. It was amazing to think that engineers from over 100 years ago had adequately designed for the exponentially larger ships of this century!

Seeing the Pope during his visit to Cartagena, Colombia, on September 9th was the most momentous association we certainly brought away from our visit to Cartagena. No church, no museum could possibly have surpassed that. 

This was one of many bronze sculptures we viewed in Medellin by Colombian artist Fernando Botero known for his voluptuous figures.

Hiking for several hours in the paper tree jungle in El Cajas National Park near Cuenca, Ecuador, at 12,500 ft above sea level in early October was a fascinating experience with one of the best guides we've ever had.

Traveling to the Galapagos Islands way off the coast of Ecuador turned out to be a huge highlight of our trip. 

The tortoises on Isla Santa Cruz were mammoth! Steven got too close to this one so he bellowed at him before retracting his head in a hurry!

Snorkeling with marbled ray turtles and other sea creatures on Isla Isabela on October 13th was a delight. I could have watched them for hours as they were so magical!

That same day we were entranced coming across blue-footed boobies and stood mesmerized as the males danced and whistled for females, all part of their courting ritual!

Our first of what turned out to be many sightings of flamingos while in South America was in the Galapagos. I was as enthralled with these ones as much as I was with all those hundred that came later. Steven, not so much, but perhaps it was because of all the photos I took of them!

Never had we seen so many iguanas before.

While in Lima, Peru, on October 19th, we stopped in at the Mario Testino Museum. The Peruvian photographer is famous for his high-fashion portraits and especially those he took of Princess Diana. 

Another museum in Lima we really enjoyed was the magnificent Museo de Arte de Lima and known as MALI. Among the museum's highlights was the collection of 2,000 year old weavings from Paracas.

That was also where we saw religious paintings from the Cusco 'School' which was known for its surface gilding. We loved the style so much we ended up buying a small painting in Cusco itself a few days later.

Hiking to the Inca Pinkuylluna granaries in Ollantaytambo in late October near Machu Pichu, Peru, prepared for that fantastic sight a few days later.

I bet you recognize this photo of the iconic Machu Pichu! The reason for our going to South America last fall was that Steven didn't want to put off any longer exploring and hiking at Machu Pichu. We climbed the mountain in the background! 

The view from atop Huayna Picchu, the mountain that towered over Machu Pichu, that we hiked up after making reservations six months in advance for one of 250 timed slots.

Seeing this rainbow was the perfect ending to a magical day at Machu Pichu.

In Peru's Sacred Valley, we stopped at Salineras to see the huge collection of salt pools that seemed to go on forever. It was amazing to learn the Incas harvested salt in the same way.

The circular terraces of Moray, located in a remote area of the Sacred Valley, are thought to have been used as an agricultural research station by the Inca people because of the difference in temperature of 27°F from the top to the bottom. 

One of a couple of times where we learned first hand the plants used to dye fiber to make beautiful textiles.

Steven and I always love to hike on our overseas trips. This photo was from near Cusco where we traipsed over mountain and down dale in search of more Inca ruins. I felt like we were in a scene from The Sound of Music!

I think Steven and I should have signs on our backpacks saying we stop at every market because there was nary a market we missed if we could. One of the best was the Sunday Market in Pisac, near Cusco, that is famous the world over for its incredible array of beautiful textiles.

The local women made for a pretty shot, too, I thought.

We had timed our day trip to Pisac especially to attend Mass celebrated in the local Quechua language at the church just feet away from the market.

At the end of October we flew to Puerto Maldonado in southern Peru and then traveled by boat up the Tambopata River, a tributary of the southern Amazon near the border of Bolivia, for a three day jungle trip. One of the most amazing highlights was the Macaw Clay Lick that we got up at 4 am to see. After traveling by boat for a good while and then waiting for about six hours, our patience was rewarded with seeing hundreds of macaws. 

Scientists suspect the parrots and macaws, who fly up to 100 kms to reach the clay lick, gather to eat the clay that neutralizes the acidity of the seeds in their diet.

Hiking several miles to Lago Sandoval, another area of the Amazon, with all of our possessions for our time in the Amazon on our backs, was not our idea of joy right then!

One of the most unusual birds we saw on the lake was a Hoatzin who apparently "never got the genetic message that they aren't dinosaurs anymore and shouldn't be growing claws on their forelimbs!"

While on the lake we were also lucky enough to see an Anhinga or snakelike bird, hear the ferocious sounding Red Howler Monkey, see Black Capuchin Monkeys and even caught a rare glimpse of river otters! Our few days in the southern Amazon allowed us to explore a world we'd only 'seen' in our imaginations and was a definite highlight of our entire trip.

What would a highlight reel of our trip to South America be without a photo of some llamas we saw while exploring southern Peru's spectacular Colca Valley at close to 15,000 feet above sea level?!

Another day, another hike: this exhilarating one was in the Colca Canyon.

Being so very lucky to see a few of the quickly disappearing condors with a view of the Andes in the background while in the Canyon was, once again, just fabulous.

On to Lake Titicaca, a rival in magnificence to Machu Picchu, and home to the floating Uros islands. The lake, larger than Puerto Rico, is the world's largest navigable lake at 12,5000 feet above sea level.

Steven was feeling the effects of the high altitude so, after visiting the Uros Islands, I continued seeing Lake Titicaca's Isla Taquile and its knitting bachelors and older men knitting up a storm as men must learn to knit to woo a woman!

For some reason this last trip, we found ourselves visiting cemetery after cemetery, each one bigger or more ornate than the previous one. This one that was the final resting place for over 200,000 souls in La Pas, Bolivia, on November 9th, as part of a very long but exciting day tour.

The shoe shiner in the city's Mercado Negro or Black Market was a member of the Aymara culture who make sure to hide their faces so they’re not recognized by friends in their culture as one's feet were considered most important.

People lined up to have their fortunes told at the witches' stalls. I also had mine told!

Watching a Cholitas wrestling match that evening was a hoot.

Discovering the amazing Uyuni Salt Flats in southern Bolivia that are visible from space as part of a three day tour was phenomenal.

The other participants were much younger but we all had a ball of fun together.

Our tour continued to Laguna Canapa, a picturesque salt lake that seemed to be the deepest blue, and that was home to lovely Chilean flamingos.

The high altitude Siloli Desert made us think we had inadvertently landed on another planet. Nothing could have prepared us for it and one of the most extraordinary places on earth. 

Sol de Mañana, the world's highest geothermal field, located two hours north of Chile in southern Bolivia:

As part of an expedition from San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile, we had an hilarious time running down this sand mountain in the Valle de Martes or Mars Valley. Just before we ran down, the guide had said he'd see us in the hospital. Luckily, we both landed safe and sound at the bottom!

This geological formation in the same area was called the Amphitheater because of its shape. If you ever have a chance to travel to faraway San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile, I urge you not to think twice about it so you can also be mesmerized by some of this world's most unusual scenery and lunar-like landscapes.

Another tour took us to see the largest cactus in the world. The  Cardon Cactus grew up to 30' high and was about 2.5' in diameter and had white petal flowers.

Yet another tour from San Pedro took us to Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos where we were fortunate to view at Lake Chaxa three of the five known species of flamingos: the black-tailed Andean, the pink-tailed Chilean and James'.

Many hours later, we reached Miscanti Lake, one of the beautiful Altiplano lakes in northern Chile. It was so windy my teeth hurt when I smiled.

Didn't we look happy to be in Easter Island, way, way off the coast of Chile, on November 24th! We were thrilled beyond words to be spending a few days exploring that piece of paradise.

As we went to bed that night, we could only pinch ourselves at how incredibly fortunate we had been to witness such a perfect sunset our first night on Easter Island.

Getting our first glimpse of Ahu Tongariki had to have been the island's most breathtaking sight. This ahu or base represented the pinnacle of the Rapa Nui stone carving period with 15 colossal moai or statues standing side by side on the longest ahu ever built anywhere in Polynesia, with a length of over 650'! 

After participating in the spellbinding Mass said mostly in Rapa Nui, the native language, we headed to the cemetery where a moai, with his pukao or topknot atop his head, had a commanding position. 

Our time in Easter Island proved to be a top highlight of our trip as we made time to discover moai all over the island as each formation held its own allure. 

Back on the mainland, we spent a couple of days in very colorful AND hilly Valparaiso, not far from Santiago, the capital of Chile. Never had we seen such a large scale of mural art anywhere.

To conquer the hilltops, ascenores or funiculars were introduced at the beginning of the last century. We had read that no visit to the city would be complete without a ride on one so we rode the steep Ascensor El Peral which had been built in 1902.

These were the city's famous piano steps which we hadn't realized were anything special until we looked back where we had walked down!

A 'blip' near Valparaiso occurred when Steven had his shoes, glasses, etc. stolen from right beside him as we sat on the beach! We figured somebody must have needed everything more than he did!

The face and story of Eva Perón was a huge part of our visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the beginning of December.

The city's unusual Metropolitan Cathedral had been the home to the then Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, currently Pope Francis. 

While visiting the city's mammoth and beautiful Recoleta Cemetery, we learned about Rufina Cambaceres, a rich child buried alive after a cataleptic attack. When she woke up, she managed to pry open the coffin open but died during the night of a heart attack! She was buried in an art nouveau tomb decorated with wrought iron. Recoleta was an eerily beautiful and tranquil place. It came as no surprise that over 90 of its tombs were listed as national historical monuments.

A more uplifting place was Buenos Aires' Floralis Generica designed by Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. I found myself to be very captivated by the city and its marvelous museums, monuments and churches.

First seeing Iguazu Falls in northern Argentina took our breath away. We've been lucky enough to also view both Niagara Falls in Canada and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe but Iguazu Falls were far superior in our minds. It was hard to imagine a more astounding sight than this as the falls kept going on and on!

We took a zodiac boat very close to the Brazilian side of the falls the following day which was a blast!

We both found large swaths of Sao Paulo, Brazil, pretty depressing because of the huge numbers of homeless people and the tagging or graffiti was on a scale we'd never seen before anywhere. However, we were both entranced when we entered MASP, the city art museum and discovered all the paintings mounted on large glass panels suspended at eye level! 

We were stupefied by the fantastic collection of paintings by Old Masters such as Delacroix, Velasquez, Renoir, Corot and so many others. What a wonderful treasure trove of art in one museum! It made us happy we had decided to add Sao Paulo to our itinerary so long ago.

Our next and one of my favorite stops on the trip was the enchanting city of Ouro Preto, the center of what was in the 1690s the largest gold discovery in the Western hemisphere. 

In the main square was stall upon stall of exquisite soapstone carvings. Many craftsmen were hard at work carving pieces as we watched in fascination. Those we bought still bring back fond memories of our time in one of the loveliest towns in all of South America.

In Rio de Janeiro, a walking tour took us to 215 steps covered with colorful mosaics by Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón. After moving to Brazil and living near the steps, he thought they were so gray. Selarón, who always wore red shoes, decided to make up for the lack of red in the Brazilian flag by including as many red tiles as possible in the steps! The color red, he thought, brought joy to whatever it touched.

This is just one of the places we're heading to beginning TODAY as we start our sixth adventure that will take us to December 22nd!

Rio's captivating Christ the Redeemer statue:

A view of Pão de Açúcar or Sugarloaf, our next destination in exciting Rio!

We'd seen so many gorgeous sunsets in our travels around the world but this one on the way back to Rio from visiting the exquisite car-free Ilha de Paquetá had to rank at the very top.

Our last stop in our 3.5 month long trip was in Mexico City. There we were excited to stop in at the Palacio de Bellas Artes to see the paintings by Mexico's internationally famous muralists.

From the city, we made a day trip to Teotihuacan where we climbed to the top of the Temple of the Sun. 

We love museums so were excited to spend several hours in one of the world's great ones, The Museum of Anthropology, located in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park. If you ever have a chance to go, you won't regret it.

A teaser from the museum: Olmec heads, made of basalt that weighed almost 20 tons, may have been portraits of high-ranking people.

Paseo Reforma, the city's grandest boulevard contained one great monument after another. This was the Monumento a Cristóbal Colón or Christoper Columbus as we know him that showed him gesturing toward the horizon.

I hope you enjoyed some of my favorite recollections of a wonderful trip to South America last fall. It was fun re-reading my 150 or so blog posts from last year's adventure to come up with this highlight reel!

As I mentioned earlier, we leave in a few hours for another long adventure, our longest one yet. We'll be discovering the sights in Paris for a few days, then some of the countries in the former Soviet Union including some of the 'Stan' countries along the famous Silk Road before spending a long time in Spain, and a much shorter time in Portugal and the Netherlands to round out the trip. Steven and I would love you to follow us on our new blog address at www.bergersadventures6.blogspot.com

Thank you for reading the previous posts and especially for commenting on some of them. It keeps me motivated to keep sharing our travels with you!

Posted on August 13th, from Littleton Colorado.