Number 7

The pictures are:

1. My motorcycle diaries at 5000 meters

2. Dune buggy tour in Huacachina, Peru

3. Dried frogs for sale in market-for eating, I guess.

Before the family time which included my sister's wedding, there was some travel time, if you can believe that. For a long time I had wanted to go to South America, but it kept getting put off. I kept telling myself that I needed 6 months to do it right and was going to wait until I had six months to spare. But even with my lifestyle, it never came, so for years South America has gone un-visited by me. Well after getting back from Antarctica (continent number 6) for the winter (southern summer) I said "No longer" and went to South America. I had five weeks total and visited three countries. My brother and I are a tad competitive about our travels and when he learned I was going south he told my mother that the only reason I was going was to beat him to the continent. He thought my timing was not coincidental, as he had a trip to Brazil planned for a week after I returned. It really was not on purpose, but beating my brother there was definitely an added bonus.

Quito, Ecuador was my arrival point and I spent 4 days with a friend who lives there. Then I had three weeks to make it to Lima, where Eva was to meet up with me. When she arrived, we had just over two weeks to do the regular Gringo trail of Peru and briefly dip into Bolivia. So five weeks was not the 6 months I had hoped for, but the trip was still really good. There are of course some stories from the road to be told, but I'm supposed to be looking for a job. So they will be in posts that follow, so I don't spend too much of one day working on this, which does not pay the bills but is fun.