Ian and I decided to drive the motorcycle from Cuzco to the outskirts of Machu Picchu, and the final leg (or so we thought)was another winding, one-lane dirt road running along the ledge of a cliff. Luckily it was a perfect day with a gorgeous view

I’m not even sure that Indiana Jones would venture across this bridge, unless of course, there were thousands of snakes guarding the road we chose to take

Two rivers merging into one

Not many people can say that they drove from their house to Machu Picchu, but we are some of the few that can! And the ruins were, as predicted, quite spectacular

The best part of Machu Picchu was its supreme location. The city was perched atop one of the highest mountains, and the city stretched much further than we had anticipated in both directions. The peak in this picture although removed from the heart of the city, had structures built there, as well

We even got to play with the llamas, which weren’t that friendly and kicked with all fours

The “Inca Bridge” built on the ledge of the cliff

A chinchilla, which Ian thought was a bunny (that had a long tail and was somehow able to make this 4ft vertical jump)

The agriculture produced from these terraces was able to support 1,000 men

If anyone is ever planning on visiting Machu Picchu, we have learned that it is by far the best deal to purchase an all-inclusive tour package for about $110 USD. We learned this the hard way and thought that by driving there ourselves we would save money, which unfortunately for us was not the case. Peru has a monopoly on this world wonder, so it is actually impossible to transport yourself there. Instead, we had to park the bike and take a 20 minute one-way train ($23 USD p/p) to Aguas Calientes and from Aguas Calientes, purchase an additional $19 USD bus ride to the ruins. It was a shock to us mostly because locals paid 2 soles, which is equivalent to $0.60 USD and we naturally felt robbed

Needless to say, we decided that we would rather walk the 15 Km back to the bike and save enough money for unlimited Starbucks drinks during the rest of our stay in Cuzco. Surprisingly, the Machu Picchu ruins are actually visible from the train tracks, and if you look closely, their outlines can be seen in the center of this photo

Once back from our adventure to Machu Picchu, we decided there was no better time than now to venture into the Manu Jungle for a bit. We signed up for a 4 day expedition, and our first stop along the way was to see the Ninamarca ruins. All of these little structures were actually tombs

We also visited a small town, Paucartambo, which is famous for hosting the Virgen del Carmen festival, where everyone dresses in colorful costumes, covers their faces with hideous masks, and preforms a variety of dances, each one symbolizing a different aspect of the Peruvian culture. This gentleman is representing bread makers

We tried passion fruit for the first time. The fruit is similar to a pomegranate in the way that the skin protects hundreds of seeds, each one encased within a small amount of tasty fruit

We were lucky enough to find a brilliantly colored male Cock of the Rock, which is Peru’s national bird

Next stop was an animal rehabilitation center, and we got to meet monkeys, snakes, turtles, a parrot, a tapir, and a peccary. Ian is petting the tapir, which had very soft hair, unlike a pig that it otherwise resembles in its size and shape

Maggy’s favorite animal was the peccary. They made friends when Maggy gave her a belly rub

And of course the monkeys were fun…Ian especially thought they were fun when one of them rubbed poop all over his clothes

On one of our hikes through the Manu Jungle, we found this little fly catcher, which is about the size of a hummingbird, sitting on her delicate, walnut-sized nest

Then the guide tricked Ian into eating a termite under the pretense that termites have a tasty mint flavor

Although we have never been to the Red Wood forests, this tree seemed pretty impressive and is considered sacred to the local villagers

Speaking of the local villagers….they believe this rare insect, the lantern fly, is so lethal that if it bites you, you must have sex for 24 straight hours or you will die!

Also included in the tour was a chance to go zip-lining. Ian learned that this sport can be quite dangerous if you forget to put the brakes on at the end

This palm has evolved to protect itself from climbing animals with these small thorns. The indigenous people used these to make hunting weapons by injecting a small amount of poison secreted by frogs into each thorn

The group hiked to this small lake and got a first class tour on these yachts

The marshy area surrounding the lake supported many different animal species including this bird, the hoatzin, which is on top of the food chain and apparently tastes so bad that people don’t even hunt it. Interestingly, hoatzin chicks are born with 2 claws on each of their wings!

There was also a capybara sighting!

To get to the lodge, the final stretch was down the river by boat. It was a quick arrival and took about an hour on the return trip back upstream

The lodge was positioned in what is known as the “buffer zone” of the National Rainforest, along the Madre de Dios river. It was run by solar power

Since there we had unlimited coffee (and a view), life was good

Naturally, there was intermittent rain throughout our stay, especially every morning from about 4-7am

Since our time was coming to an end, we decided to make one last motorcycle trip to Ollantaytambo, the town marking the beginning of the Inca Trail, a 4 day 27 mile hike to Machu Picchu. On the way, we stopped at the Moray Inca ruins, which is unusual for its circular terraces and the fact that there is a 15 degree Celsius range in temperature from the top to the bottom!

Once in the quaint town of Ollantaytambo, we were surrounded by these Inca ruins lining the mountains

The ruins were designed with these irrigation systems, which are still used throughout the entire town of Ollantaytambo

This is the Plaza de Las Armas, downtown Cuzco, with Inca ruins lining the top of the mountain in the background

Once back in Cuzco, we relaxed and enjoyed the holidays as our 6 month journey finally came to an end. Although we didn’t finish the trip via Land Cruiser or make it to Tierra del Fuego as we had originally planned, we are nothing but content with how our voyage evolved. Most importantly, we look forward to the next time we are able to finally complete the crazy idea we set out to achieve!