A first-person travel vlog transcript of Nate and Kara Buchanan leaving the Amazon after staying on a luxury boat (the Delphine) and visiting a manatee rescue center. They describe travel logistics (flights via Lima), a near-missed connection due to an app/ticket confusion, arrival in Cusco, taxi/airbnb pickup confusion, settling into an Airbnb near Plaza de Armas, and plans to rest and prepare for Machu Picchu. The tone is conversational, anecdotal, and lightly humorous.
Yeah, it's time to go.
We have to leave.
Sam.
We've got to go.
It is our last morning above the Delphine. Number three. We're getting kicked off the boat. I'm really tempted to lock ourselves into this amazing room and never leave. I don't think they would like that.
No. Unfortunately, we have to head back to the airport. But on the way we get to stop at Amenity Sanctuary. So our time here in Iquitos isn't quite over yet. Also, I feel like we should address, like, the major contrast that there's been in this week that we've had in the Amazon. We started at the lodge that was like very Amazon in your face. And then we moved to this boat that was extremely luxurious. Was also a good way to enjoy the Amazon. To be completely honest, I wouldn't have wanted to have one without the other. They were both amazing experiences. Don't know that one was better. It was just totally separate experiences. So depending on what you're into, you may want to choose one or the other.
I think they're. They're leaving us.
We're staying forever. They left us.
We just drove an hour and a half to this manatee rescue center. It is our last Amazon adventure. I'm really excited because I've never seen the manatees up close before somehow in my whole life.
Sam.
They're doing surgery on the little baby manatee. So the manatee rescue center is way more than just. There were monkeys and some kind of crazy looking cat. There was turtles. And they're here for all different reasons. Some of them are orphans and were found. Some of them were being sold at a market. Some of them, a little kid from a village kept it as a pet until it got huge and you didn't know what to do with it. And they got it. And they help bring them back to health and then release them into the wild. Now we're going back to the airport.
We are heading to Lima, officially leaving the Amazon.
Day.
That was a very unmemorable flight. We both left pretty much the entire time. We're back in Lima, which we flew through on the way to the Amazon. And we know that the lounge here is very basic, like olives and nuts. And a couple drinks are about all they have to offer. So we are doing something that we've only done maybe twice ever, which is by airport food. We couldn't say no to Papa John's and I can't wait.
So that piece of pizza almost caused us to miss our flight. Or maybe our app that we use to organize all of our travels. Almost caused us to miss our flight. We thought we had a 22 hour and 45 minute layover here in Lima. Turns out it's a 45 minute layover here in Lima and we were just sitting there enjoying our pizza. Thankfully, I looked at our ticket for some reason, TripIt, the app that we use, and our ticket is totally off. And it was off by two hours last time we were here, which is super weird because we never had a problem with it. Thankfully, the flight is a little delayed, so they haven't started boarding yet. But, like, we seriously could have missed that flight very easily, which would have been a huge bummer.
Sam.
So we just arrived at Cusco. I would say, without a doubt, it's one of, like, the most beautiful descents we've ever had. Coming into the airport, you can see mountains on either side of the plane. You're just flying into this valley. It was really cool.
We're at elevation, so it's a bit cold. Cold here again. Nothing like the Amazon. Very dry. We have booked an Airbnb for the next three nights and she was nice enough to come pick us up.
So now we're gonna grab our bags and jump in the car with her.
Hopefully I adjust better to the altitude here than I did in la, pal.
We've heard if you're at altitude, even if you're like, back at sea level for a week or two, you should still have whatever your body needs to quickly readj.
Oh, my God. We most definitely read our Airbnb text wrong. She is not, in fact, picking us up from the airport. Glad we didn't wait here any longer than we did. There are about a billion people standing outside the airport saying, taxi, taxi. And we said no to all of them. And then we had to go say yes to her.
Yeah, then we realized that she wasn't picking us up. And then a guy took us to a car that is definitely not a taxi. So we're doing, like, one of the things you're definitely not supposed to do when you travel is get in an unmarked taxi. Already a little shady. He quoted his 20 solace to get to our place, but now he wants 5 more to pay for parking. Hopefully that's it. Vamanas. Vamanas. Okay, I got this.
Smells very interesting. Yeah, it does.
Turns out our taxi driver was a super nice guy. Took us in the general area of our Airbnb. I'm actually not sure where it is yet. We're standing on this street corner, but the city of Cusco. Looks so cool. We've gotten into the old part of the city. We're staying close to Plaza de Armas, which from what we understand is the, the main square. And it's like all of these cobblestone streets, old architecture. Really looking forward to spending the next three days here.
Okay.
You see a number?
Oh, sweet.
We found the building. Now we just need to find the apartment.
We made it to our Airbnb. Our host was so sweet. And we have this huge king sized bed. This feels kind of funny, but we got in bed and we're just really comfy.
We've really enjoyed. Some of the people that we've met here just have learned, like English phrases, but they're not like, quite right.
They're just a tad bit off.
And I. I'm nobody to judge because our Spanish is horrible. Like, I can't even put this complicated of phrases together. But she walked us around the room and she said, do you have towels? Do you have hair dryers?
Do you have restaurants? All along the street she was telling.
Us that we had all of these things, but at some point she had learned to say do. And we just really enjoyed it.
It was cute. It's about dinner time.
Yep. Not sure what we're gonna be able to find.
She recommended a restaurant in between KFC and McDonald's in the main square. So we'll check it out. But I have a feeling it's not really going to be what we want.
She was concerned for our health.
Yeah.
So she wanted us to eat good.
Food for our trek. She doesn't want us to get sick before Machu Picchu.
So we are here in Cusco. I said three days earlier. Kara corrected me. It is four. Honestly, we're probably gonna take the next three days to catch up on work since we just had a week with no intern in the Amazon.
And then.
Two people are coming to visit us. One is a familiar face. One is a new face.
Should we tell them?
No, you'll have to see on the next episode.
Okay, let's go find some dinner. If we can pull ourselves out of this extremely comfy bed.
I'm ready.
What? All right.
You want to start?
No.
What are you going to say?
It smells like a nursing.
That's exactly what it smells like.
I'm not kidding. It smells so bad. I'm putting Tiger balm on my nose so I don't smell it anymore. And I can breathe really well.
Sam.
