Peru Without a Guide

"If you do what you've always done, you get what you've always got
Don't dream your life, live your dreams."

With these words in mind, the Machu Picchu Chicas are off to Peru this morning. Our beloved guide, Gianni, had a family emergency in Ecuador, and will not be able to accompany us, but we trudge on confident in the plans Gianni has laid for us, and open to the lessons of faith, hope, and trust in the human spirit.

Our early morning (5:00 a.m.) Departure bristled with excitement. The Waterloo Chicas were chauffeured to the airport by the very capable Greg Bentz. After a non-descript flight to Miami ("That's the way uh huh uh huh we like it!") we had to wait a few minutes to disembark and we were overcome with the urge to belt out this familiar Bon Jovi tune:
Oh Oh we're half way there
Oh Oh living on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it I swear
Oh oh living on a prayer

One of my favourite parts of a good adventure is the community doctoring that becomes part of daily life. We started our self doctoring he very first day before we even left North America.
"What did you bring for meds?"
"Did you bring something for altitude sickness?"
We soon discovered that five of us had the exact same altitude sickness pills and each of us had completely different instructions. So...we pooled our med instructions, threw in a good dose of common sense, and all popped a pill ... Our FIRST team-building activity which was soon followed by our SECOND team building activity:
"Do you get dizzy when you stand up?"
"Does your head tingle?"
"Do you feel disoriented?"
We decided then and there that a lack of alcohol due to altitude could be made up by our meds. Tomorrow we are taking two pills.