We're not actually in Peru, yet, we just had to choose a place in South America for this blog, and that's the first place we'll be. 

Only 11 days until we head off! I think we're both getting pretty excited - especially now that I know I'll actually have my passport back in time. It's hard trying to focus on work and school when all I can think about is the trip. We thought we'd post up a loose itinerary so you'll have some idea of where we're going. We fly into Lima on June 30th, and have a couple of days there before we take a flight to Cusco. We aren't sure how long we'll be here - it depends on how long it takes to get used to the altitude. Then hop on a train to Aguas Calientes, at the base Machu Piccu. After that we head back to Lima, and are thinking of stopping in Huacachina on the way for a little sandboarding and some sun, since it'll be pretty chilly for the first part of our trip.

Once we get to Lima, the plan is to head up the coast to Ecuador and try to hit a few town along the way:

• Huarez, in the Cordillera Blanca
• Huanchaco - a fishing and surfing village, close to the Chan Chan ruins
• Chiclayo - famous witchcraft market, close to adobe pyramids
• Piura - nice sounding city with cathedrals and plazas and such

From there we're planning on heading inland to the border crossing with Ecuador at La Tina - Macara. From here head to Vilcabamba (the fountain of youth). After that, we'd like to see:

• Cuenca - Unesco World Heritage site
• Banos - hot springs and volcanoes
• Tena - this is where we can organize a trip into the jungle for a few days
• Quito - don't know what we'll do here... but we'll find something
• Otavalo - famous market town
• Cross into Colombia at Tulcan

In Colombia, we definitely want to see La Zona Cafetera, and definitely want to skip Bogota and Barranquilla. Cali is "the salsa capital of Colombia" (the dance, not the food, although there's probably some tasty salsa to eat, too). Otherwise, we'd like to find a quiet town somewhere around Cartagena - there's supposed to be really great diving there. Probably talk to people we meet to see what else sounds good, then on to Venezuela.

I think our main goal in Venezuela is spending as little time in Caracas as possible. We want to do a rafting trip somewhere, and then head for a week or so on the beach - we're thinking of Mochima National Park (dolphins, kayaking, coral reefs - works for me!) - before we have to head to Caracas for our flight home at the end of August!

I'm sure this'll change as we go along, but this gives you an idea of where we want to go. We'll try to post lots of pictures, and update regularly. Our next entry will really be from Lima!