Its time to say goodbye to both my wonderful travelling companion and the beautiful South America. I head back to Lima for a few days before flying home to NZ. As I go through immigration into Peru the old man asks Emma where she came from? "Rio" she replies, and he stamps her passport and moves her on. I'm next. He's going ask me a million questions when he sees I've already been here for the maximum 6 months. He's an experienced immigration official, he'll be ...

One of the reasons I chose to teach English in Peru was to have the opportunity to visit Machu Picchu. That dream came true last week. The 15th-century Inca citadel is situated on a mountain ridge 2,500 metres above sea level, deep in the Sacred Valley. It was given UNESCO World Heritage status in 1983 and was voted one of the seven wonders of the world in 2007. The day starts early (aka 5am) with a taxi ride to the train station in Poroy. We board the ...

One day, while wallowing in a bit of good old fashioned self pity ... reflecting on how sick I've been and all the battles I've dealt with .... I have a lightbulb moment; I'm not a tourist in a foreign land. This is the real life of a local. Nothing is easy for a local. Nothing is as simple as you think its going to be. Being a tourist in a beautiful country like Peru is an exciting adventure and everyone falls over themselves to make your experience fantastic...

Albert Einstein once said "The measure of intelligence is the ability to change" By his definition, I have determined that I must be pretty darn intelligent! I have done a lot of changing in the last 4 years. Some of it thrust upon me unexpectedly. Some by choice. But in the end, all of it welcome. Today my world changes again. Just when I'd got the hang of this new life in Arequipa teaching English, I'm up and leaving it. Totally my choice to do it, ...

Thank goodness for breaks in between teaching months. This time it was a 6 day one - mucho gracias Easter! You didn't have to ask us twice to pack our bags and plan an adventure. The Nazca Lines were calling ….. What are they you ask? Just the most legendary and mysterious ancient UNESCO heritage site in the world! The 'lines' are a series of drawings (or glyphs), etched into the parched desert plateau of Nazca between 200 BC and 600 AD. They were c...