Our planned day of an Andean Adventure ride to the animal sanctuary got turned on its head! A couple of us had already showered when Brennan came down and had to hover over the toilet for what could have been nearly an hour. He had terrible stomach pains.

Our doctor had prescribed an anti-nausea medication just as a precaution for this very occurrence. When Brennan was able to keep a little water down, he took one pill and didn’t vomit again. However, the stomach pain and exhaustion of the event would carry on throughout the day.

Had this occurred three days earlier, God only knows how we would have handled it!  As it was, we took the time to repack the Inka Trail duffles into our own bags and carry-ons. Check-out was at 10:00 and we could not get an extension. 

The hotel secured our bags and Bligh and Brennan set up camp in the Breakfast Room where Brennan was able to lay down on one of the padded benches. 

We contacted Christian at Andean Adventures and told him we would have to bail on the scheduled day trip and confirmed our airport pickup for 5:30.  Dave and Sue headed out for some last chance sightseeing and shopping. At the “chocolate shop” they tasted many of the chocolates, coffees and liquors; purchased a small bottle of chocolate liquor. 

They each had a little wish to find a quality hat and sweater. The problem was that quality meant breaking the bank. The good news was that the nicer shops (not the street vendors) were celebrating “Black Weekend” which has become a universal event. They each got a baby alpaca hat for what was below the listed price of just one. 

Within an hour they were back at the hotel and insisted (with quite a bit of arm twisting) that Bligh and Sue head out for their own shopping spree. The breakfast room was stocked with a variety of tea bags and Dave asked the woman at the desk for some hot water. She returned with a brewed pot of a special blend of tea that she said was really good for an upset stomach. Through the day, Brennan had nearly three cups. 

Sue and Bligh returned about two hours later and showed off their “Black Weekend” savings. Bligh got a shawl/scarf of baby alpaca, blanket/throw and a bottle of a coffee liquor from the “chocolate shop”.  Sue was proud of herself for getting Dave a birthday gift which remains a mystery to him. (Turned out it was a really nice baby alpaca sweater.)

Bligh and Dave switched roles, she stayed with Brennan and he and Sue headed out for lunch. After checking out several places, they picked Pachapapa, a cute place right on Plaza San Blas. It had courtyard seating and a good looking menu. They shared a pork dish and chicken dish. Both were stuffed and they took half of each back to Bligh.

Still having time before the 5:30 pickup, Sue and Dave headed out in search of a Pisco Sour. A street artist asked them if they would like one of his paintings, their reply, no gracias but could he recommend a good place for a Pisco Sour. His only recommendation was Museo del Pisco.

It was only a few blocks away and turned out to be great. They did Pisco tastings and also had a pretty good looking food menu.  The Pisco Sour was excellent and our server gave us the whole history of Pisco - it dates back to the 16th century and will forever be tied to Peru. 

Heading back to the hotel, we picked up a pack of Ritz crackers for Brennan. We retrieved our bags and did some last minute shuffling to try to make sure they were all under the 50 pound airline limit. We didn’t buy that much stuff but were amazed how much heavier they felt than when we left Dulles last week.

Christian and Walter were right on time. Each of them threw a duffle over their shoulders while Bligh and Dave struggled with the other two down the several blocks to the van. Walter zigged and zagged through rush hour traffic and we were at the airport in 15 minutes.

It was weird, security wouldn’t let anyone in to the check-in area without passports and boarding passes. So, Christian said he would meet us at the front of the security check point??? All the bags were under the weight limit and they were checked through to Dulles. When Christian was assured that all was well, we said our good byes.

We were through security and at our gate a good two hours ahead of departure, this left Sue and Bligh plenty of time to take advantage of last minute “Black Weekend” shopping. They saw that original airport prices, for quality baby alpaca apparel, were no different than the shops in the city, except they were discounted 50 to 70 percent. Bligh got a gorgeous shawl and Sue a beautiful pullover sweater.

Our flight to Lima was on time, but again, we had a 4-hour layover in Lima. Brennan’s stomach pains had subsided so we insisted he eat something. He ordered a grilled chicken dinner from Pargo and he ate quite a bit of it, the rest of us finished it. We had tried to waste some time in the Food Court and, luckily, decided to make our way to the gate because strangely we had to go through Customs. Everyone was confused by it and the lines were long but we made it through in plenty of time. Others were definitely rushing to get to their connecting flights. 

We had some Soles to get rid of so we bought some Pisco at the Duty Free, but were a little concerned that they would take the bottles in Bogata. The last few Soles were spent on chocolate bars.

Security didn’t blink an eye at the Pisco in Bogata. Sue & Dave got some coffee at the airport in Bogata and perused the Duty Free while Brennan and Bligh spread out for a nap. 

We made it to Dulles with no problems and took a taxi to Dan’s firehouse to retrieve our car. THE END of a really great trip.