Exotic Jumping

Trav­el to South Amer­i­ca is quite a spec­tac­u­lar treat. Even more so when you get to cus­tomize your trip to see all of the high­lights in one go! This spring, three Moun­tain Mad­ness trekkers got to enjoy a com­bi­na­tion of var­i­ous excur­sions through­out Peru and Ecuador. 

With every­thing so close by, it’s easy to tack on a quick jump to the Ama­zon or a cou­ple days with Dar­win’s nat­ur­al won­ders in the Gala­pa­gos. Trekker Bet­ty joined us on our clas­sic Inca Trail trek in Peru, where she got to vis­it the cul­tur­al sites of Cus­co and the Sacred Val­ley and then embark on the 4‑day trek to Machu Pic­chu and the stun­ning ancient Inca sites. She then took a quick pud­dle-jumper to the gor­geous Ama­zon Rain­for­est for three days where she toured along the riv­er and in the canopies while enjoy­ing the lux­u­ri­ous accommodations. 

Then it was off to Ecuador! Six­to, a local Ecuado­ri­an guide, took her through the sites of Quito where she vis­it­ed local muse­ums and church­es and sam­pled some of the deli­cious local cui­sine. Then it was off to the mag­nif­i­cent Gala­pa­gos Islands. Bet­ty spent her days on the island with Omar, a great local guide who showed her the sites and took her on an excit­ing boat ride to the famous lava tun­nels. She forged some new friend­ships with her guides on this, her third, trip with Moun­tain Mad­ness, and hopes to embark on yet anoth­er adven­ture again in the future. 

Trekkers Paula and Jim had a sim­i­lar adven­ture, but instead com­bined our lux­u­ri­ous Inca Gold trek with a day-tour of Quito and sev­er­al days on the Gala­pa­gos Islands.