queventure

Peru – Home of the Inca

August 9, 2018 by Diego Quevedo

The Spanish conquistadors “found” everything. Except for a handful of countries, all of the Americas were at one point under Spanish rule. Beginning with Cristopher Columbus and continuing for over three centuries, the Spanish Empire would expand across the Caribbean Islands, most of South and Central America and much of North America.

Today, many of the historically indigenous communities show the effects of the Spanish crusades. You can see the effects by the number of Catholic churches in even the most of rural indigenous communities.

In the small Mexican town of San Juan Chamula, you can experience first hand a modern day hybrid of indigenous ritual and Christianity.

The effects of the Spanish Crown on the Western Hemisphere can not be underestimated. They ‘discovered’ everything. Well, almost everything. They never found one place:

Machu Picchu

After a fun week through Uruguay, it was time to get into some serious adventuring. We left Punta del Este and headed back to the Carrasco International Airport in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo. We caught our 5-hour flight to Lima, Peru and we were on our way. After a short layover in Lima, we took another plane to Cusco. Cusco serves as the starting point for most tourist looking to venture into Machupicchu. It’s the closes airport and biggest city before embarking. Surprisingly though, although it is the ‘closest’, it is still pretty far. We’ll get to how to get there in a moment.

But first, let’s talk about Cusco for a bit…

Scoping out the local Cusqueñan artisanal work.

Cusco

Cusco was a welcomed change of pace from the large metropolitan cities of Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

In planning for our trip to Machupicchu, we read up on tips for a successful trip. One of the tips that came up over and over again was to arrive at least a couple of days ahead of your Machupicchu visit to get acclimated to the high elevation.

I’m glad we listened.

Cusco is situated at 11,152 feet (3,399 meters) above sea level. Our bodies took notice within a few hours of landing. By the following day, I was nursing a mild headache and our kids were nauseous. Fortunately it wasn’t too bad but the possible effects should not be taken lightly.

We spent the next three days exploring the town, eating absolutely delicious Peruvian cuisine, Lomo Saltado anyone? We even got a chance to watch Peru’s third and final World Cup game at a local restaurant. The pride the country felt for their team was palpable. After 36 years of not qualifying for the World Cup, they did so this year!

Saltado de Pollo
His fave!
You want to be loved the way he loves this desert.
Ceviche is Peru’s specialty.
Local beer!

How to Get to Machu Picchu

One thing that no matter how many different sites and blogs we visited, still left us a bit confused was how exactly do you get to Machu Picchu. The reason it’s so confusing, we found out first hand, is there are quite a number of ways to get there. The easiest, most straight forward way is to buy an ‘All Inclusive’ tour package. However, that can get costly real quick. I write ‘all inclusive’ because it really isn’t. The entrance tickets to Macchu Picchu are sold only by a couple of government offices in Cusco and at the actual entrance.

We decided to break up the cost and purchase everything as we went. Here in detail, is exactly how we did it with a few notable alternatives.

They don’t stir your drinks here, the train rattles everything and does it for you.

Costs, Fees and Waiting

*You should buy your Maccupichu entrance tickets ahead of time. We bought them in Cusco a few days before we visited MP.

We booked a Cusco AirBnB for 7 nights.

On day 4, we took the ‘Machupicchu By Car’ option
- 7am shuttle on a 6hr. drive takes you to ‘Hydroelectric Station’ ($120 roundtrip for the 5 of us, just the minibus)
  - Alternatively, you can purchase PeruRail tickets directly from Cusco to Machupicchu Town (~$150 per person roundtrip but only 3hrs each way)
- At Hydroelectric Station, we purchased train tickets to get to Machupicchu Town ($210 roundtrip for 5 of us, this is a 25 minute train ride)
  - Alternatively, you can hike along the train tracks for about 2.5hrs. You see many backpackers doing it. No cost.
- We stayed the night in a hotel ($90 for two rooms)
  - Arranged at Hotel guide for following morning. $30 for the 5 of us as part of a 15 person group (you MUST enter with a tour guide)
    - Alternatively, you can get a private tour guide for about $25 per person
- This same day, we bought roundtrip bus tickets from Aguascalientes to the entrance of MP (~$100 for all five of us)

The next morning
- Met with tour group at 5:45am
- With bus tickets purchased the night before, we got in line at 6:15a
- Hopped on bus and by 7:30a were at the entrance to MP
  - Alternatively, you can take a 2hrs hike up to the entrance. Many people do this to be the first ones in the park.
- Spent the first hour with the tour guide and then about 2 hrs. exploring the site
- At about 12p, took the bus back down Aguascalientes (about a 30min ride)
- Had lunch and walked about the souvenir shops
- 1:30p took the PeruRail train back to ‘Hydroelectric Station’
- 2:30p left Hydroelectric Station back to Cusco on minibus
- 9pm arrived in Cusco and back to our AirBnB
- *phew!*

Still with energy but you should’ve seen us on the way back!

Would We Do It Again?

All things considered, it took us approximately 40 hours to get to Machupicchu and back – all for just under three hours at the actual site. And you know what? IT WAS MORE THAN WORTH IT.

Their first look
Making dreams come true
Beauty at every turn
Queventure!

When our family first decided to sell everything we owned and go on this wild adventure, these types of experiences are exactly what we had in mind. It was truly a spectacular place. From a ‘making-dreams-come-true’ standpoint, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires, Argentina

July 3, 2018 by Irene Quevedo

South America just keeps getting better.

Full disclosure getting to Argentina was the craziest travel day we’d experienced to date. In order to save a buck our research told us to fly into Argentina via Paraguay… thought we could cross the border cheaply by land.

Happy go lucky we landed well after 9pm from Medellín only to learn Paraguay was charging Americans $160 each for on-the-spot entrance visas. No exceptions! Then they wanted to charge a huge surplus for folks not using cash. All in all, we would have paid $1,000 additional dollars for 3-4 days in Paraguay. Just like that we refused and instead booked a flight out of the airport to our next planned destination: Argentina. After spending a long night in the Paraguayan International airport (sorry, but literally the worst airport ever based on zero dining options, cash-only policies, and horrible wifi) we were back on schedule and headed to beautiful Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires hit us with the biggest jolt. After more than 10 months of perfect summer weather we were now south of the equator in freezing cold weather. On average it was 40 degrees but it often felt colder. We’re Californias true and true so 40 degrees was freezing to us. We quickly bundled up and called this walkable city home for three unbelievable weeks.

Argentina gave us new weather, new accents, new architecture… and a whole new city vibe we all loved. Especially Diego and Isaiah who are huge Messi/Argentina soccer fans. In Argentina the world cup soccer craze began and so we did what many Argentines do… we watched great games while enjoying great wine, amazing steak, and Argentinian deep dish pizza. Pizza in Argentina rivals that of Italy, New York, and Chicago.

Every week in Argentina we stayed in a different home and neighborhood. I highly recommend this for those looking for variance in any one city. First up was the eclectic and bohemian vibes of San Thelmo, full of tango in the streets, great flea market finds, and all the dulce the leche (milky caramel) any sweet tooth could muster. Sunday nights meant wild music in the streets and dancing. Sunday mornings were meant for shopping. Our place was right smack in the middle of all the action. The comfy old-timey apartment was similar to a European apartment from the 1920’s. Finally, we got to use the outlet adaptors we’d carried for months. Felt good to be prepared.

The following town was Retiro right next to upscale Recoleta and close enough to get us to the best hotels, malls, and restaurants in town. We walked everywhere and loved it. Even pulled off a fun date night at one of my favorite international hotel chains: the Four Seasons Hotel, Buenos Aires.

Thereafter, we decided to feel out the suburbs of Buenos Aires and stayed in Colegials. There we ate the best burgers in #BA and got a true feel for the everyday life of regular citizens away from the usual tourist sites. Our apartment was homey and here Diego mastered his fried rice recipe which we proceeded to eat about 5 times the following weeks. I love when we settle into a great place with a family feel and fully equipped kitchen. Argentina will forever be credited with the town where our kiddos learned to appreciate fine meats and cheeses… we ate until our hearts content for many, many Argentine nights abroad. Our children’s expanding palettes makes this momma very, very happy.

The highlight of our time in Argentina was scratching off a major bucket list destination and I don’t just mean Buenos Aires. We finally were close enough to the Brazil and Argentina border to fly over to Puerto Iguazú and visit Iguazú Falls or Paradise Falls as it’s referred to in the movie Up. These falls are so much more than anything I could write about here. They felt majestic, powerful, and huge — this coming from a family that’s seen many, many waterfalls this last year.

Iguazú Falls is a natural wonder that truly takes your breath away, plus, our trip there was the smoothest we’d had for a quick flight. All of us were so excited to be there and the seamless travel made being there feel easy. We also loved the super small town feel in Iguazú and our amazingly sweet airbnb host who drove us around all weekend. We will forever cherish this destination as a top 3 site seen during our beautiful #queventure year abroad. We recommend it to all families especially those hoping to knock out a visit to the three borders: Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil…

But don’t get me started on the fun-loving Brazilian side full of great food (picaña steak), ambiance, and all the romantic Portuguese lingo a girl could swoon over.

We could have lived in Medellin, Colombia…

July 2, 2018 by Irene Quevedo

After a whirlwind two-month stay in Cartagena, Colombia we moved to a totally different region of Colombia. This region known as the “Land of Eternal Spring” was once the crime capitol of the world. Sadly, that stereotype still lingers and though Medellín, Colombia recently received the honor of being coined the “most innovative city in the world” people all too often still ask about its drug-trafficking past.

If this trip taught us one thing above all others that was to look beyond preconceived notions. The number of people who shared fears about our traveling to Colombia is astounding, and I am so glad we didn’t listen to one critic. We would have missed out on so much had we been led by fear.

In fact, at the point that we are now while writing this, we’ve been to almost 15 counties and never once have we felt unsafe or threatened. We haven’t been robbed or cheated. Neighbors weren’t sketchy and tour guides weren’t out to rip us off. This isn’t to say we visited crime-free countries, of course not. Per usual, we exercised caution, researched a lot to determine housing and travel comforts, and most critically, never decided on the path of least resistance: which would have been not venturing outside of the U.S. at all!

Now, back to Medellín…

Its innovation mixed with the Colombian small-Pueblo-vibe made us feel so at home. People in Medellin clearly have high expectations and pride in their town! Their standards for eco-friendly living and healthy lifestyle choices was apparent at every turn. This city is majorly walkable, marathons are a plenty (my hubby ran one) and biking is king! There were so many wonderful healthy dinning options, too. I’ll surely miss my favorite vegan falafel & hummus salad from Vin&Gretta.

That and all of the following reasons made Medellín one of our favorite stops and a town we called home for over a month (we were offered a six-week housing deal we couldn’t resist):

1. Great public transport (we loved the cheap and easy access and the city had one of the cleanest and safest metros we’ve ever used). This including the amazing cable metro which had us “flying” high above the sites! Our kiddos loved using the Medellín MetroCable.

2. Amazing and varied nightlife venues that opened well into the morning hours (+a bonus Mexican stand with authentic “al pastor” pork tacos).

3. Developed restaurant and shopping delivery services similar to Uber eats (+ crazy cheap Uber all over the city).

4. Beautiful greenery, parks, museums and other public spaces for interactive family time (fully equipped with city WiFi and charging stations).

5. Access to truly scenic day trips (Guatepé specifically was gorgeously scenic).

6. Opportunities to volunteer… There’s no shortage of ways to be in service globally and when we found a program dedicated to enriching the lives of women and children in the most impoverished areas of Medellín we jumped at the chance. We will forever cherish the smiles on those children’s face – the children of Bello, Colombia.

In the end, Medellín was the first place that felt like home especially since friends and family visited us there. If we could take our extended tribes with us all over the world that’s exactly where home would be… time and time again.

Thank you, Medellín.

A New Year Full of Surprises

March 5, 2018 by Irene Quevedo

January felt like an entire year was lived in one month and it all started with a secret…

Two months earlier, I got word that I’d be flown back to California for work. Unlike the first time around when I unexpectedly picked up and headed back to Cali, this time my husband and kids wanted in on the action. We’ve diligently saved enough money to travel anywhere in the world for a year and just like that anywhere in the world meant home.

The best part of knowing I’d be coming home was the thought of surprising my mother. Her voice had softened over the last few months. She was clearly missing her daughter, yet she seemed uplifted by my recent October visit. Coming home with the kids would surely delight and lift her spirits even higher. So operation ‘Surprise Our Mommas’ was underway, but first we had to partake in a very Happy New Year in beautiful Panama.

Panama

We rang in the new year in Panama City, Panama and while the city vibe was a wonderful change of pace from countryside bliss in Costa Rica, the trip was also a slam-packed two weeks, complete with the type of duality and contrast only travel can bring.

We began our Panama visit on the bustling Pacific Ocean side and naturally ventured over to tour the Panama Canal. It’s a fascinating wonder of ingenuity everyone should witness at least once in their lives. Panama has a lush colonial history beautifully preserved in Casco Viejo combined with the most developed city life just across the bay. Like Nicaragua, not enough tourists flock to the gem that is Panama.

If city life isn’t your thing, then do what we did and escape to the Caribbean ocean where remote virgin beaches await. Laid out among small fishermen villages are beach communities such as Maria Chiquita and Bala Beach. These are lesser known, quiet, off the beaten path beach towns. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in these small towns and their proximity to Portobelo, Panama. Portobelo is overflowing with pirate-like motifs, reminiscent of Panama’s history protecting itself from foreign sea invasions.

Truly, there is something for every traveler’s preference in Panama. Our two weeks were well spent traversing it’s beautiful landscape. You can drive from the Pacific to Atlantic side in less time than ships traverse the actual Canal, about 90 minuets to be exact. Quick tip: if you ever get a chance to visit Panama skip the town of Colon. It’s popular on many cruise itineraries, but there isn’t much of a scene to explore for more than a couple of short hours.

Once our two weeks in Panama came to a close, we were giddy and home bound. Only a handful of family members knew we were on our way. After traveling for 12-hours we were suddenly face to face with California and ready to surprise our mommas at our favorite pizza joint. I’ll never forget the look on my mom’s overjoyed face and the hug she gave me.

With that tearfully fulfilling reunion out of the way, we moved on to living a slam-packed two weeks at home. We squeezed it all in…. birthday celebrations, anniversary staycations, weekend trips with friends, playdates for our children, shopping sprees, one-on-one time with family, and a pretty busy work schedule. It was only the best two weeks full of non-stop commitments, celebrations, and connection. Somehow we pulled off a full itinerary of to-dos, which reminded me life’s meant to be lived. The best surprise of January was probably realizing just how much anyone can do in 30 or 31 days every month.

Oprah Winfrey says it best when she asks God to, “USE her all up.’’ She wants to leave this earth completely depleted having lived such a full life of service. I am no Oprah, but January reminded me how much any one human being can accomplish in a month’s time. We often say we don’t have time; yet, we have all the time we need. Don’t give up on time. Get out there and live yourself what feels like one year in one month, if you so choose. Then, get in the habit of doing that again and again because life is worth living every minute of every single day.

It’s the Return of Queventure.com

February 26, 2018 by Irene Quevedo

Not that we ever went anywhere, and yet it feels like we’ve been everywhere. To be exact, since our last blog post, we’ve traveled to six countries and embarked on eight travel days. That equates to roughly nine bedroom changes in nine weeks. And still, we remain as excited as we were on day one. Okay, sometimes we are also annoyed and tired, and yet always excited.

Our whirlwind traveling over these last 2+ months included the end of our Central American travels (more on Panama in a future post), a surprise trip home to California, a magical cruise through the Eastern Caribbean, ‘Getting the Love That You Want’ in Orlando, and the beginning of a newly settled life in beautiful Cartagena, Colombia.

Welcome to South America, Queventurers.

by thedavefoster.

From Visually.

I still can’t believe our last blog post was published in 20-freaking-17. At that point, home was a four bedroom ranch estate in Liberia, Costa Rica. It was home through the holidays and overall a truly magical destination. Shout out to La Familia Santos. This family entrusted us with their home for six weeks. It was our longest slated stop to-date and it literally became home for the holidays. The estate’s pets became our pets, the pool our daily ritual, and the view from the kitchen window – possibly the only place on earth I didn’t mind doing dishes. Who knew scenic sunsets and scrubbing suds could be so soothing?

If you followed along @queventure.abroad on Instagram you saw us tackle a solo Thanksgiving dinner for the first-time in our 36 years of life. I made a full spread – cornbread stuffing and all. Diego experienced his first-ever turkey day not spent with his immediate family.

It was a warm and quiet Thanksgiving as was Christmas. Somehow we managed to pull-off a truly practical Santa Claus visit, which consisted of small gifts the kids could easily fit into their 12 by 16 backpacks one week later. If nothing else, we realized then, our children were turning out pretty good if coloring books, new goggles, and a couple of 99 cent travel puzzles brought joy to their first Christmas abroad.

Our home in Liberia came with maid services 24 hours each week. Yes, three 8-hour days of what turned into one of our favorite aspects of the ‘Pura Vida’ life. However, it wasn’t the clean sheets, perfectly tidied kitchen, or constantly stocked supply of fresh drinking water that made all the difference. The difference was Ms. G. In those weekly visits she became like a third parent to the kiddos and a companion for two adults who usually only have each other.

We’ve lost count of the number of times one of us have joked about missing Miss G and hoping she could pop in one last time for a chat or a bashful hug. This woman was incredibly humble and a breathe of fresh air in a world that moves a gazillion miles a minute. Thank you, G. Thank you Costa Rica, and thank you to everyone reading this post who decided to come back for a read after several weeks off for this travel-obsessed family.

I will forever remember that ranch estate in Liberia, Costa Rica which was more like a wellness retreat destination. There we could bask in the absolutely nature-filled scenery of Costa Rica, and by night, escape the noise of this busy world. We lived surrounded by remote darkness lit only by a sometimes full moon and a sky full of the most beautiful stars. Liberia, I will always remember your stars – oh the many, many stars.

By now, you’ve hopefully noticed the redesign of our new page. A page we continue to craft with love so you’ll come back for more, because at this point, we have so many crazy adventures, recaps, surprises, and tips to share.

There’s lots to catch up on Queventurers…

Don’t Miss These Upcoming Posts:

“Homeschooling ‘Bout To Be A Breeze…”

“Panama & Scary Marriage Ups and Downs.”

“A New Year Full of Surprises.”