The Wild Honey Buzz: How to Thrive in 2025, October Edition: 26 Days in South America: 2 Countries, 8 Cities, 9 Flights, 2 Trains, 1 Ferry, 10.5 Hotels & Muchos Animales Salvajes

Wild Honey on Machu Picchu

Hola Amigas and Amigos! Happy fall in the Northern Hemisphere and happy spring down under. It was exciting to be in Peru on the Equinox and to experience two springtimes in 2025! I also celebrated my September birthday in Peru! . As this post title suggests, my husband and I traveled to both Peru and Equador on a 26 day adventure.

We have two months to go in this tumultuous year of 2025. Two strategies for surviving/thriving are showcased in this post: immersing oneself in nature at home or away and exploring and appreciating other cultures. I feel extremely grateful to have done both on this trip which brought me a great deal of joy and consolation.

Below are some photos from our trip - many magical moments!

First stop: Lima, Peru with its colorful murals and flowers and ocean views.

We were delighted to be introduced to the lovely art of Jade Rivera. This mural is so captivating!

From Lima we traveled to the unique city of Ollantaytambo built by the Incas centuries ago. From there we explored the Temple of the Sun and the many sites in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

View of the Temple of the Sun from the city of Ollantaytambo

Two of the many talented weavers in Ollantaytambo....making fabric art from local llama and alpaca fleece

Wild Honey Marianne getting a lesson in weaving alpaca fleece

The sacred native animals of the Andes: llamas (with the long ears) and alpaca (with the short ears)

A rock formation at the Temple of the Sun that resembles the condor, a highly respected bird in Inca culture

Stone work and dwellings built into the side of the mountain by the Inca people at the Temple of the Sun

City of Urubamba in the Sacred Valley of the Incas

With our knowledgeable guide Dennis CH of Inkanet Adventure at the mysterious Moray archeological site in the Sacred Valley of the Incas - believed to be an agricultural experiment as the Incas were expert farmers who planted on terraces built into the hillsides

Another view of the Moray Inca structure built without modern technology or equipment

Salineras de Maras: Salt Mines in the Sacred Valley of the Incas

Machu Picchu Pueblo, the town that serves as the gateway to the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. From here we took a bus, then a train to the ruins.

A truly magical place - the remote city on Machu Picchu built by the Incas in the 15th century - elevation 7,972 feet

One of the main entrances to the Temple of the Sun on Machu Picchu. The Incas used their knowledge of astronomy to build their temples to align perfectly with the sun as it rose on the June solstice.

My first time to dance on a moving train - enroute to Machu Picchu accompanied by the Perurail Band!

Our last city in Peru was the original ancient Inca capital of Cusco - elevation 11,000 feet! Our guide, Reuben, of Inkanet Adventure, did a great job of showing us around his home town. Here we are enjoying a toast with the drink Chicha made from locally grown corn on one of the city's famous streets.

Cristo Blanco (White Christ) statue that is lit at night and looks out over the city of Cusco from the top of the mountain. It seems every Latin city has one of these statues (Rio de Janeiro for example). The Cristo Blanco is 25 feet tall and was a gift to the city from the Arab Palestinian people in 1945!

From Peru we ventured onto Ecuador to the Galapagos Islands, named for these amazing inhabitants, the giant tortoises who have an average lifespan of 150 years! We began our adventure on the island of San Cristobal.

A mother sea lion nursing her baby on San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos islands- I think there are more sea lions than people on this island!

We snorkeled in these waters surrounding Kicker Rock where we got to swim with 4 very large spotted eagle rays, sea turtles and hundreds of colorful fish like the yellow tail surgeon fish.

One of the stars of the Galapagos...the blue footed boobie! The islands are also unique in how easy it is to see the creatures up close and personal. This pair were right along the path at North Seymour on Santa Cruz island.

Yes, there are penguins on Galapagos....we saw these two cuties on Santa Cruz island.

Delighted to wade in the water with this young hammer head shark on Playa Mansa in Tortuga Bay! In a foot of water we also saw small reef sharks and rays!

Of course flower fanatic Wild Honey could not write a blog entry about Ecuador without mentioning the fantastic flowers like this beautiful Cup of Gold Vine that dances all over the Galapagos Islands!

Another amazing creature...the black marine iguana!

Sharing a larger version of this pelican photo because it may be the best bird photo I've ever taken with my little ol cell phone camera!

From the Galapagos Islands, we journeyed to the cloud forests of Mindo, Ecuador where we saw amazing birds like this toucan! Mindo receives 200 inches of annual rainfall, compared to Seattle which gets 35 inches!!

Funkiest bird in the jungle --with the funkiest name: Cock-on-the-Rock!!

This photo deserves to be full size as well ...one of the 43 species of hummingbirds that call the Mindo Cloud Forest home...we saw 11 species of the 21 that occupy the small area we visited. I am particularly charmed and enchanted by hummingbirds!

Of course, Ecuador is butterfly heaven!

At the end of our trip we spent a few days in Quito, a large city with a 3,000 meters tall statue of a winged Virgin Mary watching over it. I'm a country girl at heart so it was a bit of a shock to my system to be back in the city after being so immersed in green natural spaces - Quito does have a nice botanical garden that we enjoyed visiting.

So after 26 days on the road (and in the air) it was back to reality...and back to protesting (my ninth protest....still waiting for my check from Soros or the head of Antifa...whoever that is, ha!)....big sigh.....we huddled underneath an umbrella in the rain with our signs and passed out Halloween candy at the biggest protest in US history on October 18! My friend said, "Next time we will be out here in the snow!".....yep, we are not going down without a fight. To everyone who participated in the resistance on the 18th - THANK YOU! So proud of the 7 million plus patriots and peacemakers! We the people have the power!!

No Kings Rally - October 18, 2025

Until next month,

Stay wild, free, vigilant, and peaceful

Much love,

Wild Honey (aka Marianne, aka "Aunt Tifa" - just like my Purple Heart Veteran dad was Anti-fascist in WWII and my veteran mama was as well (Women's Army Corps, 1953)