the galapagos and machu picchu

this past winter, my family and i traveled to the galapagos and machu picchu. we're used to spending our winters in canada, so it was quite a change. instead of skiing, we were snorkeling! while snorkeling, we saw sea turtles, stingrays, fish, sea lions, and even sharks. thankfully, the sharks in the galapagos have so much food already that they don't want to eat us...haha. on christmas night, my mom and i were on the deck of the boat, looking out at the sea, when we saw these two huugee sharks emerge from the water! creepy? yes. amazing? also yes! i ran inside the boat and told everyone that there were two great white sharks right outside our boat. later, our tour guide told us that there are no great white sharks in the galapagos (they really did look like them though). He also told us that they were near our boat because they were attracted to the light and the sound of the engine...not us.

another really cool sea creature that we snorkeled with were sea lions. they're super friendly, and they come right up to you in the water. one afternoon, we went to a beach and there were a bunch of sea lions sun bathing on the shore. there were four baby sea lions that must’ve only been a month old. while sitting down, they came right up to us and sniffed our shoes! i really really wanted to just scoop one up and hold it, but we weren’t supposed to get our scent on them, or else the mom would stop feeding them. it was nice to be so close to them though. people were literally lounging on the beach right next to a sea lion! 

after the galapagos, we went to machu picchu in peru. machu picchu is unique because it's one of the few places that the spanish conquistadors didn't find. because of this, a lot of it is still in good condition and looks very similar to what it did centuries ago. we also visited the beautiful city of cusco. my family's favorite place to eat at in cusco was this cafe called la valeriana. their empanadas, quiches, and desserts were delicious!

i spent my 17th birthday in a city near cusco called ollantaytambo. on my birthday, we ate lunch at a local restaurant called parwa. i was very surprised when they brought out a quinoa cake covered in blue frosting and candles. it was the sweetest birthday gift. and even better yet, all of the income from parwa goes to social projects that benefit the community (go planeterra)!

what an unforgettable trip!

-maya