Owey Owey!

We are still in prep mode for our trip to Peru and Ecuador. We have one thing out of the way now - shots. The cost of the vaccines recommended by the CDC for travel to Peru and Ecuador ended up being close to $1300 for the two of us, and we didn't get the rabies vaccine! We did get Yellow Fever, Tetanus, Hepatitis A&B, Typhoid, Polio, and the pills for Malaria which we begin taking before the trip and take through the trip and a couple of weeks after. Our insurance paid for the bulk of the Tetanus and the rest was on us. We will likely spend less on hotels while we are down there just over a month.

I have been packing and repacking my backpack for the trip. It looks like the final weight will be about 35 lbs. I was going to be a good 10 lbs heavier until I researched tripod fees for Machu Picchu and found that they charge for tripods and any lens at or over 200 MM so no tripod - 6 lbs and no 70-200 lens - 5 lbs. The fee for those is $300 as they think you are a professional if you carry these. All of you who've taken a photography class know that the first thing the instructor does is tell you to get a tripod and remote so your pics will be "tack sharp." I guess noone told the Peruvians....

Our dog, Athena, has noticed the packing and is not happy about it. She is a Shar pei Pitbull mix we adopted from the pound last December. She loves to hike and is always ready for an adventure, but she would definitely cause an international incident with a llama or some other critter so she stays at home with Pam's dad for the month. We've had dogs for the last 20 years and Athena seems the easiest to make up with after a long trip away. We hope that continues...

Only 9 days until we leave now! I better rework my pack again. I think I'm suffering from "short timers'" disease.