Friday, April 24, 2026
Our last travel post feels like it belongs to another era.
Dated August 15, 2025, it featured John waving from the heights of Ollantaytambo, the ancient Incan fortress perched in Peru’s Sacred Valley. At the time, we were just a third of the way into our 25-day journey through Peru and Ecuador. Alongside our fellow WolkTrekers, we continued exploring the Sacred Valley and witnessed awe-inspiring Machu Picchu and the storied streets of Cusco, once the capital of the Incan Empire.
From Peru, we continued north to Ecuador, beginning in the high-altitude capital of Quito before flying 600 miles out to the Galápagos Islands. On Santa Cruz Island, we settled into a beautiful resort and set off on daily adventures—hiking, snorkeling, and boating. We encountered remarkable wildlife up close including giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies, while brushing up on long-ago lessons about Charles Darwin (affectionately known there as “Chucky D”).
After our WolkTrek companions headed home, our journey took a more personal turn. Jane had mapped out a route through central Ecuador inspired by her time living there 45 years ago. We explored the misty cloud forests of Mindo, stood in the shadow of Cotopaxi’s towering peak, gazed into the turquoise waters of Quilotoa’s caldera, and visited Baños, a town famed for its waterfalls and thermal baths. The emotional centerpiece of this leg was Jane’s reunion with the family she lived with as an exchange student in 1980–81. After decades without contact, persistence and a touch of Ecuadorian magic brought them back together in the very same home in Ambato where she had resided. It was one of the most meaningful moments of an already extraordinary trip.
Somewhere along our journey, we got so busy living the adventure that we stopped writing about it. We fully intended to finish the blog once we returned home, but life (and, admittedly, a bit of laziness) got in the way. Still, we haven’t given up. With Jane’s handwritten notes and thousands of photos, we hope to one day piece together the rest of this adventure and share the stories we’ve yet to tell.
Machu Picchu, Peru