Follow the Journey

Josh embodying his inner Inca Warrior – about to abandon his post and engage in battle! Austin, Brian, Josh, and Ryan enjoying the sunrise over the Sacred Valley. Austin soaks up the sun and dodges the cat swipes while reading on the grass. Ancient Inca salt pools near Urubamba Josh and Austin getting a bit salty! Brian squeezes into a combi bound for Ollantaytambo Ella and Rhiannon discover cochinilla –… Read More

Well we did it! We successfully finished our student directed travel week, of course not without a few bumps along the road. But before I get into that, I would just like everyone to know that what we thought was impossible, is actually possible! We found bagels in Cusco, Peru! … Along with probably the most beautiful Israli people to ever set food in this world. So we began our… Read More

This week on our reality tv show: The group explored the ancient ruins at Pisac in the Sacred Valley, a site known as a close second only to Macchu Picchu! Jackie and I made friends with a most interesting Israeli traveler who aided us in bargaining for a ride back to the hostal (the price went from 20 to 2 by the time he was done!) In Urabamba we found… Read More

This week was spent running through the rambling streets and alleys of the longest consistently inhabited city in all of South America. Highlights included many amazing meals, a visit to the black market, salsa lessons, and a thundering sunset. Cobblestoned streets lead from plaza to plaza, while fountains and an interesting array of graffiti decorate the walls. Mornings have frequently begun with a quick stop at a nearby bakery for… Read More

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Joseph and Byran Learning to Salsa Today marks our last day in Cuzco. We have spent the past week in Spanish classes, which included various museum visits, cooking night, salsa lessons, and a visit to the black market. Cuzco has to be my favorite city thus far. It has an air of beautiful decay. Many of the buildings are of old european stone and ceramic tile roofs, obviously incredibly beautiful… Read More

Our second week in Arequipa, Peru comes to its close in just seven hours. The week was filled with activities for Semana Santa, Holy week leading up to Easter (Today!). We sampled different fruit juices and various cow parts being sold in the streets as we joined the masses (pun) in a city wide crawl from church to church. A few days ago, we enjoyed a goodbye party at the… Read More

Happy Easter from Areaquipa! It´s our last day here and many of us spent Easter morning feasting on traditional Peruvian Easter breakfasts with our home stay families. Being in Areaquipa for Semaña Santa has been quite the experience. On Holy Thrusday, we wandered around the streets of the city center doing the ¨Chruch Crawl.¨ We went from chruch to chruch attending Mass and sampling cow heart and fruit juices along… Read More

Carpe students enjoy a pizza party with the girls from the orphanage Volcano “El Misti” towers over Arequipa The plaza de armas at Sunset Jackie and Lady with icing on their faces 🙂… Read More

Happy Palm Sunday! It´s so hard to believe it has already been a week since we´ve arrived in Arequipa. Week days (for me at least) were spent painting walls with Phil, Jacky, Austin and Joseph at the little girls´orphanage, followed by evenings in the absolutely stunning Plaza de Armas. Its beauty still moves me each time I march off the bus and up to the square, bordered by age old… Read More

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Before arriving yesterday in Arequipa, Carpe Diem had been in Rio Muchacho for the last week. Rio Muchacho is an organic farm situated 10 kilometers outside of Canoa, a surfing town. After a day chilling on the beach, we bused into Rio Muchacho, needing to cross 2 rivers to do so. Rio Muchacho is self sustainable and dedicated to environmentalism in every possible way. A few examples: the toilets feed… Read More

A friendly round of tug-of-war Cecelia practicing a vital “Inca Warrior” skill – that of catching a chicken The group after the minga in Pucara.… Read More

Hi everyone! The group had a very busy and fun week in the Intag region. We started off getting oriented to small town life in Morachos, where we had some group bonding time by dancing… Here, we also saw (and heard) all sorts of fun animals… We went on hike to visit the beautiful lake Cotocatchi.(Yes, again, it was fun). This time we all went on a boat ride, where… Read More

hello from the congested Quito! i think we are all happy to b e out of the campo and back in the city after a long week of hard work. we spent the last few days in a rural community called Pucara. we all stayed with local families and as a result, were completely immursed in the culture. it was awesome to see how happy these people are with their… Read More

Today the group is packing up the bags from our brief stay in the market town of Otavalo. We took at 4 am bus from Baños on Sunday moring, which actually went quite smoothly. We arrived at Otavalo in the morning, and Jackie fearlessly lead us to our hostel. The day was spent shopping, easting, and relaxing in hammocks. I think almost everyone bought something here, one of the best… Read More

waterfalls are rad! … Read More

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The group just arrived in Otavalo after staying in Banos for 6 days with homestay families. The stay in Banos was a wonderful experience because we got to enjoy the different aspects of the city. We enjoyed a bike ride throught the countryside and got to zipline across a huge valley with a waterfall. We also got to go fishing and enjoy some fresh trout! The group also participated in… Read More

Hi the carpe diem group has had a wonderful time in South America so far. There have been may challenges and exciting adventures. we hiked to the refugio of Cotapaxi, which is over 14,000 feet high. The altitude took a tool on the lungs. Huffing and puffing – finally each and every last one of us made it to the refugio. Then we finished up our orientation retreat and headed… Read More