This hostel isn't finished yet

I love this video and I hope you do too.

This is our hostel in La Paz. This is the walk from the bathroom to our room. Note the video is about a minute long. Note the steep stone stairs with no handrail. But also, imagine yourself taking this walk in the middle of the night, groggy, and using a flashlight because the path is not well lit. And make sure you watch through the bottom of the stairs - the best part if down there!

Ants are cool

I think they are called leaf-cutter ants...but they work tirelessly, day and night, all day, every day, steadily destroying the tree that they have decided to feast on. Our guide Hernan told us that it takes them about 9 days to devour a tree!

Kingfishers are cool

After diving into the water to snag a fish, the Kingfisher takes its prize up into a tree and beats in senseless...cool!

Cameron Diaz likes Cusco

Hey look! There she is...visiting Cusco on Friday according to a bunch of celeb gossip sites that, incidentally, I do NOT read.

Apparently the Peruvians didn't care too much for her Mao-inspired purse. She should have gone to Rio first and bought one of those zipper purses instead!

Lima is a good place for a Ross reunion

Alright, sorry it has taken so long. Maybe I over estimated my desire to keep thinking about this trip.

First stop was Lima. We got there late. Kenneth was already in the room. He didn't pack shampoo, soap, or toothpaste - some random trifecta of things that seemed important. He had just returned from the store though, where he bought those things. This, at right, was our room. Now look, I'd never stayed in a hostel before, understand? Once, when staying in a perfectly fine hotel in Toronto, I whined so much my Mom moved us to a nicer hotel. I know, I'm a brat I guess. Anyway, this spartacus room to the right is where we were the first two nights. It was fine, right? I was just glad to have my sleepsheet, that's all.

We didn't really "do" much in Lima. We went to the beach, but it is a rocky beach, not a sandy one, and it is winter in Peru, not summer. But here are the three guys near the beach.

Instead of seeing sites, we went to a fancy lunch. Carlos picked us up, we dined by the ocean, we ate ceviche and other tasty things. See...

Carlos was a great host. He took us to lunch. He drove us around after lunch. He took us to his house before dinner. He drove us around after that. And then he took us to dinner. What a guy. In addition to dining with he and his wife, we were also joined by an incoming Ross MBA, Cristian, and his fiancee. The changing of the guard almost.

And that was pretty much Lima. Came in one night. Ate the next day. Went to sleep around midnight. And woke up 3 or 4 hours later to catch our flight to Cusco. We should have spent the entire 31 days like this - eat good food, get driven around, and sleep. Instead, we kept up the insane moving from place to place! Doh!

By the numbers

I used to be the sports editor of my high school newspaper. I know, pretty big deal right? Some of you may remember "Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down"...or "Vic's Picks". Some of you may remember when Dr. Carr called me out in assembly because he didn't like how the "Athlete of the Week" feature was highlighting individual performance over team accomplishments. Well I remember. And those memories burn to this day!

Actually, no, not really. But I do like when other sports sections have a "By the Numbers" feature and, since I can't influence the Aff No anymore (why aren't they on-line yet, Hawken has a damn intranet of all things!), I'll apply this to my trip instead.

37 - Trips between two distinct destinations
17 - Flights taken
8 - Different airlines flown (Northwest, Tam, Taca, Gol, Amazonas, Aerolinas, Copa, and Aero Republica)
7 - Buses taken
4 - Boats taken
4 - Truck/Jeeps taken
3 - Trains taken
2 - Horses taken

18 - Places slept
14 - Passport stamps
6 - Countries visited
4 - Pairs of boxers packed
4 - Times we did laundry
15 - Thirty-one days minus (four boxers * four washes) = number of days re-wearing boxers
3 - Movies seen on the trip (Click, The Family Stone, (both on planes) and Piratas do Caribe (in Campo Grande, and, thankfully in English with Portuguese subtitles)
2 - Clevelanders on the trip
1 - Mustache I had while on the trip (no pictures exist of it though!)
1 - Words of Portuguese learned - "Obrigado" meaning "Thank you"
0 - Piranahs caught while fishing in the Pantanal
Way too many - Times I ate rice and beans

Fifteen stops in thirty-one days

That was the itinerary we had planned. Ouch. Just to set the stage, more specifically it looked like this:

Peru
Lima
Cusco
Aguas Caliente
Machu Picchu

Bolivia
Lake Titicaca / Isla del Sol
La Paz
Rurrenabaque
Jungle Tour
Santa Cruz

Brazil
Corumba
Pantanal
Camp Grande
Rio de Janeiro
Iguazu Falls (Brazil side)

Argentina
Iguazu Falls (Argentinian side)
Buenos Aires

Colombia
Cartagena