Coming from Lima, we flew to our first Central American country - Panama!

One afternoon, we dined at Fonda Lo Que Hay, one of the top restaurants in Latin America. Anthony Bourdain dined there, and coincidentally we were seated next to a sketch of him!

We then explored Casco Antiguo which is what they call their old quarters, and admired the skyline and the architecture from there.

I have been meaning to update this blog for the longest time.

(In part due to seeing Alex update his - just go to his photo blog to see where we have been more recently!)

This set of photos show the day back in November 2022 when we went to Huaca Pucllana, one of the oldest ruins of Peru! It’s older than Machu Picchu, and was constructed in 200AD. It’s conveniently located in Lima, and seeing how the city developed around it was cool.

It was also used as a site for the ritual of human sacrifice, and seeing the figures was kind of :|.

An interesting thing was how after the tour, you are greeted with a group of Peru’s well known animals! Llamas, alpacas, and the cuys! There were some coca plants, too.

We also walked around Lima and admired the local art around the city.

Chantal

After exploring the seaside Paracas, we headed off to the desert oasis of Huacachina in Ica, Peru!

It’s my first desert experience. It was nothing short of amazing to see the tallest sand dunes in South America towering over the little oasis town of Huacachina.

Part of the tour was riding on an extreme dune buggy with a group of people, and zipping through the tall sand dunes!

I just wanted to share that our driver was also texting while driving… I am so glad we are still alive.6

Such an amazing experience though, really love that Peru has different kinds of terrains we were able to explore.

At the end of the day, we were treated with our first desert sunset.

Took some time off work recently, and we were able to explore more of Puerto Vallarta with Alex’s sister, Olivia and her husband Jaron! The Laniers are in town and we couldn’t be more happy to have them with us!

We took them to all the good spots we found in PV, and basked in the sun! Alex also rented a car and we drove up to Sayulita, a smaller surf town that’s less than an hour away.

Unfortunately, I did almost drown but I am so thankful for Alex for saving me! Without him and the surfers around us that day, I would have definitely panicked and wouldn’t know what to do.

Sharing some photos from our sunny getaway!

Olivia and Alex

We have a photo together not taken by us! Thank you Olivia!

Olivia and Jaron - The Laniers!