We couldn't have found a cooler beverage spot in the town square-you can even slide down the pole!

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Sacred Valley View

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Cusco,Peru

We just landed in Cusco and we are on our way to the Sacred Valley where we will spend the next two nights before heading up to Machu Picchu. We are drinking lots of water as we are all a little light headed from the high altitude. We have a heard a few fireworks going off but not sure what kinds of celebrations are in store for tonight, New Years Eve. Hope we can stay awake!!
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Funeral Procession through town

On our way out of town we had to stop for the procession carrying the casket and flowers down the road
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Old Year's Stooges-an Ecuadorian tradition

Here are the kids in front of a group of these paper mache "stooges" that you find on every street corner for sale before New Years Eve. From what we figured out, they paper mache stuffed dolls (often stuffed with old clothes from the past year) and design them to look like politicians to cartoon characters and then burn them at midnight on New Years Eve in a way to start the year anew. Many businesses and shops and homes have them displayed outside and they are even tied to the front of cars. They come in all sizes and sell from $15-$200. We are leaving for Peru tomorrow so we won't get to see all of these bonfires but I bet it will be something to see.
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Cathedral de Guayaquil

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Guayaquil River Walk

We made it back here this afternoon and turned in our rental car. We have an early morning flight to Peru. We are talking a walk around the town square and enjoying the night.
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Evening Street Show

We are having dinner in this very busy surfing town of Montanita. There are all kinds of characters here, including these street performers putting on a show.
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This beach session is interrupted by a cattle run

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No Reservations...

I liked this mule carrying the pineapples on the road searching for a hotel. You got to distract yourself when stopping every few minutes to look at the place you want to lay your head for the night. And looking at the room ahead of time is a must. In fact I just got the thumbs up from Doug so looks like Hotel Montanita is our place! This a surfers hotspot so looking forward to watching the kids bodysurf.
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Fisherman pulling in their nets as the birds wait for a free lunch

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A fellow Lincolnite's House

We stopped in a small beach town in Ayangue to see our friend's house who is building here. What a great place up on a cliff with incredible Pacific views.
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Mmmm..Lunch is shrimp ceviche and fried plantain and rice (the kids are starving)

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Getting Buried

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Dinner entertainment

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Salinas Beach

We made it to Salinas and found a hotel with this nice view. It is the high season right now, but we missed the humpback whales by a couple of months, darn I would have loved to see them. The kids got their swimsuits and we are ready to stroll the beach.
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I don't think these bags are gonna fit

We made it to Guayaquil, Ecuador last night around 1am and got to the hotel. Definitely a long day of traveling. We have 3 days now to see Ecuador. Doug got our full size SUV and this is what he came back with! We only ended up taking 1 out of our 6 bags with us-we will be back to the same hotel in 3 days so will pick the rest up then. Now we are heading to Salinas, a popular beach town on the Pacific Ocean. Its about a 2 hour drive (but we have already added an hour since we got lost...boy does that make the trip fun :))
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Olivia and Lily during our layover

We are waiting for our delayed flight in Miami. Thank goodness we brought some entertainment. We have been here 5 hours now, but looks like we will be heading out in the next hour or so. I can't complain though, we are surrounded by several families trying to make their way back to JFK or the East Coast with no luck so far. I feel so bad for them just waiting around all day at the airport for a way back home.
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Macchu Picchu Bound

We are heading to the airport this morning on our way to South America. We had a great Christmas with friends and family and looking forward to a hectic vacation. I think only once during our 2 week trip are we staying in a hotel for more than one night-yikes! We will definitely be living out of our suitcases. We have 3 flights today before we make it to our stop for tonight, Guayaquil, Ecuador. We should be there by 10pm tonight.
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