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Inkilltambo: Inca Garden of Flowers
Sunday October 26, 2025 The Cusco area and the Sacred Valley tend to have two seasons rather than four: the wet season and the dry season. We are here at the beginning of the dry season and it feels like Spring and it is. Crops are being planted, ewes are lambing, llamas are giving birthing…
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Cusco: the navel of the world
Saturday October 25 2025 Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire described as the centre of the universe is busy metropolis that continues to expand population wise at a high rate of acceleration. We arrived late evening of Friday having made two flights from Pucallpa. At an elevation of 3,399 metres, it has a…
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House is done, we say goodbye
Friday October 24, 2025 The week has zoomed by without one dull moment and suddenly it’s departure day. After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the Hub and finished house. We all attended the ceremony of house blessing and handing the legal documents to the owners. All of the ceremony was accompanied…
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Back to school
Thursday October 23, 2025 I played hooky from painting the finished house; there were plenty of others to do the job, and spent Thursday going back to school with my friend Dante. We met five years ago while I was involved in building a home for Luis and his family. More about that later. We…
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Up the Rio Ucayali
Wednesday October 22, 2025 It was a hot and sunny morning as we left the hotel for the port of Pucallpa to board a river boat for a trip to the Shippibo village of Limongema. It was a bit of a shock and surprise to find the river had shrunk in size. In March, the…
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A Peruvian Adventure
Where a house is built and the high god explored To my gentle and dedicated readers, my deepest apologies for abandoning you in February 2025 in Portugal. Seventy years of life caught up with me and I had to deal with it in my own way. Unfortunately, that excluded this blog. However, I am back…
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Festival das Amendoeiras em Flor do Algarve
The Algarve Festival of Almonds and Almond Flowers One of the joys of visiting the Algarve on an annual basis is the opportunity to take in the yearly seasonal events such as the Almond Festival held in Alta Mora in the eastern Algarve not far from Castro Marim. Over the years, it has grown in…
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Blue skies, sunshine, fresh air
Friday January 31 2025 It was a perfect day for a hike over the hills and through the verdant valleys surrounding Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo about a half hour drive from Estoi. Two of my neighbours in the Quinta, Harald and Guido, elected to participate in this hike organized by Kim. Perhaps you…
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Sun, Sand and Sea
Saturday January 25 2025 Having been here exactly one week, it seemed criminal that I had yet to make a pilgrimage to the beach. The weather gods were kind on Saturday, so headed off to the Ria Formosa Trail and Faro Beach. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day but I wasn’t there at the…
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Barranco do Velho
Friday January 24 2025 The best laid plans…Woke up early on Friday with visions of a group hike in Barranco do Velho, about 18 km from Estoi, in my head. Here, at the Quinta, the overnight rain had eased off and the cloud cover was beginning to break. A good sign! After much discussion amongst…
Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground
A personal point of view…
Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground 