hotel

For our trip to we stayed on the Muffato Plaza Hotel. This was  very nice place to stay it include fully furnished rooms, with a TV and a mini bar. We decided to get two rooms one for the girls and one for me and William. This hotel also had a huge swimming pool it also included a free breakfast for every morning we were there.

Samantha- Budget
Britney - Activities
William - Food
Mirjam - Transportation
Cooper - Hotel

Budget

We ended the last trip with $85,466.57 U.S. Dollars left.
We spent $370.96 (638.34 Brazilian Real) on food for the trip. We spent $4320 (7433.78 Brazilian Real) on the flight and $489 (841.46 Brazilian Real) on the rental car for the week. On tours and events we spent $500 (860.46 Brazilian Real). This brings our total left for the rest of the trip to $79,786.04 U.S. Dollars or 137,305.11 Brazilian Real. (I did not have the information for the hotel.)

Activities!

Day 1:We went to the Iguassu Falls it was so much fun. Really a beautiful place. It's located right between Brazil and Argentina, the whole experience was awesome. We got to take a bunch of pictures so that we can have proof that we were in one of the most beautiful places. While we were there we also went to a few souvenir shops and got some cute t-shirts and post cards.
Day 2: So I thought it would be cool to go to the Bird Park. I love animals. There they had more than 1000 birds. They were so gorgeous beautiful colors, something you can't get back in the States. They had other animals there too: alligators, anacondas, pythons marmosets and butterflies. The alligators were a bit much though. Not only were the animals a treat but the place park was beautiful. It was definitely a treat.
Day 3: We went through this company Canion Iguacu they offered a variety of activities. Will said he wanted to do something more challenging so we went climbing with one of their tour guides. It was an awesome experience, except one little mishap. Sam forgot her water and got a little light headed on the way up, but we were able to get her some water, helped cool her down and she was ready for the rest of the day.
Day 4: So while we were at Canion Iguacu we saw something else that looked like fun so we actually went back there. We did a canopy tour. That was awesome. It was like a little maze, it reminded me of the jungle gym from elementary school. I think that was favorite thing of them all. So much fun. A little scarey at times, especially if you are a little clumsy like I am.
Day 5: Today we decided to head to Puerto Iguazu (trip was only $15.00 per person). We went on a tour of the Iguazu Forest. That was pretty fun especially the 4X4 part. I love off road vehicles Mirjam did get a little sick though. We also did some tope rope and rappel immersions while out there. All the plant life and animals was a site to see, not to mention the work out we got climbing through there. The sounds alone were so peaceful, something I wish I could take back home with me.

Dining in Foz Do Iguacu, Brazil

Day 1: When we arrived at our hotel we were all very tired from the long flight. We decided to eat dinner at a pizza place called La Bella Pizza. It was really cool because we got to make our own pizza at this place and the people working there were very helpful any friendly to us. We decided to get two pizzas. The first pizza had pepperoni and feta on it and the other we made was just cheese because samantha and cooper only wanted cheese on one of the pizzas. It was very good, the only thing is I wish that we would have left it in the oven longer because I like my crust a bit more crispy. We drank water as well to save our money for activities. Total spent: $19.60

Day 2: We all woke up later than we wanted to because of the flight the day before. We decided to eat lunch at the restaurant at the hotel we stayed in. We all did the all you can eat buffet which was only $9 each. It reminded us of Golden Corral. Cooper and I ate a lot of food since it was buffet style. For dinner we ate light because of the heavy lunch. We went to a place called Bufelo Branco Churrascaria. We all ate a very good salad that included many different types of lettuce that we were not use to. Along with our salad we had dessert of the day which was chocolate cheesecake and it was amazing. It cost $15 each because we each had several beers to drink. Beers were only $2 at Bufelo Branco. Total Spent: $120

Day 3: We ate lunch at Sushi Hokkai which said they had the freshest shrimp in town, so we all got the shrimp teriyaki roll and it was only $8. It was served with rice and a salad. Mirjam said it was the best shrimp she had ever had! We decided to eat dinner at Galli Estate it cost a total of $30 for a three course meal. Since we did not want to each spend $30 we got two meals which were tortellini formaggi that was great it had some of the best sauce on it I had ever had and for dessert for that meal we got tia maria crepes. The other meal we got was Beef Stroganoff. The beef was very tender and for dessert we got a chocolate delight which was cake and was very moist and great. This was by far the best place we have eaten at during our whole trip around the world. Total Spent: $100

Day 4: For lunch we all wanted pizza again because we had a busy day planned ahead. We ate at Churrascaria e Pizzaric Tropiana. The prices were very high for pizza it was $16 each so we split two pizzas and only got cheese on both of them. We drank beer here that was a local beer and it was very tasty which the pizza. We spent a total of $56 here because we each had several beers. I did not think the pizza was worth the prices. It was not as good as the pizza we had a couple days before. For dinner we ate at Churrascaria Fogo Dourado and we got barbecue sandwiches which were nothing like the barbecue we have in the south, but it was still pretty good for only $8 that included a drink along with the sandwich. Total Spent: $96

Day 5: We only had time for a quick lunch because we had to go to the airport, but we ate at Mcdonalds which was good because it felt like home. We got all got combo meal and only spent a total of $35 here which was good because food in brazil is very expensive. Total Spent: $35

Transportation

The cost of the flight was $864 USD per person which summed up to $4320 USD for five tickets.

The travel from Juliaca, Peru to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil went well but it took a long time. We left Juliaca at 2:50 pm and arrived in Foz do Iguacu the next day at 1:30 pm. We had to change airplanes twice in Peru, once in Arequipa and once in Lima, and we had another flight change in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The three stops were quite a hassle but it was the only cheap connection that we were able to find. All the other flights either cost twice as much or had a layover of at least 15 hours between flights so we decided to book this flight. It was actually an interesting experience to see these different airports.

To get around in Brazil we rented a compact 4-door car from Hertz at the airport. The total cost for the week was $489 USD plus fuel. Our initial idea was to use the city buses but after the air travel we decided to opt for the more convenient option and rented a car. The car was nice and proved to be a good way to get around.

Budget - Mirjam
Hotel - William
Food - Samantha
Activities - Cooper
Flights - Britney

Budget

The five airplane tickets from Panama City to Juliaca, Peru cost a total of $4,056.70. The total amount we spent for the hotel was $750 U.S dollars which is 2043.3750 PEN (Peruvian Nuevos Soles). We spent a total of $294.03 (801.0847 PEN) on food during the week. $586 (1596.5570 PEN) was spent on activities. We also bought a few souvenirs including paintings and clothing for $140 (381.4300 PEN).

The total amount we spent while in Peru including the flights was $5826.73. This leaves us with $85,466.57 to spend on the rest of our trip.

Transportation

Panama City (PTY) Depart 9:08 pm

to

Lima (LIM) Arrive 12:36 am +1 day

1,457 mi (2,345 km) Duration: 3hr 28mn

Flight: 337

Lima (LIM) Depart 11:30 am

to

Juliaca (JUL) Arrive 1:05 pm

524 mi (843 km) Duration: 1hr 35mn

Flight: 2097

We depart from Panama City around 9:00 tonight to head out to Peru. Since we're staying in a hotel in Juliaca, we decided it would be best to fly in there. Unfortunately we couldn't fly straight in but I'm sure it will be worth the massive lay over time. The price per person for the flights was $811.34, so all together is cost $4,056.70 (American dollars) to get there. Can't wait to see whats in store for us!

Activities in Peru!

For our first time in Peru we all wanted to do some great things, we have all heard so much about it and couldn’t wait to see what all it had to offer.  On our first day there we all decided to walk around and to just see Peru and all it had to offer.

On the second day we decide to go and try some sand boarding and dune buggies. This was interesting because me and Will caught on pretty quick and had no trouble at all. For the girls well it took a little bit more time but eventually they figured it out. It was really cool to be able to snowboard on sand and to just glide across the landscape on dune buggies. To do this it cost us each 78 dollars for a full day.

On the third day we wanted to do something a little low key because of all the energy we used the day before. So instead of doing something crazy we went and toured the handicrafts market. This was cool because we got to see the local’s interpretation of art and what they thought looked cool.  I did not buy anything on this adventure but William and Samantha bought some paintings to hang on their walls this cost them both 15 American dollars.  Mirjam and Britney both bought some clothes for about 55 American dollars each.

For our fourth day we thought it would be cool to check out Machu Picchu. This was by far the highlight of the trip. It was so cool to see how this place came to be and the magnitude of how it was built. We were all pretty excited to see it so it made for a great trip. We took a train ride to get to it then hiked up the mountain. This adventure cost us 71 American dollars.

On our last day in Peru Mirjam really wanted to take a tour in the Amazon. So we lined up a tour to go out with a guide and show us everything the Amazon had in it. This was cool because there are so many deadly plants and animals in the Amazon and you never know when they could attack. It was also really cool to see all the colorful plants and animals but our favorite was the bright colored parrots. This trip cost us each 25 American dollars. 

Dining in Peru!!

Dining in Peru

Day 1: The first day we arrived in Peru we were all very excited to try some new and different foods. Since we arrived late we only had time for dinner. We decided to go to a restaurant called Huaca Pucllana. We decided to split an appetizer of Crunchy Yuca spirals with huancaina, a creamy cheese and chilli sauce ($6). As for our meals we each decided to go with the Chicken breast stuffed with cheese and leek, with an aji amarillo risotto and crunchy leek ($9 each). Everything was delicious. We all just had water to drink on the first night so that was free! Total=81

Day 2: We went to Incanto for lunch today and got an amazing deal on fresh fettuccini, we only spent ($4) each on the pasta! It was really delicious, surprisingly even better than Olive Garden. We also each tried a pisco sour, the specialty drink of the day. ($3 each) For dinner we decided to pick up a pizza from Donatello, a famous pizza shop in Peru. We wanted to just go relax so we just enjoyed a spicy sausage pizza and a cheese pizza at the hotel. ($20) Total=55

Day 3: We decided to try some Peruvian fast food, Cooper had heard that the Peruvian Bembos is a hamburger joint that is much better than McDonalds. We decided to test the theory and each got the most popular burger and fries the Bembos Clasica. ($6.90 each). We wanted to check out La Mar for dinner, it seemed like a pretty popular place, the dishes we decided to get were; ravioli ($5.50), quinoa ($6.25), and kiwichia ($7.00). We just split these meals since it was so much food! Total=53.25

Day 4: We decided to just grab some KFC since we were all feeling a little homesick, I didn’t know they had so many of them all over the place. We were pretty excited to taste some familiar food. The other things we’d tried had all been delicious but it was quick and easy. We split 2 buckets of chicken ($9.99 each). For dinner we went to Sonia’s we were still feeling pretty full from lunch but decided to check it out anyway since we wouldn’t be in town much longer, we were so glad we did! The portions were huge and 3 of us decided to have the Arroz Chaufa de mariscos (seafood fried rice) ($7 each) and the other 2 had the hicharon de pescado ( deep fry chuncks of fish and seafood) ($8 each) Total= 56.98

Day 5: We would be leaving Peru shortly and only had time for lunch today, we wanted to really make it count so we picked our favorite places that we had eaten and split up, the girls and I decided to head back to Incanto, we all really enjoyed the fettuccini last time but decided to have something a little different this time, I went with the beef ravioli ($6), and Mirijam and Britney went for the lasagna ($8 each). They boys decided to head back to Bembos, it turned out it was much better than McDonalds! The boys tried the Hawian and Mexican burgers this time, they were huge ($12.90). We all really enjoyed trying all of the new foods, looking forward to our next destination! Total= 47.80

SUITES DON CARLOS JULIACA

This hotel was located in Juliaca, Peru and it was not as nice as the other two places we had been so far, but overall it was a really cool experience. It only cost a total of $750 for two rooms for the week which was really cheap. Each room had 2 twin beds in it, so we took turns on sleeping on the floor. The night that I slept on the floor there was a cockroach that crawled and I did not enjoy that at all! The room had a TV that was out of date and did not have any good channels on it. The one thing that was really good was the bar that was at the hotel. We went there almost every night to get out of the small rooms. It was also really nice having a money exchange center at the hotel. This was by far the best looking hotel that we saw while we were in Juliaca, Peru. I am looking forward to traveling to our next location.