Just back from my first trip to South America. I met up with two great friends, Chris Brown and Robert Brunet.

Chris is working as Administrative Consul at the Canadian Embassy in Caracas. Rob was able to sneak away from a busy family life for two wonderful weeks in Venezuela and Peru.

Our trip began with getting to know a bit about Caracas, as our host Chris showed us around the city and we visited several beaches. Caracas is apparently one of the most dangerous cities in the world. This is driven by lots of violent crime occurring is specific barrio areas; about 200 people get killed each weekend. We then visited the eastern part of Venezuela - the Orinoco River Delta area. We explored many tributaries over a 3 day period, saw thousands of birds, chased dolphins, gawked at monkeys and fished for piranha.

After a pit stop back in Caracas, we flew through Lima and on to Cusco, the ancient centre of the Incan Empire. At 10,000 feet Cusco is a fascinating and demanding city. We acclimatised to the elevation and explored it's beautiful central plaza. We then spent the next few days traveling through the Sacred Incan Valley visiting sites and culminating in a day at Machu Picchu. This valley was the most extraordinary natural setting and stunningly beautiful ruins I have ever seen. The whole experience was spectacular. Peruvians are fascinating people, very service oriented and have great artistic sensibility as reflected in their craftsmanship and musical ability.

We then spent a day in Lima prior to returning to Caracas.

The contrast between these two countries was a real surprise. Venezuela is a mess. A deep sense of entitlement pervades the population and Chavez's policies are making things terrible for its people. Peru, in contrast, seems to function quite well and is a real pleasure from a tourist's perspective. Unfortunately petty violent crime is an ongoing concern seemingly everywhere.

I hope you enjoy the photos!