Dina and I have been planning a trip to South America for about a year now. We wanted to go to a Spanish speaking country and immerse ourselves in the culture and language. We considered going to Spain and living there for a while, but for a few reasons, including the weather, ultimately decided to start our trip in Chile.
After some research we were able to find a Spanish immersion school in Vina del Mar.https://ecelaspanish.com/spanish-school-vina-del-mar-chile/ It is a smaller city(pop 300k) on the coast of Chile about 70 miles from the capital, Santiago.
We will stay in Vina for 4 weeks studying Spanish for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week and then fly to Lima, Peru to join a handicap tour group http://www.inkawheelchairstours.com/. After a few days touring Lima, we will travel to Cusco and the Sacred Valley. Cusco, a colonial mountain city, is situated at over 11,000 ft. elevation. After touring Cusco, it's on to Machu Pichu a place we have wanted to experience.
Right now I have to say that it is unusual for us to join a group for touring as we have always traveled around the world depending only on the kindness of strangers. However, since we will be gone for 10 weeks, we thought it would be good to get some reliable and expert help.
That being said, we will still be on our own for most of the trip.
After visiting Peru, we will fly to Quito, Ecuador. Quito is also high(on cocaine?) at 9,000 ft. We will do some touring in the area for a few days and then join our same handicap group for a 5 day trip to the Galapagos Islands. This is a destination that Dina has wanted to visit since she was a small girl growing up in the deep Amazon jungle after being kidnapped by headhunters (kidding).
After the island trip, it's back to Vina for 2 more weeks of Spanish immersion and then???
We are excited to share our adventure with you and hope that you visit our blog to see what is possible with 2 old people and a wheelchair!
