Travel adventures… with Peggy and Carol

New Zealand… Peggy was a nervous wreck when she went to this far off land on the other side of the world where she was to be matched up to share a room with a total stranger.  Already less than emotionally stable after just losing her husband … what more could she deal with? She prayed it would work and it did.

It took little time for Peggy to know that the match was ideal!  A true blessing. Carol was 10 years older.  She had raised nine kids, cooked in a Catholic school kitchen, and had lost her husband too. Peggy enjoyed her insight and compassion along with her fascinating spirit of adventure.  They would make the perfect traveling companions over the next 15 years.  As Peggy described it – “We didn’t just see the world… we experienced the world.”

EUROPE:

One of their early trips together Peggy and Carol spent 2 and ½ months traveling through Europe the cost-effective way, renting rooms in the homes of local residents.  Their rule – they would never eat out more than one meal a day.  By the end of the trip, they were pretty darn sick of soup made out of Lipton dried soup packets and ramen noodles.

They rented a car to get around, always exploring on their own instead of taking guided tours, never letting the language be a barrier.  Carol did the driving and Peggy was the navigator.  Carol had a heavy foot – always stayed in the fast lane, even on the German autobahn, widely known for having no federally mandated speed limit.

Oh what adventures they found… just exploring on their own, meeting local folks and finding out of the way treasures.  Peggy will never forget some of the amazing places they saw and people they met.  In Switzerland, a local recommended a scenic drive up a mountain road.  When they got to the top, they got to experience an incredible day of music.  Numerous groups were practicing for an annual band contest.  They spent the entire day as audience to dozens of talented groups of musicians.  

African Safari

At the top of Peggy’s bucket list… an African safari.  Just about every visitor to Africa wants to see the Big Five, made up of some of the world’s most dangerous and respected animals (lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo and rhino), but few visitors get to see all five.  Peggy was thrilled to have be one of the lucky visitors that saw all of these wonderful creatures… absolutely the highlight of her safari.

South America:

Carol and Peggy took a trip around South America… but unlike most trips, they had different ideas about what they wanted to experience.  Carol wanted to spend time at the Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro.  Peggy want to take a trip up the Amazon River.  So they temporarily separated for part of their trip. And Peggy was elated with her unique adventure into the Amazon River Rain Forest, an awe-inspiring journey into the heart of what is said to be the most biodiverse place on the planet.

Peggy’s trip led her to the treehouse lodge for a once in a lifetime experience staying high in the canopy of the rain forest, getting from place to place at the lodge by swinging bridges.

The real adventure took place when one of the employees invited a few of the guests, including Peggy,  to accompany him home to his native village… an hour’s ride further up the river, by rowboat!  Leaving the lodge at midnight, it took them about an hour in the boat, in the absolute black of night, to get to the point where they started a trek walking through the dense forest to the village where they were able to observe the ceremonial dance of scantily garbed native men and women.  Soon Peggy observed them passing a pipe, all smoking from it as it was passed.  Peggy declined.  Soon there was a huge cloud of dense smoke from the pipe they all shared, hanging over the ceremonial grounds. They also passed a jug they all drank from.  Again Peggy declined.  But what an experience!

On the way back to the lodge their guide captured a cayman… a species of South American reptiles that are related to alligators.  He let them all hold it and then released it back to the wild.

Peggy treasures the memories of this unique adventure, telling people that unlike a former president of the United State, who smoked but never inhaled, she inhaled but never smoked!