Supplies, vaccinations, and a possible meet-up

Taking a hiking trip to Peru involves a lot more supplies than I realized. Although GAP is providing camping gear (and I will be renting a sleeping bag from them), I still need to buy items like a daypack (and possibly waterproof cover for it), good hiking boots and sandals, sturdy rain poncho, sleeping bag liner, thermal underwear (I don't even know where to start looking for this), and probably a handful of other things. I've been considering buying hiking poles, which are supposed to take 25% of the pressure off of your ankles, making the hike a bit easier. Metal-tip hiking poles are not allowed on the official Inca Trail, but from what I've read are perfectly acceptable on the Lares.

Yesterday afternoon I called up Passport Health to get some information about potential vaccinations I might need for the trip. The lady on the phone told me I need to schedule an appointment to come in and talk to them about the trip so they can assess what I need, but the most common ones people get are for Hepatitis A & B, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, and depending on what part of Peru, some type of Malaria pill. When I went to Belize in 2008, I got vaccinated for Hep A & B as well as Typhoid. I'm set for Hep A & B, but unfortunately the Typhoid vaccination is only good for 2 years, so I'll likely need a booster for that, and also the vaccination for Yellow Fever (which is spread most commonly via mosquitoes). Morgan was doing a little research on the CDC's website, and found that Malaria pills generally aren't needed for the areas of Peru we will be in. The lady at Passport Health pointed out to me that since the Typhoid vaccinations are only good for 2 years, I may as well wait until a little bit closer to the trip in case I do any more traveling in the near future. So, that will likely be put off until the end of July/beginning of August.

I was also talking to Adam yesterday (the friend taking the longer trip) and we realized that we're going to be in Cuzco on the same day! We'll be just arriving, and he'll just have gotten back the night before from the Inca Trail. Details will be worked out later, but it's going to be cool bumping into a friend in a foreign country. If we get lucky, hopefully GAP uses the same hotel for all their trips, which would make it easier for Morgan and I to meet up with him, but who knows. We have 2.5 months to figure out the details.

That's about all I have for now. I'm hoping to get to Gander Mountain at some point this weekend to do some research on some of the supplies I mentioned above, but I'm also trying to prepare to move next week (I get the keys to my new apartment a week from tomorrow), and will be spending most of Saturday in Bloomington because one of my favorite bands, cornmeal, is playing not 1, but 2 concerts in town that day! Being busy sure beats being bored :)

Until next time,

Ryan