RAVEN BYARS & CALEB BRIDGWATER

This week WhereisBanana is honored to have two travelers of the week, Ms. Raven Byars and Mr. Caleb Bridgwater. Both students traveled to Perú so it would only be right to have a 2 for 1 SPECIAL!

Raven Byars is currently a student that had the opportunity to travel to Lima, Perú and Quito, Ecuador!

Caleb Bridgwater is also a student who was able to travel to Perú

TRADITIONAL CLOTHING

Caleb: "Traditional native clothes are extremely colorful. The Incan flag is the whole color spectrum, a rainbow, and you'll find these vibrant colors in all their native clothing".

Raven: "Indigenous populations use bright colors and intricate patterns. Many live in the mountain so they also use things to keep warm like colorful shawls, hats, and baby carriers. Llama and alpaca fur is very commonly used".

MOST EXPENSIVE ITEM?

When traveling to another country one should find the exchange rate and the worth of your money. Don't be surprised when you travel to another country and the worth of your money is lower than expected. DO THE RESEARCH before hand. Luckily, in Peruvian soles are equivalent to $0.30USD. With that being said you can save a lot more and find crazy deals!

Raven: "[I bought] A beautiful table runner with floral patterns that was hand stitched"

Caleb: "I love the movie Emperors New Groove. Like, literally adore it. So in Perú, I bought a poncho, just like the one Pacha wears. All alpaca too!

Holding a sloth when I visited the jungle in Iquitos, Perú

LEAST EXPENSIVE ITEM?

Just as I described above you should be able to find a bang for your buck in places such as Perú!

Raven: "I bought lots of candy bars and snacks that were all the equivalent of 30 US cents"

Caleb: "Your money goes a long way in Perú, but i guess the least expensive thing would be little llama keychains".

Everyone could use some miniature llama keychains, am I right?

“One of the craziest things I did was spend a night in the jungle and hike 4 hours up and down Huayna Picchu at Machu Picchu”

— Raven Bayers

On the left is anticuchos, or cow hearts. Sounds gross, tastes DELICIOUS.

FOODS

In order to completely emerge yourself into another culture you have to try their traditional foods! Surprisingly both travelers tried "Cuy". Though Cuy is a guinea pig you should be open to new and adventurous things. They both can check eat Guinea Pigs off their bucket lists!

Raven: "Some traditional foods I tried included Cuy (guinea pig in Lima Perú), anticuchos (cow hearts in Ica, Perú), Ceviche in Lima, and Lomo saltado in Lima",

Caleb: "A crazy dish I tried was Cuy, which is guinea pig. It's a traditional dish in the Incan culture. Personally wasn't my favorite, but it is a must try if you visit the Andes".

WHAT TO BRING ON YOUR NEXT TRIP

"Always pack light, is my saying. I like to leave lots of free room to pick things up along the way. But one tip for South America is to bring your own toilet paper. The restrooms often don.t have any, and you have to pay someone to get it". -Caleb

Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) in Quito, Ecuador

“One of the craziest things I did was dance to Shakira’s, “Hips Don’t Lie” on a table in the middle of a Peruvian nightclub. More stories soon to come.”

— Caleb Bridgewater

WHAT HAVE YOU TAKEN AWAY FROM YOUR TRIP?

"Always smile. I don't speak fluent Spanish, I can ask for the bathroom and order more beer, but other than that i'm not great. People are great at sensing honesty, so if you always smile and have a good time, no matter the language, you'll be taken care of".-Caleb

MUST-SEE'S FROM CALEB

Lake Titicaca, and Rainbow Mountain.

WHAT TO BRING ON YOUR NEXT TRIP

"A tiny journal to take with you. So you can record things you notice, things you ate, weird things, and if you're learning a language, vocabulary words you learn from locals"! -Raven

RAVENS FAVORITE LOCATION

"El Carmen was my favorite because I was able to experience afroperuvian culture and learn from people who look like me yet had such different life and cultural experiences". -Raven

WHAT HAVE YOU TAKEN AWAY FROM YOUR TRAVELS?

"I learned that family has NOTHING to do with being blood related, I learned how privileged the US is, I learned that black people all around the world can have very similar experiences, and I learned that the best food is in the most unassuming places"!

Follow Raven & Caleb

IG: ayrayray33

IG: calebridgwater

&

bridgwater.vsco.co

RAVENS FAVORITE LOCATIONS

"Nasca Lines, sandboarding in Ica, the jungle, El Carmen, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Center of Lima"

U.S. STATES

Raven has traveled to 14 US states and Caleb has traveled to all but Michigan, both Dakotas, Kansas, and Maine.

CALEB'S FAVORITE LOCATIONS

"Rainbow Mountain. Its just south of Cusco. In the Apu Ausungate mountains, part of the Andes. This spot in particular have hills that look like they've been painted, with bright green, red, blue and yellow rocks! its amazing. Book a tour in Plasa de Armas, in Cusco for maybe 90 sol, which is about 30 dollars. Its a whole day event, with a long bus ride south, then a 4 hour hike. don't worry, if hiking isn't your thing you can borrow a horse from the locals".

RECOMMENDATIONS

Raven: "If you're in college, research all the scholarship opportunities they offer! Also, throughout your travels, there will be plenty of times where things don't go as planned. The sooner you learn to be flexible and roll with the punches, the more fun you'll have"!

Caleb: "Budget. Look for the best deal and Bargain. You don't have a lot of money, but that doesn't mean you can't travel like you do".

THANK YOU FOR BEING MY TRAVELERS OF THE WEEK!