Travels With My Cat

The Galapagos islands are one of those once-in-a-nine-lifetime holidays, and Tipsy, being a big fan of wildlife, nature and science, was very excited to see the magical place which so inspired Charles Darwin.  However, not really having sea-paws, we opted for an island-based stay on Santa Cruz, with trips out to see the wildlife and islands. Among our highlights were …

Tipsy Cat and Chocolate go paw-in-paw, so when she heard that we could stay at a chocolate plantation, she jumped at the chance.  The hacienda was run by an American couple, who offer fine dining experiences and welcome guests with suavva – cocoa pulp juice with rum – and traditional patacón – banana fritters, named after ancient Spanish money (and …

Our hotel in Quito was run by a bunny rabbit and her English pet, so we knew we were in good paws right from the start – her pet even kindly brought us a much needed cup of tea to our room when our travelling kettle’s plug didn’t fit their electrics (the hotel has now changed paws, but I think …

If you’re going to go to the centre of the world, you might as well go to three, and lo and behold, Ecuador can offer you just that. There’s Catequilla – located on the equatorial line and which translates as ‘follower of the moon’.  Used in pre-Inca times – it indicates the great knowledge these people had about astronomy – …

Now, Tipsy Cat isn’t one of those cats who likes eating birds and cat food (she dines on delicious treats like chocolate and champagne), but she does like watching birds and generally enjoying nature.  With this in mind, our first main stop in Ecuador was the Bellavista Cloud Forest – nestled above the capital of Quito and just under two …

After all those steps going up and down Waynapicchu, we were tired.  So it was a good thing that we had decided to relax in the Sacred Valley and that Tipsy had booked us into a great resort, Kuychi Rumi.  It wasn’t one of those luxury 5 star, purpose built hotel resorts.  It was far more homey than that.  And we …

Only having little paws, we decided to take the train up to the sweet little town of Agua Calientes, and then on to Machu Picchu (MP, as everyone calls it).  The tour operator at our hotel in Cusco had organised the Vistadome train tickets, entry tickets, and guide for us – we’d booked and hotel ourselves online – and our stay …

Unfortunately, our entry into Cusco wasn’t the best.  Our plane had to turn around just as we were beginning our descent into the mountains (poor visibility) and return to Lima, refuel, re-crew and return (sadly without even a glass of water offered on the second flight, or any explanation).  Luckily for us, even though we were hideously late (over 3 …

Our first stop on our South American journey and we couldn’t have had a warmer welcome, with our new friends welcoming us with open paws on the plane journey itself and introducing us to quinoa – which is very tasty, especially when popped and eaten with yoghurt – (such a shame you can’t buy it here in London), and indeed …

National Trust property and country pile of the de Rothschilds, this is a lovely Jacobean house – with beautiful paintings and collections, and extensive gardens – great for pottering about in.  Take some time to look round the collections of art bits and bobs out on display.

Tipsy particularly enjoyed the swathes of daffodils and cat napping on convenient trees and benches.

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