Fiance: "I think you're more excited about the honeymoon than the wedding!"

Well...no, dear. But I am excited.

South America here we come! This past weekend we bought our plane tickets and settled on our itinerary. I used my horded away stash of 61k frequent flyer miles and, using a tip from Real Simple's article on how to use miles, I bought a few extra to make the necessary 70,000 miles. It was worth it.

This Ecuador-Peru trip solves our quest to find the perfect mix of culture, adventure and romance -- as well as a few iguanas, Incan ruins, and Ceviche along the way.

Here's our basic itinerary and a few random highlights:

Day 1 & 2: Quito, Ecuador:
We've planned a blissful "nothing" for the first two days. The travel agent had us touring around, but I think we're going to need two days of "chill out" before embarking on our adventure.

Day 3-5: Santa Cruz - Galapagos Islands
Giant turtles. Cute seals. (adjacent picture from Travel Pod). The Charles Darwin station. Red, orange, green, and glistening black volcanic formations. Blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas and sea lions, oh my.

Day 6: Lima, Peru
Sipping on Pisco Sours (picture from this cool New York Times slide show)

Day 7-8: Cusco, Peru
I've been warned that the first day is all about getting used to the altitude. Kathleen, our Senior Editor, went on a trip with her husband last year, "Your head will be pounding. You'll walk 10 feet and have to sit down. Plan to sit around most of the day drinking coca tea." Frankly that sounds lovely. The next day, sites of ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Kenko and Puca Pucara. The Koricancha Temple (Temple of the Sun), the Cathedral and Plaza de Armas.

Day 9: Sacred Valley 
Morning visit to the town of Pisac; where the Incas built an observatory to study astronomy. We'll try our luck haggling with the vendors at the Pisac Market.

Day 10 & 11: Machu Picchu
Here's the wow factor: The Lost City of the Inca. (Although I don't know how lost it is with 850,000 travellers last year, but hey.) We'll take a vistadome train to Machu Picchu, visit the Inca Citadel, hike the Huayna Picchu...and then hand me a cold cerveza!

Day 12: Cusco to Lima to USA
Home will be hard after all of this.