I have my old favorite jacket and boots, my hat, my sunscreen and bugspray, and, of course, my notebooks and tape recorder. I'm off to Peru! Can't wait! Photographer Cindy Karp and I will be following anthropologist Sonia Guillen around as she discovers and digs up mummies in the high southern desert of Peru, bordering on Chile. Sonia finds human mummies, lovingly wrapped in layers of soft cloth made from llama wool and surrounded by the aritfacts of their peaceful culture - musical instruments, goblets, food - but she also finds animal mummies. She has even found a dog cemetary, and the ancient fleas still on the dogs! I'll be a sleuth in Peru - who were these people? Why were dogs so important to them? What did they eat? IF you send me your questions, I'll ask her those, too!

In preparation for this trip, I tried to learn Spanish. Hola! Me llama Trish Marx. Como esta usted? Most importantly, I learned the word for breakfast (desayunando) my favorite meal of the day! Sleuths need lots of energy!

Cindy and I are flying to Lima, then catching another flight south to a town called Tacna on the coast, then driving two hours to Ilo. I hope to post more messages to you from Ilo, and on my return, I'll post photos of the mummies.

Until then, keep reading!