Bibi & Babu in Peru

Reading with your child or grandchild not only entertains them, it can also strengthen the bonds between you. The BIBI & BABU TRAVEL SERIES take you both on armchair adventures to faraway lands with beautiful photographs and stories as Bibi and Babu mingle with the local people, discover the magic of their customs and folklore, and embrace lives very different from ours.

Bibi & Babu are Swahili names for Grandma and Grandpa. When journalist Bonnie Toews and her partner, John Christiansen, a naturalist and landscaper, traveled through Central Africa in 2013, their safari guides fondly nick-name them “Bibi” and “Babu.” Their African journey is woven so intimately within Bonnie and John that, when they returned home, they wanted to assemble a memory book to share with their grandchildren. As they worked on it, they came to realize they are not describing another travel guide for tourists but reliving a journey other adults and children can also share and read together. This simple beginning to the BIBI & BABU TRAVEL SERIES also captures their love story. Dedicated caregivers to their spouses, who suffered from long illnesses before they died, Bonnie and John, now in their seventies, discovered they had much to live for as they join hearts in their sunset years.

This second volume in the series, BIBI & BABU IN PERU, explores the ancient ruins of the Andes Mountains, Cusco—the "belly button" of the Inca Empire, the Lost City of the Incas on Machu Picchu Mountain and the man-made floating islands of the Uros people on Lake Titicaca. How could the Incas fit together massive walls of boulders and stones with no tools and no wheels? Yet, these Inca ruins have withstood devastating earthquakes while modern buildings have crumbled. Even more puzzling are recent satellite images suggesting ancestors of the Peruvian Indians were linked to outer space. With no written records, how do you separate myth from fact? Join Bibi and Babu on their amazing journey through Peru.

These books are not travel guides for tourists. They are designed for adults and children to share and read together. Ten per cent of the series’ royalties are dedicated to designated children’s foundations named for each issue.