Day 1: Lima, Peru

Got to my hotel around 1am (today) and to bed just after 2am.  Up at 5am, showered and had the hotel breakfast buffet.  Inquired with the concierge about how to walk/taxi to a few places, which currency to use and how to negotiate with the taxis.  Changed $20 USD into 64 soles (two syllables) at the hotel's front desk. Went for a morning walk (5.5 miles (!) per my fitness band).   

The first South American bird I saw was... a pigeon.  The second was a dove.  Really exotic, right?!

Peruvian Dove

Walked to one of the many ruins nestled in a residential neighborhood alive with birds, cacti and colorful tubular flowering fauna). Huaca Pucllana is an adobe clay pyramid built from seven platforms in 200 - 700 AD.  The name translates to a place of ritual games.

Photo source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaca_Pucllana

Heard parrots; and am pretty sure I saw a pair fly overhead too; but they were quite high and fast. Saw these little yellow guys too.  I am pretty sure they are saffron finches.

Saffron Finch, male on right

Saffron Finch

El Parque del Amor (in Miraflores)

Took a taxi (ochos (8) soles=$2.60 USD) to the Pacific coast.  Over the ocean, I saw pelicans, cormorants and gulls.  (Again, the same birds as back home!)  In the park alongside the ocean, a carnivorous bird captivated me. It reminded me of our Northern Mockingbird, and sure enough I've since IDed them as the Long-Tailed Mockingbird of Ecuador and Peru.  I watched them catch bees and other bugs and bring them to nests.  Knowing that it was fall and seeing/hearing chicks in nests is a puzzle... 

Long-tailed Mockingbird

Long-tailed Mockingbird

Bee- iPhone's camera continues to amaze me

The park hosted roller bladers  joggers, bicyclists, tourists, families, all kinds of tall and small dogs and their humans. Exercise stations - equipped with monkey bars, all weather elliptical steppers, pullup bars, etc. - were located at various scenic lookouts across the Pacific.  Hundreds of surfers were out on the water. The park's warm energy matched the weather.

El Parque del Amor (Park of Love) - in Miraflores (neighborhood of Lima)

El Parque del Amor (Park of Love) - in Miraflores (neighborhood of Lima)

El Beso (the kiss) is a large sculpture in the "Parque del Amor" (Love Park) by the Pacific Ocean in the Miraflores district of Lima, Peru

Kissing contest held each February 14th - with prizes for longest kiss & best style kiss!

Around noon, I took a taxi back to the hotel (dieciseis/16 soles=$5.17 USD). Lunch was a salad at the hotel, and I brought a large fruit salad back to my room - for hydration. 

Water

The guide (who rode from the airport to the hotel with me and my driver) told me not to drink tap water, due to past troubles with cholera.  Bottled water, in the quantities I drink water, can add up here at the hotel; so I have been attempting to augment hydration through food choices.  Bottled water will be provided for the week on the boat.

Wellness

Last week's bronchitis/sinus infection is mostly gone. I had a few hot spells on the plane yesterday (side effects of anti-malaria pills? nerves?) and mild dizziness today (mid-day heat?  lack of sleep?)  Surprised to have gotten sun burn on this morning's walk...

Afternoon = photo editing, blogging, reading

Dinner in the hotel, then to bed early.  Mañana I meet my guide and expedition mates - annnnd fly over the Andes to the Amazon!

Link to next post: http://lauralovesamazonbirds.blogspot.com/2015/04/day-2-tour-lima-flyover-andes-board-boat.html