Amazon 2015: Day 2 Tour Lima, Flyover Andes, Board Boat

Breakfast buffet at hotel

8:30 a.m. meeting with Expedition Leader (Renzo) and 19 expedition mates from 3 countries (USA, UK and Canada). Introduced to our Lima tour guide: Sonia - our guide, for morning drive and walking tour of Lima.

Lima has no street drains, because it almost never rains. Their lush vegetation does not get their water from rain; but from the glaciers.

Lima has 700 gambling houses - predominantly owned by Chinese and Korean.

Government

Peru has 25 regions (like the US' states) and the province of Lima. Each region, including Lima, has an elected representative. Lima has 43 districts with 43 mayors and one ‘big’ mayor.

Casa Aliaga, a private home dating back to the Conquistadors

Plaza de Armas of Lima

Pretty Steet

Man was photoing me/our group across the street; so I photoed him.
Outside Catacombs of San Francisco

Ashley noticed... that is a copy machine (!) laying on its back

Buffet Lunch at Sheraton in Lima. Then, off to the airport - to leave this city of 9 million (larger than NYC's 7 million) and fly northeast, over the Andes... to the Amazon!!!

Guns N' Roses in Peru

There I was in Lima, Peru's airport - among thousands awaiting various in-country flights. Not only was our flight delayed; but we had shlepped our sweaty tired selves - and gear - to yet a third newly assigned gate. There I was - when I heard it. Whistling. The song "Patience" by G&R!

I scanned the crowd to ID the source, and it was a handsome, muscular, young dad playing with his toddler son. Earlier I had heard the dad call his son Eduardo. Eduardo waddled over to our group, and started playing with the hair on Logan's leg. Logan is 13 and traveling with his grandparents. When I asked the pervuvian dad about Guns N' Roses, he told me he did not speak english. In the absence of spoken language, we did as many do - and shared the language of laughter and smiles at Eduardo's extended affinity for Logan's leg hair! I asked, "Dos años?" and the dad told me the boy would be two next month.

Salut, Axl Rose - to your music reaching Amazonia!

After the weather cleared atop the Andes Mountains, we took a late afternoon flight over the Andes to Iquitos (90 minute flight / 630 miles northeast). The Andes are the world's longest mountain range. Iquitos is said to be the largest city in the world that cannot be accessed by road - it is accessible only by river and air.