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

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.

map's source: http://jenericjourney.com/category/peru-trip/preparation/ 

glimpse of Andes Mountain

Captivating cloud formations - a welcome distraction for my VERY anticipatory heart
(eager to lay eyes on the Amazon River)!

Sunset over the Amazon River (Peru)

After sunset, took a coach from the airport, through Iquitos to the dock- and boarded our boat - home for the next 7 days.

Link to next post: http://lauralovesamazonbirds.blogspot.com/2015/04/day-3-in-peri-but-day-1-on-river.html

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

Journey to Peru

Packed - and off to the airport!

Flights - 3,400 miles

• Norfolk to Atlanta 12:40 pm - 2:40 pm (2 hours)
• Atlanta to Lima 6 pm - 11:40 pm (6 hours 40 mins).  

3,400 miles
excluding layover in Atlanta

Lima, Peru

• capital of Peru
• 2nd largest city in South America (after Sao Paulo, Brazil)
• Lima's population: almost 9 million.  (1/3 of Peru's total: 30 million)

2 nights in Lima, then 620 miles north to Iquitos - and the Amazon!

Lima - GI freakin NORMOUS!
(Photo from: http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/5450/20130619/peru-earthquake-lima-rocked-4-6-magnitude.htm)

Lima - interesting coastline and highway (or... low-way?!)
(Photo from: http://satravel.tumblr.com/post/10761922325/visiting-limas-desert-coast)

• Hotel for 2 nights: http://www.swissotel.com/hotels/lima/.  

I mistakenly thought Lima and the USA's East Coast were in the same time zone.  They are not.  The East Cost is one hour ahead of Lima.  It is just after 2am here; so 3am back home. Good night, and happy Good Friday!