Ola! From Peru
After spending 9 hours in the Lovely Fort Lauderdale airport, we arrived in Lima, Peru exactly midnight Sunday.
Upon arriving in Lima, we sailed through customs, exchanged money (at a rate of 2.91) and spent the night in a Hostel. We awoke at 8:00 am to a nice breakfast of rolls with butter and jam, coffee and juice (so sweet combination of coconut, pineapple and something else) jumped on a bus headed to the heart of Lima.
We were dropped off in the square, the architecture is a combination of Spanish style, ornately trimmed buildings with massive sculptures and engravings to an inter city slum similar to Chicago, or Miami. History is all around us, the statue in the square marks the proud heritage of fighting Spaniards in search of freedoms and independence.
The culture is very diverse a mix of Asian, Peruvian, African. The food ranges from seafood, Chinese, KFC, Peruvian (which is very similar to Creole, a lot of chicken, onions, garlic and rice) we did try a couple of the local delicacies some not so good others, like a rice pudding dessert with fruit topping, we couldn’t get enough of.
The race took us round town from the square to China town, to the Monastery and catacombs to the park of Love (right on the shore) to white water rafting on class 4-5 waters.
Having to navigate and ask directions, as well as manage money and negotiate fares in Spanish was an adventure. I’ve come to realize people are the same everywhere, treating them with respect and courtesy goes a long way. I think some of the folks we talked to were as excited as we are, in fact while we were at the Park of Love, a family asked to take a picture with one of us.
The weather is great, like early summer at home in West Virginia. Some areas are green and covered with beautiful foliage of red, purple, yellow flowers. While other areas are dry, brown and desolate, still other areas are the gorgeous Pacific Coast.
Our team (yet to be named) came in second in the race.
I have photos I’ll post soon.
