Peru

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Day 146 Saturday 8 August

At sea, southerly along the Ecuadorian and Peruvian coastlines. Seas calm

23c, cloudy



We slept in and had a late, leisurely breakfast during which I saw a whale, my first sighting after 128 days at sea. We went up on deck to watch the Australia v New Zealand Rugby on the big screen. It started about 15 minutes in because they had not been able to get the satellite at the start. It was a good game made better by the fact that Australia won. Gail had to leave for choir practice part way through the second half when we were behind and was disappointed she hadn't stayed when I told her we had won.



We played mahjong and then got ready for dinner and went to the Wheelhouse Bar because the entertainment staff member who takes the choir was singing with the band at 7 o'clock. She sang mostly jazz and was really good, great voice and very composed. The show after dinner was The Alley Cats again and they were as good as the first time.



Day 147 Sunday 9 August

Lima, Peru. A$1 = 2.3 Peruvian Nuevo Sol (Sol)

23c cloudy, rain late in the day.



We arrived in Callao the port for Lima at about 7am but could not get on the shuttle until 9.30. We met Ray & Annette at 9 and got our shuttle tickets then waited for the call. We were on the second bus and it took about 45 minutes to get to the Real Plaza Salaverry Mall which was the shuttle drop off and pick up. Because they had warned us so much about the crime threat around the docks, the shuttle was free to get us into town away from the docks, unlike in most ports.



When we arrived we identified a taxi driver we thought looked OK and hired him to take us around for US$25 per hour. His taxi was in good condition and clean but a bit cramed with three of us in the back. He took us first to the Plaza Mayor which is the main centre for the city and is lined with beautiful buildings including the Government Palace and the Cathedral of Lima which we went into and had a look just before Sunday mass began.



From there we walked through the San Francisco markets which are supposed to be the best in Lima but not many of them were open because it was Sunday. At the end of the market was the San Francisco Monastery and Cathedral (about 300m from the other cathedral). Attached to the Monastery was the Catacombs which we took a tour through. It was really a tour of the Monastery including the Catacombs. Luckily there was an English guided tour starting just as we came in so we learnt quite a bit about the monastery and its treasures including one room with fourteen 3 metres by 3 metres paintings done in the 17th century in the school of Peter Reuben's. In the catacombs all the bones had been laid out in patterns including some with skulls in the middle and all the bones in radiating patterns outwards. Macabre.



We walked back through the markets to the Palace just in time for the Changing of the Guard. It was very impressive and we thought it was actually better than that other one. From there we walked back to David's taxi, taking a few detours down interesting streets. He drove us next to the Indian or Inca markets (they use both names) where we decided to pay him off for three hours telling him that we would walk the rest of the way. He was reluctant to let us go telling us it was too far to walk.



We looked at the stuff in the market and some of it was really nice but there must be a lot of very cold baby alpacas running around without their wool. From there we walked down to the seashore which took about half an hour. On the way we passed Kennedy Park which was full of cats that obviously make their home there. They were in very good condition and looked very contented. We reached the cliffs above the shoreline at the Park D'Adore (Park of Love) which runs right along the coastline and is a really nice area for families and other people to enjoy the outdoors. The views over the cliffs are spectacular, however, the cliffs which are about 100 metres high seem to consist of loose dirt, but they must be stable even if they don't look it. They do provide a really good launch site for hang gliders of which there were plenty soaring out over the sea.



When we decided it was time to walk back to the mall for the shuttle we discovered how inadequate the map supplied by the ship was. We met another couple of people who were trying to do the same thing and they had a slightly better map, but only slightly. We asked a policeman ( no English) for directions and he pointed out a few things for us. We did find the road we were looking for, luckily I think, and then asked some girls for directions. They used their phone GPS and told us we were on the right track. Eventually we reached the mall after walking for about 2 and a bit hours. David, the taxi driver, was right.



We had a cup of coffee and caught the shuttle bus back to the ship arriving just as it started to rain, a rare event in Lima. We had dinner in the bistro then went to a Peruvian Folkloric performance which was very good; very energetic, very colourful and good music.



After that we had a drink and listened to the pianist in the Crooners Bar, did an ABBA quiz then Gail went to bed and I went to a late night movie, "Focus" with Will Smith. It was entertaining.



Day 148 Monday 10 August

Lima

23c clearing to a fine day.



Met Annette and Ray and caught the first shuttle into the Mall. Found another taxi driver and got him to drive us back to the Inca market. As it was now Monday all the stalls were open and it was much bigger than we had thought yesterday. Gail and Annette both did some purchases and then Gail and I left them and walked down to the Miraflores district along the sea shore and walked up to the mall which is an open mall on several levels below street level set into the cliffs. Along the way we came on a statue of Paddington Bear who of course comes from darkest Peru. We also went past a very impressive tennis complex.



We found a nice cafe and Gail had a Pisco Sour and I had a Peruvian beer. We shared a plate of Ceviche which is raw fish cooked in lemon juice and garnished with cilantro and chilli peppers. It is a local delicacy. One of the waiters had very good English and he told us that he used to work on cruise ships.



We walked back to the Park D'Adore statue and met Ray and Annette at 1.00. We had arranged for the taxi driver from the morning to pick us up but there was another taxi there that he had arranged to meet us because he couldn't make it. We were impressed that he had gone to that much trouble.



Back at the mall we bought some Pisco to take home to make Pisco Sours and some wine. They had some very intricate pricing regimes which caused some confusion amongst the Australians.



Back up on the ship we went up on deck for the sailaway but as there was a delay caused by the refuelling tender which the Captain said was trying to shortchange him of 6 tonnes of fuel and he was sorting it, and them out, so our departure was delayed. It was very cold so we went back to the cabin. We went to dinner then to the show which was a production called "Rock at the Opera". It was pretty good but not their best. They are down to one female singer as one had to go home for family reasons. A male dancer had already gone home so the entertainment staff are down some troops.



Day 149 Tuesday 11 August

San Martin, Peru

25c scattered clouds



It was a bit bumpy during the night, we think because the Captain was trying to make up the lost time. We woke up to the most amazing landscape. San Martin is a pretty small port with only a few berths and is completely surrounded by desert. Not a bush, not a tree, not a blade of grass in sight, just sand. It is the main port for the export of salt to Canada for their roads to melt the ice. A lot of the roads here are actually made of salt just like Namibia.



We had breakfast and joined Heidi and Keith in the lounge then boarded our bus. It headed out of the port through the desert and east towards the Pisco Valley about 90kms away. It was desert all the way and after about 40kms we turned onto the Trans America Highway(Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina). Amazingly there were grape vines, orange trees, vegetables, and corn growing in the sand and growing very well, even though the area has about 1.5mm of rain a year which comes in about 35 minutes and that's it. They use underground water and drippers, never any sprays.



Our first stop was Tacama Winery the oldest Pisco winery in Peru. There a young guy showed us through the operation which still uses traditional methods. The press which was a huge tree trunk suspended above a vat with a round flat wooden table top shaped press is corkscrewed down onto the grapes that have been spread in layers under boards. It is old but it obviously works.



The rest of the process is pretty standard but using traditional methods. Then we tasted six wines, two of them the Pisco brandy that they use to make Pisco Sour. They were quite nice wines. The young guy who gave us the commentary was very good and charmed all the old ladies.



After lots of people bought stuff we moved on to Ica the regional capital. It is not the most sophisticated city although the roads weren't bad if a little narrow especially for a tour bus. Our next stop was the Vista Alegre a former Jesuit hacienda that has been converted to a winery. Again we had a tour of the operation. Our guide this time was Jesus ( pronounced Haysus) who was good but not as entertaining as the previous guy. There were only 3 wines offered for tasting this time but they were better. We bought 2 bottles of Malbec.



The trip home was again just through desert, a lot of which is being used for agriculture amazingly. One disappointing thing is that they are starting to move into battery hen egg production and have built huge structures to house them, in the desert. We arrived back on board at 2.00 and had some lunch. We read for a bit and were going to go up on deck for the sailaway but the Captain came on and said it would be delayed. A group of 300 or so left the ship in Lima and did a side excursion to Machu Pichu and they were due back on board at 4.00 but had been delayed. There were also some private excursions there as well so we had to wait for them so did not leave until after 7.30. As this Captain only joined us in Lima, he hasn't had a smooth start.



To fill in time we watched a film on TV, "Hot Pursuit" with Reece Witherspoon and had a red wine in our cabin. After dinner we went to the show which was an Australian multi instrumentalist, Andy Joy. He was ok.

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