Blogs from Lima, Lima, Lima, Peru, South America
May 30th 2012
Well my time in Lima is almost up...just when I was becoming an expert road crosser it is time to say farewell to the traffic, noise & pollution (not sad about the last one!). I took the opportunity of an early rise to go and visit the local park and pick up some supplies for the bus journey. Peruvians do like their plazas and parks. They are always well utilised....lots of school / college kids seem to frequent them either before or maybe even during their classes...I guess there are worse things to be doing other than bunking off! This park had lots of water features that I was truly tempted to soak my feet in....it is another scorcher of a day and my skin is still feeling rather hot after yesterday´s baking! But due to ... read more
Arrived safely in Lima with backpack in toe
Published: May 27th 2012South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » LimaMay 27th 2012
First major milestone met, good start to the trip, despite the delays in both Air France flights. Even though the weather was great in Edinburgh on Saturday morning, there was delays in Paris CDG airport, so we had to wait 30 mins before taking off from Edinburgh, then we made up the time by the time we arrived in Paris only to be faced with a 30 mins for the bus to come and pick us up....and they say the Greeks are laid back & unreliable, the French are just the same! (don´t mean to offend but everyone on the flight going for connections was rather annoyed with the French this morning). I on the other hand had every confidence that I would make the connecting flight even though it was due to depart by the ... read more
Roaming round Lima city centre and Miraflores district
Published: May 28th 2012South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Lima
May 27th 2012
Well my sleep pattern has returned almost back to normal, had 7.5hrs uninterrupted sleep, which is great....obviously all the walking is doing the trick! My 10 bed dorm had only 4 of us in it last night, so it was less stuffy than the previous night when all 10 beds were occupied. I am getting used to the luke warm water in the showers and remembering to avoid flushing the toilet paper down the loo....progress! Observations 1. Constant traffic noise, the amusing bit is that a number of vehicles have an ambulance / police sounding horn / alarm in a vain attempt to get through the traffic.....not sure how successful that is proving considering how many vehicles have exactly the same sound system! 2. Very few smokers on the streets....which is making walking in the centre ... read more
April 19th 2012
Sunday 1st April - Huaraz to Lima We paid a little extra for an executive bus to Lima and it was well worth it with a comfortable seat and 2 meals served during the 7 hour journey. The scenery driving through the Andes for the coast was dramatic but we hadn't appreciated that the coastal regions from Lima north were simply desolate dirty desert, interspersed with the occasional paddy and maize fields. The poverty in Peru is both widespread and probably the worst we'd seen in Latin America and to be worse than Nicaragua takes some beating. Patrick Symes didn't have many nice things to say about either Peru or Lima and he was spot on. Most of it is disgusting and many people we met were far from endearing and simply interested in what they ... read more
April 14th 2012
Ok so I'm finaly here! (Sorry mom and dad for not checking in last night.) In all honesty the flight went pretty smooth. I'm certain the fact I was flying business class from ATL - LIM made a huge difference. (Thank you daddy!) So I had a good nap on the way over, which I'm thankfull for, because when I finally arrived at the hotel in the middle of the night, I was greeted by a jackhammer outside the front entrance, that kept going until around 4 am. (It's actually going right now again as I type this.) Needless to say I didn't sleep more then maybe 3 1/2 hours, between the noise and the rock hard bed haha. I'll admit I wasn't feeling too optimistic when I settled in last night, as the neighbourhood also ... read more
April 2nd 2012
My travel companion bailed last minute. I still want to go on my trip to Peru but I will be traveling alone. Any advice would be fantastic. I am visiting Machu Picchu and the Amazonas. I am gathering as much info as I can and I think it will be a trip of a lifetime. Please help :)... read more
March 9th 2012
I have spent the last couple days in Las Laderas coaching as many children as possible in my final days here. I was helped by some of the mothers with only small bits of translation as now my spanish is a lot better. They also helped take the pictures. It was a fantastic experience as i arrived yesterday for the first session, as all the children who had been with me before knew i was coming and ran to the taxi as i turned up. They grabbed the bag of footballs and marched me up the hill so that we could start. It was a bit hectic as Las Laderas holds 8000 children, everyone who came by wanted to join in. I did the same session with roughly 25 different children per hour. 'The Don' of ... read more
Random Photos of Casma. Now back at Refuge
Published: February 26th 2012South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Lima
February 26th 2012
After spending over a week roughing it out in Casma, we returned to the refuge Friday night. Much to the thanks of the local Father (Vicar) who put us up in his church hall for our time there, it was nice to come back for personal space. Father Fernando has supported PP for 12 years so the children have a lot of admiration for him, he goes really out of his way to give everyone a good time. Thursday was probably the best day we had there, for me anyway. In the morning we climbed the mountain of Casma, was bloody hard and took forever. Was so much fun but was funny to see how scared i was compared to the children. It was so so so dangerous but no one seems to care here lol. ... read more
February 22nd 2012
For the past week i have been in Camsa. A downtown village 5 hours from lima. Ive come here with everyone from the refuge as their holiday. Coaching internittently while having fun with the children at the beach and participating in various recreation. I have no access to internet here, so escaped for a few minutes to update. It been a great week but very tough. It is deserted here. A beautiful beach with fantastic scenery but minimal people. In a few years it will be a massive tourist attraction which will infact ruin the peace and quiet of a lovely place to go and relax. Apart from the beach, there are a few homes, a church and simply desert. Nothingness, but sand, for miles. Yet a wonderful secluded destination. As much as we are away ... read more
February 15th 2012
Sunday, i was invited back to Lucys house. The head of the house mothers.I´ve been told by many people that she only takes to a small minority of the volunteers and rarely people are invited to her home, let alone going twice. So i feel privileged and happy about that. So myself and kike (one of the boys here) went to her house where we went to play football with her husband and four sons for the same local team as week previous where we drew 1-1.It was good fun. Followed by the best meal ive had since coming here. Lunch is the main meal here as opposed to dinner. It was this spicy nandos like chicken cooked in beer.... read more
