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Published: November 10th 2008
Playground in Lima
The first thing we found in Lima was a really nice playground. Pyramids, penguins and ruins
This year we spent our summer vacation in South America. We spent most of the time in Peru but we were also a few days in Bolivia. We had a lot of fun there and we are now going to write about that. In fact we had so much fun that we have to write not one but two entries on the blog to include it all.
We first arrived in Lima, the capital of Peru. There we found a really nice playground. So the first impression of Peru was a good one. Small toys like us need a good playground every now and then.
Emma: "On the playground we played tic-tac-toe. I beat Jean-Claude 5 times straight."
Jean-Claude: "I still can't figure out how you did that. I have a feeling that something was not right when we played."
Emma: "I am better than you at tic-tac-toe, that's all. I didn't cheat. I would never cheat. I don't have to cheat to win in tic-tac-toe."
In Lima they also have these really big pyramids right in the middle of the city. We have seen pyramids before. When
we were in Mexico a few years ago
Lima
Emma: "X has three in a row. I beat you again"
Jean-Claude: "I have a feeling that something is not right here..." we saw many of them. But the pyramids in Mexico were all in the countryside or in parks not in the city like here in Lima. Dad says that the pyramid builders in Peru enjoyed family life and therefore wanted to work near their homes. The pyramid builders in Mexico on the other hand all had bitchy wives who couldn't cook food so they preferred to be away from home as much as possible. But when dad said that he had a mischievous smile on his face and mum started to giggle so we suspect that the "explanation" was one of dad's silly jokes.
In Lima we also saw a lot of interesting colonial buildings. There were churches, mansions and squares. They were really nice. A lot of ornaments and statues covered the facades of these buildings. We especially liked one of the churches we saw. It was spectacular!
After Lima we went to a town called Pisco. When we arrived there we first couldn't understand what was wrong with the city. There were streets but hardly any houses. Where there in other cities are houses there were either nothing at all or there were ruins. We have
Pyramid in Lima
In Lima they have these really big pyramids right in the middle of the city. seen ruins before. Dad likes ruins so we usually get to see a ruin or two on every trip we make. You can go in on almost every entry we have on the blog to see them. But ruins are usually old and covered with grass. Here the ruins were different. They looked new!? First we thought that maybe this is where they
make all the ruins dad likes to see wherever he travels. But when mum told us the truth we got totally terrified. All the ruins used to be houses once, regular houses just like the ones we see in any other town. It's just that a year earlier a devastating earthquake had hit Pisco and had destroyed all the houses in town. Can you believe that mum and dad has taken us to a place where they have earthquakes? Earthquakes are dangerous! Earthquakes kill! If an earthquake can turn a house to a ruin what can it then do to a toy? We first told dad how scared we were and that we wanted to leave immediately but he just replied that Pisco is safe now since an earthquake only hits one place once. When we pledged
Church in Lima
In Lima we also saw a lot of interesting colonial buildings. This church we especially liked with mum to take us out of there she smiled and said "So our little Jedi Knights are scared, are they? Do you really think Yoda would have been afraid of a little earthquake?". Can you believe that? We are terrified and mum
mocks us?
So there we are, trapped in Earthquake Town, aka Pisco, in Peru and can't get out. In the hotel we found a sign saying "Safe zone in case of an Earthquake". We decided not to leave that zone for the rest of the time we were in Pisco. No way are we going to take our chances with a phenomenon that can turn houses into rubble.
The next day we went on a tour to some islands outside Pisco. These islands are famous for the wildlife there. We saw birds, sea lions and Humboldt Penguins. This bloke
Alexander von Humboldt seems to follow us wherever we go. First,
when we were in Venezuela, we saw a lot of signs telling what a great explorer he was. We think the people who wrote those signs should replace them with signs about us and how much greater explorers we are. When we came home
we went to the Tall Ships Race and there we see
Alexander von Humboldt's boat. Now
Scary
The ruins in Pisco used to be houses once. A year earlier a devastating earthquake hit Pisco and destroyed all the houses in town. Earthquakes are not fun. We are scared... we are in Peru and we see penguins named after him. He follows us everywhere! We are tired of him!
On the other side of Pisco is a big desert. The guide on the tour told us this desert is one of the driest in the World. That might be true because it was so dry there was nothing growing there. Except sand dunes of course. They were growing big. But that doesn’t count.
On the edge of the desert there was plenty of water though. The desert was next to the sea. Dad said he finds it ironic that one of the driest patches of land on Planet Earth is sitting so close to the sea where there are endless amounts of water. Maybe it is ironic. We don't know because we are not sure what "ironic" means...
On this trip to the desert we found something really cool, we found
Alien. Yes we really found the monster from the movie
Alien. He looked more scary in the movie than in real life. That's probably because this Alien was dead. We think
Ellen Ripley has killed him. She is good at killing Aliens! She kills at least
Safe zone
The sign says "Safe zone in case of an Earthquake". We decided not to leave that zone for the rest of the time we were in Pisco. half a dozen in each movie.
After the trip into the desert outside Pisco we went to a town called Arequipa.
In Arequipa there are many nice old buildings. Around the main square for instance there are several old buildings. When we were in Arequipa we went to see Santa Catalina Monastery. It was, just as we expected, nice old buildings. When we were in the Monastery we met some chickens in there. They said they were working there and their job was to look good. They were looking good so they did their job well. A very good job they had. All they have to do is look good all day and they get paid for that. We look good... We also should get paid for that... We have to work out a deal with someone to get paid for our good looks...
We stayed in Arequipa only for one day. After that we went on to the city Cusco. Pisco and Cusco sound very similar but in reality they are very different. Pisco is a dangerous place where you can get killed by an earthquake whereas Cusco is a blend of old Peruvian Inca architecture
Sea Lion
On a tour to some islands outside Pisco we saw sea lions. and slightly less old Spanish colonial architecture. The houses built in colonial style looked very similar to the houses in Arequipa. It actually looked like they had stolen the blueprints from the architectural firm in Arequipa and used them to build the houses in Cusco. They must have been angry in Arequipa when they found out that their houses were copied in Cusco. In China they make copies of Rolex watches, counterfeit Gucci bags and fake North Face jackets (or North Fake jackets as dad calls them. A joke from dad that actually is a bit funny. That must have been a first). But that is nothing compared to the old days of counterfeiting business in Peru where they in their heydays managed to counterfeit entire cities.
Not far from Cusco they have a place where they "harvest" salt. They have a natural well there that produces salty water. The water is diverted into small ponds. In the ponds the water evaporates and left in the pond is salt. So the white stuff you see in the picture is salt. Wonder if you can make sugar the same way?
In the salt factory we found a shop where
Humboldt Penguins
On a tour to some islands outside Pisco we saw Humboldt Penguins. We are going to ask them to rename them Emma and Jean-Claude Penguins they were selling corn with such strange colours. There were red corn, orange corn, black corn and white corn for instance. We thought that looked funny. At home corn looks so different. It is always yellow and it always come in tin cans.
They had all this strange varieties of corn but they didn't have the best of them all -
the Unicorn.
After three days in Cusco mum and dad took us on an adventure in the mountains. For four days they walked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Mum and dad aren't too bright. There is a train going there. Taking the train from Cusco to Machu Picchu takes only three hours, walking takes four days. Mum and dad said that walking the Inca Trail was the main purpose of going to Peru in the first place. Do they really think we are stupid? No way they
wanted to walk the Inca Trail. Nobody
wants to do that. They must have been
forced to do it or something.
But we have to admit that they looked happy when they were walking and they did seem to enjoy the views along the trail. Can you believe that
Dry desert
This desert is one of the driest in the World. dad actually carried us all the way when he was walking the Inca Trail? Our dad is strong! Maybe the strongest dad in the World...
The company mum and dad walked with were very kind to us. They actually provided us with small sleeping bags, just precisely our size. When we walked along the trail we slept in tents. The company didn't provide us with a tent though so we had to sleep in mum and dad's tent.
The Inca Trail was, as you might guess, built by the ancient Inca people. Along the trail there are ruins from many Inca temples and villages and even schools. But we didn't see what we most of all wanted to see - a ruin from a Disneyland.
At one spot along the trail we were at the altitude 4200 meters above sea level. That is high! We almost felt like we were at the top of the World there.
In the end of the Inca Trail was the magnificent Machu Picchu. We will tell you all about that in our next entry on the blog.
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non-member comment
"ironic - we found it!"
Hey there, we think we know what ironic means. Since both of you have been around some kind of mines (salt harvesting...) it must mean that "ironic" means "iron-like" or possibly "full of iron". The lake was probably iron-lake under the surface, or maybe full of iron on the bottom. Our dad is a chemistry professional, so we asked him of course. He smiled and nodded, so we must be right, huh?