A summary of my recent adventures!

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Greetings to all from the Guayaquil airport! I am currently awaiting my 2 hour delayed flight to get to the Galapagos! Lidia and I were supposed to be meeting here (or so we thought), but the airline has the brilliant policy of numbering two flights to the same location, but with different origins with the same flight number. So, while Lidia arrived on time to refuel in Guayaquil (from Quito), the plane departed, much to her dismay, without me on board. Luckily, we will be united soon. In the meantime, I got myself into the first class lounge to update you all and have some coffee 😊

When I last wrote, I was in Arequipa, nicknamed the "white city", originally because the people there were lighter in complexion, but now because of the white color of many of the buildings. Arequpa was a lovely city, with a huge monestary, like its own little city. Rich fmailes sent their 12 or 13 year old daughters to the monastery instead of marrying since the 1500s. The family would commission rooms build for their daughters (often with older family members) and would pay their way. Daughters of families that paid in full were black hood nuns, while others were white hood nuns. Black hood nuns often had multiple servants to cook, clean and do their bidding in the town, since they were unable to leave the compound. The monastery was like a little fortress, with street names, a laundry area and "market". The walls were painted in bright reds and blues, like they originally were. There were lots of fun artisian markets to wander, and of course, delicious food! One of my favorite traditional dishes was Lomo Saltado, which is beef stirfried with peppers, tomatoes and potatoes, and served with rice. I also went to a university musuem dedicated to the mummies 8and objects found with them) of children sacrified to the mountain god by the Inkas. There was a great video about the National Geographic expedition in the 80s, and the history of how the children are chosen (they are chosen when very small and sent to live with religious priests (not the right word, but you get the meaning). There were a bunch of well preserved artificants on display, as well as the mummy, still frozen (not preserved like the egyptians), of one of the little girls found. The bodies were found on a mountain near Arequipa, and the procession had walked all the way from Cusco, timing it with the eruption of a nearby volcano so that it would be warmer and they could make it to the top of the 5000m mountain! After one body was discovered, they identified others by the rings of stones that the Incans used to mark the burial site.

One night I met three americans and an australian, with whom I had dinner and a drink afterwards. They were doing the opposite loop as me so we traded stories of what we had seen. Another night I met an irishman who is married to an arequipan and just opened an irish bar in the city. After finishing our beers, I walked with him to his bar. It was an interesting experience, because usually irish bars in other countries are full of tourists. Not so, Doyle´s in Arequipa. At Doyle´s I was the only foreigner until towards the end of the night when 4 others arrived. It was even stranger because there was a Peruvian coverband playing American 80s and 90s music. They were actually quite good, though with a small accent. It was fun though and I tried the famed Pisco Sour, which was delicious, a combination of sweet and tangy, and healthy since it contains egg whites 😊

From Arequipa I took a two day trip to Colca Canyon. Again I ended up with mostly spanish speaking folk, but there was a group of 4 argentinian girls who were very nice and I had meals with them, and also had fun with a french/swiss couple who spoke very good english. Colca Canyon is supposed the deepest canyon in the world at 3kms, however, we only go to the edge, which was only 1km deep, so it really wasn´t that spectacular. We were also hoping to see condors, and there were none there the day I was there so that was dissappointing. I did get to my first thermal baths though, which was fun. Dinner was also fun as there was a traditional band and dancers, and after the dancers finished, the argentinian girls along with other argentinians and I danced, which was fun.

After a 17 hour bus ride I arrived in Lima, where I stayed in Miraflores. Lima was very large and a bit hectic and I was warned to be very leary of pickpockets, but i made it through safely. I saw the changing of the guards at the Palace (not that interesting as I was so far away), visited the Cathedral, and the monastery, catacombs and church of St. Francis, which were all very interesting. There were sooo many bones piled in the catacombs, and you could even touch some of them, but no thanks. The monastery had richly decorated walls and carved wooden panneled ceilings, which had been replaced/repaired multiple times because of earthquakes, but were very nice. Miraflores was more my speed. It bordered on Lima and was a little smaller, with lots of restuarants and not quite so hectic. I met up with the girls from Lake Titicaca and we explored Miraflores one day (mostly browsing artisan shops) and eating, and then the next went to Lima to a giant fountain park, The Magic Circuit of Water, at night. They light up all the fountains and some have a musical show to go along with them. They were all varied and very cool. One was a tunnel you could walk through, while the other kids played in and changed to surprise them.

Now I am headed to the Galapagos for two days on Santa Cruz island to do a little scuba diving, and the 7 days on board the Nemo II, cruising around the islands. I can´t wait to see all the animals!!! The landscape and plants as well of course, but mostly the animals. So, this is probably all until I arrive in Buenos Aires on the 1st. I hope all is well in the states. Wish you were all here!

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