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Published: February 14th 2016
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Montferland
Views from Montferland, a forest area near our house in The Netherlands From Tana Toraja to Lima is a rather big leap. From a European perspective one is in the far east, while the other is in the far west. Luckily it is not so much a leap of faith, but more a leap of distance. And if you cut the distance in half, let’s say by stopping over in Holland, than those leaps become mere hops. And if you don’t just stop over, but stay for two weeks than the whole exercise turns into a breeze. So, in the space of two weeks and a bit, I have reached the opposite side of the world, which is long by modern standards, but short if you compare it to the olden days.
I stopped over in Holland, not just to cut the trip in half, but also to pick up my mother with who I will be travelling here. And to lessen the jet-lag somewhat. You could say that I just about managed to overcome my first jet-lag, before building up the next one.
Lima of course is the home of my brother and the raison d’être for our visit. My brother picked us up at the airport. Schiphol Airport that
is, in Amsterdam. What service! He happened to be on his way home himself, from one of his many potato related trips. The world of potatoes, I can tell you, is far more interesting than you would think. It involves many trips to test fields in Africa, and Asia, and to conferences of like-minded potato aficionado’s. On his many trips my brother has accumulated an obscene amount of airmiles, which he put to good use by inviting us into the special travellers-with-obscene-amount-of-airmiles lounge, where drinks and food are free.
Soon he shall have even more airmiles, because in lieu of the popularity of the film The Martian, NASA has started up a Martian potato project. Obviously not on Mars, but somewhere where the soil and circumstances come as close to it as is possible. Peru has many such arid places. And as the real life Matt Damon my brother was chosen. Though he is less enthusiastic about this than you would think. It turns out being project leader involves giving a lot of interviews, which he finds a waste of his valuable time. I am just looking forward to the time he gets a return to Mars, because that
Schiphol Airport
Sitting in the lounge for people with obscene amounts of airmiles... courtesy of my brother should add a few billion miles to his account which he can then bestow on me.
Enough about potatoes, Martians and airmiles and back to reality. As always we spent the first couple of weeks in Lima. A relaxing start to any trip. We added a few new sites to our list of already visited sites in Lima, including a boat trip to the Palomino Islands. The Palomino are known for their sea-lion colonies. You can watch them and swim with them… and smell them, and listen to them. They smell bad, and sound like disgruntled sheep. Nearby are Humboldt Penguins and islands which have turned white with the accumulated shit of thousands of birds. The highly fertile guano, over which wars have been fought. I guess you can find a reason to fight over just about anything.
We also paid our respects to Jesus. Jesus of the Pacific to be exact. He stands on a hill semi-overlooking the Pacific. He is tall and white. He is accompanied by at least three other Jesus statues spaced out over several miles, each one successively further inland and standing on a hill. Yes, Jesus watches over Lima, at least over
Lima
On top of Cerro San Cristobal southern Lima.
Further south is San Bartolo, one of the many, many sea-side resorts outside Lima. It is nothing special, but my brother and his family had never been there, and neither had I. San Bartolo is crowded and rocky, and in between those rocks are sea-urchins, which you can’t see because the water is not clear enough. But you can unintentionally step on them, and that hurts. I know this because I did just that. A bit of do-it-yourself surgery with a pin, a lighter to disinfect said pin, and a bit of digging in the skin produced the ends of spikes that had lodged in my foot.
Finally we also ate a lot of good food. We always eat a lot of good food when we are with my brother. He and his wife are blessed with good cooking skills. I am always appreciative of people with good cooking skills. Luckily in my family there is no lack of such persons.
Now that we have fattened up somewhat, and relaxed a bit, it is time for the serious part of the journey. The actual travelling part. And I am quite looking forward to it, because
Lima
View of the cemetery in Lima it will be taking us to a place which I have wanted to go to for a very long time. I always find that the anticipation of good things to come is nearly as good as the place or event itself. Thus you could say I am doubly enjoying my next destination, first now, and secondly once I get there.
In light of that I am going to sign out and dream a little more of the good things to come…
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Linn
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Nice blog Ralf, I too look forward to Jan sharing his Martian air miles with me....me being his favourite sister and all ??! Also looking forward to his & Hanneles cooking this summers & the Pisco Sours of course!! Enjoy the next leg of trip...I am soooo jealous.