Lima and Departure

We spent the last 4 nights in Lima, Peru enjoying seafood, the ocean and many museums! EJ and I went to quite a few great little contemporary art galleries in Barranco and Miraflores. We visited the downtown historical center where we visited the Lima Museum of Art and the San Francisco monastery. The MATE and Casa de Posada were great musuems too. We also saw the main plaza and the changing of the guards ceremony which was quite extravagant. One day we ate lunch in an old train that had its original decorations and antique furniture still in it.

We spent a full day shopping in the market and buying many things! I got a charango for myself at a great little music store and an alpaca blanket.

Another highlight of our visit to Lima was Parque Kennedy-- which was still full of cats just like when I was there the first time.

Last night EJ and I said goodbye-- as we were on separate flights, and unfortunately my flight ended up being quite delayed. But after a long flight,  I finally made it to Dallas! 

They're playing Christmas music which is weird. 

Charango!

We've been doing quite a bit of shopping here in Lima and I decided to get a charango-- an instrument very similar to the ukulele that originated in the Andes!  It's beautiful and I'm very excited to learn how to play it.

Paracas and Pisco

We spent a few great days in the beautiful and funky beach town of Paracas! It was nice to relax a bit and enjoy the ocean-- and seafood! We visited the Islas Ballestas which are considered the Peruvian Galapogos islands as they are home to penguins, sea lions and many unique species of birds. Unfortunately we didn't have the greatest weather but the islands were very cool! We also visited the Paracas National Reserve where we saw more flamingos,  a beach with bright red sand and many spectacular ocean views!

After two nights in Paracas we spent one night in Pisco at a hostal with a swimming pool. Other than the pool, Pisco was very unexciting.

Now we are in Lima enjoying our last few days in Peru! 

Wineries and Dunes

I meant for this to be posted days ago, but the internet was not good enough. Anyways here it is!

We had an awesome day in the desert city of Ica! We went on a Wine and Pisco tour that took us to two different wineries just outside the city. One used to be a monastery and had beautiful historical buildings. Another was family owned (and very old) and once every year they use the traditional equipment and methods to create some special batches of wine and pisco-- this includes inviting people to come crush grapes with their feet. We got to have a few samples at each place-- a few wines and some very strong pure pisco. We also had a typical Peruvian dish called "arroz con pato" at one of the wineries. Overall, it was interesting to learn about the methods and get a feel for the industry in Peru, as pisco is the national drink. After the tour our driver stopped by the Plaza de Armas in Ica and showed us a famous cathedral that was unfortunately destroyed by the 2007 earthquake-- only pieces remain.

At around 4PM we went on our second tour of the day-- dune buggying and sandboarding!  It was insane! Riding in the dune buggy was like a bumpy crazy (and sandy) roller coaster. Our driver went very fast and really liked zooming down the slopes. This was fun but also scary because it felt like we were going to fly out of the buggy or worse-- tip over and roll down the dune. We got to the top of one dune and this is where we sandboarded, it was quite the experience-- much like snow boarding (but slower and less painful). We got to go down several different slopes and it was so much fun! Our group also got to watch the sunset over the dunes, which was very unique and beautiful. 

Chile Photos

The Latest!

When our tour finished we were dropped off in San Pedro De Atacama, in Chile... we passed the border with no problems at all! We spent the day in San Pedro, which was small and very touristy. We had delicious fresh juice, went to an archeological museum and enjoyed some shopping.

At 8PM we got on a night bus to Arica, Chile-- about an 8 hour trip. We got in at 5:30AM and thankfully the hostal let us in so we went straight to bed. The night bus was miserable and we were very tired. In the afternoon we went to the main center of town, walked by the ocean, and enjoyed a Sunday market. The architecture was colonial and amazing. Later in the afternoon we grabbed our bathing suits and borrowed boogie boards from the hostal and went to the beach. It was absolutely beautiful and very refreshing! Arica was a great city. We definitely noticed the difference from Peru and Bolivia.

The next morning we explored Arica a little more and then headed to the border of Peru (again no issues) and made it to Tacna around 3PM where we waited for our night bus to Nasca. We had a first class bus this time and it was much easier to sleep.

In Nasca we went on an awesome tour to 2 different lookouts to see the Nasca lines and also the Cahuachi pyramids. We also went to a small pottery museum where we learned about the methods the Nasca people used thousand of years ago (that they still use today)! Seeing the lines was amazing and the pyramids were very unique and interesting. There are only 3 pyramids that are uncovered, and there are 24 kilometers of land filled with pyramids that are still covered by sand. Overall, the Nasca city wasn't very exciting, but the history was incredible! What a great day! :)

We departed for Ica early this morning! 

Highlights of the Tour

Our 3 day tour to the Salt Flats and Atacama desert was phenomenal! We had an amazing adventure and saw so many interesting sites. Our guide was great and we also had some pretty cool people in our group. 

Here are the highlights:
- The train cemetery-- seeing and climbing on old rusted trains from the 1940s that were used to transport silver
- The salt factory where we learnt all about the way the salt is processed
- The salt flats themselves which are the largest in the world stretching over 10,000 square kilometers-- we took a lot of silly photos and drove to the very middle of them! The feeling was surreal as we were in the middle of nowhere and for miles and miles all you could see was white flatness.
- The fish island (on the salt flats), that is home to hundreds of giant cacti, humming birds and rabbit like rodents. We hiked to the top and could see a 360° view of the flats.
- Sleeping in a hostal made of salt bricks and in a bed made of salt.
- Lagoons-- we went to several lagoons over the three days, and each one was unique. They are home to 3 species of wild flamingos which were spectacular to see. One lagoon turns red during the day because of the large amounts of plankton being stirred up because of the wind. Another turns green because it contains 70% arsenic. Overall the lagoons were very neat, and beautiful!
- Seeing vicunas and andean foxes
- We saw many volcanoes along the way, some active and some dormant which were quite cool!
- Driving through the desert was amazing, very rustic and a new experience to be in the middle of absolute nowhere. 
- On the second night we stayed at a tiny hostal that was right by some hot springs, so after dinner we walked to them and sat in the relaxing warmth while enjoying the stars (which were stunning).
- Going into the crater of a semi-active volcano and seeing the geysers and steam jets-- possibly the weirdest and most unique part of the trip.