Prologue
When contemplating our next overseas adventure, both the Schultz’s and Greenbaum’s had the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu high on their lists of destinations. Even though they are relatively close together, travel between Ecuador and Peru is expensive and we soon decided that we needed two trips to cover them both. We chose to visit Peru first and began researching other sites in that country in addition to Machu Picchu. To our amazement, we discovered 13 World Heritage Sites in Peru. Though some of them are inaccessible or otherwise not suitable for tourists, we managed to plan a trip than included 9 of the 13. By staying in tourist class hotels and traveling between cities by bus where reasonable, we assembled an affordable 28 day trip to Peru. Hope you enjoy traveling along.
Day 1 September 21, 2010 Off to Lima, Peru
It was the easiest airport arrival any of us could remember. Boarding passes printed at home, curb side check-in with no line and no line as well, at the security screening point. We arrived at Logan Airport 90 minutes before our flight and were at the gate 15 minutes later. The flights to Miami and on to Lima were uneventful and we arrived in Lima on time at 9 PM. A quick pass through immigration and customs and we met our guide who took us to the hotel.
Day 2 September 22, 2010 Lima City Tour
During the night, Sandy and Carl awoke to a brief shaking. They wondered if it might be an earthquake but soon fell back asleep. It was a magnitude 5.9 quake centered about 50 miles south of us. This, it turns out is pretty common here. Other than that, we had a great first day. Our Lima city tour included the old colonial Place des Armes with the cathedral and presidential palace, the Church of San Francisco with beautiful gold leaf wall coverings in the sacristy and 50,000 sets of bones in the catacombs (we only saw a couple dozen skeletons but that was plenty!) Perhaps the highlight was the gold museum holding the items collected by a very very rich Peruvian industrial leader and diplomat. There were literally thousands of ornate gold pieces including earrings, necklaces, chalices and funerary masks and other adornments as well as a mind boggling collection of weapons from the time of the crusades through WWII. We visited several parks along the ocean front and watched para gliders soar along the cliffs as we ate lunch. In the afternoon we went for a two mile walk through several more city parks and back to the seashore. Early to bed for our 6:15 departure tomorrow.
Day 3 September 23, 2010 Paracas and the Marine Reserve
We were up around 5 AM to be ready for our 6:15 pickup. No earthquake last night! We were leery at first about taking a bus between towns in Peru. We were assured, however, that the “Royal Class” busses were very good so we figured we’d take a chance. We need not have worried. The Royal Class seats were like first class in an airplane; wide, soft, leather and fully reclining. In addition, the bus had in motion wifi and power outlets to keep our batteries charged. The four hour trip through the barren brown coastal plain passed quickly. After lunch we went on a tour of the Paracas National Reserve. The land is sandy and barren but we did see many 46 million year old mollusk fossils in the exposed rock. The real beauty is at the shoreline with lots of beautiful rock formations, offshore islands and red sand beaches. There were also lots of great birds including many “Lifers”for Sandy & Carl. We had Peruvian pelican, Peruvian booby, surf cinclodes, gray gull, band-tailed gull, kelp gull, guaney cormorant, blackish oystercatcher, Peruvian flamingo and inca tern in addition to the more common whimbrel, surfbird, sanderling and ruddy turnstone. We walked into town for dinner and watched the sun set into the Pacific.
Day 4 September 24, 2010 Ballestas Islands and on to Nazca
At 8 AM we were on a boat headed a few miles offshore to the Ballestas Islands. This small island group is home to tens of thousands of boobies, pelicans and cormorants along with inca terns and the usual variety of local gulls. Hundreds of birds filled the sky as we approached, then thousands. We got good close-up looks at all of the species present. Our two favorites were the humbolt penguins and red-legged cormorants. There were also lots of South American sea lions hauled out on the rocks. As an added curiosity, there is a 450 foot high outline of a candelabra on the nearby hillside. Though not part of the Nazca Lines, its origins are just as enigmatic. Just prior to our return to the dock we were visited by a pod of dolphins. It was a great trip and the two hours flew by. The afternoon featured a four hour drive to Nazca which took us into the barren brown mountains and from sea level to 1600 feet. We dropped our bags in the hotel and went to visit the Chauchilla Cemetary. This burial ground was used by the pre-Inca Nazca civilization that inhabited the area roughly 2,000 years ago. They mummified their dead and buried them in adobe crypts about eight feet underground. The burial area is huge, about 1,000 x 3,300 feet but only 12 tombs have been excavated by archaeologists and restored from the damage caused by grave looters. This civilization believed in rebirth so people were mummified in a seated fetal position, facing east towards the rising sun. The area is so arid, about one tenth inch of rain per YEAR) that the hair is well preserved. Our guide pointed out a few mummies with long Rastafarian-like dreadlocks that were the symbol of upper class families. It was another great day and tomorrow we fly over the famous Nazca lines.
Day 5 September 25, 2010 Nazca Lines and Bus to Arequipa
Today’s plan was to wake at seven but the local roosters had other ideas. However, we can catch up on any lost sleep during the eight hour bus ride to Arequipa. But first, we flew over the mysterious Nazca Lines. This extensive collection of lines and drawings on the flat, dry desert floor date back to the Nazca people about 2,000 years ago. We heard about several possible explanation; the one that makes the most sense to us is that they were a supplication to the water god in this arid region where the god could see the figures from above. It is far more extensive than we thought. Almost as far as we could see there were lines squares, rectangles and trapezoids. In among these extremely large features were the famous animal figures that range in size from a few hundred to a few thousand feet across. We saw the whale, astronaut, hummingbird, monkey, spider, condor, dog and a few more. Some were hard to spot but most were easily seen, though hard to photograph. The pilot was conscientious in giving people on both sides of the plane good views. Unfortunately, that meant rolling the plane right then left in tight circles which was unsettling to some passengers. Back on the ground we went back to town for lunch then boarded the bus to Arequipa. Though the bus is very nice, it lacks the WiFi and power capability of the other bus we took.
Day 6 September 26, 2010 Arequipa
Today we toured the colonial city of Arequipa. Most sources say it is called the “White City” because of all of the churches and municipal buildings made of white volcanic rock. One guide we had insisted that it was due to the fact that the Spanish population far exceeded the indigenous population, hence most were white. We began our tour at a beautiful overlook along the Rio Chili from where we could see the three volcanic mountains surrounding the city. We suppose it’s a good thing that only one of them is active. Speaking of active, there’s lots of seismic activity in Arequipa with about 10-20 tremors daily. The last big earthquake was in 2001. Arequipa is at 8,000 feet and our guide told us about the local medication for altitude sickness and suggested we try some. We decided to pass on the coca leaves or tea (as in cocaine but much weaker) and stick with the Diamox we are taking. We will re-evaluate the situation tomorrow when we cross a mountain pass at 14,000 feet! We toured the central plaza and visited some typical Spanish colonial churches and cloisters. The highlight of the city tour was our visit to the Santa Catalina Monastery. Part of this huge complex is still in use and closed to the public but we toured many of the rooms where nearly 100 nuns lived and prayed. In the 16th-18th centuries, wealthy local Spanish families brought their second daughter to the convent to be a nun. After four years as a novice, living mostly in isolation, nuns were moved into small houses with servants. All of this was paid for by the wealthy families “buying their way into heaven”. After lunch we shopped for vicuna and baby alpaca scarves and sweaters then called it a day. We were all feeling pretty good after walking four-five miles at 8,000 feet altitude with no difficulties. Bring on the mountains!
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Day 7 September 27, 2010 The High Road to Chivay
For the next portion of our trip we joined 11 other people, mostly from Spain, in a tour bus. We drove north from Arequipa, climbing higher as we went. We stopped to see vicuna and alpaca. When we came to a wetland area we spotted flamingo, Andean goose, puna teal and ibis and mountain caracara. We stopped at the mountain pass where the scenery was starkly beautiful, with views unimpeded by air since there is precious little up here at 14,000 feet. We took the advice of our guide and drank some Coca tea. Back on the bus the guide demonstrated the ceremonial process for chewing coca leaves. We all tried it but found it a lot like chewing any other kind of leaves. After lunch in Chivay and checking into our hotel, the group went to the nearby hot springs. Sandy & Carl elected to sleep off the altitude adjustment instead. For supper we were taken to a tourist restaurant where the food was decent (the alpaca meat was tasty) and we heard Andean music and watched some traditional dances.
