Here again with your last update from Lima...
We
made our way over to the El Centro district of Lima this morning. Our first
stop was the Iglesia de San Francisco. This church houses the city of Lima's
first public cemetery. There were 75,000 people buried under the church and
their bones are all laid out for you to see. The other great thing about this
place was their extensive library. We weren't allowed to take pics inside but
we got one for your viewing pleasure...we didn't use a flash... These books go all the way
back to the 17th century.
After
this we went to the Cathedral, built in 1625 although it had to be rebuilt
after earthquakes in 1746 & 1940. This was a beautiful building with
massive paintings, intricately carved choir stalls, and many religious
artifacts. Francisco Pizarro (who dictated the layout) is entombed here and
there were more bones. Luckily we were allowed to take pics here. The
Cathedral is right off of the Plaza de Armas and is surrounded by beautiful
buildings and it's gorgeous fountain.
After
these tours we went shopping and went back to the bike tour office because we
saw a store called Christie's Antiques! Crazy! So of course we had to get a pic!
We had dinner at Huaca Pucllana. Manuel made us a reservation yesterday (he is back in Houston
now so he won't be joining us). This restaurant faces ruins of a 1,500 year old
pyramid and they give you a tour after you're finished eating. The food was delicious- although it was by far our most expensive meal! But we have to go out in style!
:)
Today was our first full day in Lima and we had so much fun.
We had
breakfast at the Country Club Hotel with another new friend, Manuel, that was
also up in the Amazon. He travels to Peru a lot for work out of Houston. This
hotel was built in 1927 and is regarded as the most elegant hotel in all of
Lima. It certainly was gorgeous! Manuel had a table ready for us on the patio
and the food was great! He also brought us to some nice stores in the San
Isidro district and then had his driver drop us off at Larco Mar mall in our
district. This is a beautiful mall because it's cut into the cliffside right
along the ocean.
After
shopping we went to our urban bike tour! So much fun. There were about 8 people
in our tour and our guide was great. He pointed out a few sites and we rode
through a bunch of cute parks and along the cliff. It was about 4 hours long
and we didn't get hit by any cars (although one of the girls crashed into
someone else and our very own Mesa hit a garbage can)!
After
that we got ready to meet up with some local Peruvian friends. For those of you
who don't know, my best friend Christa studied in Lima for a semester in
college and has been back here many times. She set us up with a bunch of her
friends and we went out for dinner and drinks with them. These people are soooo
nice, welcoming, and truly hilarious! We had so much fun with them.
Barrrraaannco!
Well today was our last day in the Amazon jungle. After breakfast we
went to the river village of San Luis. When we got off the boat the kids were
all so excited to show us their school. They sang us a few songs and had us
point out where we from on their map. These kids were just adorable. Every time
we took their picture they wanted us to show them the image.
From
here we stopped at the main village, Indiana. These two villages are not
terribly far from eachother but are vastly different.
The
rest of our time was spent hanging out at the pool and eating lunch before we
went back to Iquitos where we had to catch our flight. Our guide, Renilo, was
so sad to see us leave that he got teary-eyed saying goodbye.
Now
that we're back in Lima we got to our hostel and went out to meet our new
friends from Ireland (from the Amazon lodge) at a bar nearby. It was another good day!
Today was a very fun day. We didn't have an early morning activity so we
only had to get up for breakfast!
After
that we went fishing! Both Mesa & I hadn't been fishing in years but it
wouldn't have mattered if we had. Our poles were sticks with a line tied to
them with raw meat for bait. Both of us caught catfish! Sadly no piraña! Our
guide caught one though so we kept it to eat for lunch. We threw the catfish
back.
On our
way back to the lodge we went looking for the fresh water dolphins. The Amazon
has both gray and pink, and we saw both! Hard to capture by camera though.
When
we got back we went on a hike to collect seeds that we're going to bring back
& make bracelets with. We certainly got our hands dirty.
After
lunch we went to monkey island. It's actually a reserve where they are
protected. There are 8 diff kinds and they jumped all over us. Very cool. We
then went swimming in the Amazon River (and didn't get eaten by pirañas)! The
water actually felt clean even though it looks kind of brown.
It's
been a very fun day!
Til
mañana!
Another really early start for us today. We had to meet our guide,
Renilo, at 5:30!
We traveled about 2 hours down the Amazon to where the Napo
and Amazon rivers meet. They have another lodge there where we had breakfast
and then took a hike through the primary jungle to the canopy walkways.
Here we
reached heights over 110 feet where we were mostly above the jungle tree line.
It was amazing. These walkways were narrow but had netting around them so you
couldn't fall out.
We
then hiked back to the lodge for a little canoeing and lunch. Then walked
over to visit the local Shaman. He told us all about the different roots and
their medicinal qualities. He also did a blessing on Mesa & I where
he blew smoke on us and hit us with a bushel of leaves. This is also where we
got tattoos. Yes you heard right. I got my name, and Mesa got "love"
in the tribal language.
We
came back to our lodge and had plenty of relaxation time before dinner.
Until tomorrow....
Oh and
btw, the tattoos only last about 10 days. :)
Today was a fun day. It started bright and early with bird watching down the Amazon river. We saw
toucans, ring kingfishers, oriole blackbirds, and others.
We then had a fabulous breakfast and then went off to visit a local clinic and
the yaguma village where we saw (and participated in) their local dancing and
blow dart gun shooting. Mesa & I each hit the target about 20 feet away!
We had lunch at the other lodge, the one with no AC or pool, and then hiked
over to a sugarcane rum distillery. We sampled the product - but it was pretty
interesting.
We had time to enjoy the pool when we got back and before dinner we went on a
night hike in the jungle. I have a lot of pictures of
all the gross insects we saw. Centipedes, a giant sized bug that I don't know
the name of, and tarantulas.
It was kind of cool to be out there in the dark and our guide is very smart when
it comes to everything in the jungle.
Dinner was great and they had a show prepared for us afterwards with a group of
kids from a neighboring village that are in a dance group.
Another early morning tomorrow.
We are in the Amazon jungle
right now and it is so hot!
It was a quick flight to Iquitos and then we took a bus to the port before our
25 mile journey down the Amazon river.
We were joined by a couple from Ireland
and a man from Houston. The jungle is amazing. It rains like the rain forest
should but is hot and sunny shortly after. We have our own private guide and he
took us on an hour hike through the jungle this afternoon. We saw butterflies,
frogs, small deer, plenty of spiders, and even a monkey! Then were back with
enough time to enjoy the pool and water slide. So much fun already and we have
only just started our time here!
