Final Words

Lessons learned re. what to do and what not to do in Peru:

• Do wear DEET on any area of your body where bites are remotely possible. (They are the gifts that keeps on giving. Had to go to the dermo for one of mine once home.)
• Do wear sunscreen on your hands, feet and ears.
• Do give proper respect to the power of your surroundings, the sun in particular.
• Do learn some Spanish phrases before you get there. They go a long way toward promoting friendships.
• Do not wear hairspray in the jungle (gooey, sticky).
• Do not rub your eyes after applying DEET.
• Do leave behind any sense of entitlement you've mistakenly embraced. You're a guest here.
• Do give thanks for the great people and places you've encountered in Peru and remember how lucky you are for all you've been given.

Leaving La Amatista

My hero awakens me at 4:30 A.M. so that I'll have time to dress and pack my toiletries before the luggage is collected. Breakfast is consumed with dispatch since we must depart at 6 A.M. Back on the bus to Iquitos and a torturous wait in line at the LAN counter - well over an hour - which is followed by a blessedly short flight to Lima. We go to Pura Peru for a huge ass buffet and score a pisco sour. Yikes - those things can lay you low on an empty stomach. To our rooms at the Swissotel where we are getting to know the staff a little too well. At 10 P.M. we head for the airport - our 6th and final time. A bit before 2 A.M. we fly homeward. There's nothing like it!

The Best Laid Plans

October 16 We didn't leave the La Amatista until 9 A.M. this morning, headed to the private Amazon Natural Park for a hike on terra firma, a canoe ride and lunch in the forrest. Lovely day, slightly overcast for which we're grateful. We motor down a small serene tributary of the Amazon and arrive at the preserve. We walk through a butterfly enclosure before crossing a long wooden bridge en route to a lake and our awaiting canoes. A few of the occupants do the paddling for the rest of us. We are in 2 canoes lashed together which seem very tip proof in this still water. It's beautiful as we glide along. We land and climb to terra firma (the naturalist's term for higher ground) for our hike in the jungle. There is a path so fairly easy going. Most of us don't bother with our rain gear since the canopy provides a serviceable umbrella. We enter a permanent encampment used by scientific groups and eat our hot lunch (complete with grilled meat) inside an unlit dining room. It's damn near dark - no sun, thick canopy, and no electricity. Great natural ambience however, since we're in a screen building. Now it's time to make our way down to another lake for the boat ride back. Upon arrival, there are no boats save a leaky rowboat that George, after failing to raise anyone to come get us, bails out and jumps in to paddle downstream. I am sure it never occured to George to tell Robinson, the assistant naturalist, to wait with the group until he returned with the boats. After about 10 mintues at the dock, Robinson takes a notion and starts leading the 20-person group through the jungle, not a trail to be had. Shortcut, anyone? One of the young crew from the boat takes the point to blaze a trail and to hack vines with what looks like a pen knife. Ron comes to the rescue with a better, sharper knife but God knows it's a far cry from a machete. Did I mention it's now raining rather steadily and that the soil and slopes (of which there are many) are very slippery? We are going up and down hills, it's bloddy hot, and we've all got steam rising from our bodies. We try to retain a sense of humor, but when we crest the last hill and spot our lunch building, we are deflated. We've gone in a large circle. Jack (our Canadian friend) and I spend a long time conjecturing what will befall Robinson as a result of this futile and, frankly, unsafe fiasco. Note: It was never mentioned again by anyone in authority so there you go. We now start walking back the same way we'd taken before lunch. Retracing steps does seem wise at this point. And poor George is in the wind. We do find out that the boatmen came to collect us and, seeing the dock unpopulated, made their way back from whence they'd come. We trudge on to a familiar crossroads but now what? Robinson, who'd earlier tried to console us with a frog (get that thing OUT of here!) seems to have totally lost confidence and has a bit of a hand-wring looking from one side to another. Fernando takes charge and points the way. We climb up a number of exceedingly slippery steps and spy La Amatista sitting placidly at anchor. We cheer and try to race each other to our rooms, knowing that every single one of us will be taking a shower. This could have been one of those really memorable times when a shower is absolutely the best, but our warm trickles of water didn't quite allow it to enter that category. I am serious about the trickle. Later on deck, we discuss all the animals, plants, and insects we've seen during the week. Our on board musicians perform before dinner. Tonight it's the RRRRRiver RRRRRats, rolling those r's with mucho gusto. We meet the captain and crew and when I say. "Muchas gracias, Capitan", he responds with a rapid volley of Spanish that I am sure translates into something very lovely. All the crew are very gracious and proud of their work, as they should be.

All is Well

October 15 Woke up while we were still docked near last night's village which offered another shopping opportunity for my hero when the villagers came aboard with their wares. I am darn near recovered which is more than I can say for various shipmates, the poor bastards. I must say, this place ain't for sissies. My body has been through the wringer - high altitude sickness, long-lasting and numerous insect bites, Inca's revenge, dehydration, and the faint. Like a phoenix, I rise triumphant from the ashes, the better to enjoy this morning's fishing expedition. Yes, my friends, we seek piranha! And I caught uno, dos, tres, plus baiting my own hook with raw meat which some were not willing to attempt. Man up, I say. Later we had them for lunch. Very good but lots of bones. This afternoon, our International Expeditions guide, Nando, gives an informative talk about the recent political history of Peru including the migration to the cities beginning in the 1950's, the rise of the Golden Path (Mao-inspired terrorists), and the last several presidencies. There will be an election (voting is mandatory in theory, at least) in 18 months when he fears that a Bolivian-influenced candidate may prevail. He considers this evil an that is spreading around South America. With so much illiteracy and poverty, Peru has a lot of issues with which to contend. Our afternoon outing is a pleasure - from 4 P.M. to 6 P.M. on a small tribuatry, complete with a lightening storm (but no rain on us). The erosion on the river bank is remarkable and, apparently, has also been so although it has been hastened by the river people populating and farming the banks. In some places, the banks erode 100 feet annually, felling very large and very old trees. The soil from one bank is deposited on the opposite shore and then that side builds up. You can imagine how the course of these rivers alter in a short time. Actually, the course of the Amazon is not all that easy to pinpoint. Many rivers flow here and we spend our time on at least 4 of them, including, only briefly, the Amazon. We see some of the bank give way today as we float by. We liken it to the glaciers calving in Alaska. I give thanks that I am well today and it feels great to be in the jungle!

Laid Low

October 14 Woke up around 4 A.M. with an urgent need to use the facilities. Heavy sigh. Dry toast, tea and banana for breakfast with a little Imodium thrown in for insurance. (Ron and I are both advocates of the big "I".) I rallied for a walk through the village that was a stone's throw from La Amatista and was heartened by the promise of a bit of shopping after the visit. Alas, the end of the tour did not come soon enough and I found myself with knees buckling, eyes closing, and absolutely nothing I could do about any of it. I remember nothing of how I went from standing up to lying down. Apparently, Ron and our friend Jack doubled teamed me to insure a soft landing and Ron reported that it was probably 20 seconds before I came to. I later found out that several of the passengers had been felled by intestinal issues and were confined to their rooms, nursing their stomachs. I overestimated myself and underestimated the jungle. When I was finally able to open my eyes, I saw the whole group staring down at me including some of the villagers. Make it go away, already! The passengers included several doctors, a nurse and and an EMT so at least I collapsed in good company. Lucky. They started pouring water on my head - nice look, that - and in awhile, I collected myself, got to my feet, and headed back to the boat with George. Some gross liquid to restore my electrolytes, a nice nap, and I was able to join the group for the 5 P.M. trip to another village where we had a session with the 70 year-old healer. He explained the plants and barks he uses to treat his patients and at the end, blew tobacco smoke on us (no nicotine), waved what looked like a little whisk broom over each person, and recited some words to cleanse us. God knows I needed all the cleansing I could get. Home to my cabin, a round of Cipro, dinner, and to bed.

I Love the Smell of DEET in the Morning

October 13 It's a 7:30 A.M. departure today so that we can get 50 miles upstream in our open boats to an area in the Reserve simply called "The Second Ranger Station". We stop for animal sightings en route and when we arrive, there is a substantial building with an inside loo. Heaven. We are truly hot, but we're going to spend an hour walking in the jungle so we don our leather shin guards (yes, the gators are to protect against snakes), gear up, and off we go. The guides explain the medicinal uses of several trees and we then encounter the hugest ficus I have ever seen. Many creature sightings including howler monkeys. Back for a picnic lunch, a short respite, and our return to La Amatista. En route, we put on our rain ponchos (think plastic sauna) except for my hero who stands in the stern and gets wet, enjoying the cool. With the return of the sun, we feel like raw eggs frying. Back on board, our lovely down time is complete with the serenade of driving rain. Great naps in those air conditioned cabins. For the cocktail hour, we are entertained by Nando and the River Rats - different name same players - and have a great time before dinner. We see a nice powerpoint presentation on the role of the Reserve we've been visiting but I have a hard time squaring the conservation efforts with what I think happens to the sewage from our ship. No hot shower since we left Lima, but that likely helps with water conservation. Washing time is as brief as possible, reminiscent of the showers we gave the kids in Juvenile Hall. Get wet, water off. Soap up, water on. Rinse, water off. Finito!

Put to the Test

October 12, 2009 Early start at 6:30 A.M. when we take off on our skiffs to see more wildlife (sloths and more bird and monkey species.) We picnic with our boats pulled up to the river's shore. The women even have an outdoor bano for our ease and comfort. After lunch we visit a river village and wait while the guides ask the mayor's permission to enter. That granted, we walk to the elementary school which is attended by all the village's primary age children (around 40 kids). It's a single classroom, government-built, and taught by a teacher recruited and paid for by the government. A school in every river village was a project started by the now-disgraced President Fujimori in the 1990's. Many of the children bravely approach us and one little girl holds our hands. The children sing for us, and we for them. We teach them to count to 10 in English. We are all having a great time. On our way out, the villagers have set up a little market place to sell their hand-made goods so we enjoy looking and buying. The afternoon excursion leaves La Amatista around 4 P.M. for the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve and, after a sweaty 45-minute wait, we commence into the reserve but only after the captain himself has motored over to talk to the ranger. What is more pervasive than bureaucracy? More animal sightings and then much hubbub along the river bank. A group of people working in the preserve have 2 anacondas, a juvenile and a 100-pound adult, which they kindly display. We get out of the boats for closer observation. It turns out that they are keeping the snakes at their encampment until the rainy season starts and the waters rise. The snakes will be released in a few months when their chances to hide themselves and escape being killed by poachers improve. Some hold the snakes while the rest take photos. There is also a large project here to incubate turtle eggs. Once hatched, the babies remain in the compound until they grow a bit and are then released into the river. Important to increase the species since they have been hunted almost to extinction here. Hard to think kindly of the poachers, many of whom work for outfits that sell the bounty to foreign markets. So these bastards exploit both the hands-on poachers who do the dirty work (trying to feed their families) and rape the ecosystem for profit. The way of it. Darkness falls and the stars are wonderful. Our guide is otherworldy in spotting nocturnal creatures. True, we have 2 big spotlights to shine onto the banks, but at one point he actually leaps from the boat to retrieve a large month lounging in a tree away from shore. He also brings us 2 different frogs, each about as big as a fingertip. The grand prize was a juvenile cayman - part of the crocodilian family - which he leaned over to pluck from the black water. I admit to some misery during the return trip. No new bites thanks to a generous coating of DEET, but much grief from my old crop. Bites and bladder = I've got issues. Can we speed this thing up a little?

The Jury's Out

Sunday October 11 I'm keeping an open mind because it's a handy thing to have. Our Machu Picchu group was so wonderful - perfect size and a good vibe. The 25-person Amazon group contains 10 friends who came together and who are my philosophical polar opposites. What an opportunity to practice tolerance, mi amigos! Soon we shall bond over the place and its wonders, I think. We went out in George's boat this morning (highly recommended by our MP crew as a superior naturalist) spotting several pink dolphins, a hawk, turkey buzzard, iguanas and numerous birds. It's amazing how our naturalists can spot small animals on shore and in the foliage from a moving boat. Our afternoon excursion was incredible. We saw toucans tiny monkeys, gray and pink dolphins, macaws, storks, and several species of hawks. Near the end of our outing, we came upon a river family moving toward Iquitos to market a thousand catfish that were part of their "houseboat". The fish were contained in front of their living platform in a large fenced contrivance that enclosed by an underwater net that appeared to extend several feet under water. Both of the excursion boats pulled up to the fence, one on each side while we watched the father jump into the fenced pen and retrieve 15 catfish from the depths. He relayed these to his son who then tossed the beasties into the front of our boat. You know what we will be eating tomorrow. Pretty incredible. Add to that one spectacular sunset and you have paradise, my friends. We have live entertainment before dinner and two of the young crew guys ask me to dance. We are all old enough to be their mothers but they are good sports in keeping the passengers entertained. I am happy to oblige and for the chance to move around a bit but end up paying dearly for the festivities because I came DEETless to the party. The resulting welts itch like a mother. Everyone wants to sit near me on the boats, because I summon all the insects and they are unmolested. My friend Ellen says, "Take one for the team, Jane!" Ron calls me the Swedish smorgasbord for the Amazon insects.

Lima to Iquitos

Saturday 10/10 This morning in Lima, we have a tour of the colonial city and see a majestic square containing the Supreme court building, the Presidential palace and the largest catherdral in the city. Very beautiful, all. Religion and government are joined at the hip. We tour the home of an important Spaniard who came to Lima with Piazrro and who´s descendents have lived in the home for all subsequent generations. We go through a Franciscan abbey and, at one point, descent into the catacombs to see the thigh bones and occasional skulls of thousands of Limans who, in exchange for their monetary support of the abbey, were buried directly under the church´s altar area. We so wanted photos, but they were forbidden. Some observations: there is a definite unease, I think, between Lima and Cusco, the Andean people and the Limans who seem, except for the recent wave of immigrants from the country, to identify more with the Spanish. Also, Cusco was the capital before the Spanish conquest when the Spanish changed it to Lima for purposes of efficient export of the country´s riches to Spain. Cusco people show more pride and recognition of their Incan cultue, the native peoples and the old religion. The Quechuan language is still strong in the Andes and the people still practice the ancient religion, often joining it to catholicism. The lifestyles, food and elevation distinguish the city dwellers from the mountain peoples. So now we leave both Lima and the Andes and fly to Iquitos and the river people of the Amazon. We stay only long enough to collect our luggage, sweat a little in our Lima clothes, and board the "best bus in Iquitos" - the only one with air conditioning - for a 90-minute ride to our boat on the newly completed road between Iquitos and Nauta. This saves many miles of navigation in the dry season when the river is low, so we will have time for more excursions during our week on the ship. The bus comes equipped with a guard who does little to inspire confidence since he seems to doze most of the way. We eventually unfold ourselves, exit the bus, and board our skiffs to the awaiting La Amatista. All aboard!

Alone in Lima

Ron´s intestinal issues appear to be abating after a long night´s sleep. I, too, benefit from a few extra hours. After we collect ourselves, we walk, we shop, we walk, we get lost, we backtrack, we buy a map (muy soles) and we finally take a cab to the beach. We walk, we shop, we talk to many people in fractured Spanish and, finally, without hesitation, we walk about an hour and a half back to our hotel with nary a misstep. Tomorrow, the Amazon and no more Internet until we return to Lima. Adios, amigos!

Cusco to Lima

A good night´s sleep although Ron is ailing. Imodiam may do the trick. Ah, the challenges of travel. After breakfast (un poquito, por favor) we tour what was the religious center of Cusco. The Spaniards removed all the gold and silver and tore down what walls they could, building a church atop what remained. Retribution occured in the 1950´s when a large earthquake revealed a huge outer wall of the former temple. That part of the building and an adjacent garden remain today as the Incan temple, but the place is owned by the Catholics who maintain a church, quarters for nuns and priests and a girls´ school run by the nuns. Then on to the ariport in Cusco where we bid a fond farewell - hugs all around - to our dear guides, Angel and Percy. In Lima, we meet our city guide and are off to the Archeological Museum for a tour. We are not at our best plus we have been spoiled by Angel and Percy and their tender care. Finally, it´s over (Ron waits outside) and we go to lunch and then to our hotel where we say more good byes to our friends from the tour. To our room and later to bed. Bueños notches.

Happy Birthday to Me

Up this morning to pack and eat breakfast before the slow and hot train trip up from M.P. to Cusco at 11,152 feet. No wonder that altitude laid me low. M.P. was a veritable breeze at 9,000 feet. We leave the rain and board our deliciously cool bus at Ollantaytambo and arrive after 1 1/2 hours at Sacsaywuman which Angel has helpfully named Sexy Woman for us Anglos. It´s a fabulous spiritual celebratory area consisting of a huge flat field built for viewing pageants, round hills (symbolizing butterflies) and 3 terraced areas comprised of monster granite boulders. It´s Incan and is estimated to have been 50 years in construction. The lower terrace has the highest walls (much olbiterated by the Spanish) with the heaviest boulder at over 100 tons. And how did an ancient people obtain such a boulder and then move it into position? A marvel for you. Back in the bus, Gus, to Cusco proper with lunch on the town´s main square followed by a tour of the main catherdral. No hats, no photos, please, and no name, it´s simply called the Basilica Cathedral. It is insanely huge and literally the most elaborate and ornate place of worship I´ve ever seen. Apparently, the Spaniards built a large number of churches in Cusco, . The better to conquer and since the country is almost completely Catholic, they did a good job. We land at our hotel, all spent, and rest until dinner. Ron is unwell, but rises from the ashes to attend our farewell dinner. Yet another round of fine dining. When dessert is served, the lights go off and I am presented a birthday cake followed by a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday". Gereat way to end our time in the Sacred Valley.

Machu Picchu

The ruins were "discovered" by Hiram Bingham, a Yale professor, in 1911. A local man told him about MC when he was in the area, so he followed up and there you go. You are not shocked to hear that Yale has been in possession of thousands of artifacts from the site for years and, although they´ve promised to return some 350 relics this year, none has yet arrived. For Christmas, perhaps? Ron and I, along with our friends Sunny and Young Kim, opt for a 5:50 A.M. departure from the hotel in order to see sunrise from M.P. "Guardhouse". Alas, we are too late for sunrise but do witness the beautiful light and quite a bit of solitude. After some discussion, I decide to continue climbing another 1,000 feet to the Sun Gate. I go with Percy, our assistant guide who´s finishing his studies in tourism at the university in Cusco. We see many hikers going down to M.P., completing a 4-day walk on the Inca trail. And a fragrant bunch they are. To the showers with ye! The hike definitely kicks ass, but after an hour´s climb, we have our reward. Very great to see the new and the old Inca trails converge in one spot and to enjoy the vistas laid us before us, most prominently Machu Picchu. Heavenly. After a 40-minute descent, Percy and I explore the other side of the ruins - the town area. When we wait for the bus an hour later, my feet are throbbing a little, but it is with a great feeling of accomplishment. My hat is off to my friends Sally and Cindy who did the Inca trail walk. You guys are strong! Before dinner we have a most interesting ceremony to honor and thank Pachimama (not sure of spelling) the earth mother goddess of the Quechuan people and the Incas. An Andean priest performs the ceremony with all of us sitting on square stools in a semicircle with the priest in the middle. He displays numerous totems and bowls of seeds, minerals, grains and the sacred coca leaves (which he chews throughout) all on a large and beautiful handmade blanket. Angel explains that the coca leaf is to cocaine as grapes are to wine with neither the leaf nor the grape mind-altering. Some of the doctors in our group are dubious. The numbers two (yin and yan) and three (akin to the trinity but in this case ancestors below, us at the mid and the afterlife at the high) are sacred to the Quechuan. Each of us receives 3 coca leaves on which we exhale three times, give to the priest along with our names, and and watch as he also exhales on our leaves and utters incantations for our well-being. Very kind of him. He also comes both in front and behind each of us with what looked like a palm to chant more blessings for us. At the closing, we join hands, the priest prays and we raise our hands for three shouts of joy using a Quechuan word. The ceremony is complete as we all exchanged hugs. As good as church!

Urubamba to Machu Picchu

Up early, carefully selecting what will be in my small day pack and overnight bag since we send the main luggage back to Cusco with our driver, Jose. I feel fairly well and so happy that my gross headache has departed. My arms still tingle, but so what? A bit of breakfast, and a precautionary lie-down which turns into savasana, yoga corpse pose, with legs up the wall. Bliss! Then to the bus for the train station in Ollantaytambo, named for a Quechan warrior who aspired to marry the Inca´s daughter and finally suceeded after a battle, of course. We go to the home of local people who show us their one room complete with a gaggle, cache, warren or is it herd of guinea pigs which occupy a corner of the home. These are raised for the family´s consumption on very special occasions. They are considered a delicacy. One pig per person, please, as they are very expensive if ordered in a restaurant. To make up for a dearth of buying yesterday, I purchase some post cards from a street vendor and a few gifts from the woman at her home. We dine al fresco today for lunch with a musician playing a variety of Peruvian intstruments and later kick ourselves for not buying his C.D. Quickly to the train station and on to our hotel. We check in, take 5 minutes and hasten to the lobby for our bus to Machu Picchu. We make the most of our time there with Angel showing us the significant religious aspects of the city and seeing vistas impressive beyond imagining. I think the Quechuans were right to believe that the mountains were sacred and they certainly built a city deserving of the setting. It´s a marvel of engineering, astronomy, physics and city planning. How they constructed windows to perfectly reflect their openings onto the ground exactly on the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice remains a true mysetery. It is hard to imagine such a people with not writing. Many speculate that this was destroyed by the Spanish along with much of the Quechuan culture when they came to capture Peru. We left MP near sundown, coming down those switchbacks at a speed daunting in the fading light. Just time to shower before our Pisco Sour making deomonstration in the bar. Okay, it´s Peru´s national drink. I had to try one. Three shots of pisco, plus other good stuff and I was damn near on my ass. Could not finish the thing as I do appreciate being coherent when I try to converse. Off to our room to nurse our enlarging and heat radiation no-see-ém bites which prefectly illuminate all those areas where we´d failed to apply DEET.

Near Misses

Today we meet our group (all good) and the 13 of us fly to Cusco, elevation 11,152 feet. At the airport in Lima , we proceed to our gate and then all head outside to board a jitney that will take us to our small plane. For some reason, I look inside my carry-on to see a sickening black hole that should have contained my purse. Upon telling my hero, he shouts, "Go!" I sprint back to the terminal offering the briefest of explanations to the guards and gate personnel. I dash to where I thought we´d been sitting, only to spot my beloved handbag abandonned on a bank of seats. Oh thank you to the angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven! We land in Cusco, where, in spite of the high altitude meds, I start to feel compromised almost immediately. Ron is fine. We meet our guides, Angel and Percy (both adorable) and our driver, Jose. Because it´s a bit crowded on Sunday, we take an alternate route which brings us through a poor area of Cusco where the houses are built on the mountain side and there is only one road that continues out of town. Since few of the residents have cars, there is one way up and one way down into Cusco - a series of steep staircases by which the children go to school, the women to market, and the men to work. It´s nearly vertical and it´s a long way. Awesome! We drive through Urubamba, the Sacred Valley, I with a pounding headache, bouts of tingling limbs, and some occasional dizziness. I fall into a stupor on the bus, dozing as we go. We stop in Chincero for a demonstration of spinning wool and alpaca (on a hand-held spindle that looks like a top), dyeing (using plants and minerals), and weaving (using a contrivance that fits around the weaver´s back and attaches in front to a pole, door, etc., so that the weaver´s feet stretch out in front of her.) The men wear what looks like ski caps with long sides to cover their ears which they knit themselves. I am feeling too compromised to shop for anything after the demonstation. We drive on to lunch for which I rally briefly. Once at our very luxurious hotel in Urubamba, I sink into bed despite the beauty of the grounds which deserve exploration. I sleep until Angel´s Inca lecture at 7 P.M. BTW, the word Inca refers only to the king. His subjects are the Quechuan people. We go to dinner but after the pumpkin soup, I must go back to the room and leave the others to enjoy dinner while I bathe, pack my small overnight back for Aguas Caliente and go to bed, praying that my symptoms will abate. Good news: We have several doctors in our group so there is no limit to the assistance I can muster, should that be needed.

Lima on our Own

The transfer from the airport to the Swissotel was the most painless part of the journey. Very efficient so long as you kept your eyes averted from the road. As in China, stop lights and street signs appear to be suggestions amd no one likes to have more than a few inches between them and and car in front of them, never mind if there are only a few people on the road. I slept in, thanking the universe for the extra day in Lima before starting the tour. My soggy head awakened me, as well as a rather powerful need for caffeine. I am truly a slave to the stuff. Ron´s already downed a couple of cups which meant that I completed a hasty toilette in anticipation of coffee at the breakfast that awaited. After eating, we set out for a walk, armed with a street map of our district called Miraflores. We floundered a bit at the onset, but got our bearings and spent quite awhile walking in Bosque El Olivar (Olive Grove Park). Ron admired a charcoal drawing of the trees by one of several students on assignment in the park. After we`d walked another five or ten minutes, the boy ran up to us to give Ron another drawing he had in his portfolio. A lovely gift and representative of the kindness with which we were treated throughout the day. Many policemen on bicycles and guards outside the foreign embassies approached us to try a few words in English or to speak to us in rapid fire Spanish. My few phrases en Español got a workout although I did understand quite a bit. Ron was impressed, the dear man. Between a morning and an afternoon outing, yes, siesta in between, we walked almost 8 miles. Oh, I found a Starbucks during our afternoon walk. That latte was damn near equisite. We`re joining the tour tomorrow at 7 A.M., right after breakfast. We`ll be rested and ready.

LA to Lima

there will be precious little punctuation here, gang, so just go with it. the keyboard is en español. so, we leave home and our friend terry provides a smooth trip to lax where we debark on the curb outside the tom bradley international terminal, or what i affectionately call the bowels of hell. not so bad today. it`s bright and sunny and we wait in line by a window. the personnel at lan are organized and professional and they need every bit of it to hold back the hoardes. as usual, luggage is piled high and teeters atop various conveyances. it`s about an hour to get through to our gate where we set up shop. ron pays $8 for a cup of mediocre coffee so after he finds out we get 2 meals on the plane, i eat my apple and decide to wait. we have 2 seats to ourselves on the plane and our trip is marred only by the guy in front of ron keeping his seat fully reclined for the entire trip. i feel like he`s in the row with us. also, i have increased appreciation for immigrants because it becomes quite annoying to not understand anything the staff says until they get around to the translation, which does little to improve our understanding. i never did get the the second dinner choice but it could have been a pasta dish. i stuck with the chicken. we land after midnight and are still facing baggage claim, customs, finding our tour guide and getting to the hotel and, at last, our room.