We had a few things to do in Lima to get ourselves ready. Tony
tried to look for a sun hat to save him from a burny death but no hat
could be found that was big enough! This kept the local
shopkeepers amused. So after that fruitless search we headed for
lunch with the group. So Anne, we had an amazing drink called Chicha
which is made from purple sweetcorn and Tony is now addicted to
it. Sara, on the other hand, is now addicted to the national
dish, Ceviche. This is raw fish marinated in lime and served with
onion and sweet potato. It is fantastic and really refreshing on
a hot day.
In the afternoon we got on a public bus and headed to the home
of the Peruvian national drink, Pisco. There we checked into our
hotel and were served a special new years champagne dinner which was
well received. After a few Pisco Sours and beer and everything
else we headed out to the Plaza Mayor (main square) to bring in the new
year with fireworks. Not exactly like our fireworks but they were
fun and we sang Aul Lang Sine (sorry about the spelling Maire).
We dodged the street fires back to our hotel and were asleep by
12.15. Party animals to the last! Unlike the Peruvians who
partied all night and were still going when we left the next day.
In our defense we had to be up at 5am for a tour of the Ballestas
Islands.
That was something. We headed out on a speed boat to white
capped islands. We should explain that the caps were not snow but
one of Peru´s most important resources - guano! hee hee The boat
ride was amazing and we got to see many different sea birds and a
colony of sea-lions. We even got to see a few penguins. It
was an amazing experience, so amazing that we are going to use to word
amazing too many times. Amazing! But it is better described
by pictures so have a look at them (when we get a chance to upload
them!).
To calm us down after the islands we took a tour of a Pisco
distillery where they make Pisco in the traditional manner. It
was an interesting tour and we got to sample many of their
products. The best one we bought - mango jam. OK so not
alcoholic but great nonetheless. Btw, Pisco is really nice and
really strong. We would not recommend very many on a hot
day.
Especially if you are going sandboarding. That´s right!
We headed off into the desert to an oasis and we were taken on a
dune-buggy to some very high and steep sand dunes. The buggy was
spinning and driving around really fast, up and down dunes like nothing
real and we suspect the driver had one to many pisco sours! But
he was a great guy and very friendly and took great joy at helping
us lay face first on snowboards and propelling us down near
vertical dunes at least 30 meters tall. There were fearful
faces. There were screams. Then there was laughing and
cries of, "Can I do that again!?!?!" We all got a few goes at
higher and higher dunes and by the end we were fearless. It
was fantastic and over way too soon. Anne and Fran, don´t be
scared. Just enjoy every minute of it.
We are now in Nazca, a desert town and home of the famous Nazca lines. But that is for later ...
More thumbnails ...
7 votes 
