Friday, 23 March: After two more days of smooth sailing and nice weather, this morning we arrived in the familiar port of Puntarenas. We visited here in 2013 on our world cruise and once again we enjoyed walking around the craft market next to the ship.
Interesting to note that most houses had bars on the windows and doors and many properties were surrounded by barbed wire and razor wire. I don’t think I would like to walk around these areas after dark.
Today, 19 March, we’re spending overnight in Lima because one of the excursions leaving this morning is going to Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas, and not returning to the ship until tomorrow morning. Would be nice to do, but due to the level of activity and issues with the high elevation, we’ve decided that this excursion is not for us.
Yesterday, we got some info about security issues in Lima, with reports of armed robbery and other street crimes against foreign tourists and have been advised to use the shuttle buses rather than local taxis. Unfortunately, we made a bit of an error and thought that the shuttle bus we took would take us to a market. Instead we were dropped off at a shopping mall, very similar to what we have at home. So nothing much to do there.
We were also advised to only visit the popular tourist areas in large groups and to minimize the amount of jewellery worn and that the area next to the pier was not safe. In view of this, we were quite happy to get back on board. Not a place we would go out of our way to visit again, so Lima was a bit of a non-event for us and our general impression of the city was gained in our 40-minute bus trip to the mall and back.
We’ve just had two more sea days – which we enjoy so much. There are a lot of activities going on around the ship and the weather is getting warmer, so many passengers are taking advantage of the sun to swim and lounge around the spas and three swimming pools.
This morning, Sunday 18 March, we headed off to see some of Peru. One of the few counties where the desert goes right down to the ocean. Once again, quite a long coach ride of about 90-minutes each way to reach our destination of Tambo Colorado, to explore one of Peru’s best-preserved examples of Inca coastal architecture, dating back to 1470. Once home to about 200 special women, who may have been sold or sacrificed, there was much still intact, even down to faded bands of red, still visible on the outer walls. We walked through several living areas on different levels, bed chambers, bathrooms etc while the guide told us how the Incas came to reign over such a vast empire. Very interesting history.
We passed through the town of Pisco, where the very poor live in shanty town, with no electricity or water connected; others in small square houses, flat roofed with unfinished upper floors to avoid paying taxes. The result is depressing, with lots of rubble on top of the houses. Some buildings are collapsing and left as is.
Even though we had driven through sand dunes near the ship, there were green areas further along where farmers have utilized bore water to grow fields of corn, asparagus, cotton and grapes, using centuries-old irrigation techniques. We also saw nomads with their goat herds who eke out a living by selling goats cheese.
Something of interest was our guide’s mention of Pisco Sour. We told him we’d tried it several times already, to which he laughed and said that this drink is really the national drink of Peru, not Chile! Who knows? We did pass through the town of Pisco, after all! It sounds like a bit of rivalry between the two countries about this special brandy. When we got back to the ship, there was a market set up outside and, on his recommendation, I found someone giving out sample shots and tried it straight, without the lemon – it had quite a kick.
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