LIMA - HUACACHINA - PERU - Jado’s dream - and an honour to share it with him

Nov 27

MON NOV 24 – DAY 46 – LIMA, PERU

We were up 4:30am again, out the door by 5am to walk 1 ½ miles to our pick up point for our tour. This was a big big day and one of the most looked forward to by Jado (and myself) for a long time.

We started with a 4-hour bus ride. Jado slept. It was about zero degrees on the bus and I was wearing a small tank and shorts. It was one of the longest rides of my entire life, the AC was blasting at top speed the entire ride. Everyone on the bus was bundled up in parkas. I could not focus no one thought other than how much my bones hurt from the cold.

Our first stop was a small market and we got 15 minutes. The first shop I walked into, I asked if they had pantalones?? I bought a pair of thin Colombia pants ..omg never been so happy for pants in my entire life. Thin but better than nothing.

Our first part of the excursion was a boat ride. We went out on the Pacific Ocean to see seals, penguins, birds.. and did not manage to see whales nor dolphins. I have never seen that amount of birds flying it didn’t feel real.

After the boat ride, the next part of our day we visited a winery, had lunch and tasted many local alcohols. It was a great experience!

Then finally.. what we drove all this way for. HUACACHINA. The desert sand dunes. Oh my!! Huacachina is a tiny village just west of the city of ICA in Southwestern Peru. It is in the middle of a desert. At its center are green waters of the lagoon, palm trees surrounding the lagoon. There are many bars and clubs here. The population of Huacachina is 100 people!! But 10’s of 1000’s of people visit this little village each year. This village is incredible and a sight to see - wow!

This was a day for the memory books. We ripped around in the dune buggy, stopped for photo opportunities.. and we sledded down the sand dunes on boards. Jado rented skiis, he is the only one who got skiis. It was definitely sticky and not fast but a very cool experience – and just what he was hoping for.

My first run, I went farther than anyboy else. My 2nd one, the guy messed me up and I went sideways down a hill and tumbled.

It was really an amazing day, we met great people, ate good food, did many things we have never done before, and took pics to forever have the memories.

Then the 4 hour bus ride back. Ugh! But worth it. An amazing day!

TUES NOV 25 – DAY 47 – LIMA, PERU

We slept a little longer today. Got up and walked to local markets, and for lunch.

We were picked up at 1:45pm for a city tour. We ended up becoming great friends with 3 people on our tour from Boston, originally from Brazil. Vitor and Alice are brother and sister, and Vitor is married to Bianca.

The tour was incredible, the history and the underground tour was not for believing. All the underground tunnels with 1000’s of bodies bones as a sort of museum. With vents to the main cathedral so you can hear everything above. He said they are linked to the Vatican, and the Vatican has many many secrets, even that this particular tunnel is believed to reach 600 miles to other cities.

When the tour ended, Jado and I rushed to a fancy restaurant because we knew we had to try ceviche in Lima, it is famous there. We gobbled it down, as he was wanting to meet his new friends to watch a Flamengo football match at a local pub. The entire street was full of fans – what we didn’t realize is the team that we saw play in Rio, is play for the championship here in Lima on Saturday. The stadium holds 80,000 people and it was sold out in minutes. Our friends are here because of this game and there are 1000’s of Brazillians here for the same reason. We had already sent Jado’s new jersey home with Jorg, but he had a University football team hat on which by fluke is the stadium where the game will be playing. So he fit right in, they had a blast and he didn’t get home till after midnight.

I went home after dinner to pack and prepare for my early flight.

WED NOV 26 – DAY 48 – LIMA, PERU TO QUITO, ECUADOR

I was up at 5:30 to get myself ready and uber to the airport. My flight departs 8:50 and it’s an international flight so I have to be at airport by 6:50 and it is an hour drive. Jado’s flight is tonight 11pm so he has the day in Lima.

I arrived, ordered and Uber and ended up staying w my Uber driver in Quito all day until 7pm. I didn’t have plans today, my tour tomorrow is all encompassing. He offered to show me around, we dropped my bags at my hostel – and we had a great day. Visited the largest Basiica in the Americas…. Something I have never seen before, absolutely massive. Climbed wiry stairs to the very top and took photos. What an experience. After our day, we had dinner at a quaint Italian pasta place with live music. It was lovely.. I had a great day, thanks Alex!

Jado spent the whole day with the Boston friends. Ubered to the airport in time to fly out at 11pm.

Lima, I rate you 8.5/10. An incredible city with so much to offer! Great restaurants, beaches, concerts, and so much more. Loved it!

RECAP OF PERU

Cusco is a smaller city with just over 500K population. The thing about Cusco though is it has so many incredible attractions around it.

Lima is the capital of Peru with almost 11 Million residents. We really enjoyed Lima, it reminded me so much of California! The coastline is very similar to L.A. – the beaches feel the same. It was incredible.

The downtown city is beautiful, full of architecture. The underground tunnels under the cathedral was incredible.

Miaflores where we stayed was great. Touristy, trendy, lively, and felt like a great place to stay.

Peru is special. Driving around this country was not for believing. Breathtaking! This has to be the best for me on this trip behind Parguay for personal reasons.

Peru, I rate you 9/10. A very special country. Jado’s dream to visit, and I felt honoured to be able to share it with him.

4 hour bus ride to HUACACHINA from LIMA .. boat ride to see sea lions and penguins.. the rock is in the shape of Jesus face

winery for lunch and tasters… some were strong lol

HUACACHINA - Jado hustled and got the only pair of skiis to rent, everyone else got snow boards.. pretty cool

Dune buggy rides through the dunes, i felt like we were going to tip .. met some friends, a great gal from Texas named Julie!

The next day exploring Miaflores - and a central downtown tour - met our new Boston friends

Markets

then Jado went out with them to watch a Flamengo's match at a local pub after we tried the infamous Lima ceviche

I said goodbye early the next morning, caught an Uber to the airport - heading to Quito, Ecuador

Jado spent his last day with Vitor, Alice and Bianca from Boston

Last pics show Jorg flying to Briercrest, Caronport to reunite with her friends from last year she had the best weekend