I arrive at about 5.30am into Lima, and head through to be picked up by G Adventures, this is my next tour company who I will be with in Peru from Lima to Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail, Cuzco, to Puno and Lake Titicaca. I notice almost straight away a drop in temperature, and it's very misty!
I get picked up at the airport and taken to the hotel Antigua Miraflores, checkin and get my room and straight away laundry is my only priority as I literally have nothing left to wear. I decide a nap is the best thing, so rest until my laundry is returned at midday, have to say that's pretty great service to have it back same day it's not massively cheap but didn't break the bank thankfully. I also meet my room mate Laura a Canadian living in the US, she has planned this trip around turning 30 on the day we get to Machu Picchu.
I decide to have a wander around Miraflores which is a district I guess you could say within the city of Lima and maybe a little shopping, I had hoped to pick up some hiking sandals for the Inca Trail just in case... I head to the outdoor shopping mall overlooking the Pacific coastline in Lima. I find plenty of hiking shops, all with what I am looking for but none go over a size 5 1/2 UK!!!! Seems like in Peru everyone has tiny feet. I grab a nice salad and some empanadas in one of the many fabulous restaurants in the mall, starting to get the hang of reading Spanish now so it's not too hard to get something where I know exactly what I am getting... just about, and again happy to see the Wifi is readily available here too.
I have to say that in my entire trip I think only one place didn't have free wifi, pretty impressive.... Makes me think that I need to try in London to see just how wired we are in comparison with South America and the Caribbean!!
Anyway, I take a walk back along the coastline, the mist of the Pacific having now cleared and it's a beautiful sunny day. I end up at a lovely park, Parque de L'Amour. It's nice and peaceful with lots of couples. The trees all have love declarations carved into them, and there is a huge statue of an embracing couple it's really quite a lovely park to chill out in.
That evening it's time to meet the tour group, it's a nice small group so obviously I have already met Laura, 6pm we meet our guide Yuri, Curtis and Rachel from Canada, Jean and Bob from the UK, Kent and Peggy and Kathy from Canada also. Yuri runs through the next day and the plans, and preparation for packing for the rainforest trip which is first on the agenda. Everyone seems in good spirits and I'm really looking forward to the trip. I cry off dinner, still recovering from my huge salad and empanadas at lunch (well more like lunch-dinner seeing as I didn't eat till about 4pm... So I head off for a mammoth packing challenge, now I have 4 bags to juggle!! I need to pack a bag for 3 days in the Amazon Jungle separately as well as everything else I have, the challenge of the jungle being long sleeve top and trousers... It's easy really as I only have 1 long sleeve top, and 1 long trouser light enough for tropical jungle heat! Done! Early start tomorrow 7am departure time.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment