We decided to stay at an airbnb in Lima which had secure parking for Ruby. Our hosts were the lovely Michael and Fatima who ran the Velo cafe from the bottom of the apartment block, where we sat and chatted in the evenings. Lima was a crazy city to drive in and we only drove when necessary-which was to go to the mechanics for a full service. We were waiting to turn right in a line of cars, when the traffic policewoman decided none of us could turn right and we should all back up and head a different way. Now only ourselves and the car in front could see her indicating this to us and not the cars behind us-so we could not reverse or else we would back into the car behind us. The poor car in front of us was so intent on following the policewoman`s direction, that he did not notice that we had not moved backwards-and even though I honked our very loud horn to tell him to STOP reversing-and gave the policewoman a LOOK to tell her to stop telling him to go backwards-he still backed straight into us! Well we expected the policewoman to come over and , at the minimum, at least for the driver to get out and we would swap details! Oh no-the policewoman just stared blankly at us, told us to drive on and we did-leaving the guys car with its bumper hanging off! We had no damage whatsoever.
We enjoyed our time in Lima-the capital of Peru-and visited the old town-which was full of beautiful plazas and buildings and Miraflores-the modern part of town. On one trip to the old town, we came upon a group of older people who were dancing to salsa music in a square. Others watched them, whilst knitting, chatting and just generally having a lovely time with their friends. Gav and I sat down to watch them and you can guess the rest. I could not resist joining them and I ended up dancing very badly, but with much enthusiasm, with the elderly ladies who were so happy and we laughed a lot.
One evening, in the Velo cafe, Gav and I had 3 great cocktails prepared for us by Michael. We then went to bed and fell fast asleep. The next day-we saw Michael in the afternoon and he told us that at midnight, his partner, Fatima, had fallen when coming out of the shower and really hurt herself. He told us she was screaming in agony(their apartment was just above ours) and that he knocked on our door to see if we could help. The ambulance came and noisily managed to manoeuvre her on a stretcher down the corridor and stairs outside our apartment whilst she screamed in pain. We did not hear a thing! we must have been knocked out by the cocktails-we couldn`t believe it! That evening, the Velo cafe got quite busy and Michael was on his own due to Fatima`s accident. We stepped in to help and had a great 2 hours waiting on tables, making crepe mix and washing up. I felt a little like Manuel from Fawlty Towers serving at the table with my limited Spanish and quite clumsy nature!
We enjoyed our time in Lima-the capital of Peru-and visited the old town-which was full of beautiful plazas and buildings and Miraflores-the modern part of town. On one trip to the old town, we came upon a group of older people who were dancing to salsa music in a square. Others watched them, whilst knitting, chatting and just generally having a lovely time with their friends. Gav and I sat down to watch them and you can guess the rest. I could not resist joining them and I ended up dancing very badly, but with much enthusiasm, with the elderly ladies who were so happy and we laughed a lot.
One evening, in the Velo cafe, Gav and I had 3 great cocktails prepared for us by Michael. We then went to bed and fell fast asleep. The next day-we saw Michael in the afternoon and he told us that at midnight, his partner, Fatima, had fallen when coming out of the shower and really hurt herself. He told us she was screaming in agony(their apartment was just above ours) and that he knocked on our door to see if we could help. The ambulance came and noisily managed to manoeuvre her on a stretcher down the corridor and stairs outside our apartment whilst she screamed in pain. We did not hear a thing! we must have been knocked out by the cocktails-we couldn`t believe it! That evening, the Velo cafe got quite busy and Michael was on his own due to Fatima`s accident. We stepped in to help and had a great 2 hours waiting on tables, making crepe mix and washing up. I felt a little like Manuel from Fawlty Towers serving at the table with my limited Spanish and quite clumsy nature!
After Lima, we headed for the Paracas national reserve and the Islas Ballestas. The Paracas reserve was stunning-it is a coastal desert with simply beautiful scenery, the different colours of the sand in the desert and the rugged coastline. We had a great time driving all over the desert which stretched as far as the eye could see and we set up our wild camp overlooking a red sandy beach with crashing waves. What a place to sleep and wake up to in the morning. We caught an early morning boat at 8am for a 2 hour tour of the Islas Ballestas. The trip stated with a visit to the Candelabra, a large scale geoglyph in the sand of the desert, whose origins are unknown but cause much speculation. We then saw a massive colony of pelicans before heading to the rocky Ballestas islands. The islands are home to thousands of birds-including penguins, blue footed boobies and the guanay guano bird. We also saw many sea lions on the rocks. The islands are very rugged and picturesque and well worth a visit.
Following our boat trip-we headed for Nazca, stopping at a view point where you could see a couple of the Nazca lines. The Nazca lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs in the Nazca desert. Hundreds are simple lines and geometric shapes and more than 70 are designs of animals. Scholars believe that they were created by the Nazca culture between 500 BC and AD 500. The designs are shallow lines made in the ground by removing the reddish pebbles and uncovering the whitish/grayish ground beneath. The largest figures are up to 1,200 ft (370 m) long.
At the end of the day we went to visit the Chauchilla cemetery outside of Nazca, where we also planned to wild camp for the night. Chauchilla Cemetery is an eerily compelling place, notable for its open pit graves where the bodies of the dead still sit were they were positioned centuries ago. Some remain complete skeletons, wrapped in shrouds, and all the skulls face east as Nazca tradition dictates.
The human remains were originally coated in resin and clothed in cotton before being placed in their open mud-brick tombs, helping to account for the remarkable preservation of the bodies. In spite of their age, many still have hair while others retain their skin. It was a fascinating, if not slightly macabre place although we got an excellent night's sleep here because there was none to disturb us, only the mummies in their graves nearby!
Following our boat trip-we headed for Nazca, stopping at a view point where you could see a couple of the Nazca lines. The Nazca lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs in the Nazca desert. Hundreds are simple lines and geometric shapes and more than 70 are designs of animals. Scholars believe that they were created by the Nazca culture between 500 BC and AD 500. The designs are shallow lines made in the ground by removing the reddish pebbles and uncovering the whitish/grayish ground beneath. The largest figures are up to 1,200 ft (370 m) long.
At the end of the day we went to visit the Chauchilla cemetery outside of Nazca, where we also planned to wild camp for the night. Chauchilla Cemetery is an eerily compelling place, notable for its open pit graves where the bodies of the dead still sit were they were positioned centuries ago. Some remain complete skeletons, wrapped in shrouds, and all the skulls face east as Nazca tradition dictates.
The human remains were originally coated in resin and clothed in cotton before being placed in their open mud-brick tombs, helping to account for the remarkable preservation of the bodies. In spite of their age, many still have hair while others retain their skin. It was a fascinating, if not slightly macabre place although we got an excellent night's sleep here because there was none to disturb us, only the mummies in their graves nearby!
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