FAREWELL ECUADOR, HELLO PERU!

After our sojourn in the Galapagos Islands, we returned to Quito to catch our flight to Lima.

Lima is a surprising city. We stayed in an area called Miraflores which at one time was the refuge of the wealthy residents of Lima, now just another suburb. The children enjoyed watching the surfers and paragliders from the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. David especially appreciated the beautiful colonial architecture and wooden balconies that overhang the streets which are typical of Lima.

Our next jaunt was a flight south to Ica and Nazca. We flew in 9 seater plane over the Nazca Lines which are mysterious markings in the form of a monkey, hummingbird, lizards and geometrical shapes and are only visible from the air. The pilot, thinking he was doing us a favour, made sure he banked steeply right and left to ensure everyone got a good look! Didn't see much as my eyes were shut and I just managed to hold onto breakfast! David and the children enjoyed it though! But not as much as the dune buggying and sand boarding we did upon our return to Ica!

Ica is a town surrounded by some of the highest sand dunes in South America. We hired a guide and a buggy and torn off into the desert! It was a blast and the guide stopped at the top of the dunes and unloaded some boards. Even James blasted down the slopes which were quite steep and long!


































We then headed south again to spend a few days in Arequipa and the Colca Canyon.

Arequipa has survived dispite the fact that it sits in the shadow of 3 volanoes and is on a fault line and experiences 10 tremors a day! It was quit a contrast to Lima which is much bigger and grey and overcast for much of the year. It is very pretty with a lovely main square. It is also at 2500m so it was good to acclimatize to the altitude before heading inland to the Colca Canyon, Cusco and Machu Picchu.































From Arequipa we traversed another range of mountains, and crossed the altiplano, climbing as high as 4900 metres at Pati Pampas and marked the occasion by constructing a rock tower to accompany the 1000 or so others at he same spot. Will made the mistake of leaping out of the coach and running after David. Not the thing to do at altitude and he soon returned to the coach feeling breathless and unwell! From this point we could see the mountain whose melt waters are the furthest sourcwe of the Amazon. Travelling across this cold flat plain, we saw nothing but the occasional rough hamlet, herds of alpaca, llamas and the wild timid and elegant Vicuna.