Category: Peru Trip

On Saturday I got up around a quarter to nine and had a nice shower. I woke Dave up and then went back downstairs and had breakfast of tea and fruit with Ana Maria. She and I arranged the details of our return to Lima the following Saturday. Then Dave and I packed up our bags, including one suitcase that we left with Ana Maria.

We got into a taxi at 10:30 am and were at the airport by 10:50 am. There was basically no traffic. Everything was smooth checking in, checking our luggage, etc. We walked over toward the gate and were told we had to pay an airport tax before we could go through security. That was pretty annoying but we did it anyway.

When we got into the waiting area, there was no gate yet assigned for our flight, so we waited in a general waiting area, next to a huge sign that said “Peru – Birthplace of the Potato”. Finally the gate was assigned to our flight so we moved to the waiting area for that gate, which was more cramped and full of passengers than the general waiting area.
Continue reading “Travel to Cusco” →

On Friday we got up around 10 am, determined to get out into the city a bit earlier than we had the day before. We got into a taxi around 11:30 am and headed for the place where Ana Maria works. She is the director of a chain of preschools, called Nido Casuarinas, where children learn in both English and Spanish and are encouraged to do a lot of learning and exploration. Our destination this morning was the preschool’s main location.

Once we got there, it took a bit of doing to locate Ana Maria. She was in a meeting, so she asked one of the staff members to give us a tour of the preschool. It was absolutely darling and it is amazing what they are able to get such small children to do and learn.
Continue reading “Spending Time with our Peruvian Friends” →

On Thursday we slept in and got up around 10 am. We had a bit of breakfast and hung out with Mariana, who doesn’t start work until 2 pm.

A few comments about where we found ourselves at this point. Lima is a large, modern city with corporations, malls, expressways, etc. The population is approximately 8 million, many of whom live in normal middle class homes, and many more of whom live in poverty on the outskirts of the city. The friends I have in Lima are educators at private schools and come from established families in Peru, so our experience of Lima was solidly the former rather than the latter.
Continue reading “Seeing the Sights in Lima” →

Our trip to Peru began on Tuesday, June 20. Even though our flight was scheduled for 2:00 am on Wednesday the 21st, that meant we had to be at the airport in Los Angeles no later than 11 pm, which meant we had to leave San Diego no later than 9 pm.

Our friend Kim generously offered to drive us to LAX – she was planning to visit her family in the LA area anyway, so it wasn’t much out of her way to take us to the airport. She picked us up around 8 pm. We made a quick stop at her house and then we were on the road. We arrived at LAX around 10 pm. Thanks a bunch, Kim!!
Continue reading “Traveling South – Across the Equator” →

We’re off to Peru very shortly! Here’s a rough sketch of where we’ll be, though what we’ll be doing while we’re there will largely be determined by people other than ourselves. Hopefully we won’t die on the Inca Trail at 13000 feet!
Continue reading “Peru Plans” →