Nasca Lines

Today is the day that determines if I, Nancy, will be able to do the trip to Antarctica. Antarctica will be my seventh continent (if you learned there are 7 continents) or my last unvisited continent depending on how many you think there are. It is has been a recent dream to step foot on all of them. We lived in several states in United States of America (MA, ME, NJ, CO) and visited a majority of them. We visited several major places in Canada (Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Niagra Falls, Montreal) visited Mexico highlights were Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tijuana. While we have not exhausted North America we have seen more than most. We have also lived in Afirca, Asia and South America for at least 2 years visiting numerous countries on each continent. Europe needs some more time but we have been to several countries there as well.

I have heard nightmare stories about the boat trip to my final frontier, Antarctica, from huge ocean swells to being stuck in a glacier. I get motion sick. I am still determined to go regardless of what I hear or videos I see.

Peru hop passes through Nazca but does not stop long enough to do the plane ride over the lines. We have been told this is an exciting adventure worth alternating our plans. We armed ourselves with our day pack; camera, extra batteries, binoculars, overnight clothes, and ginger for motion sickness.

We dropped off our big bags at the hostel where the tour guide was staying, she was going to load it on the bus for us. We left the hostel to head to the bus terminal. 10 sols for the taxi ride. The bus was from Ica to Nazca 3 hours and 11 sols per person. Does not seem right that a 5 minute taxi ride was half the price of a 3 hour journey.

The bus ride was uneventful except for the motor oil beneath our feet causing us not to be able to grip the floor on hairpin turns.

We were met by a representative from AeroNasca which was arranged by Peru Hop. Come to find out this is a new company, less than a year old. We took a short ride to the local aero port for the flight over the lines.

They weighed us and determined who would sit where on the flight, a wee bit embarrassing. We waited for about an hour for our turn, as one plane goes up at a time. Flight is about 40 minutes. Cost 80 U.S. dollars plus a 25 sols local aero port charge.

30 minutes before our turn I took some natural motion sickness meds which I have used in the past and worked well. Our tour guide collected us. We showed our passports and got to walk to the plane.

We boarded the flight, donned our earphones, looked at the map of the 10 most prominent shapes we might be able to see and are thrilled to fly!!

It is a bit snug.

We are cleared for take off and up we go. It is a smooth flight and I am excited I am not sick.

The tour guide is explaining a little bit about the lines and the location. We then come to one of the first lines, the whale. I am on the left side of the plane and Mike on the right. He got to see everything first and then the pilot would bank a hard left and circle the lines again so my side of the plane could see. 

Do you see the whale? 

Neither did I. I took this picture with my eyes closed as I was really nauseous after the hard left. My first thought was Antarctica boat trip is off the bucket list.

Even with my eyes closed I still managed to get part of the tale. This is a cropped version of the photo above.

There ends my photos of the Nasca Lines. I did see the lines I was supposed to see but was more focused on breathing in and breathing out...sounds like a blonde joke.

Actually as I look at my photos I took a few more:

Monkey

Spider 

Tree of life, it is sideways.

Astronaut

The following photos are Mike's:

The full whale

Downward dog

Condor

Another tree

Parrot

Chicken feet? hands? your guess is as good as ours.

Humming bird

Overall landscape 

No this was not taken or edited as a black and white.

Hacienda San Jose

OK since we're currently in Arequipa, sitting on the veranda of the Plaza de Armas watching the sun set on the imposing Basilica with the even more imposing Volcano El Misti in the background, it's time to catch up on a few of the places we've been over the past week. It goes so fast.  Taking our Peru Hop bus from Lima we headed south a week ago with Paracas as our destination.  Along the way we made a few stops that are included in the ticket.  The  first stop was of a war memorial just south of Lima where a large "Christo" has been erected.

According to our guide there are some 20 or so of them scattered around Lima due to the christian influence.  There was also a memorial to the solidiers and civilians who died in the Pacific War.  

This was the war that saw Chile invade Bolivia, cutting off it's access to the ocean and making it the landlocked country it is now.  But hey, they still have Lake Titicaca right? Headed there next.  Apparently this war happened, according to our guide, because the Chilean companies that were doing business along the coast harvesting guana for fertilizer (a multibillion dollar industry - who knew?) and operating under an agreement with Bolivia refused to pay an increase in taxes imposed by Bolivia, a violation of their agreement.  Bolivia said fine, don't pay, but you must leave so they confiscated all the Chilean companies assets in the area.  Chile responded by sending their army.  Apparently Bolivia and Peru had entered into a secret squirrel treaty to support each other in case of any conflicts.  Peru then was sucked into the war and since Bolivia offered little resistance to Chile, Peru saw Chile soldiers advancing well beyond the original Bolivian border until they reached Lima.   Many civilians died in the battle of Lima defending their homes and this is why nobody even knows all the names of the people who died.  A treaty was struck with Chile to end the conflict but the result was that Bolivia lost all its Pacific coast and Peru lost some as well.  Combine this with an even more important dispute over the origin of the Pisco Sour and you can begin to see why relations between these two countries remains strained.

Our next stop, and the topic of this post was an old Spanish Hacienda San Jose.  

This hacienda was built in the late 1600's and although it has been repaired extensively due to major seismic events, it's a beautiful building.  To our standards today it is a marvelous structure.  Long, wide wrap around porches, a beautiful inner courtyard, I can imagine 400 years ago what the local people must have thought of it.  

This pool table is different from any that I have ever seen, simply massive, with 28 pockets.

The hacienda relied on labor from slaves to work its fields and tend its animals.  While it started with only 17 slaves, this number eventually grew to over 1000.   I was fascinated by the old tools and machines that were on display everywhere.  

This copper tub had a date carved into it (1767).  Older than our countries government.

Eventually the government passed a tax that was based on the number of slaves you owned and being ever business minded, the owners of the hacienda took steps to hide the actual number of slaves they owned.  Due to the last earthquake which caused major damage (1995 ish?) the workers found tunnels under the hacienda that had been lost to memory.  Some 40 kilometers of tunnels have been found connecting the hacienda to other haciendas in the area as well as the coast.  The tunnels, it is believed, were used to secret the slaves from the government and also to bring slaves secretly from the port.  The slaves also were stored there in the dark, keeping them disorientated, tired, hungry and cramped. We were provided with candles to explore just a small portion of these tunnels with our guide and although the origin and purposes of the tunnels is rather tragic, exploring them was fascinating.  I could stand upright in most places which is surprising since doorways from that time are so small.

The hacienda is now operated as a boutique hotel.  Staying here would be a nice place to relax although a bit pricey.

With our tour over, it was time to get back on the bus and continue on to Paracas.  Hacienda San Jose, definitely a highlight. Good job Peru Hop!

Lima

This is a random post of pictures from Lima. They are out of order and do not tell a story.

So before this real adventure begins (we are on day 9) I, Nancy, decided we need to do laundry before we head off to the unknown. So we headed to Calle Berlin (the name of the road) to do laundry. TripAdvisor recommeneded the place, as do would we. We were greeted by a gentlemsn who spoke English and explained that we coule eithe drop off the lcothes and they would wash/dry/fold for us or we could wait and do it ourselves. I am always nervous so we waited. Thre our clothes into the washer and 25 minutes later the dryer. 50 minutes we were done. In that time I caught up on emails and Spider solitaire (now on 2 suits and trying to meet 7:16 minutes). They have free Wifi everywhere here. Cost 19 sols for the 1 load plus soap.  

While we checked out the Laundromat we also checked out Houlihan's Irish pub across the street. This is the tiling in their bathroom. I liked it.

Later in the day we walked to the sea to bask in the sun. I like this image of the lighthouse, glider and the palm trees that look like gigantuan pineapples.

Plenty of people exploring the world of flight.

We walked to the ocean and ran into Parque del Amor.

"Parque del Amor is located following the Malecon de la Reserva after the bridge at the intersection with Malecon Balta. This small park is entirely dedicated to all lovers and offers a stunning view over the bay of Lima. It's really romantic here at sunrise and sunset. The surrounding walls are artfully decorated with mosaics. In the center of Parque del Amor you find the statue "El Beso" (The Kiss) from Victor Delfín. It shows two lovers united in an intimate kiss. (Taken from: "http://www.limaeasy.com/have-fun-in-lima/parks-gardens-lima/parque-del-amor)

Another day we walked down to meet Laura and Joe and their beutiful baby, Tomas! They live right by Parque el Olivar. 

"The real story of El Olivar dates from 1560 when Antonio de Rivera brought the first olive plants from Sevilla, Spain. Only three of these plants survived their arduous Atlantic journey, but these three were duly planted and they thrived. El Olivar had its beginning. Just about two hundred years later, more than 2,000 olive trees were recorded in the olive grove. By the time Peru became an independent state in 1821, there were close to 3,000 olive trees in El Olivar. However, on their way out and as a parting gesture to their former colony, some Spaniards chopped down and generally mutilated many of the olive trees of El Olivar." (Taken from: http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/parque-el-olivar-lima-perus-historic-olive-grove-park/39602)

Beautiful flower. These trees are all over the place and stand out bright in the grey overcast day.

Random buildings on av. Arequipa we walked by everyday.

We did a Free Walking Tour of Lima. This is our guide. At the end of the trip we tried 3 different types of Pisco.

"This is not a Brazilian favela" we were told although it looks like one.  They are called Pueblos jóvenes by the locals, young towns. We know them as shanty towns. The photo is not great but the houses are very colorful. They differ from a favela because the government gives the squatters the property after 5 years of "squatttin". They pay taxes, have government provided water and electricity. The government hopes that people taking ownership will improve their lives.

Lane around Lima centre.

Miraflores is where we stayed.

They have a walk way above the ocean with shops and restaurants, laid out well.

La Lucha lunch. Lomo (meat), egg, bacon and cheese and a tuna sandwich.