Off to Paracas National Reserve

Sunday, March 20, 2016 WTRD  (Spring Equinox in Northern Hemisphere, Fall Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere)

Today is the first day of fall here in Peru.  It still feels like summer.

Up at 6:00 am, we did a bit more packing adjustment as we will only take the small bags with us for the next 14 days, and leave the larger duffle at this hotel as we will return here before flying to Quito.  We take a few extra travel medications, packs of coffee and tea, make sure we have some warm clothing for the high elevations, cool weather clothing for the lower elevations.

By 8:30 we are on the bus, a beautiful 30 person bus for the ten of us...everyone gets a window seat and lots of room to spread out.  We are on our way out of Miraflores District of the Lima Region of Peru.

Each district in a region governs itself.  This one is rich and the environment reflects the money it collects from tourists and residents.  Nice malecon, luxury apartments, green landscaping, police security.  We see the changes as we travel from one district to another and away from the beach and inland just a little bit.  

The sea attracts money, the dust and dirt attract all of those poor folks who have little or nothing.  They can get the dust and dirt cheaply and can build a shanty, but there is no water, electricity, plumbing, or roads.  Just a piece of dust and a place to call their own.  It looks and feels like Tijuana and perhaps a few steps below.  Dismal.

The contrast and income disparity is stark.  Even in the gated communities of more wealth, the next door neighbors live in the dust with no plumbing or water.  I am glued to the windows of our air conditioned bus photographing the contrasts.

Our first pit stop around 10:30 is a convenience store still in the Lima Region.  The Ruta 97 store in the middle of the desert, rivals the best convenience stores at home.  We buy some sodas, Planters peanuts, Diamond almonds, and bags of M and M's to make a trail mix For 42 sols, about 11 USD.  Then we are on the road again heading south. A gated beach house community is advertising houses for $59,000.

There is a subtle change in the composition of the dust.  It appears to have more sand. A house here is advertised for $28,000.  One wonders if it has any plumbing or water.  There doesn't seem to be any building codes.  

We descend slightly into a valley.  Immediately we begin to see a little more green.  They must get more rain or have access to aquifers.  There are crops and banana trees.  Between lush green belts we are  once again in vast stretches of desert, small little houses on squares of land that are being constructed from blocks and bricks by the government.  Apparently there are no takers.

Just add a thatch roof!  Why on earth would anyone want to live here?  There is no water, no greenery, and no obvious signs of employment anywhere.  Ten kilometers further down the road we see gas/oil refinery and a dust grey block house city.  Many of the houses, if not most are vacant.  I think the government thought this would be a good place to house the homeless.  Testimony to the intelligence of poor people, the houses are vacant and decaying in the dust.

Politicians take advantage of the walls and buildings of these ghost cities to paint campaign slogans.  Vote for So and So for Security and Opportunity.

Ha!  On the outskirts of a green belt we see miles and miles of long thatched roofed chicken farms.  Many look vacant, but many are crowded with chickens in cages.  Roast chicken is Peruvian dish.  Poor chickens.  They are better dead than living here.

A new freeway interchange is being built and we detour around a few construction sites.  The interchange is built above a green belt where we spy standing ground water.  About 11:30 we finally leave the Lima region and enter the city of Chincha and the Chincha region known for pisco (stilled wine), vineyards, and wines. 

Chincha is not the Napa Valley.  It is a poor agricultural city.  It is known as the black city where many African slave descendants live.  The specialty menu in this town is cat.  I am glad we are not stopping for lunch yet.

We move slowly through heavy traffic on the two lane Ruta 97 through the town.Known as Tuk Tuks in Thailand, the non-licensed, three wheeled taxies are called motobikes here and they squeeze in and out traffic.  

How do you wash a car with little to no water?

There are many of them and it is cheap and possibly dangerous transportation for the locals.  A trip all around the fair sized town of Chincha costs about 2 sols, less than $1.00.

After passing through Chincha and Pisco, we arrive in a desolate desert seaside area of Paracas, 16 degrees south latitude of the equator.

We are in the northern edge of the driest non-polar tropic desert in the world, the Atacama.  The Atacama's central area is in northern Chile and extends into Peru. Our guide Luis with extensive knowledge and a good sense of humor explains this phenomenon, and turns a very "dry" topic into one of extreme interest.

Rock Salted Road Bed

In this nature preserve, fossils over 300 million years old have been found.  We saw some of an ancient seabed, 30 million years old.  Human remains of the Ica have been dated 6500 years BC.  The only living creatures we see are the sea birds that live right on the ocean front.  We saw nothing growing nor evidence of any critters in this barren place.

Tomorrow, we rise early and take a boat offshore to an island that is considered to be a mini Galapagos where we might even spot a penguin...yes a penguin.   This is a part of the phenomenon of Paracas and the cold antarctic Humboldt current that pushes north up the coast creating a penguin waterway.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's in Paracas, Peru

Goodbye Chile, Hello Peru

Friday and Saturday, March 18-19, 2016 WTRD 70-71

Our AirBnB Host Bernie took us to the airport yesterday morning.  We bid each other fond farewells, said goodbye to Chile, and made our way to the plane that would take us to Peru.  We are splurging and flying economy premium.  What a treat to eat off real tableware and have room to spread out.

We arrived in Peru around 11:00 am in the morning.  We gained 2 hours flying west. As we approached the airfield, we saw no green fields or obvious agriculture.  The region looks like Baja California, dusty and dry.  The land is filled with industrial buildings.  The sea lines the west coast.  Many of the wave crests are brown foam.  A heavy smog hangs over the city.

Since we are joining a tour group at this point for the remainder of our travels in South America, a transfer had been arranged for us, and as we left customs we spotted our names amongst the fifty different transfer carriers brandishing signs with people's names on them. Our driver speaks no English, but he tries to convey to us when we arrive in the Miraflores district that we will be safe here, which translates to me that the other dusty, shabby, graffiti filled streets we drove through to get here most likely are not safe.

I have developed a head cold and am happy to be able to check into our room and vegetate the rest of the day.  Once again we did some reorganizing of our luggage.  We will be returning here after our 14 day tour so we are consolidating into two our two small bags what will need thinking we can leave the bigger bag now filled with souvenirs and extra gear here and not pack it around.  Russ went out for a short walk while I worked on photo editing. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant and retired early.  Tomorrow we meet up with our Peregrine Tour group.

Saturday, March 19, 2016, WTRD 71

Handy Crafts of Peru

Colorful Textiles

Peruvian Boots

ART

Silver Jewelry

This morning, we ate breakfast in the hotel dining room and went for a walk that took us to the Inca, Indian, and Peruvian craft markets.  Of all the markets we have visited, these markets are the best.  They are loaded with products made in Peru from Alpaca and baby Alpaca wool, brightly colored sweaters, hats, dresses, scarves, bags, pillow covers, ponchos, capes, and silver jewelry.  

Yes, we did purchase a few items.  Now we need to figure out where to stuff them..We stopped for a pizza and beer before we returning to our hotel where we met up with our tour group at 2:00.  The head cold, the beer, and the warm afternoon make it difficult for me to concentrate.  I think I need a nap.

Pizza Parlor, Old Records for Placemats.

There are nine of us, maybe ten, in our group if another person shows up.  Our tour leader is Renaldi - Remy.  He plans to take us out for a walk after the orientation.  Hmmm.  I still think I will take a nap.  Russ is the designated photographer, while I hang back to rest in our air conditioned room.

Russ returns around 6:00 pm with a few photos and lots of sweat.

He takes a shower and we join up with our group: Peter and Diane, Lorraine and Gary, Jan, Anna, and Peter are all from Australia. Margarite is from New Foundland.  Peter and Dianne are the only ones who will continue on with us to the Galapagos.  Lorraine and Gary, just came from the Galapagos.

We walk downtown to a restaurant Russ and I had passed by earlier in the day while we hunted for a geocache..  Russ goes inside and retrieves the cache from the bartender.  Interesting?  We pick up a new travel bug who is on a race for the most miles and the most caches between January 2, 2016 and January 2, 2017.  We think we can help Gregor along on his race.

Our group gets to know each other a little better over dinner while we share wine and stories.  Tomorrow, we will leave at 8:30 on day 2 of our Peregrine Itinerary.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's in Lima Peru

Chilean Pacific Coast and Wineries

Carmen and Bernie

Thursday , March 17, 2016 WTRD 69

Today in exchange for driving expenses, our host Bernie and her friend Carmen, are taking us to the Chilean coast.  We leave Santiago about 9:30 and drive to San Antonio, a large seaport for both cargo ships and fisherman.

The day is grey and overcast.  It is cool and it reminds us of an industrialized Half Moon Bay.

The smell of sea and fresh fish fill our heads.  Fisherman sell their catch in stalls, and locals line the pier waiting for the catch right off the boats.

We walk along the promenade and are fascinated by the huge dog faced sea lions.  They look so different than the ones we see in northern California, and they have manes like real lions.

We weave our way through small towns along the coast, none looking very prosperous as if their glory days have long past and now look worn, tattered by the sea and neglect, and covered with graffiti.  The coast line is rocky.  The overcast does not burn off and we miss what we are told a beautiful blue sea. Today it is steel grey and uninviting.  The temperature is in the low seventies, coolish, and comfortable.

Bernie is taking us to Pablo Neruda, Chilean Noble Literature Laureate and Political figure, sea home in Isle de Negra. The home is a sprawling one and two story structure strung out along the coast line.  One side of every room faces the sea and the spectacular coast line, not unlike that which one sees in Carmel and, the other the natural flora behind.  Many of the rooms are glass on both sides.

Neruda was a collector of shells, ships figureheads, books, telescopes, and nautical artifacts.  He had worked hard to maintain his childhood whimsy and curiosity in his adult life.  The visit was well worth the drive to the coast. 

After this visit we search for a restaurant up the coast that Bernie enjoyed a couple of years ago when she was last here.  It is a seafood restaurant on the beach.  It is fall here now and the beach is quiet.  Only a few people are walking along the golden sand.  The restaurant will close for the season after March.  We order our meals.  Russ orders a fried white fish topped with almonds and shrimp. I have an excellent salad with smoked salmon and shrimp.  

The sun, the sky, the sea, make me drowsy, and I nap a bit on the way to the wine country, the Casablanca Valley.  We make two stops at the Vinamar

and Vina Indomita,

 but are too late at both for tours.  White wines are specialty in the Casablanca valley.  We have time for a few photos before we leave and return to Santiago.  It is almost 6:00 pm.  The value added tax in Chile makes the wine very expensive.  We are told that it is cheaper to buy the wines in the US.

Another new and wonderful friend, Bernie (Decochic) from Santiago, Chile

We return to Santiago about 7:30, and enjoy a light meal with Bernie, before packing and retiring for the night.  We have had a wonderful stay here with our host.  This was the perfect balance of homestay accommodation and friendship.  We have been very impressed with Chile.  Santiago is by far is the cleanest and most forward city in South America so far.  Tomorrow we leave for the last leg of our trip, Peru and the Galapagos Islands.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs, Our last Night in Chile.