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Iquique, Chile and Paracas, Cusco and Machu Picchu, Peru

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Iquique We stopped in this port witch was very commercial and took the free shuttle into the town square.  Some beautiful buildings and a nice museum.  Local crafts for sale but no one is pushy at all.   Kid rides in the square This area is a desert except for the area by the ocean.  Hard to imagine how they grow anything here.  A couple blocks off the square is questionable to go exploring! Tug boat as we leave Paracas--last stop before Lima! Another commercial port but it has been blessed by an island off the coast that is very rich in guano---tons of bird poop!  It is quite the hot export commodity and used for fertilizer and makeup!  Ewww!  It keeps this area alive! This area is famous for Nazca lines--a series of ancient geoglyphs.  These are designs made in the desert by removing the top layer of pebbles and making a picture.  The largest is 660 feet across.  There is so little rain here...
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San Antonio and Coquimbo, Chile

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San Antonio We are now having beautiful weather!  70 degrees and sunny.  We are  enjoying the pool deck after all the cool weather. The Oceania crew put on a "Country Fair" for us on the pool deck.  Crews from the spa, housekeeping, entertainment, the gift shop etc had booths to try our luck at silly games.  It was so much fun and we were awarded tickets for a drawing of ship logo items!  We only have happy memories--no prizes!  Racing to put pillow cases on and "whack a head" were our favorites. Pete has been riding the stationary bike faithfully and I've been doing weights with an ocean view!  We usually go to stretch classes also.  The staff is wonderful not to mention steam room, warm towels, robes, slippers, gatoraid and great showers! After all this exercise we need to relax on the pool deck!  Best lounge set up EVER! The nightly entertainment has been wonderful .  Last night featured...
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Puerto Montt and shore excursion to Petrohue Falls

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Puerto Montt Not too much here but we took a bus excursion through beautiful countryside where there were many early German settlements.  They were escaping wars and Chile needed warm bodies to establish their claim in Chile.  They were given land, tools, some livestock to get them started and they thrived.  The homes and buildings have a German look to them.  We stopped by a German home with llamas.  They were very friendly.  Crafts--sweaters, hats, dolls--all made from llama wool! The Falls were outstanding and with the many volcanoes (350) in the area.   It was amazing scenery! This is an area of a 9.5 earthquake in 1960 and active volcanoes.  Cone shaped volcano     Lava is everywhere! Petrohue Falls   Puerto Varas is a beautiful town right on this massive lake.  Our fellow travelers told us tales of Machu Picchu altitude sickness so... I was ab...
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Puerto Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Chilean Fjords

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  Puerto Arenas We are winding out  way through the small island passages into blessed calmer waters.  We are now in the strait of Magellan.  He was killed by the native Indians and this statue memorializes him. This is a shortcut through the very south of the continent that was safer than going around the Horn.  This harbor area was crowded with sailing ships before the Panama Canal was built and now only a few cruise ships.  This is their late summer and it has been cold and rainy and the decks have been closed due to the winds.     Our excursion took us on the very southern end of the Pan American highway which goes into northern Alaska.  We drove to a lookout on the tour to get a view of all the painted red, green and blue metal roofs and the straits of Magellan.    We did a bus tour here that included a cemetery that was very unusual.  If your mausoleum  has an upright cross--you are C...
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