Iquique, Chile and Paracas, Cusco and Machu Picchu, Peru
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.
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!
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 so the designs are never washed away. The best way to see them is by airplane which many of our fellow tourists did. Quite impressive!
Our last day on this beautiful ship with an amazing staff of 400 for 640
guests. The food is quite creative. Last night Pete ordered some unusual noodles that turn out to be squid tentacles! I had to try out the beef in chocolate gravy--both were one time only dining adventures! (Carol's perspective, actually I would have the squid again.)
We arrive in Lima tomorrow and at 6:30 am we are off to the airport to fly to Cusco for our next adventure! We started our Diamox pills to prevent altitufe sickness.
Cusco and Machu Picchu almost
We did an extended trip arranged by Oceania and it was so well done. Goodbye ship, hello airport, off to Cusco which is at almost 12,000 feet above sea level. Off airplane, onto small buses to tour Cusco. This city is 90% dependent on tourism. It is famous because it was the center of the Incan empire and the buildings were really covered in gold. The Incas used gold in temples but it had no real value to them. It was simply a resource used in artistic design. Of course this was not the attitude of the Spaniards and they stripped all the gold and took it back to Spain. This was a huge empire that was run without written language and without the invention of the wheel. They didn't have iron or steel to cut the huge rocks but somehow this amazing city thrived.
Reports of a city covered in gold was too much for the Spaniards to resist. They were able to overtake this empire mostly due to civil wars and disease (small pox) introduced earlier by Europeans. The buildings are formed from huge stones, no mortar, carved end joints that help make them resistant to the many earthquakes here.
This church was build over the Incan temple sight--after the gold leaf was removed. Beautiful architecture!
The church was huge and families "own" and maintain altars inside which feature the Blessed Mother because this goes along with the Incan belief of "Mother Earth" as the source of goodness...a compromise of religious cultures and it seems to work!
Next stop was to another area of mysterious construction that remains in excellent condition. These huge rocks are carved on the bottoms with protrusions that fit the stone together like Legos. Maybe this was the original Lego Land--they call it Sacsayhuaman!
The next day we were to get up at 6am to take the train to the famous Machu Picchu---the highlight of the whole trip---but it was not to be! I (Carol) started going downhill fast. We ordered two bowls of chicken soup to the room ($34) which probably increased my distress and I couldn't eat one bite. I had constant vomiting and terrible headache from the altitude despite the medication. The Marriott Hotel was wonderful and sent an EMT up to my room twice with Oxygen which helped but not enough to get out of bed until the next day. Pete missed the whole 14 hour Machu Picchu trip to take care of me---what a sweetheart! This postcard was as close as we came to the real thing! Our friends told us it was really wonderful. I don't think we'll be coming back so we'll take their word for it!
This is the view of Lima from Swissotel where we stayed. This business area was very clean and nice but all windows had bars on first and second stories and virtually every building had a 7-8 ft wall around it made of concrete or iron bars.
Pete walked to a large pyramid that is currently being excavated. They found many many bones (burial site) and a number of mummies. The upper class was mummified and many were children. This occurred around 300 bc.
Our 6 hour flight from Lima to Atlanta left at 1am. That was the easy part. Getting to the airport at 9pm in our little van was a harrowing experience! Imagine 3 lanes of traffic but 6 cars in those lanes and no one wanted to give an inch! Our guide tried to distract us for 90 minutes by talking about how "there are not as many accidents as you would think." I guess his distraction worked because all 8 of us stayed in the van and made the trip with only mental distress!
It was a wonderful cruise with Oceania. They took great care of us. The people we met, the on-board entertainment, the food, the ship, the staff were top notch. We were able to get into all the ports (unusual due to the wind and waves near the Falklands and the Cape) and went to 5 countries and around the "Horn" despite the 15 foot waves. We were 300 miles from Antarctica--as close as we ever want to be! We saw birds, whales, dolphins, seals, glaciers and icebergs! It is wonderful to be home--we are so blessed to live in our beautiful country!
We came home just in time to celebrate Grandparents Day with Anna's first grade class at St Margaret of York. It was a wonderful morning; This is why we always look forward to coming home!
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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 so the designs are never washed away. The best way to see them is by airplane which many of our fellow tourists did. Quite impressive!
Our last day on this beautiful ship with an amazing staff of 400 for 640
guests. The food is quite creative. Last night Pete ordered some unusual noodles that turn out to be squid tentacles! I had to try out the beef in chocolate gravy--both were one time only dining adventures! (Carol's perspective, actually I would have the squid again.)
We arrive in Lima tomorrow and at 6:30 am we are off to the airport to fly to Cusco for our next adventure! We started our Diamox pills to prevent altitufe sickness.
Cusco and Machu Picchu almost
We did an extended trip arranged by Oceania and it was so well done. Goodbye ship, hello airport, off to Cusco which is at almost 12,000 feet above sea level. Off airplane, onto small buses to tour Cusco. This city is 90% dependent on tourism. It is famous because it was the center of the Incan empire and the buildings were really covered in gold. The Incas used gold in temples but it had no real value to them. It was simply a resource used in artistic design. Of course this was not the attitude of the Spaniards and they stripped all the gold and took it back to Spain. This was a huge empire that was run without written language and without the invention of the wheel. They didn't have iron or steel to cut the huge rocks but somehow this amazing city thrived.
Reports of a city covered in gold was too much for the Spaniards to resist. They were able to overtake this empire mostly due to civil wars and disease (small pox) introduced earlier by Europeans. The buildings are formed from huge stones, no mortar, carved end joints that help make them resistant to the many earthquakes here.
This church was build over the Incan temple sight--after the gold leaf was removed. Beautiful architecture!
 |
The church was huge and families "own" and maintain altars inside which feature the Blessed Mother because this goes along with the Incan belief of "Mother Earth" as the source of goodness...a compromise of religious cultures and it seems to work!
Next stop was to another area of mysterious construction that remains in excellent condition. These huge rocks are carved on the bottoms with protrusions that fit the stone together like Legos. Maybe this was the original Lego Land--they call it Sacsayhuaman!
This is the view of Lima from Swissotel where we stayed. This business area was very clean and nice but all windows had bars on first and second stories and virtually every building had a 7-8 ft wall around it made of concrete or iron bars.
Pete walked to a large pyramid that is currently being excavated. They found many many bones (burial site) and a number of mummies. The upper class was mummified and many were children. This occurred around 300 bc.
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| Pyramid |
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| Construction baked clay |
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| Child mummy |
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| Excavation |
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| Walking near hotel |
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| Hotel in Lima |
It was a wonderful cruise with Oceania. They took great care of us. The people we met, the on-board entertainment, the food, the ship, the staff were top notch. We were able to get into all the ports (unusual due to the wind and waves near the Falklands and the Cape) and went to 5 countries and around the "Horn" despite the 15 foot waves. We were 300 miles from Antarctica--as close as we ever want to be! We saw birds, whales, dolphins, seals, glaciers and icebergs! It is wonderful to be home--we are so blessed to live in our beautiful country!
We came home just in time to celebrate Grandparents Day with Anna's first grade class at St Margaret of York. It was a wonderful morning; This is why we always look forward to coming home!
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