23-03-25

Peru’s Galapagos

After two sea days we are all ready to disembark and see some interesting sights. We are headed into Paracas and as we leave the port area we are all amazed at the desert here that comes right down to the sea. They have no rain here and it shows. Not a single blade of grass, weed, flower or tinge of green. Everything is red/ brown and yellow sand. Paracas is a town of around 2000 inhabitants and is a resort town for places like Lima. Not my style of resort.

We unload from our bus and head towards the quay where we board another boat, a much smaller one, that will take us out to the islands offshore. The Ballestas Islands are a group of small islands known for their many caves and arches. They are a shelter to more than 1500 species of marine birds and a large colony of sea lions.

On the way out to the islands we see a large geoglyph on the northern face of the Paracas Peninsula, El Candelabro, which serves as a beacon to sailors. Its large enough to be seen 19 kilometres out to sea. The indentations are a metre deep and are around 180 metres tall and preserved in the petrified sand.

(P:- Paracas is literally as dry as chips the coastal rainfall even up to the Lima area is 6mm rain per year, it is part of the Atacama Desert that runs a good section of the coast of Chile and into Peru. The area is so dry the wealthy, back in the day, buried their dead here in the sand. Buried in a fetal position wrapped in cloth, the more cloth the wealthier the person.

Emily:- Once we got out to the islands, we started seeing lots of small birds, pelican’s and even some small Humboldt penguins. Because the penguins were so small and pale coloured, they blended into the island which was coved in bird poo, making them hard to get a picture of. Just around the corner we passed a little island with about 50 sea lions all piled on the rough sand and rocks. There were lots of baby sea lions that were playing around, getting swept into the water, then climbing back onto the beach. On one of the big rocks, there were three sea lions laying there in the sun, until a big wave came up and swept one of the bigger ones off into the water. Our tour guide was really good and was very informative. I really enjoyed our tour of the Ballestas Islands.

After returning to the ship it’s time for a swim. Then we dress for dinner. Tonight’s treat is Morimoto By The Sea. This is a pop up restaurant that only happens once per cruise. All six of us are booked to enjoy this experience. Both the girls enjoyed the experience of fine dining and had very nice meals. Kaley ordered her steak and when asked how she would like it, replied “medium rare thankyou”. How many 9 year olds know how they like a steak? The waiters loved giving the girls a special experience. Emily loved her Sushi plate and prawns 3 ways. And the desserts were to die for.

24-03-25 Monday

Philip and I have an early start this morning. We are disembarking at 7.30 for Market to Table, A Taste of Peruvian Cuisine. Our first stop once we leave this massive port area is the fish and fruit and vegetable market. Unusually this is right behind an Outlet Shopping area. Firstly we stop at the Seafood market. This is amazing. The fish is fresh caught and displayed beautifully. Vanessa, our guide, tells us about the different fish and where it comes from and the stall holders are happy to show us their produce. Everything from Octopus to sea urchin, Bonita (tuna), to squid, ready prepared marinara mix and ceviche. It all looks amazing. (P:- evidently we have to leave the internals in the chickens complete with partially formed eggs to show freshness and which one is the prime bird to buy. The Octopus marinara mix and other seafood looked delicious and was so well presented. Not to mention an old favourite of mine corned ox tongue. Mr Cuy the Guinea pig looked much more appealing dressed up on my dinner plate the other evening than naked in the butchers shop!)

Next stop is the fruit section. This is so colourful and displayed beautifully. There are many fruits that we don’t know but as we moved past stalls Vanessa gets samples for us to try. Some are very tasty. The avocados are huge as are the mangos, and watermelons. The baby bananas are sweet and smooth.

From here to the vegetable section. Again the displays are beautiful. Dozens of different potato varieties are available. Philip had to check out the onions, which were all hand cut. The black corn looked interesting.

Then the poultry, meat and pork sections. All had great displays. Vanessa made some purchases as we moved around the market and later these were used by our Master Chef, Riccardo, who made us 3 traditional Peruvian dishes to sample. Then we moved inside and had a meal of these 3 dishes. They were all delicious and we finished off with Picaroni, a Peruvian donut made from Sweet Potato Flour, deep fried and served with a sugar cane and fig leaf syrup. Again delicious. We were all full after the 3 main dishes but there weren’t many Picaroni left on the plates. To finish off our day we stopped at a Peruvian/Italian restaurant (think large beer hall) where we tasted traditional roasted ham sandwiches and Pisco Sours. An alcoholic cocktail of Peruvian origin. Pisco is a brandy which has sour citrus juice added and sweetener and is topped with egg white and Bitters. We have been enjoying this cocktail since we boarded the ship. A nice way to finish this part of the day. Mid afternoon we head back to the ship and we only have a couple of hours before we are off on our next tour this evening.

This next tour sees us all boarding the bus for a night tour of Lima and the magic fountains. After a panoramic drive through downtown Lima and its chaotic traffic. We arrive at the water park to wander around the magic fountains. The fountains have a light and sound show projected onto the water depicting some of Limas history. Some pretty impressive illuminations. Then a wander around and through several other fountains before boarding the bus back to the ship.

Kaley:- The cruise has been very busy and very fun. We’ve had lots of swims and lots of mocktails. I have enjoyed getting dressed up for dinner, the food is great so far I have not had any food that hasn’t been good. I have made some friends their names are charlotte and Abby. we enjoy both in the pool and out of the pool. Charlotte is 6 and abbey is 9.

19-03-25

This morning we are off to San Antonio to board the Oosterdam for our cruise up the West coast of Chile, Peru and points north and east. We have some excited kids with us, all looking forward to what the next couple of weeks will hold. We are through check in and onboard quickly, then some lunch, sorting of cabins and finally the girls can have a swim. Some exploring of the ship before dinner and finally a thermal spa for Philip and I before bed.

(P:- the Author must have been excited to have some of the family with us! She has omitted to mention anything about the 90 minute drive to the the Embarkation Port. I was pleased to leave the 8-9,000,000 people and their city of Santiago. Not a city person and a couple a days in any city is enough for me. The drive once we left the “burbs” was thru a large flat river valley where agricultural activities were prominent. Vineyards, vegetables (including Onions being harvested, lucerne for fodder, silage being made). Although just a drive by always good to see the rural techniques and activities. One thing of note both here and in Peru is the massive numbers of Blue Gum Eucalyptus trees -they are everywhere and evidently we were told quite a weed and huge fire hazard. Now we have seen a few sights it’s back to the Family and cruise).

20-03-25 Thursday

We are off on a private tour of Coquimbo and La Serena today with our guide Veronica. Visiting the old Fort Amador Area, the fish market, monumental lighthouse and the Cross of the Third Millenium. (P:- the fish were much fresher here compared to Santiago as we are in a fishing port there was lots of interesting “takeaway” dishes of raw fresh seafood that looked delicious but with the obvious lack of refrigeration to be seen and a few insects having a free feed I deemed it wise to look and not sample, didn’t really want a bonus Belly ache!).

Coquimbo is a port city located in northern Chile and adjoins the larger city of La Serena.

The Cross of the Third Millenium commemorates 2000 years of Christianity. It’s 93 metres high and is the tallest in South America (P:- and ugly).

The responsibility of being a Pa

(P:- Tough job being a “responsible” Pa! Miss Emily and Miss Kaley are attracted to the swimming pool like a chunk of steel to a magnet! It clearly says on the pool sign that “Minors must be accompanied by a responsible adult as no Life saver on duty”. Somehow all the adults in our family disappeared and Pa was left in charge- go figure – 2 young ladies who swim like a fish who are supervised by a “Responsible” Pa who can’t swim and frequently nods off to sleep! I guess that works?)

16-03-25 Sunday

Finally we get to have a morning we don’t have to be up at 5 am, so sleep-in time. That doesn’t happen though and we are both awake early ready for a days exploring. (P:- We’ve been too busy for jet lag to kick in but I think it’s snuck up on us now!)

Breakfast and then off for a walk down to the plaza before our tour this afternoon. There is some celebration happening in the plaza, with many groups of people dressed in brightly coloured traditional clothes dancing and enjoying themselves. It makes quite the spectacle with music and colour swirling around the square.

We are picked up at 1pm for our city tour and are off to our first stop. A Cathedral on the main square. Very typical of cathedrals in this part of the world, lavish, gaudy, and over the top. Gold and silver everywhere with multiple statues and carvings dominating the inside.

(P:- Not my favourite tourist occupation viewing too many Cathedrals! One or two a trip is enough. This one was up there for “overdone tackiness” lots of local interpretation in the murals and art work that distracted from what I understood the story of Christ to be. The local person/s who funded the artwork had their portrait incorporated into the mural or artwork! ( nothing like an extra person at the last supper! ) It about did my head in when the large mural of the last supper was of them eating Guinea Pig! (A local delicacy). Not to our taste at all. (P:- Judith means the artwork not to out taste, eating Guinea Pig has yet to be tried). No pictures were allowed inside. Then onto another church where there are Incan Ruins still preserved inside, with the Spanish buildings built over the top. Again the Incan stone work is meticulous. No mortar or fixing is used between these stones and they are fitted to precision. From the outside the original stonework for an Incan temple can be seen with the Spanish influence above.

Next stop is the market where we walk through with our guide and get to taste some of the local fruits of the area, some local bread and see samples of the dehydrated potatoes, potato varieties, cheeses, vegetable and botanicals (herbal medicines), plus all the usual tourist paraphernalia. This was much more fun than the Cathedrals.

(P:-I do enjoy local markets where traditional trading is done, great to walk through, great to see the local produce, people and their dress styles. I found the meat section and then the secondary cut meat section where cows noses (complete with skin and hair) legs and feet, offal, wind pipes and to top it off a couple of ladies cleaning the cows stomachs to make tripe. I was busy taking a few photos to share (see below), I look around and Judith had bolted well ahead of me and looked quite pale! Evidently the smell wasn’t good, (I guess my zero sense of smell must have some advantages).

Next stop we are heading out of the city centre to Saqsawaman Park. This is a huge open park area with many more Incan Ruins. Our guide gives us some history of the area which was a ceremonial/ritual precinct. The remaining walls here used massive stones for some of the construction with the largest stone weighing in at 100 tonnes and many around the 70-80 tonnes. Again the stonework is meticulous with each stone fitting precisely into or onto the next. The preparation of each stone was so precise and fitted so exactly.

From here we visited a Lama and Alpaca farm to feed the animals and find some bargains in the adjoining store that sold some lovely garments. (P:- It wasn’t me who “invested” in a new baby Alpaca wool garment but there is some in Judith’s possession!)

Back to our Accommodation for a rest before walking down to the plaza to find somewhere for dinner. Found the restaurant our guide had suggested, “Mr. Cuy” and liked the look of the menu so found a seat and perused the menu some more. Philip has been keen to try Cuy (Guinea Pig) since we arrived so he asked the waiter for his recommendation and decided to go with his choice. Baked Cuy. Not for me although I did try some. (P:- When asked what it tasted like the waiter said duck. When the little beast arrived it was almost off putting as it was sitting up on the plate dressed in a colourful cap and cape showing his fine set of teeth. Once the photos were taken, off went the clothing and it was cut up ready to nervously try. The outcome- Duck like texture, mild but delicious taste and yes I would definitely have some Cuy again. That’s 2 protein firsts in a week, Alpaca and Guinea Pig! What’s next?)