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Live - SIlver Explorer October 25 2017, Guayaquil to Valparaiso


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Saturday, October 28th

 

Morning, in Salaverry, Peru

 

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We were awoken early this morning, with some much rougher seas We could really feel the ship moving on the swells. Between the movement, and the sound of things sliding around in the closets and on the shelves, further sleep was futile. The magnetic catches on most of the doors held them in place, but the door between the bedroom and the hallway kept jumping its doorstop.

 

Chris lost her glass of water, as it slid off the nightstand and spilled, but luckily it did not break on the carpet. The glass in the bathroom was not so lucky; it hopped off the shelf and shattered on the marble floor. Lots of shards needed to be carefully swept into a corner to await a more thorough cleanup. Luckily, very few of them escaped the bathroom and landed on the carpet. Time to try for a quick shower, if we can avoid falling over!

 

A light breakfast - not much of an appetite given the motion. That's not a bad thing. There was a nice selection of passion fruit on the buffet this morning.

 

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We planned to be ready for an 8AM disembarkation - though they called for us to disembark starting at 7:45. Luckily, we were ready and headed out, getting seats on bus #1, with an upper deck seat too! The stragglers are running to catch up before all the good seats are gone.

 

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Here is an overview map of the area. We are docked at the bottom of the map at the gold star. Our destination is about 20 minutes north of here, off the map at this scale.

 

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The port wasn’t much to look at and the town seemed poor, though there was a lot of construction going on, so maybe it's not as poor as I think. There was some nice farmland just outside of town. In the morning, there is a lot of coastal fog here, so everything appears dark and dreary. But it was prettier than this in real life. The mountain in this photo is our destination this morning.

 

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Our local guides were good, and kept up a nice commentary until we arrived at Temple of the Moon (Huaca de la Luna). Time to see what's here.

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Morning at Huaca de la Luna

 

We pulled up at the Temple of the Moon. Here's a picture of our bus, nice and comfortable.

 

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We could have had local transportation, I guess, but I didn't see that as an option. Looks pretty cool.

 

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From the visitor's center, the temple complex doesn't look like much at all. We stayed here for a few minutes, getting an overview from our guide.

 

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Then we climbed up to the temple and had a look. From here, the mountain is nicely visible despite some persistent morning fog.

 

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The temple was built from adobe bricks. Apparently the local population made bricks as a form of tax. They "signed" each of their bricks with an individual mark, so that those in charge could account for whether they had produced their share of bricks.

 

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The walls were built in separate sections, rather than as one continuous wall. This was supposedly to make the structure more stable when earthquakes hit. It seems to have worked, as much of the structure is still standing.

 

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Further inside, the temple became much more colorful. There are nice paintings to see here.

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Thanks JP for that info on the bricks. What a great way to collect taxes.

And that each is signed by its debtor...this is evidence of such an amazing culture! A creative way to build for the future.

BTW, I am ready to send a ton of bricks to Washington on tax day.

 

 

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Morning at Huaca de la Luna

 

Catching up. The mountain in the background (previous post) is called Cerro Blanco. This whole area was the site of the capital of a Moche settlement. The Moche settlements were mainly in river valleys, and the mountains were sacred, because the deities lived there. Now back to the tour.

 

The main attraction of the temple is the large number of painted reliefs. This temple was built over centuries by the Moche. The newest portions date from 800AD but construction probably started hundreds of years earlier. The colors are well-preserved, considering the age.

 

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I don't know who scratched some of the faces off of the panel above but it's a shame.

 

Some reliefs were buried in the sand and preserved that way. Others were covered over by newer walls, and excavations have revealed the vibrant, preserved colors. Amazing 1200+ year old art. We were really impressed.

 

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A nice 3D face here. As you examine them, each one is slightly different.

 

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This one has graffiti carved into it. It looks like a fish. I promise that we didn't do this.

 

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Up another level to the main altar. Here we have stylized designs representing the Moche deity Ayapec, the decapitator. He is often depicted holding a trophy head. Interestingly, this wall has been painted over several times and the depiction of the deity has changed with each revision.

 

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And a snake motif.

 

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These paintings are supposedly unrestored. Amazing colors for their age. What a great tour!

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Thanks JP for that info on the bricks. What a great way to collect taxes.

And that each is signed by its debtor...this is evidence of such an amazing culture! A creative way to build for the future.

BTW, I am ready to send a ton of bricks to Washington on tax day.

 

 

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We too were impressed with the sophistication of these pre-Inca cultures. When you see how harsh the conditions are here in Peru, with so much arid desert, it is incredible how they could eke out an agricultural existence in this area. They built amazing water conduits and irrigation canals to support their farming. The more I travel, the more I am amazed by human ingenuity.

 

I do like your idea for tax day!

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Those wall designs are extraordinary JP. I think we sometimes presume that people in those earlier times weren't as clever as us, but they were. The only difference is technology and they were incredibly skilled with the resources they had at the time. They certainly had an eye for design.

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Morning at Huaca de la Luna

 

Down from the main altar, there was an overview of the city. Archaeological works here are a relatively recent development, so there is a lot more to discover. The structure in the distance is Huaca del Sol, a counterpart to Huaca de la Luna. It was mostly destroyed by the Conquistadors. The city lay between the two temples.

 

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We walked down some stairs and a wide ramp, and saw what looked like a large mural on an outside wall. From a distance, I could not appreciate all of the details of the design.

 

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Closer inspection shows that there are actually seven rows of marching figures. The bottom five are here. From bottom to top there are vanquished warriors in procession (soon to be sacrificed at the temple), priests, a spider with two heads, a Fisher God, and a half-reptile, half-feline being. There are two more rows above this, which show other Gods and mythical beings.

 

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The wall must have been amazing when it was new, and the colors were bright. Here is an artist's depiction.

 

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A few closeups from the mural. The two-headed spiders.

 

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And the Fisher Gods.

 

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Very impressive paintings here. We wandered around and soaked it all in.

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Morning tour from Salaverry, Peru

 

A few more details from the main façade of the temple. Interspersed among the vanquished warriors were the victors. They were marching their captives into the temple.

 

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The half feline, half reptile figures from the fifth row. The figures got stranger and more fantastical as you went higher up the wall. The seventh row was reserved for Ayapec, the deity of the mountains. Since he had a thing for cutting off heads, I guess it is a good idea to respect him and put him in the top row.

 

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The Mural of the Myths" was also here. It is covered with all sorts of symbols. I didn't try to interpret all of them. There is actually a key here, and our guide did spend some time offering his perspective.

 

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That was the end of the tour of Huaca de la Luna. We headed back to the buses, very impressed with what we had seen. Very impressive art and architecture. The Inca people get all of the attention here in South America, but the Moche predated them by over 1000 years. They were far from primitive.

 

***

 

There were some vendors at the entrance so some folks who had left the tour early were shopping. No way I would have missed the temple for souvenirs, but for those who love to shop, it's another chance.

 

***

 

We hopped back on to the buses for the ride to lunch. It was about two minutes away. We probably could have walked faster but this is Silversea... And we didn't know how close it would be. Turns out I had seen the venue when we went by and thought that it had looked like a pretty nice place.

 

We had a welcoming party as we got off the bus. Some of the horses were happy to see us, and wanted to sniff us, and have their noses rubbed, or their ears scratched. Others were shy and stayed away.

 

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The next welcoming party was a few steps beyond the horses. Pisco Sours at 10AM - perfect! Luckily, it is 11AM back home. Close enough to noon for me.

 

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The riders were lined up for a good photo opportunity. There will be a riding demonstration this morning, as well as some folk dancing.

 

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Oh, and there will be food too. Of course. It has been at least 3 hours since we last ate! You can see the tables all set up under the pavilion.

 

We took our pictures, and headed off with our Pisco Sours to get a table.

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Peruvian Folk Dancing and Horse Riding Show, Salaverry, Peru

 

We had a nice table with a decent view. There were three parts to the show. I will post some pictures and provide links to video clips too.

 

First, horse riding. The Peruvian Paso Horse has a unique gait called the paso llano. It's a very smooth gait which minimizes the vertical bounce of the rider. It did look comfortable, and you can see from the picture that the horse is only moving one leg at a time so it's a stable gait. Here is the video link.

 

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Then there was a folk dancing show. This couple was supposed to be very highly ranked in the art of Marinera Dancing. So we enjoyed the show. And I shot a video. It's a little long, sorry.

 

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The last part of the show was a surprise. The girl performed the dance again, but not with her previous partner. Her new partner was a horse and rider! Very skillful, though I spent the whole time worried that the horse would step on her tender bare feet. She was really quite close to the horse, and the movements were intricate. But they knew what they are doing.

 

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Impressive control. Another video.

 

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And a bow at the end, from the performers who all had intact feet. Now, time to eat!

 

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There were about ten different plated "appetizers" which were brought around on large serving trays. Highlights were shrimp with passionfruit sauce, and a beef carpaccio with an incredible lemon-caper sauce. Plus a dessert tray. Naturally.

 

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We did make sure to try some of everything. And more Pisco, too. Better get back to the ship soon, before I eat and drink any more!

 

Oh wait. There is unlimited food and wine on the ship too. Uh oh.

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JP

Yes to be there and witness the art of the past just as alive as it was then is beyond words.

 

 

Those wall designs are extraordinary JP. I think we sometimes presume that people in those earlier times weren't as clever as us, but they were. The only difference is technology and they were incredibly skilled with the resources they had at the time. They certainly had an eye for design.

 

 

 

Jeff

I couldn't agree more.

We have so much to learn from those who came before us.

We just have to unlock the past.

I hope we can do so before its lost to climate change or looters.

There are so many lessons we must learn.

 

We certainly do tend to think or ourselves as smarter than the average Moche. But we would never survive in their world, just as they would have a hard time in ours. It depends on how you define intelligence, I guess. We are biased to think of ourselves as more intelligent because we know science, and because we have technology. We also have writing.

 

But the things that they accomplished clearly demonstrate a keen knowledge of how things work. They communicated through their murals, and possibly by other means, but we don't know how to interpret them. We have not discovered any other written record so it is harder to know for sure without that.

 

But then again, they believed that the rain from the mountains was sent by a lunatic god who required human sacrifices. So I guess they didn't know everything, did they? :rolleyes:

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Salaverry and Islas Guanape, Peru

 

Our work here is done.

 

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Back to the buses one last time. It was an easy ride back to the ship and we arrived before noon. We had actually done a lot already, in just a half day. But we had more coming up this afternoon. This is an expedition trip, not a vacation!

 

The pier here was nothing to look at. There was another local market set up here, but we didn't bother. The Captain was ready to head out, and shopping doesn't really excite us.

 

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Back on the boat, there was time for a light lunch to cover any calories that we may have missed with the appetizers. Then we did some walking around the deck, before the zodiac ride this afternoon. We are making a real effort to get our steps in. We figure 10,000 steps per day will burn at least part of one meal. Now if we could do something about the 10,000 calories that we are ingesting every day...

 

We eventually settled down in our suite and napped for an hour before anchoring off Islas Guanupe at 3PM. This is another National Park Island, and we'll do some zodiac cruising to look for wildlife. It looks barren from a distance.

 

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Our group was disembarking second, so we headed down around 3:15. We had a big zodiac today, with Hans Peter driving, so we set out for a leisurely cruise around the island. A few Peruvian pelicans came by to offer us a welcome.

 

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Lots of birds on the island; that become obvious when we got close enough. And lots of guano smell. Good thing we don't need to eat any time soon.

 

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An Inca Tern. It has beautiful plumage and decorations on its head. From the red bill I initially thought it was an oyster catcher. There is a second tern hiding on the left, behind the Peruvian pelican's leg.

 

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But we were on the lookout for Humboldt penguins!

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Islas Guanape, Peru

 

We had company near our zodiac; they must know that Hans Peter has the inside scoop on all the good spots. Explorer looks nice in the distance.

 

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The crabs clinging to the rocky shoreline were colorful. They reminded me of the beautiful Sally Lightfoot crabs in the Galapagos.

 

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These two cute sea lions seemed equally curious about us.

 

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Then they hammed it up for us.

 

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The air was thick with birds, and the smell of their guano. Boobies and cormorants everywhere.

 

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No penguins yet. Where are they hiding?

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Islas Guanape, Peru

 

Peruvian Boobies, all in a row.

 

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Wait a minute. One of these isn't a Booby! Finally, a penguin! Why is he hanging out with that crowd?

 

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And more. Note the Guanay cormorants in front. At first glance it can be hard to separate them from the penguins, but the red eye rings on the cormorants are a dead giveaway. That, and they fly...

 

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One more group for good measure.

 

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And another irresistibly cute sea lion.

 

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I also have a few videos to share. A sea lion diving and some penguins going for a swim. The penguins are amazingly ungraceful on land - they slide down the rocks in a somewhat controlled fall. But they are still cute.

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Islas Guanape, Peru

 

The scenery around the island was also pretty nice. There were a few tiny rocks off either end the main island. Here are some to the south. We thought about crossing over to them but Hans Peter decided that the seas were too rough.

 

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The surf is indeed crashing into the island. It's not as calm as it looks. There is a pretty big colony of sea lions on this end of the island. They aren't bothered at all.

 

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So we started back towards Explorer. On the way we drove by an abandoned ship. Usually there are birds hanging out here. Not today.

 

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I think this is the mainland. Good thing I'm not navigating.

 

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After an hour or so on the water, it was time to head back to the boat. Silver Explorer was patiently awaiting our return.

 

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We were glad to get back to our nice shower. For one, it was nice to warm up, and it was also great to wash the guano smell away. Some great sightings, though.

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Saturday, October 28th

 

Islas Guanape, Peru

 

We had some canapes in our suite and then headed down for a briefing about tomorrow.

 

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This was followed by a lecture about whales and other cetaceans by Marcel. Entertaining, as always. Now it's time for dinner.

 

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Dinner tonight was a lot of fun. We had asked the two chefs to have dinner with us, and they had agreed to join us on a night that they didn't have to do live cooking for dinner. Tonight was the night. We had a great time dining with Rudy (the executive chef for SS) and David (the culinary instructor). The wine and conversation flowed freely. The food was delicious too.

 

The ceviche appetizer. Yum!

 

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The pappardelle wasn't too bad either.

 

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And the crab salad.

 

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We had the rib eye for our main course. I had put my camera away by that time...because...there was just no time to take pictures.

 

Lots of stories were exchanged. Rudy's parents were on board, and they joined us for dinner as well. They are celebrating their 60th anniversary! Bravo! Much to celebrate.

 

After dinner it was off to bed. Too much movement to think about dancing, and we figured that one of these nights we should try to sleep. We got an invitation to a Halloween party organized by breckpatty, which we've decided to have on the 30th since the 31st is a sea day. Should be a lot of fun, and we don't have to worry about getting to bed early!

 

***

 

Today was a day that so clearly illustrates why we like Expedition cruising so much. Where else do you start with a morning visit to an archaeological site, then go on an afternoon wildlife cruise, and finish off with a great dinner? What could be more fun that a day like that?

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Sunday, October 29th

 

Callao and Lima, Peru

 

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The ship was rocking and rolling this morning on our way to the port of Callao.

 

We slept a little better. Though we woke up a number of times, we were able to get back to sleep relatively easily. We managed to sleep for the most part until 6:30.

 

Despite the ship's motion we managed to get a partial shower in. While Chris bounced around in the shower, I had an espresso in the room. That hit the spot! Then it was my turn to shower with one hand and hold on with the other.

 

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After our quasi shower, we headed over for some breakfast. And to have a cappuccino.

 

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Once we were adequately caffeinated, we went to the briefing for Monday's Nasca Lines flight. The briefing was held this morning, instead of before dinner, because we were off the boat for dinner today, and therefore there was no time for the standard pre-dinner briefing.

 

There was also a cheese making demonstration this morning. In between the activities, we wandered out on the deck for a bit and saw land. This is San Lorenzo Island, just outside of Callao. We should be getting close to port. It will be nice to stand on solid ground for a while. The motion is impressive.

 

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Time for a cooking demo with David. A fun morning!

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Sunday, October 29th

 

Callao and Lima, Peru

 

David Bilsland was doing another cooking demonstration this morning. He was showing us how to make Tuna Causa, and Rocoto Relleno.

 

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You can't really have a cooking demonstration without drinks. This morning's eye opener was a Pisco Sour. Cheers!

 

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This is a paste from cooked aji amarillos, blended with a little bit of water. Aji amarillo is a mild chile pepper. The paste is added to the mashed potatoes that go into the causa, mainly to add color. It's not really hot - I tasted it without any problem, and I didn't burn my tongue.

 

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Tuna Causa. Layers of mashed potato, tuna, and avocado. Delicious. We have had causa before on a previous visit to Lima and it's such a nice dish. There are probably as many versions as there are potatoes in Peru, and that's a pretty big number.

 

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Rocoto Relleno - chili peppers stuffed with a ground beef and pork mixture.

 

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Luckily, we had time for a few laps around the deck. Then it was time for lunch. All this food is making me hungry!

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JP & Chris, thanks for an absolutely terrific SS Expedition blog. Your outstanding snaps matched with exceptional prose put us (almost) right there with you. Appreciate your expedition cruise passion that pops when sharing Chris and your day/evening expedition experiences. Now, (thanks to your delightful blog posts) have to go look at the expedition cruise offerings for 2019+.

 

One ? pls, did David finish moving in to their new home. Hope so, he was beyond excitement during our Wind Norway cruise in July.

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Sunday, October 29th

 

Lima, Peru

 

Lunch was a debate between the grill and the restaurant. Eventually we decided to eat inside as it was becoming a bit cloudy.

 

As we ate, we saw that we were pulling into the dock, so we finished up and showered again (for real) before our tour was scheduled to leave at 2:00. The ship had been moving a fair bit all morning, so it was nice to get a break from that as we entered the protected harbor.

 

Here is an overview of part of Lima, and the port area of Callao. We are docked at the little grey flag on the upper left. The museum (first stop) is the gold star in the middle of the map. Huaca Pucllana is in the lower right, at the gold star in the middle of the word "Miraflores."

 

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The distances aren't too great; only about 5 miles between each stop. But Lima traffic can be ugly, as spinnaker2 has reported previously.

 

Luckily for us, we didn't dawdle after lunch! They announced at 1:30 that we could leave early. We headed down the gangway and just missed the first bus, but we were first in line for the second one. So we had our choice of the best seats.

 

Luckily, it was Sunday. We didn't have much traffic, so it was only about 30 minutes to the museum. The entrance was pretty, with lots of flowers in bloom. The skies were brighter again.

 

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Another view.

 

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We headed in and started looking at the exhibits. This knobby-kneed fellow was guarding the entrance.

 

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A few funny ceramics. A guy carrying his dog?

 

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And a pretty grim face here. Ayapec? He looks like the type to collect heads. And he looks like he's in a bad mood.

 

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We held on to our necks and went deeper into the museum.

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JP & Chris, thanks for an absolutely terrific SS Expedition blog. Your outstanding snaps matched with exceptional prose put us (almost) right there with you. Appreciate your expedition cruise passion that pops when sharing Chris and your day/evening expedition experiences. Now, (thanks to your delightful blog posts) have to go look at the expedition cruise offerings for 2019+.

 

One ? pls, did David finish moving in to their new home. Hope so, he was beyond excitement during our Wind Norway cruise in July.

 

Wes, thank you kindly for your very nice words. We so enjoy these trips and I'm glad that the blog is able to communicate that as well. Explorer is a great little ship and our fourth trip aboard was just a fantastic experience in so many ways. It would be very hard to top Antarctica so I hesitate to call it the "best" ever but SS really did a great job with this itinerary. Considering that it is kind of a repositioning cruise, wow.

 

We will continue to mix Expedition cruises with regular itineraries. You should look at voyage 1918, and join us for a circumnavigation of Iceland!

 

I must admit that even though we spent a lot of time talking to David, I don't remember the topic of his recent move coming up. Sorry!

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