Nazca

View of the Nazca line drawing called "El Arbol"

After a night of air-conditioned sleep, we hopped back on the Peru Hop bus.

Some Peruvian scenery through the bus window

Today, the group stopped at a Pisco vineyard and distillery (and tourist stop). We were given a brief tour and talk of the pisco-making process. Apparently, people had been making pisco in that spot for at least a hundred years. Pisco is the type of grape used to make the local sweet wine and hard liquor, also called "pisco". The national drink is the 'pisco sour', which reminds me a little of a margarita. The tour was kinda interesting, learning how it was similar to and different from the whiskey distillery tour we took last year. For example, pisco is distilled in a huge, copper-lined vat buried underground, then stored in clay "kegs". I only wish we could've seen the grapes.

The wine-taster

Froody, el catador

Pisco is aged in clay "kegs"

Eventually, we made our way to Nazca. It only merits a dinner stop on our bus route, but we wanted to stay a couple of nights and see the famous Nazca Lines from the air. Nazca is a small town in the desert and has been inhabited for over 2000 years. Being smaller, it is also much quieter than Lima and much cleaner.



We got up a little early and enjoyed some fresh juice and tea for breakfast, provided by our hostel. (Of course, Froody had bread with butter and jam. I got the lunchmeat and some cheese.) The airline we went with, Movilair, picked us up from the hostel. Once at the airport (pretty much dedicated to companies that gave tours of the line drawings), we got weighed, paid for the flight, then went to another window to pay the airport tax, then sat in front of a video about the lines. Finally, a small group of us were called together and eventually boarded the small plane.

I liked the flight. There was a lot of banking and flying at almost 90 degrees so that both sides of the plane could get a good look at the lines. The Nazca Lines encompass a huge area and, I think, were made over the course of a few hundred years. There are animals shapes, which are older, and geometrics, which are younger. I thought they were carved into the ground, but basically the dark rocks were moved over and the lighter-colored dirt was revealed. They've managed to last so long because it hardly rains in the area. The people, then and now, depend on a river that flows through the region.

Since we had an entire day and a half to spend in Nazca, we hired a guide to show us some of the local ruins, including the aqueduct.








Sorry for no pictures. Something's up with the Internet.

Lima --Paracas--Huacachina

Of course, we had to try some Inca Cola

We spent another couple of days in the historic Downtown area of Lima. SO HOT. But, we found some relief inside two museums and an historic hotel. The Mineral Museum (aka El Museo de Andres del Castillo) was situated in what was once an elegant home built in the 1860's. The tall ceilings, tile floors, windows and arches all over the home allowed for some respite from the heat. Not only was there an amazingly huge collection of crystals, gems, and metals, but also a small collection of pre-Colombian textiles (small) and pottery (bigger). The crystals were neat, but after a while it all looked the same, probably because they had about 50 examples of each one. There were some cool examples of native gold, silver, and copper. Not just the ore, but the actual metal attached to rock. There was also a phosphorescent room. The pottery came in fun shapes, and we were delighted to be able to recognize so many animals! There were cups, jars, and dishes that looked like penguins, birds, dogs, monkeys, even a flat fish and sea cucumber! Unfortunately, we could only take photos in one part of the museum, so you'll just have to go to Lima to see for yourself. 

That's one big piece of pyrite and galena

We also went to the Lima Museum of Art (Museo de Arte de Lima), where they displayed artwork from pre-Colombian times up through the colonial period and into modern times. Also housed in an enormous colonial building, my favorite part was the textile room. Not only because I work with textiles (knitting!) and could relate to seeing yarns, fabrics, and even an box belonging to a spinner, complete with a set of drop spindles and roving, but because it was the only room that was air conditioned.  

 Woman with spindle--pre-colombian

 Museum window overlooking a park

Entrance to Lima Museum of Art 

Incan Quipu, or talking knots

 Pre-colombian spinner's box, complete with roving and spindles

Pre-colombian snail pottery 

Enjoying some functional art

Not hot enough, we decided to spend part of the early afternoon watching the changing of the guard ceremony in front of the presidental palace. 

Just a snippet of excellent, precision marching.

Then we tried to cool off in the Gran Hotel de Bolivar. I was soooo happy for the pitcher of frozen lemonade! 

Air-conditioning and a pitcher of frozen lemonade! And our first taste of papas de huacachin.

 Grand Bolivar Hotel- Lobby

Grand Bolivar Hotel-- Lobby Ceiling

We caught the evening Magical Water Fountain Show, not realizing that everyone else in Lima was going to be there. Fortunately, it is a big park and the evening was cooling down. Watching the fountains was refreshing. 

This isn't the show, but some nice effects.

Finally, we headed out of the city and to the quiet beach town of Paracas. It was a bit cooler, being on the water and smaller so no big buildings to retain the heat, but it was still hot! We took it easy for a couple of days here. We spent on afternoon on the beach, rented an umbrella and chairs, thinking that would protect us. (Froody still got sunburned staying in the shade!) I got burnt, even though I was being careful! I am in my Winter skin right now and I hoped to get a start on my Summer tan. Oh, well. 

We did take a boat tour of Ballestas Island (Isla de Ballestas). Not only wonderful to be on the water again, but so much wildlife!! Here's the list of what we saw: a South American many-rayed starfish, Peruvian pelicans, Peruvian boobies, South American Sea Lions--fathers, mothers, and pups!, Inca Terns, Magellanic Cormorants, red shore crabs, barnacles, and Humboldt Penguins!! 

Janola and Froody

Stinky but lovely rock formations (full of bird guano)

Inca Terns on the rocks

The next day we headed further south, to the oasis of Huacachina. On the way, we toured the Paracas Nature Reserve. Beautiful desert bordering the ocean. Unfortunately, Froody woke up with a case of Paracas Belly. Fortunately, he made it to Huacachina without incident. :-) 

So, Froody stayed in our quiet, air-conditioned hostel room to rest and I went out and lived!! I took a dune buggy ride! It was a huge machine and fit 9 of us eager tourists! And in the late afternoon, the desert was full of these buggies. Part of the fun was getting out and sandboarding!!! It was so fun!

The dessert above the oasis of Huacachina

Dune buggies

Sandboarding is exhilarating!

Sunset, Huacachina

The next day we left Huacachina and made it to Nazca. That will be in the next post. 

Lima, Peru --1

Greetings from LIMA PERU! 

We left Seattle on a cool Wed morning. Our first leg took us to Las Vegas, where we had a good time just wandering the strip in the evening.

After a good night's sleep, it was on to Mexico City, about a 6 hr flight. With only a 6 hr layover, we decided it was best to hang out at the airport. Did I mention we're waiting for a midnight flight?

We arrived as scheduled early on Friday morning. While there was a wait to go through customs, it was still pretty painless. Our hostel sent a taxi for us and, after a hot drive through traffic worthy of a city of 10 million people, we checked in and took a nap.

Once we woke up, I signed us up for the free city tour given by 1900 Backpackers Hostel. Having a couple of hours to kill, we took a short walk around our block, where we found a fairly nice-looking restaurant, Mesa Central. Although this was not our first opportunity to speak Spanish, it was the first time we were trying to get something and not just make conversation. We went in just wanting some juice and maybe a little ceviche. The very kind and patient waitress eventually got us to understand that they were doing set lunches, one at 14 soles and another at 18 soles. Nothing to do but order one lunch (and some yummy strawberry juice) to share. We orded the ceviche pescado and the arroz mariscos. Oh, my! The ceviche was just delicious, the best I have ever had and the rice with seafood was also tasty. The rice was seasoned, the color was deeper than saffron rice, and the seafood was chunks of crab, octopus tentacles, squid rings, fish, and scallops, all sauteed. It was a very good-sized portion. (I hope we go back tonight for dinner!) The price for our lovely  meal and 1/2 liter of fresh strawberry juice? 25 soles (about $8)

Everyone loves food pictures, right??

Back at the hostel, we had time to meet and chat with some of the other guests who were also going on the tour. A couple of others from America, a couple from Germany, an older woman from Canada, another from Japan. Our guide was a young woman named Alice, a Lima local. To be honest, I cannot really remember everything and everywhere we went, but we did see the more famous sites in this part of the city, old Central Lima.

Lovely buildings and great color

One of many beautiful colonial churches

Gold and silver alter, in another church

Sure, Froody is smiling now, but we think this is the source of his Lima Belly

So many pictures I could share, but the Internet is a bit spotty here, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

Getting Ready

Wow! I can't believe we leave in a little more than 3 weeks! To be honest, this trip has been a long time coming. It's something we kinda talked about after our big RTW trip, because Central and South America just didn't fit our plans. We felt we had to make it separate trip. But when? and, for how long? Of course, we had just gotten back and had to re-start our lives here in the US. Then, there's the price of a ticket ($1000+ per person, round trip) and for that $$, we'd want to stay for at least a month. When's a good time? What about work? Should we learn Spanish? Is there time for that?

Anyway, late 2015 I think the idea of traveling to South America was brought up. Now that I was retired and Froody's schedule was becoming a little more flexible, it seemed the timing was right. Froody had just started with his new company, but felt pretty confident that we could take a longer trip, like a couple of months. Perfect! That gave us a year to pick up as much Spanish as we could.

We both have been using Duolingo to help us with the language. For Froody, it's all new but for me, it's been a great review of 6 years of Spanish (all through Jr. and High Schools). I like how well it's "chunked", the pronunciation on the site, and that they have seriously thought out when to review. I think the most helpful part, to me, has been the microphone, meaning that you can actually talk to the computer and it listens to you. Does it help with accents? Somewhat, but it mainly gives me a chance to actually use the language.

Another way I've been preparing for my 2-3 months of being immersed in Spanish is my novela (Spanish soap opera), La Reina del Sur.  Wow! In the past, I've seen a couple of minutes of an episode or two of some novela or other, and they seemed a bit boring. But La Reina is pretty awesome. Apparently, Telemundo (the TV station) spent a lot of money and took a big risk with this show as it's really different from the traditional novela. It helps that the main character, Teresa Mendoza, is not only attractive, but muscular and fit and vulnerable yet strong. Of course, like all good soap operas, there's lots of attractive women and men on the show, some skin, sex, explosions, etc. And, because she spends time around drug lords, pimps, and other shady characters, the vocabulary is nothing like what Duolingo would ever teach me! Ha! I've learned a few cuss-words and other bad words. Froody says if we every come across a drug lord on our trip, he'll have me do the talking. XD

Naturally, I can't follow the program 100%. But what's cool is that there are characters from all over the Spanish-speaking world: Mexico, Spain, North Africa, Colombia, etc. So, I kinda get a glimpse into what Spanish sounds like spoken by different people. Yeah, everyone talks way to fast for me to really get it (I rely heavily on the Spanish sub-titles, yet even they fly by), but the Spaniards and Arabs speak so fast, that the sub-titles show dropped syllables and are at times just flashed up and I can't even make out a single word before the next one is up!

Testing, Testing,....1..2..3...

Sheesh! There's a lot of dust on this blog! Just let me wipe it off.....

Hey there! So much has happened in the last couple of years. Froody and I now live in Seattle. I'm retired. And I have two new rats, Pork Chop and Pot Pie, helping me with today's blog. (Actually, they're sitting on my shoulders eating peas and leaving the pea-shells on my sweater.)

Well, Froody and I are about to embark on another great trip-- 2-3 months in South America! After much research on my part and discussion on our part, we chose to spend much of our time in Bolivia and Colombia, mainly because they seem to be off the beaten path, with emerging tourism industries. Later, we decided to add a quick visit to Peru, because, after all, it was right there. Other than that, we're trying to be pretty open about which sights we'll see. There are a few things that are definite.

1) Taking the bus to travel from Lima (where we land) to Cusco to La Paz. I like the idea behind PeruHop: a get on/get off bus, complete with guide, especially when we cross the border into Bolivia. For one ticket price, we travel from town to town with the option to stay overnight (or several nights) then catch the bus and continue on our way.

2) Machu Picchu. Oh, I'm really looking forward to spending the day at Machu Picchu. We're not taking a trek to the site. Instead, we're taking the train to Aguas Calientes then the bus to Machu Picchu. Looks like you need to purchase your tickets in advance, because they don't sell entry tickets at the site.

3) Taking a Spanish class in Sucre, Bolivia. Basically, I wanted us to stay put during Holy Week (Semana Santa) and not worry about possible changes to bus schedules, opening times, getting a room, etc. So, I thought it would be a great chance for us to continue learning Spanish with an actual teacher and stay with a local family. (I chose this one. Apparently, there are many good schools here.) Sucre seems like a beautiful city, with many language schools and cultural activities, plus very active during Semana Santa. Having locals and a teacher right there to explain the significance behind the events of the week is a big bonus.

4) Visiting the Salar de Uyuni. The pictures of this place are amazing. It just seems unreal, desolate, beautiful. And yet, birds, animals, and people call this place home.

5) Bogota. Well, I know we're going to fly to Colombia from Bolivia, and that means landing in Bogota. And, Bogota, like a lot of large South American cities, is a haven of wonderful things to eat!


So, you know about as much about our trip as I do now. Stay tuned, because I do plan on updating this blog regularly with pictures and observations of our South American adventures!

Target Training My Special Needs Rat

Don't be fooled by this sweet face. This rat will bite!!!

Froody and I spent a great day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I totally enjoyed the feeding show at the Open Oceans and the Kelp Forest exhibit. I also loved all the cool cephalopods in their Tentacles exhibit. But what got me thinking (and Froody) was the Albatross Encounter. Not that there are over 20 different species of albatross, or that an albatross can live for over 60 years. My big take-home message was target training. 

Yup, while the perky education staff member was filling our brains with albatross knowledge, the bird handler was target training the bird. Ms. Perky said they use target training to get this wild bird to move from one place to another, get used to different situations, and jump on the scale. Wow! Froody and I both thought of our own version of a wild animal- Silver Rat. 

To summarize, Silver was abandoned and I was naive enough to adopt him. After I brought him home, I realized why he was probably given up- he's a biter. Not a nipper; I've been nipped before and it's not a big deal. He bites with all of his being, and it's nasty and hurts like a mofo. He lives on our dining table, loves food, and is extremely cage aggressive to boot. 

Anyway, we thought target training would be a nice way to safely interact with him. Since I wanted to begin right away, I took a metal knitting needle and attached a ball of foil to the end. Fortunately, I already have a clicker and he loves to eat corn. We were ready!!

In my rat training book, you should keep training sessions short. Basically, when his nose touches the ball (target), I click the clicker and give him a kernel of corn. Of course, it was very easy at the beginning. I had the target right at the door to his cage. The click made him jump, but after 6 minutes he was relaxed enough not to jump after the click. After 4 minutes, he was pretty much spot-on, so I had the target about 7 inches off the table, making him stand up on his hind legs. No problem for this smart guy!! After our session, I let him explore the table top (as normal) and eventually he put himself away in his cage. 

Finally, I can interact with this bitey rat in a way that is fun and rewarding for the both of us!! I can't wait to begin teaching him tricks. :)

Things I Think My Rats Believe

As a pet owner, you probably wonder what your little animal children are thinking. I've pondered this as well and have come up with a list describing how my rats must see the world.

A Few Things My Rats Believe
1) All pet rats are spoiled. In other words, you have a rat in order to kiss him, cuddle him, talk to him, and give him cookies.
2) All wild rats are just rats with bad manners. Sadly, they have no one to teach them how to be cute and nice.
3) My poop is pretty amazing. Everyday my momma comes and gathers my poop and puts it in a special place.
4) I love being on my favorite shelf with my brother/sister, my best friends, and my favorite stuff.
5)  If I can reach it, it's part of my stuff.
6) Sniffing, climbing, touching, and chewing are all important ways to explore.
7) Rats are not 'fat'. They can be regular, round, or extra-round.
8) When my momma talks to me, all is right with the world.