Florida

Since our Peru trip we have been in Florida enjoying the great weather.
Unfortunately, our time here is ending and we are heading out west. We have been seeing the sites in Florida. And there are a lot of things to see in Florida. Our first trip was to the Naples zoo.
This is a great zoo, there are many animal exhibitions. We were able to see "feed the lions" and "feed the alligators". You can also go on a boat and see all the primates they have up close. They have eight different little islands with different types of species.

The lion was hungry and had a tendency to spray the audience. We kept our distance. There were a few people that got hit with the spray.

The alligators were huge. There were about twenty alligators and the biggest one was fifteen feet. We had a great time at this zoo and if you are in Naples you should check it out.

El Hipodromo- Horse track

We couldn't leave Peru without going to the horse track. The horse track is beautifully located in the town of Monterico.

You can sit in the stands or go to the lower section and see the horses up close. There is also a restaurant that is not expensive and the food is good.

John and mama Julia (or Mama Who-Who to Johnny) always seem to have the best luck. Mama Julia won money on the first few horses. John bet 20 soles on the last horse to win. The odds were pretty low. This was the horse's first race, "extreno". Number 8, and wouldn't you know it, number 8 came in first. Making John's bet of $8 worth $120.

We headed back home to finish packing. Unfortunately, I got ill and we couldn't fly out the next day. We left the following Wednesday. We had a great time in Peru. It was fun hanging out with the family and seeing the relatives.

Our visit to Lima, Peru

One sunny afternoon we decided to visit Lima. The center of city is home to the capital building and its many government buildings. Make sure when you enter the city to observe the buildings with beautiful Spanish balconies. Many were torn down over the years, and recently the government realized this action was destroying a significant portion of Peru's history and beauty. Therefore, they recently began restoration projects to bring the architecture back to its original incarnation.

Safety precautions are a necessity before you visit the city. Do not wear fancy jewelery even if it is fake. Thieves have been known to rip earrings and necklaces off unsuspecting women. One Peruvian woman, after noticing John and his western look, told us we should get off the street by sundown. We listened! If possible, place your wallet in your front pocket or a kangaroo pouch. Just take the basics: one form of i.d., one credit card (no Discover), and cash. Before you set off, exchange your dollar for some Peruvian soles.

Downtown Lima sells anything and everything you can think of. We bought extra pairs of eyeglasses for $20 with and without tint. We picked up painting supplies for John and Johnny for less than $5 (this included paint brushes, acrylic paints, and canvasas).

You can also find many restaurants with lunch specials. We ate at a restaurant that offered lunch for $3.00. We had an appetizer (Papa la huacaina, causa, soup or ceviche), an entree (arroz con pollo, pesto noodles with roasted chicken, Lomito or carne asada), and dessert (jello). The special also included salad, bread, and a tall glass of Chicha (Incan beverage made with fermented corn).

Ruins of Tucume

The Valley of Pyramids of Tucume are also found in Lambayeque. Locals call this area Purgatorio (purgatory). The locals never go into this area after dark. And healers believe the pyramids have special healing powers.












This location is huge, covering over 540 acres (including 26 major pyramids and platforms). From the entrance you have quite a walk with only a few small trees to block the intense sunlight. Make sure you have on comfortable shoes, sun block, and water.


The stairs up to the top of the pyramid are the ultimate stair-master. We had a few people stay in the bus, while others made the walk to the pyramid but then turned back when they saw the long stairs. That left a few suckers, er....um...I mean brave soles to climb the path. These stairs were not all the same size. Also, some were taller and steeper. In the end, the climb was well worth the lactic acid build up, with the awesome view of the mountains and pyramids.




It was a great adventure, as well as a workout. On your way back to the entrance there is a small park with a lot of shade and also sinks with cool water to clean yourself from all the desert dust. To see all the excavated items from this site visit the "Museo de Tucume" which is located in Lambayeque.

The wedding

The wedding was at 8:00 p.m.. A quarter to eight everyone was gathering to go into the church when the lights went out. The bride was taking her pre-wedding pictures when this happened. The reason we weren't in the church seated was because another wedding was taking place. Can you imagine when the priest is about to pronounce you man and wife the lights go off. The whole town was in the dark for about 15 minutes. The priest quickly finished the first wedding and then we witnessed my brother and Antone get married. It was a beautiful ceremony.

The place was very elegant and the food was great. Here in Peru there usually is no bar - what they do is put the liquor on your table. There was white wine, red wine, champagne, whisky and soda. Johnny mastered the ice tongs. If you needed ice in your glass, he was the man.

With all the liquor people were having a wild time. These two gals to the left got drunk on apple juice. In Peru, receptions typically last until 6:00 a.m the next morning. The meal finished around 10 p.m. and the party promptly began. The dance floor was packed. We have a lot of blackmail pictures...these offenders will remain nameless, but you know who you are. If a lot of people ask to see the incriminating photos I will post them.





This is around 3:00 a.m. All night Johnny wanted to dance and play these drums. The band let him come up several times. This is him performing "Babalu" I think. He took a 25 minute nap at midnight and was ready to hit the floor again. We finally left at 4:30 a.m. We had initially said good-bye to everyone at 4 a.m and were going to catch a cab with Kristine, Vilms, and Micheal. They were ready to go and I told them we would meet them downstairs. We waited and next thing I know they were back on the dance floor. I think they ended up closing the place down. Everyone had a great time.

Chiclayo Part II: The Ruins

The main pyramid of the site. Scientists determined this was man-made since it consists of adobe mud.

"Snakes....why'd it have to be....snakes?" An actual tomb with imitation artifacts. The tomb was discovered under a soccer field.

Another tomb....

Young Indiana Jones: The New Chronicles

Either the world's first elevator, or another tomb.

A view from the top of the pyramid.

This is actually good advise...if the pyramids eroded this badly from wind and rain - imagine what a good leak would do.

Walking the trail...

A view of the Andes Mts. in the distance. Although these appeared huge, they were probably considered speedbumps compared to the mountains toward the west.

Chiclayo is near the ruins of the Moche culture (which ruled the northern coast of Peru prior to the Incas - from 1AD to 700AD). The main village was known as Sipan, and houses an archeological site known as Huaca Rajada. The site consists of two large, eroded pyramids (built by the Moche people using adobe mud bricks). In addition, several tombs have been found in this area of upper echelon Moche people - including the Senor de Sipan (the tribes leader) which was located in 1987. Some archaeologists believe this is the most important discovery in the last 30 years because it was untouched by looters.

I imagined the ruins as quite a tourist attraction. Maybe they had a mall next to the pyramids that sold things like t-shirts with "I partied with El Senor de Sipan" printed on them. They could even have a McDonalds there that sold Moche burgers. How about a 80-foot water slide? The possibilities were endless.

On our third day in Chiclayo, a group of us decided to visit the ruins. We charted a bus we could fit in - which reminded me of the bus that Kathleen Turner rode and broke down in "Romancing the Stone", except that our's was smaller and in worse condition. As the bus ventured onto the highway, we wondered how long the ride would be. A member of the group, who shall remain nameless (but her name rhymes with "baron"), said "Oh, only about 10 minutes".

For the next hour, we passed several dirt farms, sugar cane fields, donkeys pulling carriages, and places along the side of the rode where people just dumped their garbage. Then our bus slowed down to about 2 mph, as we realized we were crossing a river on a one lane bridge. The bridge made one of those in Madison County look like the Golden Gate. This prompted Alex to turn white as rice, which was unusual considering he had developed a tan which rivaled George Hamilton's. He began muttering "This just isn't right! Something's wrong." Little did we realize at the time that he had rented a movie called "Turistas" before the trip. The movie was about a group of American tourists that go backpacking in Brazil, only to have their bus drive off a cliff, and then ending up in a cabin in the jungle where they begin to be murdered for black market body parts. I believe this was a new Disney film.

After crossing the bridge, the bus drove through a very run-down village. The driver pulled over and asked a man where the ruins were. He said, "You're looking at it!" Well, I guess they call them ruins for a reason.

After another half mile of driving we found the entrance to the site. Upon entering, we learned from our tour guide that an archeological team had just located a new tomb and had begun excavation. They allowed us to peer in dig, but we could not take any pictures. We were also able to climb a section of the pyramids, which yielded a beautiful view of the Andes Mountains.

The bus ride back seemed much shorter, and everyone was happy they took the journey to see this beautiful Peruvian landmark.

Our trip to Chiclayo

We left the house to the airport in Lima around 6:00 p.m. only to find out our 9:00 flight to Chiclayo had been delayed for two hours. The people on LAN Peru were nice and accommodated us with free dinner for all 18 of us to eat and relax while we waited for the plane to arrive. There were 5 restaurants to chose from and Johnny chose McDs and got his french fries.

We arrived in Chiclayo at midnight. It took 55 minutes to get to Chiclayo and 5 minutes to get to our hotel. John and Johnny were so tired they just collapsed on the bed. We stayed at the Santa Victoria Hotel and out of all the hotels we stayed in Peru this was the only hotel that had CNBC. John's favorite channel.

The next day we went sight seeing and the first stop was to Lambayeque which is about 15 minutes from Chiclayo to the "Museo Nacional Tumbes Reales De Sipan". This museum is the most impressive museum that we visited in Peru. The artifacts inside are just amazing and you can do a tour or go at it alone. Either way you will learn a lot about the Indian tribe and its leader "El Senor de Sipan" who ruled over his people around the 1600.
Here is a picture of all of us in front of the museum.

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum to show you the beautiful artifacts. So we decided to go to the actual ruin site and see the village site. That story is for tomorrow.

Our 2nd week in Peru

The second week came so fast. The week of Christmas. Aunt Karen with our friend Alex, Aunt Bebe, Aunt Luisa, Uncle Peter, Uncle Hernan and Aunt Vilms with Uncle Micheal and Johnny's cousins (Kristian, Peter, Alexa, Kristoffer and Preston) all came to Peru. On the 24th we surprised Aunt Bebe with a serenade for her birthday. She was so surprised.




We also had a visit from Santa Claus who made a special stop at our house to deliver the presents. Johnny was Santa's helper.


Once Santa Claus left to go to the rest of the houses, Johnny was in charge of passing out the rest of the presents. Around 12:45 we finished opening the presents and we finally ate our Christmas meal. We rested up on the 25th because the next day we were off to Chiclayo. This city is about 11 hours on bus or a hour by plane. We chose to take the plane trip. Stay tuned to hear about our trip to Chiclayo for my brother Hernan's wedding.

Our First week in Peru

Happy New Year. We hope everyone is having a good year. We can't believe our visit here is almost over. We had a great time an saw some amazing things. Our first week was pretty laid back. December is the beginning of summer and the first spot we hit was the italian gelattoria 4D. It serves the best freshly made ice cream. There are favorites like vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. Then there are the peruvian flavors like passion fruit (maracuay), lucuma and guanavana. And then the italian flavors. You can't go wrong with any flavor.

We went to the Pescatorre in Miraflores. It serves some of the best seafood and Peruvian classics like Lomo saltado. You can't go to a restaurant and not order a Pisco Sour. This drink is made with Pisco. A liquor made from grapes and about 24% alcohol or more. This is strong stuff and the people in the mountains drink this to keep warm and stay alive in the cold winters. Alone it can burn your nostril, throat and stomach but mixed in it is very tasty.

We also visited the Museo de Oro Del Peru (Peru's Museum of Gold). This museum displays some of Peru's finest treasures from the Pre-Incan era. There are also on display mummies. This museum also holds one of the largest gun and armory collection. We wished we could have taken pictures but no cameras aloud. If you would like to take a look at the collection you can visit http://www.museoroperu.com.pe .