Bus, planes, trains and automobiles is a good description of our last few days in Peru. After 3 weeks in the Peruvian countryside we flew into Lima and the 21st century.
Our home base for a couple days of sightseeing is the upscale area of Miraflores, a Lima neighborhood perched on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean.
Lima is entering the time of the year when the fog rarely lifts for 6 months. The housing density of this region reminds me of Vancouver, BC. but on a bigger scale. Lima is a city of apx. 3 million and a lot of them live in the high rises that form the impressive skyline along the bluffs above the ocean.
We had read of Lima's reputation for extremes between the very poor and the very rich. On our tour of Lima in a open air bus the driver did a good job of only showing us the "charming" side of Lima. We traveled down wide boulevards and cute narrow streets, from the modern glass towers of the coast to the clean well kept Colonial Center.
After visiting the many diverse areas of Peru for the past few weeks, ending our odyssey in Lima was fitting. Life for the residences of Lima are about as far removed from the life in the Amazon as one can imagine.
Panama City and the Canal
We arrived in Panama just as night fall began and was amazed by the skyline.
This trip to Panama was planned as a week of the pool and cold drink with only a quick city tour and a visit to the Miraflores Locks and Museum planned.
The Gamboa Rainforest resort sits just several hundred yards from the shipping channel on Gatun Lake with its heavy canal traffic.
With in several hundred yards of the heavy noisy canal traffic I was able to snap a picture of this Capuchin Monkey.
The locks and the museum were very interesting. The men in our crowd could have stayed at the locks all day. The museum features a simulator that lets you pilot a freighter through the lock. Now that was fun!
This is our final day of this trip and I must say it was a rewarding trip. The Amazon experience was amazing and our choice of doing a lodge instead of a ship was at least for Ron and I a good one.
To have the time to leisurely explore the beautiful villages and historic sites from our rental house in Urabumba was a blessing. The staff at Villa Runa took very good care of us. You can check them out at www.virbo.com.
Our location on the Plaza de Armas the main square in the beautiful and historic city of Cusco was perfect. We could walk just about anywhere we wanted or grab a bench on the square and soak it all in. The all female staff at the Loreto Boutique Hotel also went out of their way to take care of us. From fixing Ron his unique breakfast eggs to that delightful mad dash for our luggage mentioned earlier, we couldn't have ask for more. We found the Peruvians to be very kind, quite and reserved. But that polite reserved demeanor never hid the twinkle in the eye or the quick grin.
To post this blog I have been lucky to have traveled with 3 who know their way around a camera. The photos I choose for this blog is a mixture of my own photos and those of Pat, Patsy and Helen. Thanks friends.
I hope you have enjoyed sharing our travels.
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