In mid-April, I took another Overseas Adventure Travel tour - my third since last June - called Real Affordable Peru, 10 days to visit Lima, the Sacred Valley, Machupicchu, and Cusco. Once again, our tour group was incomparable and wonderfully compatible, and our tour leader, Marco, could not have been better. The age range of our group swung much younger than my prior OAT trips, to the extent that I came in at roughly the median rather than at the "least experienced" end of the range. The group shared the same youthful, adventurous spirit of the prior groups, though.
We flew into Lima on April 16, arriving in time for the morning rush hour. After checking in, and getting some money changed, Marco took us on a local walking tour. We stayed at the San Agustin Exclusive Lima, in the Miraflores district of Lima.
Marco first took us to Parque Kennedy (that would be Juan F. Kennedy) and Parque Central. Marco shared with us a personal anecdote of his youth regarding how the Kennedy administration's aid program to Peru had provided him a glass of milk everyday that he went to school, and how, as a child, he had known hunger; this program, in addition to providing him needed nutrition as a youngster, also helped inspire his academic progress, and (my opinion) helped foster his strong commitment to education today.
After walking through several neighborhoods in the Miraflores and San Isidro districts, we headed to the coast, and we visited some parks overlooking the Pacific.
The next day we took a more extended city tour. Our first stop was at the National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology, and History. Next we disembarked at Plaza Mayor.
We toured the Cathedral,
then stepped out in time to witness the changing of the guards at the Government Palace, an hourly event that lasts at least 20 minutes.
Our next stop was the Monasterio de San Francisco and its catacombs. After catacombs, lunchtime!
After lunch, we toured Huaca Pucllana, a site dating back to 400-700 AD, where indigenous people were believed to have gathered for trade, local governing, worship, and ceremonial rites.
That evening the entire group took the optional excursion to La Dama Juana Restaurant, where we enjoyed local foods and a great dance performance.
Our next day featured a tour of Villa El Salvador, now an official district of Lima, but previously the world's largest shantytown. We began the day with a visit to a local fisherman's market. On the road south, we came across the Friar's Leap Ledge, where - what are the odds? - we witnessed a friar leaping into the ocean.
Next we stopped in a local market where the group picked up some staple foods to deliver to Santa Rosa de Villa, a shantytown on the way to Villa El Salvador. In a world of hope, this is the "before" to the success of Villa El Salvador's "now".
We had a group dinner that evening at a seaside restaurant, with lively conversation and the restaurant sound system playing the Beatles and Abba. Off to the Andes tomorrow!
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