Lima, Peru - Updated with pictures.

Saturday is the first day we will be in Lima, Peru.  We do not arrive until noon.  We dock in an area called Callao.  The ride to Lima is about one hour.  Callao is the chief port of Peru.  The cruise line runs a shuttle into Miraflores but we are taking a tour.

We swam in the morning for one hour.  Then cleaned up and headed to Compass Rose for breakfast.  Bob is suffering with allergies so we had our duvet changed  and his pillows.  Hope this helps.

We skipped lunch as we had a big breakfast.  Our tour today is "Peruvian Art".  This turned out to be the best tour we have been on this trip.  The first stop was to a private museum to view over 33,000 artifacts from the Moche and Chium people.  The gentleman who owns the collection has been collecting since he was a young man.  In earlier days, you could buy things from grave robbers etc. and he did just that.  Now Peru has laws that do not allow such private collections.  So he made his collection into a private museum and it was wonderful.  We did not see all 33,000 pieces.

The outside of the museum.  It was really beautiful.

 This is the entrance to the gift shop.  Did not have enough time at the end of the visit to shop.

The name of the museum and the collector.

This is something worn by the King or Inca.  These people did not value gold like we do today.  They had so much of it that they did not realize the value.

Some of the pots in the collection.

This tells about the mask you see below.

This is a mummy.  They would bury the people in the fetal position.  So the mummy is quite small in height.

They also used fabric and beads.

The storage area of the museum.  This goes on for ever it seems.

Just to let you see the height of the flowers.

 Next we drove to Barranco area of Lima to visit the Lima Contemporary Art Museum.  I must say this was a waste of time.  A strange collection to say the least.

This sculpture is outside of the museum.

And this is one of the pieces inside.  Need I say more?

The final stop was to a private home to view Señor Luna's collection of nativity sets from all over the world.  He lives in a nice house that the entire second floor is the collections.  Three large rooms filled with these different nativity sets.  He has thousands of them.  All different and all different sizes too.

The front entrance to the home.

The collection is up the stairs with this courtyard in the back of the home.

Back to the ship where we dressed for dinner.  We had cocktails in the Mariner Lounge where Jean and Harry joined us.  We had a great dinner with them.  This has been fun sharing this cruise with them.  We wished them a safe journey home and plan to visit them when we get home.  Maybe before the next cruise.

We overnight here in Lima.  So Sunday will be turn around day for the staff.  We had planned on taking a tour but on further study, we found out we had done it so we will just stay on board and catch up on things - like this blog and emails.

Sunday is disembarkation and this is how it is done in Lima.  There is no terminal here so the luggage is placed outside.  Lucky it was not raining.  They did finally add the cover but not all the luggage could fit under the tents.

Tonight we are having dinner in Signatures.  We asked if we could eat in the special restaurants more than once and it seems we might be able to since I do not think this leg is full.  We will see.

Our next port is Pisco, Peru.  More about that later.

Salaverry, Peru

Friday finds us docked in Salaverry, Peru.  This is in the north coast of Peru.  The land is barren and rocky.  But it has a vast and fascinating history.  Salaverry is the major sea port to Trujillo.  Trujillo is a lively metropolis that competes with Arequipa for the title of Peru's Second City.  This area of Peru is not as developed for tourism as the south part of the country.  Trujillo was founded by the Spanish conquistador Pizarro.

Our tour today was Chan Chan City of Palaces.  This is an ancient Chimu capital.  The Chimu, who preceded the Incas and were later conquered by them, built Chan Chan about 1300 AD.  It is the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas and the largest mud city in the world.  At one time Chan Chan had over 60,000 inhabitants and was a very rich city with a vast wealth of gold, silver, and ceramics.  After the Incas conquered the Chimu, the city remained untouched until the Spanish came.  Within a few decades of the conquistadors, most of the treasures of Chan Chan were gone, either taken by the Spanish or by looters.

The city walls enclose eight square miles of buildings, including small wattle and daub huts, medium sized adobe brick houses and the huge palaces of the era's nobility.  These palaces typically contained many rooms and patios and were surrounded by their own protective walls.  Each palace also contained ceremonial courtyards, some decorated with a repeating design of birds or animals.  Often a palace was abandoned once its owner died and a new one was constructed next door.  As a result, these amazing buildings date from 850 to 1470 AD.

This is the entrance to the palace.  Not the typical palace that we know today.  The walls were higher but with weather and such, they have become smaller.  These are all made of mud or adobe bricks.

The courtyard is huge.  In the center where the rope is is where they held different ceremonies.  From general meetings to sacrifices.

The walls surrounding the courtyard are figures carved into the walls.

On the outside of the walls we found this carving.  85% of the wall had the fish heading toward the sea and 15% had them going the other way.

Around the central area where these different sections.

And they think this area was stalls that contained different items that they could buy.   Sort of like a mall in todays world.

Outside the central area was this green field.  This is where the well was so that is why it is still green but no water today.

While waiting for the bus to come pick us up, I sat down and this kitty decided to join me.  I did pet it but the picture of me doing it has my head down.  The poor cat looked hot.

Our first stop was to the dragon temple.  Not sure why it is called that.  At any rate, you can see the high walls protecting the area.

Again, the walls are carved our of mud.  They used a lot of rainbow carvings.

They now cover the walls with a roof to protect it from the weather.

This is a better picture of the rainbow and then the other symbols.

These were carvings of the warriors.  They went all around the wall.  We were not allowed to go up and look at the area from above and it is probably a good thing as they only had a ramp and no hand rail.

Another view.

 This is the area where we were docked.

Not much here to see.

But lots of fishing boats in the harbor.

Back to the ship for lunch and a nap.  We walked about three miles this morning.  A lot for me.

We elected not to swim today.  Dressed for dinner and cocktails in Mariner Lounge.  Jean and Harry joined us.  They went to the Crew show but we decided not to go as we have three more times to see it before we leave the ship.  Jean said it was okay.  The crew does their best to put on a show but sometimes they just don't have the right talent.

Dinner was lobster but fixed a different way.  But it was good.  Just not traditional.  Back to the suite to try and upload the pictures but could not so I did all this in the early morning of Saturday.  We do not arrive in Lima until noon.

Guayaquil, Ecuador

Wednesday found us docked in Guayaquil, Ecuador.  This is the last stop in this country.  Guayaquil is the nation's largest city and the capital of Guayas Province.  It is  Ecuador's largest port.  It is located on the Guayas River near the equator.

Today our tour was Maac Museum and Los Penas.  We drove to the downtown area which takes about 45 minutes from the port.  Our first stop was to visit the Archaeological and Art Museum.  This is an interesting place.  Our guide said he could not take the entire group at once so our smaller group toured the art part of the museum.  The art was strange, at least to me.

This is the outside of the museum.  The address of the street is on the side of the building.

Some of the newer buildings in the downtown area of the city.

This is one of the paintings in the art side of the museum.

Another view of the museum from the outside.  It sits right on the river.  They have cleaned up this area of the city.  The riverfront is very nice but we did not get to walk around, just to see it from the bus.

Next we walked to Los Penas and Santa Anna Hill.  This was an area of the city where many artists lived.  Along with them were drug dealers and the like.  The city has cleaned up this area but now no one lives in the houses except up on the hill.

The Los Penas area from the museum.

Not sure what this is for.

This is the old part of the city.

People do live in the houses on the hill.

Kind of congested if you ask me.

Just more of the area.

This is one of the old colonial houses.  They are very nice and the city keeps them that way.  The street is cobblestone and hard on the legs to walk on.  One must look down at all times because they are not even.

At the end of the street there is an old beer factory.  The building above is the former silo.  They used to house the grain for the beer in the silos.  Now they are apartments.

On the ride back to the ship we passed the Navy Hospital and Navy Yard.

This is the entrance to the Navy Yard.

Back on the ship we had lunch and then nap for Bob.  I did some needlepoint and knitting.

We swam  in the afternoon.  I prefer to swim in the morning as it is not crowded but when we tour, we have to do it in the afternoon.  We did our full hour and then the hot tub.

Dressed for dinner.  Tonight we are having dinner with Jean and Harry in their suite.  When they booked this cruise (just the first leg), they booked a Horizon Suite.  Their travel agent requested they give it up and go to the Mariner Suite but it would cost them an additional $3000. each.  Someone wanted the Horizon Suite and they were doing two legs of the cruise.  Jean and Harry said they would not give up the suite they booked unless it was a free upgrade.  Finally Regent agreed and they were given the Mariner Suite.  This is a really nice suite.  Living room, dining room, powder room, separate bedroom and full bath.  Plus a large closet.  Really nice but I think they are rather expensive.  At any rate, we had a great dinner up there.  We have really enjoyed getting together with them.

Thursday was a full sea day.  Routine the same, eat, swim, lecture, and needlepoint.  Dinner was in Compass Rose.  We again ate with Jean and Harry.  They are leaving on Sunday to fly home.

Side note, I spoke with the Food and Beverage assistant manager and requested the blue cheese olives. So now we get them.  Yea!!!

Manta, Ecuador

Tuesday we docked in Manta, Ecuador.  Manta is the second most populous city in the Manabi Province of Ecuador.  Manta has existed since Pre-Columbian times.  Its main economic activity is tuna fishing.

Manta is the largest seaport in Ecuador,  It also has an international airport.  The last time we did this cruise, we flew out of Manta for Quinto.  But it is also the city closest to Montecristi, the home of the Panama hat.

Our tour today was Montecristi and the Highlights of Manta.  Our first stop was to the Museum.  Here they had some items from pre-columbian times.  A very small museum, only one floor.  But interesting.

Next we stopped at the Tagua Factory.  Tagua is a nut from the palm tree that is used to make items that look like ivory.  Lots of buttons are made from this nut.

The nuts are spread out on the ground in order to dry them.

Once they are dry, they then slice them into this slices.  This is done with a sharp saw.

Next they carve the slices into round buttons using a drill and electric sander.  The smaller buttons are not done by hand as they are too small for the machine.  The large pieces of nuts are carved into figures.  They make all sorts of items.  But this is all done by hand.

On the way to the next stop we passed this large statue in the middle of the road.  It is of the ladies who weave the Panama Hats.  They have to lean over the form is order to weave the brims.

Notice that her breasts are on the form of the hat.  Not all the weavers have such large breasts.

Our next stop was to Cabuya plant weaving workshop.  Here they take the stalks of the palm trees and make rope from it.  Very basic means of doing this.  You can see the fibers that the ladies then pull and make it into spools which are then weaved together to make a flat panel.  All very labor intensive.

They use these machines that are loud and lots of fibers are in the air.  Some of the women wear masks.

Just a close up of the operation.

Here there are several individual spools of the fiber that he is making into one large spool which is then used to weave into the flat mat.

This is the final product.  This machine is done with foot pedals and sliding the cross material by hand.
These workers have been doing the same thing for 50 years.

The last stop on the tour was to Montecristi.  Here in the square, they set up booths all selling the hats.  Several different styles were available.

This is a demonstration of the actual weaving of the Panama hat.  Once the crown is formed the weaver has to lean over the hat to weave the brim area.  It is hard work and usually done in the early morning or in the evening.  They do not want to sweat on the product.

The view from our balcony was of the dock where the tuna boats get off loaded.  Quite a job.  They work all day unloading the fish from the boats.  The fishing boats take turns coming to the dock.
They use nets to catch the fish.  I do not think this type of fishing is allowed in the USA.

Then back to the sip for lunch and a nap for Bob.  They we swam for one hour and got ready for dinner.  Cocktails in Mariner Lounge where we could not get blue cheese stuffed olives.  This needs to be fixed.

Dinner was good.   Bob had the Dover Sole from Prime 7.  The night before he did not enjoy his meal when we ate there.  So they promised him he could have his choice the next night in Compass Rose.  This he enjoyed.  We went to the show which was a performance by Panos Karan, a concert pianist.  He is very good and we really enjoyed his show.  I thought of Aiden the entire time.  Wished he could have seen this gentleman play.

Back to the cabin to read and lights out.  Tomorrow we dock in Guayaquil, Ecuador.