Saturday, June 30 - A Day in Lima

We went down to our gate at 10 PM, stopping to grab a Nathan’s Hot Dog on the way to boarding our 757, a far inferior plane to the 777, and got our business class seats, this time next to each other. We took off at midnight and were immediately offered a full three course meal of which we only took the soup which was excellent: a carrot soup with chopped onions, jalapeños and cilantro. The rest of the menu looked great too, but it was, after all, by that time 1 AM!

We managed to get a little sleep before we landed in Lima at 4:25AM and stumbled off the plane and into the almost empty airport, through immigration and to baggage pickup. Since we had boarded in First Class, our bags were red tagged and Bob got his quickly, but almost everyone was gone and mine hadn’t appeared…or so we thought. Finally over in a corner I spotted a pile of red-tagged bags and there mine was! First Class regulars would have probably figured that out more quickly!

Pastel de Choclo

We hauled our stuff across the street to the Ramada Costa Del Sol, checked in, went up to our room and collapsed.

We got up at 10:30 this morning feeling quite recovered and went down to explore the hotel which is a pretty small: one small bar and a 24-hour restaurant. We went in for a light lunch and found a terrific menu. I had Pastel de Choclo, corn pie - a corn & cheese custard surrounded by grilled shrimp, tomatoes and peanut huancaina sauce. Really great! Bob had Sopa Picante de Longostinos, a delicious spicy shrimp soup.

Bob had a need for a life bird by that time. The airport is located near Callao, Peru’s big shipping port that contains a large fort built in 1747, and La Punta, a long sand spit filled with large brightly colored houses, fishing boats and beach parks. We got a taxi to drive us out there and the nice driver gave us a great tour, walking us out on the malecón, a promenade overlooking a bay formed by rugged offshore islands that was crammed with birds. We saw thousands birds wheeling and diving, consisting of large Peruvian Pelicans, gulls, cormorants, boobies and the very lovely Inca Tern, a black tern with red beak and legs, a white trailing edge to its wings and white face tufts- spectacular and a life bird! On the way back the driver stopped by the fort so we could walk around it and through the truly bizarre Police Park - a nicely landscaped park with winding paths and benches and full of police cars and tanks and models of police in riot gear! We enjoyed sunny cool weather as the morning fog gradually cleared.

At six we went to the tiny crowded bar and had our first Pisco Sours (the national drink of Peru) of the trip and a plate of roasted chocla (giant white corn kernels). We had another terrific meal in the restaurant of mushroom risotto for me and walnut-stuffed chicken breasts over a different mushroom risotto for RRZ and then split a flan de coco for dessert.

We ran into John Rowlett who informed us that we are all meeting in the lobby at 7:30 AM with bags, ready to go, for our 8:45 flight to Tarapoto.

Friday, June 29 - Flying down to Lima

Thursday afternoon we left Miss Maddie at the Cat House Hotel, had dinner at the Super Rica and then drove down to the Sheraton at LAX where we can park our car for fourteen nights and get a room before today’s flight.

  This morning we took the bus over to American and as, we’re flying First Class with our miles, whisked through check-in and security. We were about to stand in line and buy some breakfast when we remembered that with our elite tickets we could go to the Admiral’s Club. The LAX Club is so discretely marked that we almost missed it. We went through the doors into the hush of luxury and found that transcontinental First Class passengers have an even more elite inner club where we got a free full cooked breakfast of waffles, eggs and sausages, and, had it been a little later in the day, could have indulged in the open bar as well.

We reemerged into the chaos of the departure gates and got on board.

Well! On our 777 jet, the first class section consists of individual wrap-around pods with a chair that adjusts every which way including a bed! We each had three windows , and extra chair in case one wanted to entertain a visitor to the pod. I pivoted my chair around so I could simultaneously watch Big Bang Theory and the view and eat my meal in wonderful privacy - pure heaven! Marinated mozzarella balls, large baby greens salad followed by poached salmon with fennel and baby potatoes.  Then RR had an enormous sundae and I, sensibly,  had cheese and fruit

We arrived in Miami at six PM and went up to their Admiral’s Club where we’re snacking and waiting for our midnight flight to Lima (Business Class).

Birding in El Perú!

We're off this Thursday, heading to Lima, Peru, to join a 8-day Field Guides birding trip to be led by John Rowlett who guided our trip to Brazil in October, 2010. We will be mostly in the departments (states) of Amazonas and San Martín in the north. 

Sunday we'll fly out of Lima for a night in Tarapoto in the hot, humid lowlands and then drive up the east slope of the Andes, where we'll stay at the Owlet Lodge for six nights birding, each day at different elevations going up to 8000'.

 Some amazing birds are likely, such as the Marvelous Spatuletail, a hummingbird with four bare tail feathers, two of which have violet-blue discs on the tips which the male can move independently to entice an interested female. 
Check out this Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuPeavdVI1A&feature=plcp

After the tour Bob and I are staying in Miraflores, a snazzy surburb of Lima, for two nights to visit museums and to sample some of the wonderful cuisine.

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