We have arrived safely in Lima, Peru. The trip here was an adventure in itself. We left home at 10:30 in the morning for a 7:20 pm flight. We went to the office to pick up Daddy, then headed out for the airport. One of our friends the week before had left 4 hours before her flight and never made it due to traffic and work being done on the road due to the landslides. We did not want to take a chance, as if we missed our flights, we would likely not be able to find another flight out of Caracas until after Christmas.
The traffic was heavier than usual, and you could see multiple landslides along the way - complete with multiple homes destroyed from the landslides, but we made it to the airport in 2.5 hours. With that much time to kill, we decided to head out to the Marriott close to the airport for lunch. It killed a couple of hours, and the kids got to play on the playground there and burn up some energy. We arrived ready to check in at 2 pm - an hour before what the US embassy recommended, and they would not let us check in until 3 pm. It only took an hour to check in, clear security and clear customs, so at 4 pm we were checking into the American Airlines lounge looking for four chairs together.
We got settled, then Chris and Madeline left for what is becoming a Haver Family Tradition - airport massages. There is a kiosk, with a wonderful woman, who gives 10 and 15 minute chair massages for a very reasonable prices. It is so inexpensive, we let the kids get them as well. We all took turns, then went back to the lounge. When we booked the tickets to Buenos Aires - we had to transfer through Lima as there is no direct flight from Caracas - so I decided we should stay and explore Lima for a few days. The tickets were written in spanish - and were in first class - though I missed that part when we booked them. When I was reviewing the tickets a few weeks ago I realized that our seats were in row 3! A happy accident for us.
We boarded and realized the first class section was on of the ones that was REALLY first class. The asiles were huge, and the seats were the ones that go from sitting to a full flat bed. Each chair had its own entertainment system, complete with Bose type headphones. The seats alone provided hours of entertainment for my children. They were served a real meal, with cloth napkins and silverwear and drinks in glasses. Of course, my worldly children acted like they were in DisneyLand - screaming, "Mom, check THIS out!" over and over again across the plane.
Five and a half hours later, we landed in Peru in the middle of the night. We cleared customs and emigration and were met by the hotel to take us to our home for the next few days. We crawled into our beds and fell asleep at about 2 am.
The next day we woke up to a view of the Pacific Ocean - just in front of our hotel, over looking the ocean, is a beautiful outdoor mall and park - so we decided to head there for breakfast. After breakfast we took a long walk along the cliffs and parks that overlook the rocky beaches and plotted out our day. We went back to the mall to eat a sushi restaurant and had some of the best ceviche we have ever had in my life. The seafood here is amazing! I also had my first pisco sour. The pisco sour is the local drink here - kind of like a margarita and about 100x as strong. We went shopping and bought a few scarves and a hat for Madeline made out of baby alpaca - one of the local handicrafts here.
Dinner last night was at Cala - a beautiful restaurant on the beach, specializing in seafood. The prices here are half of what we would expect to pay in San Francisco for the same food and level of service. Everyone here - from the maids, to the waiters, to the taxi drivers are some of the most polite, and genuinely happy people we have ever met. We have become so used to people treating us like we had intelligence issues because or command of spanish was lacking, but here they smile, and remain very patient trying to help us along. Of course, nothing is pefect, my meal was not what I thought I was ordering last night, but was delicious none the less.
Today we head out for surfing lessons for Chris and the kids at a beach south of Lima - we will let you know how it goes.
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