Lima, day 2

We had an orientation meeting last night, and met Leo, our guide, who seemed very friendly and knowledgable. I also met the rest of the group: Tom and Alison from Tazmania (but they've been living in Canada), Karen and Peta, also from Australia, Steve and Claire, from Canada, and Owen and Lorraine, from New Zealand (Christchurch in fact, they're still suffering from the earthquake). Along with me, Katie and Slade that makes 11.

Leo showed us to a nice restaurant, where I had wild boar, hen, and plantain on rice. It was delicious, but I couldn't eat it all since I had had a late lunch.

We got up early, and had breakfast where I tried an unusual, and as yet in identified fruit which tasted half way between a melon and a potato (Update, it was a sweet cucumber according to Leo. It didn't look anything like a cucumber, but there you go). I have a photo on my camera, so I can't upload it unfortunately. We then has a bus trip around Lima, with an excellent guide called Teresa who told us about Lima's history. Apparently Lima only has 0.7 cm of rain a year, and is the second direst city in the world, so all the houses have flat roofs, and when it does rain it can cause problems.

Lima is also a city of dogs. Everyone seems to have a dog, and many just roam the streets, though all seem friendly. It's very different to other places I've been to, where you only see cats wandering around.

We saw the ocean, which is green because of a lot of phytoplankton, and various parks and districts of the city: the olive park in a rich district whose name I can't remember, the Lovers park in Miraflores, overlooking the ocean, Baraccas (I think), which is the bohemian district, and an Inca (again I think) fortification which had been buried by the Inca themselves as they were conquered to protect it, and has only recently been found. All the photos I took are on one of my cameras so I can't upload any.

It's about midday here, and we are about to head out to the seaside town of Paracas, which is 4 hours away by coach.