What a shock to come to a sunny Lima. They say the city is engulfed in fog nine months a year, and that´s indeed what we experienced that first day in Lima last month. We returned yesterday during the one-day tranportation strike (buses, not taxis)and found the city bathed in sunlight with very little smog or traffic. The air actually felt fresh. Today is another sunny and warm winter day. Lovely.
We were picked up at the airport by a Swiss woman and her partner. The Swiss woman is from Zurich, where I have family, but she says she never felt Swiss (whatever that means). She and her partner own a travel business here, so if anyone is planning to travel to Peru, I can send you their contact information. They can help out with excursions around Peru, accomodations, and sight seeing in Lima and surrounds. We are staying in the upper scale Mira Flores area of Lima, which feels and looks just like a middle income city in the states or Europe. And we have a perfectly fine room with bath for $17 a night each! I plan to walk around this barrio today while Mariana sees to her family business.
We have five days here before we fly home on Sunday. Just enough time to combine visiting Marian´s family and taking in a museum or two. I´m looking forward to going home!
2 comments:
Hello there, Nice blog and photos, I have contacted Kennedy at awamaki in the past couple week regarding volunteering as a photographer at the Cusco Peru location. Any advice on embarking on this journey would be greatly appreciated. I am a professional photographer moving more into the realm of photojournalism. I look forward to hearing from you with some advice possibly or any words on the program . Thanks Karreem
Hi Kareem,
How lucky for you to you to be going to Peru. Aramaki is great organization, it's small, but they are involved in great projects. The staff there are very friendly and helpful, making volunteers feel welcomed and supported.
How lucky for them that you, as a professional, I do photography as a hobby, and I actually found this assignment difficult. The lighting conditions there are challenging if you do indoor photography. It's dark, dark, dark, indoors. So, extra flashes and light cards, etc. will come in handy, none of which I had :-(.
The homestays are a little basic, but the families are wonderful. Stick to bottled water though even for brushing teeth and let them know if you have any dietary issues/concerns. Bring Coproflaxin! It's intestinal antibiotic. I needed it in Cusco. If you follow the basic rules of eating only fruits and vegetables that you can peel, you will be fine.
If you are leaving in a few weeks, maybe you will miss the tourists. They are everywhere, and Ollanta is no exception.
Hope the above helps in your preparation. Any other questions, let me know. Will you be keeping a blog? I would love to see your photographs.
cheers
Denise
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