Tuesday 8 July 2014

Finally in Peru

Customs... went smoothly with no hold ups! A thing that occurs few and far between! So we landed in Peru to a better reception than we had in Kenya – there was a single bus waiting for us
across the parking lot, who also had a very tight schedule as our flight had been delayed 45 minutes, then another 45 minutes due to “technical problems”... they ended up getting us a new plane with little air conditioning or available electricity (no TVs to everyone’s dismay). Throwing our gear on the bus and driving like mad so the driver can get to work on time, we finally arrived in the Lima Scout Office where we were going to stay for the night. One room – the boys room – consisted of 15 bunk beds, each with its own memory foam mattress; in the other room there was a carpet and a wooden floor... Some of us were sore in the morning! The bathrooms were very nice compared to what they could have been, though only the guys shower seemed to have hot water (needless to say, it soon became a communal shower). After a while talking with the coordinators of our stay it was bed time, with strict orders from Jenn and Andy that nothing is to happen before 11am. Ugh it was such a long day and the girls had barely unrolled their sleeping bags before the 7:45am Salsa class began next door, and man that instructor can yell! An hour later, someone informed us that if we wanted breakfast – McDonalds – the group was leaving in 20mins. So much for sleeping in!

McDonalds was the usual breakfast sandwiches, but after seeing the prices of other food, it was probably the most expensive meal we ate all day with only a fraction of the food. Little did we know, the 20 minute McD trip would be immediately followed by an 8 hour hike... It was an amazing hike, though it would have been better if everyone had proper gear (for example: running shoes, sweater, water bottles and deodorant). The Peruvian Scouts showed us to the brand name mall with a Starbucks, Tony Romas, Guess and all those high end and extremely expensive stores! An hour and 2 or 3 coffees later (for most people) one of the Scout girls who spoke a fair amount of English (awesome!) took us, by busy Peruvian bus, to her favourite restaurant on the other side of town for lunch. Best. Meal. Ever. We had a fun time trying to order food, as the girl who spoke English had to leave because she had to go to a dance class that she was veeeeery late for! We thanked her profusely! The food was a seriously scrumptious 2 course meal consisting of one of 4 appetizers and one of 3 main courses. After lunch we bused back to another point on the coast where we proceeded to train for Machu Picchu with another 6 hours of walking up the coast line, dodging traffic and running up extreme hills.

Dinner. Miscommunication with the Peruvian Scouts was decently limited, though everything seemed to work out! For dinner they were taking us to a market where we could sit down and eat. As it turned out, the market was actually a grocery store with a few tables in the Peruvian version of McDonalds. After buying a few cooked chickens, salad, French fries and fruit, we begged utensils from the staff and ate till our hearts content in the middle of the grocery store. The walk back to the Scout Shop was slightly awful cause after sitting down for like an hour after 8 hours of non-stop walking, the feet tend to get very sore!! Bedtime wasn’t too far after this point, and after a lot of stretching and feet-taking-care-of we were all in bed and ready for 8am Salsa class!

Written by Kristin and Mikey

1 comment:

  1. Wow, you keep having days like this and Mount Machu Picchu will be a snap.

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