Peru part 1…birthday shenanigans, lost luggage and an infinity pool

So on my 59th birthday I started a wonderful holiday/adventure with this bunch. How exciting to celebrate across three countries and two continents. Forget for a while how old I actually am!

So what were we planning. We had all agreed to join Nitasha Buldeo and IYogaa on an adventure to Macchu Picchu and the Amazon jungle. We topped and tailed this with a stay in Lima at the start and a trip to Lake Titicaca at the end. I was happy that Simon was coming with me to this retreat- he was going to protect me from any animals we would encounter; this was agreed at our planning meeting back in August !

As you can see we were jolly excited for the trip. It seemed like a good idea at the time to cram in as much as possible as we were going all the way to Peru 🇵🇪!!

This part one is the Lima bit before the real adventure kicks in. It is also an opportunity to introduce everyone . You will get to know their names and personalities as you follow our journey ! You will also wonder at the number of photos taken😳! Apart from. Kamal we all live in Bedford and know each other. Asifa, Sati, Rekha, Kamal. Susan and Roz are retired. Simon and is semi retired and the rest of us work. Fatima, Vishal (the official medical support) and Nitin are doctors. We can all relax!

It started at Heathrow at some ridiculous time on Wednesday 11th September but don’t we all look happy to be here ! Asifa and Fatima were travelling separately and met us in Lima. Nitin & Swarupa were travelling in from a wedding in Lisbon. 😳

I did try and get some shopping in but unfortunately some of the shops were still shut and I’m not sure they would sell walking poles !!

I really should start with a little bit about Peru 🇵🇪.

Capital: Lima

Population: Over 32million

Language: Spanish (We got to see Roz practicing her skills! It was a lot of “senor..senor..”

Currency : Peruvian sol (equates to around 20p)

Economy: based primarily on tourism, potatoes (we heard anything from 3k to 4k varieties available!) coffee and mining.

My Impressions: it felt like a poor country away from Lima/Cusco. Many unfinished builds everywhere we went. However the quality of roads was excellent and hardly a pothole in sight and it has the 47th largest GDP in the world (source: wiki!). The people were friendly and I’m sure the ladies won’t mind me saying that they were short (I became a little obsessed by this and the tall hats they wore to overcome this).

We finally get to Lima after a transfer earlier in the day in Madrid. Trying not to think about how long we’ve travelled for.

The drama starts as soon as we land in Lima. Sati’s luggage doesn’t arrive! Grrrrr…. We all offer words of comfort and console her by saying we have enough between us! And there are shops. Thank goodness she was wearing her walking 🥾. What a pain it is to report lost luggage…you know it’s not going to turn up! Right? But it did many days later but in Bedford. 🤦🏽‍♀️

We enjoyed the lovely hotel (Iberostar Miraflores if you need a recommendation) that has amazing breakfasts, a rooftop bar & pool and a small spa. What’s not to love !! Asifa had landed a few hours earlier and instantly became our Miraflores guide.

Three days in Lima were just enough to do some exploring and enjoy good food and fit in some spa time!

On our first day we did a long walk along the coast … the other side of the world.

The following day Susan and Roz went on their trip to see the Nazca lines. Fatima had finally arrived after her chaotic journey where flights were delayed and connections missed. But she arrived in good spirits having obviously made friends with her fellow travellers.

The rest of us went on a local bus to another part of town which is known as a melting pot for the bohemian bunch and artistes , Barranco. The bus ride was an experience! Let’s just say it was fast and furious cheap. We decided to walk back later along the town coastal path.The whole area is covered in amazing graffiti and has a charming path down to the ocean. Just an explosion of colour and fantastic art.

On the Friday evening (13th) Swarupa and Nitin managed to get to Lima after their own drama! Apparently the system didn’t have them coming to Lima🤦🏽‍♀️😳😯🤷🏽‍♀️😂🧐. Let’s just say they were calmer than I would have been. As soon as they arrived they joined us at an Indian restaurant we had found – Mantra.

Our final day in Lima was super busy with a walking tour of the old town and a birthday party (yes the celebrations continued!!). We fell upon a procession on our tour. Not totally confident on what was going on but it was loud and colourful.

Sensible Simon books a lovely restaurant with Asifa’s help for my birthday “do”. The models and Fatima went off to have a blow dry ( you weren’t expecting that – it’s ok we aren’t on the trek yet!). Everyone made an effort and they even organised a surprise cake (😉) which was in the Uber with us to the fabulous restaurant. And it came back with us to the hotel. “We don’t allow that sort of thing here 😂”! No matter we were determined to cut this bloody cake and that we did within the large conference room reception area. No stopping Sati when there’s an event to be executed.

And we of course had a boogie that evening amongst the young people who were too cool to dance. We were still unaware of what was to come …

Part Two : On the way to Macchu Picchu to follow.