Travels in Peru and Ecuador, January 2011

From January 6 to 20, 2011 daughter Susan and I travelled in Peru and Ecuador. It's now January 17 and we are in Chiclayo, N. Peru, having just returned from spending 8 wonderful days in S. Ecuador. We started our journey in Lima where I met Susan and we spent the day exploring the Miraflores area of the city and treating 6 of her Peace Corps friends to a lunch of cerviche (the Peruvian national dish, raw fish garnished with lime, onions etc.) Having spent time in Japan I was apprehensive of trying cerviche, but found it a light and deliciously satisfying dish. We took a night bus to the N. Peruvian city of Piura; the bus was one of the plushest and comfiest I have ever been on, with plush seats that reclined into beds, TV entertainment, and a hostess that served dinner and then breakfast the following morning. After a day in Piura we travelled by bus to Loja in S. Ecuador. Loja was a very picturesque city, surrounded by mountains. It is the oldest Spanish colonial city in Ecuador. On the following day we took a bus South to the lovely small village of Vilcabamba, located in the so-called Valley of Longevity. People here live to very ripe old ages and have been much studied by scientists. Some say the key to their longevity is the rhythm created by 12 h of light and 12 h of dark each day. Others say their long life is the clear and delicious water, which is high in manganese, magnesium and zinc, which are chelating agents that remove harmful chemicals from the body. We saw many very elderly people and I wasn't able to determine the secret to their long life, but my personal feeling is that it's due to living a casual stress-free life in an absolutely gorgeous valley that has a superb climate. Vilcabamba is located in a lush valley surrounded by majestic mountains. Susan and I stayed 6 nights at Madre Tierra, a hotel/spa/restaurant located a 15-minute walk from the city center. Every morning when we relaxed in the chairs and hammock on the porch of our room we could see the lush green valley surrounded by mountains and Vilcabamba in the distance. We had a wonderful view of Mt. Mandango, the majestic mountain sacred to the Inca. While in Vilcabamba we did a lot of hiking and exploring. One day we did a large loop of the city, visiting the small zoo. On another day we hiked the Rumi-Wilco nature reserve and cooled our feet in the Vilcabamba River. Our highlight was the day we hired a guide, Luis, and went to a sections of Podocarpus National Park. We hiked up to an altitude of 3,300 meters and hiked in the lush cloud forest, with trees festooned with a rich growth of epiphytes -- mosses, ferns, bromeliads and parasitic plants. As we travelled Susan took close-up photos of many of the flowers we saw blooming, and these are posted on my Facebook page. During parts of the hike we were surrounded by the mist of clouds shrouding the forest, at other times we were pelted by light rain and intervals of sunny patches. When we weren't hiking and exploring, we were sampling some of the restaurants in Vilcabambe, snacking on the many delicious tropical fruits (mango, papaya, etc), or trying out the services of the Spa. On one day I have a full body Shiatsu massage from Carmen and Susan has the spa "Special", a 3-hour treatment. The following day Susan had the massage and I opted for my first facial. Saying a sad goodbye to Vilcabamba (while there we met several people from different parts of the world who had come to visit and then decided never to leave) we returned to Loja for a day, and from there made the very long bus journey from Loja to Chiclayo in Peru where we now are. We spent today exploring the large Mercado (market), with endless stalls selling everything under the sun. I especially wanted to visit the Mercado Modelo (witchcraft market), one of the largest in South America, to see the variety of herbal plants, potions, animal parts, etc. At the flower stalls in the market we bought a lovely bouquet of flowers for Susan's host family here in Chiclayo, and at the fruit stalls I enjoyed seeing the wide array of tropical fruits and vegetables for sale. We then bought several mattresses which we will take as gifts -- along with out many other gifts of candy, books, and clothes -- to Susan's other host family that live out in the countryside in Pacora and adopted Susan as one of their family for the first 2 years she lived in Peru. They will miss her and much as she will miss them. They are hosting a large Going-Away party for her and we will stay the night there, likely recovering from all the food and alcoholic drinks they will expect us to consume. We will then return to Chiclayo and get ready to take the night bus to Lima. We will spend the day in Lima, where I intend to get my first pedicure. My 71 year old feet have seen a lot of wear and tear and I pity the poor Peruvian woman who will give me the pedicure, but I intend to tip her well for what will likely be a Herculean task of scraping away calluses and trimming toe nails that are as hard as roofing nails. We will then part ways for a while. I will return to Iowa with much of Susan's "stuff" and her laptop and the laptop of her friend Karen. Susan and Karen will travel in Peru for a few days, and then head for a lengthy exploration of both Chile and Argentina before they return to the Estados Unidos in mid-March