(Trying to find a different theme for my blog for this year. Please bear with me till I'm happy with it)
I am barely going to touch on these adventures so please look up these places and museums for further exploration!
Our first port of call after passing through the canal was Manta, Ecuador. Mike and I had no excursions planned so we took the shuttle into town for a leisurely walk around close to the waterfront and found a rooftop bar where we enjoyed the view and an Ecuadorian beer!
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| Manta, Ecuador, lots of fishing boats. Huge tuna industry! |
In town we visited a market
and found a place to enjoy
a beer up at a roof bar.
Nice!
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| we had a friend who kept popping up at the port |
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| back at the ship at the end of the day, tuna was still being unloaded....from the same cooler ship!! |
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| At Plaza de Armas we watched a very colorful changing of the guard at the governors palace..... |
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| and then we checked out the beautiful cathedral |
The main altar
Below,
One of the many side altars was all mosaic. The Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro is entombed there
On the other side of Lima in the Miraflores area, Mike and I have our picture taken in the Plaza de Amor
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| a view of Miraflores on the Peru coast |
The Museo Larco was amazing!
This museum houses pottery and
silver and gold and cloth objects,
some dating from 2000BC....in
superb condition!
Absolutely beautiful and
fascinating!
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| moche pottery |
Silver and gold
funerary jewelry
Museo
Pedro de Osma,
a private collection
of mostly religious
artwork.
Could easily have
spent lots more
time in both
museums!!!
Next port of call was, Paracas, Peru. A small coastal town with nothing but miles of some of the driest land on the earth....annual rainfall barely registers!!!!! Colorful town though with some good beer!
Had to have local beer
but also had to try a
local specialty drink....
a Pisco Sour!
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| enjoying a Pisco Sour |
Our first port of call in Chile was Arica, another very, very dry area on the edge of the Atacama Desert, the driest -non polar- desert in the world. We took a ship tour to a nearby natural monument, Cuevas de Anzota, to hike along a coastal trail and see some caves and a colony of birds that have be nesting in the area so long the hillsides are covered in bird poop. What looks like white cliffs in the pics below.....is bird poop. The scenery was great, the smell, not so much!
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| what kind of birds?? Note the icicles of bird poop....pew! |
very picturesque area!
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| coming across the sea lions basking was great! |
little parrots flying around, common
birds!! How cool!!
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in the
historic district and were able to walk to many
things we enjoyed seeing.
Santa Lucia Park was just a few blocks from
the hotel and a great place to explore the remains of Castillo Hildalgo and get a great view of the city!
We, of course, found local beer
and had some Chilean
dishes!
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| The cathedral of Santiago |
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| governors palace |
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| on top of San Cristobal Hill, a shrine to the Virgin Mary, 60 meters high |
We certainly enjoyed our cruise and short stay in Santiago! Would highly recommend the Panama Cruise! We were pretty happy with Celebrity Cruise Line.
I would love to get back to South America some day. Want to spend some time in the Andes Mountains and more time exploring the history!
Looks like a fun time! I did a Machu Pichu hike/tour 10 years ago that was awesome. We hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu (3 nights with porters to carry everything and feed you and set up/take down the tents each night). It was awesome!
ReplyDeleteOhhh, that sounds like a good way to do it Lisa! We want to see Machu Pichu some day!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post as always, Keyna. This destination is high on my list. I think you found a great way to get there. I am glad Mike got to sample so many local beers. Cheers.
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