Galapagos 2012

To ring in the New Year 2012, we flew back from the US on a flight that landed in Lima just after the stroke of midnight on January 1. The result was that we were treated to an amazing display of fireworks from every neighborhood of the city - indeed, nearly every street corner.
After celebrating New Year's Day with friends and showing our faces at work for a week, we started off the year 2012 with a trip to the Galapagos Islands...!

This is definitely a trip for the bucket list.

The Galapagos are unique, fascinating, and still very pristine. Located 1,000 kilometers from the mainland (Ecuador), they sit right on the equator. But thanks to the cold water of the Humboldt and other currents, the temperatures are mild even in mid summer. And the wildlife, including marine life, is remarkable and rich.

Though the islands are relatively close to each other, they are surprisingly diverse in flora, fauna, and atmosphere. Some are lush and green, others dry or barren. The colors vary from a deep black volcanic rock to rich red.  The ocean water is clear and blue. You can see sharks and sea turtles from a boat - or up close and personal while snorkeling, as we did.

The numbers of visitors and boats are strictly regulated, so that you are never part of a crowd - well not a human crowd. The animals are completely unafraid of humans, so you can go right up to them. Or they'll come right up to you.

 Land iguana on Santa Cruz Island, Dragon Hill

 Sea lion emerging from the shade on Rabida Island

 The famous Blue-footed Booby.

 Crabs and sparkling blue water

 Marine iguana on Rabida Island

 Family shot from the top of Rabida Island

 Looking down from the top of Rabida, you can see our ship, The Odyssey,  which was great. Very professional crew and guide. Spacious rooms and decks. Even a small jacuzzi.

 Ready for snorkeling, which we got to do several times. The marine life is amazing. Fish of all colors, including parrot fish, clown fish, and countless others swimming in schools and bright colors. We also swam with sea lions, sea turtles, and several reef sharks (didn't see any hammerheads), and saw plenty of sting rays in different shapes and sizes.

 On an island called Chinese Hat, which we shared with lots of sea lions and their pups, some Galapagos hawks, and a fair number of marine iguanas

 Galapagos penguins. Watching them chase schools of little fish in the water was a treat.

 The island of Genovesa is just north of the Equator. The boat goes into a lagoon, which is actually a big volcanic crater filled with water. Above on the rocks are lots (!!) of birds.

 On Genovesa

 This is a Red-footed Booby, among the very many on Genovesa

 On Darwin Bay, Genovesa, we decided we'd like a family shot with the sea lion...

 ..she decided to be a more integral part of the photo...

 ... and having posed with the group, decided to take a nap.

 Jumping off the ship at sunset.

 Climbing to the top of Bartolome Island

 Master and Commander view from the top of Bartolome, that's the Pinnacle Rock.

 Gwinner guys on Bartolome

 Walking on the rope lava of Bartolome. Not a very inviting landscape.

 The designs in the lava are impressive.

 In the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, we finally saw the famous Galapagos tortoises.

 With some Nazca Boobies on Genovesa Island

 Beautiful beaches and water, amazing wildlife, what's not to like?

 View from a hilltop in Guayaquil, on the mainland of Ecuador

Guayaquil, departure and arrival point for many of the Galapagos flights

Searching for the best sandwiches

Peruvian cuisine, particularly in Lima, has reached global fame. And rightly so. The high-end "fusion" of native crops, fish, seafood, exotic fruits/vegetables with the influences of African, Asian, Andean, and Amazonian result in fabulous dishes and meals.
But there's also something to be said for the more run-of-the-mill stuff, the everyday foods that are more affordable and more likely to make up the standard fare of your average Peruvian. There is the typical "Criolla" food, which features lots of rice, potatoes, beans, and meat.
And then there's the "sanguche" or sandwich.
The sandwich shows up in two major groups:
1. for breakfast. Forget danishes, baguette au beurre, or bagels. The standard breakfast here is a sandwich composed of white sliced bread, with the crusts cut off, filled with any number of savory or sweet fillings, generally featuring some degree of mayonnaise. It is either cut in half or fourths, along the diagonal for a triangular effect.
2. for lunch or dinner. This is a more serious offering, served on a big bun, often with french fries or sweetpotato chips. It involves some kind of meat, generally cooked on a wood fire grill with a tender, smokey flavor. Options generally include chicken, pork, or turkey. Or you can get the "chicharron" version which is fried (pork).  It is then served up with red onion, maybe a slice of sweetpotato, and some kind of sauce.

So, along with eating our way through the best that Lima has to offer in the way of gourmet food fare, we've also taken up the quest for the best sandwiches in the city. Luckily, there are lots of contenders.

There's El Peruanito. This is really your basic sandwich place, on the edge of Miraflores along a big avenue (Angamos). It is always busy and a welcome beacon even late at night after partying and dancing:

Then there's La Lucha, in Miraflores by Parque Kennedy. There's nearly always a long line, but well worth the wait. The chicken is especially juicy and the fries are fat and irresistable.

If you want the traditional pork chicharron sandwich, then Sarita's is the place to go. Though if you go on a sunny day, you won't be alone. It's in a beachside community, along the Panamericana Sur (km 43, Punta Hermosa). The fried fish and seafood are also great.

And then there's one of our all-around favorite restaurants, "73" in Barranco. This place rates high on our list for the quality to price ratio - in other words you get great food at a reasonable price. The fish and pasta dishes are particularly great - and the fresh tuna salad is one of Valerie's favorties. The french fries are big and cut square to bring out the most of the potato flavor. And the sandwich isn't bad either.

November trips

Work has taken us to various parts of the world this month.

First, Britt had a workshop in Mumbai:

Followed by meetings in Istanbul:

and then by a trip to Brasilia, Brazil for Valerie:

Jumping off a cliff in Lomos de Lucumo

Little known and underappreciated, Lomos de Lucumo is a real gem of a spot.

Located just south of Lima in the Lurin Valley, it includes a series of surprisingly green hills situated in the midst of the coastal desert. While most of the hills around Lima remain devoid of vegetation all year, resembling something you might see on the moon, the hills of Lomos de Lucumo are situated in such a way as to capture the moisture from the sea fog. The result is that they support low lying brush, which remains green or in bloom during the Lima winter (June-November).

There are two main hiking trails, a shorter 3-hour route and one that takes another hour or so. You can go with a guide or on your own.

We recently spent several hours hiking the trails on our own. We were lucky to catch the vegetation before it turns brown from the summer heat and sun. The hills were still quite green and full of birds and butterflies. They say you can also spot foxes and small rodents, though we didn't see any.

We did run into a group of military reservists doing their weekend training. This day, they were working on mountain rescue, which included rappelling down a cliff, among other things. They were looking for volunteers. So, being the wild Gwinners that we are, when they invited us to jump off a cliff with them, we naturally said, "yes."

 

Lots of vegetation and still plenty of green and flowers

 From the top you can see the Pacific and the Lurin River Valley

 It was more sunny than we expected, so we were glad to have brought along sunglasses and hats, but sorry to have forgotten the sunblock.

 This photo was taken by a very friendly couple, both communications and marketing students. As their final project they are working on building up the visibility and use of the Lomos de Lucumo as a destination for nature lovers, hikers, school students, and other lovers of the outdoors.

 The rescue squad was looking for volunteers to jump off the cliff. Here, Britt is getting set up with a rope harness.

 A few quick instructions on rappelling down

 This is the point where Britt realized the cliff was steeper than expected.

 Valerie got to wear the Hello Kitty helmet and white gloves. A nice feminine touch to the adventure.

 They don't seem to get many female volunteers. So they guys all joined in for the photo with Valerie when she reached the bottom of the cliff.

 The rescue brigade practicing on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

 Britt made pals with the volunteers, a very friendly bunch of guys, indeed.

 Later, as we continued the hike, we came across this young shepherd, who showed us some petroglyphs.

 Looking at the petroglyphs.

 At the end of the hike, the village.

And the the midst of it all, a peacock!

Halloween 2011

Well, it's been a very busy month, with work trips for Britt and a US trip for Addison and Valerie to visit colleges.
Plus, October is a busy season for social and cultural activities.
One of the bright spots each year is the annual Anglo-expat Halloween Party. It is a fundraisor for two good causes. Each year, the same family volunteers their (very large) garden for the party. And it is decked out with the traditional "tolda" (big party tent that is a requisite for any party here), along with an amazing assortment of Halloween decorations. There is a whole team of volunteers who pull this thing together, including one friend who had actually moved out of the country, but came back especially for this. The dancing and good company are always a treat. But the best part is seeing what kind of costumes people devise. There are lots of very creative and crazy solutions. Last night we had lots of batman/batwoman and one lovely catwoman. There were pirates, vampires, and witches of course, but also characters from Pride and Prejudice, Oliver Twist, and a guy in a "Borat" swimsuit (I kid you not) who took a plunge in the pool for full effect. There were lots of wigs, which is where we like to start, too.
This year we went for the retro hippie, Sargent Pepper look:

 With friends Rob and Martine. Rob won a prize for his

costume, which he created in collaboration with a local

seamstress.