Monday, 27 February 2017
The Peruvian Desert
We went on another excursion our into the desert. The landscape is immense and stunning. 
Seafood
This area prides itself on its seafood and we certainly enjoyed sampling some of the local dishes. The local speciality is cerviche, raw seafood marinated in lime juice. I had the scallops - yum. The seafood pizza was one of the best I have ever tasted.
Birds, birds, birds
We were stunned by the thousands of birds swarming around the fishing boats. We have never seen anything like it.
An area rich in diversity
The area is rich with mussels, crabs, star fis and cling fish which stick to the rocks. You can see them when the waves retract.
Caught in the act
We rounded the corner to sea a male sea lion making love with a female. No sense of privacy.
Ballestas Islands - a protected reserve
This morning we went on a boat trip to these incredible islands which are the home to thousands of birds and sea lions. The marine area is one of the richest areas in terms of diversity because of the cold Humboldt current. We even saw the water thick with red krill, the major food source for whales.
The desert landscape
We were overwhelmed by the desert landscapes we could see from the 12 seater plane- enormous crescent shaped sand unes, fertile valleys bordered by he desert and clear evidence of the recent floods which did not affect any of the areas we went to.
Nazca Lines
After a four hour bus trip through the most desolate, dusty, and depressing landscape, we arrived at Paracas, a coastal town in southern Peru to take our flight over the Nazca Lines. Believed to have been created by the Nazca people between 400 and 600AD, the Nazca Lines are a series of designs on the desert floor. They include simple lines to animal shapes including hummingbirds, monkeys, dogs, whales and fish. Just amazing to see and to fly over the desert landscapes.
Mansions from a previous era.
We saw lots of beautiful old mansions which we just facades of their former selves. 
Traditional dancing
This group were dancing just down from our hotel. The young children were being led by the lady in front and I wasn't quick enough to get the band playing behind before they danced off to join the local area's carnivale celebrations.
Beautiful gardens
The museum was surrounded by the most colourful gardens, boganvilleas, geraniums, cliveas.
Larco Museum
This is one of the most important archeological collection of Ancient treasures of Peru. We could have spent several days as the exhibits were fascinating. Loved the gold and silver head dresses and jewellery. Some of the earlier ceramics dated back 2,000 years BC. 
The Library
The library has not changed and has manuscripts and books dating back to the early 1600s. Just amazing to see such an extensive well preserved collection of historical works.
The first university
The Santo Domingo was the site of the first university in Peru. The original room used for lectures has reamianed unchanged over the centuries.
Santo Domingo convent
This is one of the most significant historic buildings in the city and is still a functioning monastery. It was built in the early 1600's and is still as it was built then. If you look closely at the tiles which were made in Spain, you can see the date of 1606.
Lima
What a colourful city. Lima is the third largest city in South America and full of history. We visited the main square which is lined by the cathedral, the presidential palace, the city hall and other government offices. The cathedral was built on top of an Inca pyramid by the colonising Sapnis in the 16 th century. It has been rebuilt three times due to earthquake damage. 
Saturday, 25 February 2017
Staying in an art gallery and museum.
This boutique hotel is both an art gallery and museum. All the walls are adorned with beautiful art work while the furnishings are antique, like the long sofa chair in the photo.
Breakfast Delight
Wow. The hotel puts on the most amazing buffet breakfast, would have to be the best we have ever seen. Breakfast is served in the library and on the outside patio. I had the summer eggs which was a work of art. The juices and breads are amazing. 
Friday, 24 February 2017
Lima, Peru
Arrived this afternoon after a 5 hour flight. We are staying in the historic Hotel B, a restored mansion which was built in 1910. It is also an art galllery and there are beautiful works of art throughout the hotel. We went for s troll this afternoon in the colourful neighbourhood. We have the Spanish Embassy directly opposite.
Toasted ham sandwich
I ordered a toasted ham sandwich for lunch and out came this monster. It was delicious.
Évita
We went to the Évita Museum which is located in a beautiful mansion she bought to house poor women and children who needed a refuge. One of the rooms had the most beautiful tiles.
Back in Buenos Aires
We did a tour of the northern parts of the city, visiting the beautiful gardens in Palermo . We were fortunate enough to see our first hummingbirds, a bit too challenging to get a photo. The gardens were built for the rich people towards the end of the nineteenth century and are now a wonderful public asset.
The end of our cruise
We sailed into Ushuaia and sadly said farewell to the wonderful crew and the many friends we had made. Ushuaia looked so pretty from the ship, very Northern European. 
Port Williams
Stopped at this pretty town to refuel before ending our cruise in Ushuaia. It claims to be the most southern town in the world. It reminded us of villages in Norway.
Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Peterman Island - our last onshore visit
This landing had three main highlights - a Bay of stranded icebergs, up close to a massive glacier and a Comorant colony adjoining
a penguin rookery.
a penguin rookery.
Icebergs
We had several zodiac cruises through ice berg territory. Some are enormous, much larger than he ship, some are so beautifully sculpted he others are so blue.
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