Valparaiso, Chile

The sun was shinning brightly when we arrived in Valparaiso. We did a tour with our Virtuoso travel group. Three buses left the dock about 9:15 a.m. and off we went to the Casas del Bosque Vineyard and Winery. We had to make a pit stop at a local park, due to the ship's tours filling the winery. About 10:30 we were touring the wine cellar and then it was time for tasting. The Sauvignon Blanc was okay and I didn't taste the Shiraz (red). Our next stop was an equestrian center. We drank Pisco Sours and tasted empanadas, which were quite good. A short folklorico show and then the equestrian show. Three "huaso"s (cowboys) demonstrated maneuvers on their horses. Then it was time for lunch. The countryside was impressive and the information about the lack of rainfall made us wonder how anything could grow.
Upon our return to the ship we drove by the upscale city of Vina del Mar and saw a little bit of Valparaiso.

Coquimbo, Chile

It was a gray, dreary day when we arrived in Coquimbo. Our tour was a city over view and the lack of sun only made the city less attractive. We stopped at two beaches, the local museum (saw shrunken heads) and the town handicraft market. The most memorable thing was the dog laying in front of the church. He was very content. The people were quite friendly and the beaches were clean.

Pisco, Peru

Pisco, our last Peruvian port, appeared to be a vast sandy desert. It's climate is mild and the Andes supply a majestic natural back drop. We took a boat excursion aboard an open modern power boat with twin outboard engines. It was an open boat, so we slathered sunscreen on and wore wide brimmed hats. It took about 35 minutes to reach Ballestas Islands, Peru's version of the Galapagos. We did not get off the boat but toured around the rock island. It was covered with many species of birds......gulls, pelicans, boobies and cormorants. There were penguins and sea lions. The males were protecting their females and appeared to be ready to fight.
An amazing feature of our trip was the "Candelabra" marking in the side of a desert mountain. This is part of the famous Nazca Markings or Lines cut into the stony desert mountains.

Around the Ship

Lima, Peru

Callao is the port for the city of Lima. The view from our cabin is of the port and thousands of sea birds. They are constantly flying and landing on the docks. Mike is happy, as container ships and freighters are coming and going. We took the shuttle bus to Miraflores, a one hour drive from Callao. We passed thru many smaller towns, and most were very upscale. Miraflores is a sea side city with modern hotels and a great open air shopping area. We walked around and enjoyed the scenery and I even bought a flash drive at Radio Shack.

Salaverry, Peru

Salaverry is the port city for Trujillo, the second largest city in Peru. We decided to cancel our ships tour and took the shuttle bus into the main town square. It was a very colorful square surrounded by colonial buildings. We timed our arrival to see a parade going on. It was some sort of medical group of nurses and doctors. We spent about an hour walking around and were lucky enough to have a very nice police escort. His name was Raul and he wanted to make sure we were safe and saw the sights.

Guayaquil, Ecuador

Guayaquil is Ecuador's largest city. It is several miles up the Guayas river from the Pacific. Our tour was Highlights of Quayaquil. The weather was cloudy and very very humid. The drive from the port to the center of the city was about a half an hour. Modern buildings mixed with the older colonial style government buildings. We strolled the Malecon, the riverfront walk to the botanical gardens. The humidity allows beautiful foliage and flowers to grow. Many of the plants can also be found in California.....bromeliades, silk trees, ferns and shrimp plants. Our walk continued to Las Penas, the first residential neighborhood of Guayaquil. We tasted some delicious dark chocolate candy and strolled the cobblestone streets and saw some of the local artists shops. Back to the bus and the police escorted ride back to the port. Ecuadorians are very friendly and we enjoyed our two city visit to their country. Peru is next.