First Day!

After traveling for 25 hours, I finally arrive at our hotel in Lima, Peru,  at 8 A.M. this morning!  My group of 15 met our guide, Alvaro Del Aguila Silva.  His family name, Del Aguila, means eagle.  Al, as we shorten our guide's name, tells us some important information to make our traveling in high altitudes problem free.  He highly recommends the coca plant.  This plant is a highly spiritual plant for Peruvians.  Coca leaves are added to hot water to make a tea or one chews the the leaves.  It has medicinal properties in the leaves which helps to increase blood flow to the brain and aids in breathing easier.  

My meals today were eaten outside at restuarants.  I ate chicken and rice for lunch.  The appetizer was fresh vegetables which they named "mixed salad." Dessert was a piece of apple pie.  It was wonderful.  For dinner tonight, six of us went to a restaurant named "Cafe Cafe" in the Lima mall.  I ordered ravioli with goat cheese and spinach.  Yum!  Then we went to a few stores in the mall.  The photographs are from shops. We finished our long day with some gelato.  Guess what flavor I chose?  Chocolate, of course!  Incredibly delicious...

Monday we will be going to a Peruvian museum and then to their Chinatown.  

Answers to your questions:

Mrs. Dinderman: What are Peru's sunrise and sunset times?  

A: Sunrise is at 6:10; sunset is at 6:25. 

Today's sunset was unnoticeable.  Lima is the capital city along the Pacific coastline so it tends to be a hazy city.  The temperature today was around 82 degrees which was quite a shock to me.  As I write this, the temperature is still at 72 degrees.  The lovely, warm breeze will make it difficult to come back to Iowa's cold. 

Have a great day!