Viva Peru!

Wow! What an amazing time we just had during the last 5 days... To celebrate the national Peruvian holiday, we enjoyed a 5 day break from work at the Hogar. We took advantage of this time to visit a bit of Peru and get a good taste of the Peruvian nightlife.

On Saturday, we headed out to Miraflores, Lima´s "chic" neighborhood. Over there, we went shopping and walked around in the streets. At night, we met up with a doctor we had met during our Tuberculosis class. He let us into one of Lima´s nicest "discotecas". We met many of his friends and danced on the rhythms of Cumbia and Reggeaton. A great night!

On Sunday, we slowly made our way to our next destination: Paracas. The bus ride was not too bad and we had time to enjoy a nice lunch in Lima before leaving. Paracas is a tiny costal village located 3 hours south of Lima. We arrived at nightfall, had some amazing seafood and went to bed pretty early in our hostel to get ready for the next morning.

On Monday, we had an amazing day once again. Early in the morning we set out for a 2 hour boat ride around the Islas Ballestas, where we saw tons and tons of birds, sea lions and peguins! The islands, also called Peru´s Galapagos, were very pretty. Later on during the day, we went the Paracas´ national Reserve where we saw amazing views and enjoyed some ceviche (fresh uncooked fish) and a few hours at the beach. We then sent off for our last destination: the Oasis town of Huacachina.

In Huacachina, we had a very nice hostal, with a pool and rooms for ourselves alone. On Tuesday, we went for a tour of Ica´s wineries and Pisco factories. It was quite an experience. Later on, we hit the sand dunes for a memorable experience: a buggy ride and a few runs of sandboarding... wow! So much fun! We even got to catch the sunset in the Peruvian desert.

On Wednesday, it was already time to slowly head back to Lima and say an official goodbye to Amine and Constantin, who decided to stay an extra day in Huacachina before heading back to Canada. Glynn, promised he would come by the Hogar before catching his flight on Saturday. Hence... from now on, it´s only Nick and the 6 girls...

Back at the Hogar, it felt just like coming home after a long relaxing weekend out of town. We certainly missed the Hogar, the staff and the patients. Only a week of work left before we head of to Machu Picchu... time really flies.