Field Trips and Excursions

This trip has been so packed with field trips and excursions it is hard to chose just a few to talk about. We have gone on excursions to the Ricardo Palma Museum (a famous Peruvian writer), the National Archeological and History Museum, the Magic Waters Park (or Circiuto Magico del Agua), Lima’s Congress, the Afro-Peruvian Museum and the list could just keep going as well as spending a week teaching English to students at the Air Force High School of Peru. But I will break it down into my favorite trip thus far. May 20 through May 22 was the weekend we spent in Ica. Ica is located 4 hours south of Lima. It is in the middle of the dessert but there is an oasis called Huacachina that allows the town to thrive. After arriving in Ica, we rode dune buggys and went sand boarding down some of the big dunes. I have never experienced anything quite like that before nor have I ever seen so much sand! The next day we traveled two hours southeast of Ica to Nazca. Many people have heard of this very small town because of the famous Nazca lines, which we did get to see. The best way to view the Nazca lines is to fly over them but since that is a little bit too expensive we walked to the top of an observatory tour where we could view three of them. The Nazcas were a civilization in Peru before the famous Incan Empire. They drew in the dry ground shapes and figures of things they saw in nature. There are many theories as to why they did this but most come to the same conclusion: they were trying to attract the attention of their gods. While in Nazca, we also visited a woman and her family who recreated traditional Nazca pottery and a traditional miner who showed us how to extract gold from the mining sites. I was interested to learn that any one who mines traditionally (without dynamite or current technology) does not have to pay taxes on their product in order to entice people to continue mining this way. To wrap the weekend up, we drove to Paracas to see the Ballestas Islands. Here we took a boat tour of the island where we saw sea lions, dolphins, birds, and penguins. The islands are very important because the bird excrement or guan found here is used as a fertilizer and has partially helped Peru of economic problems in the past. Our last stop of the weekend was to the house of an Afro-Peruvian family who is renowned throughout Peru for their traditional dances. All members of the family participate in the dances and the music even the children. It was amazing to see how connected they are with their roots and where they come from. The last week we are in Peru is the week we go to Cusco and Machu Picchu; the headquarters of the Incan empire. I am very excited for this trip and was glad to go on the other excursions as well but sometimes it is nice to hang around Miraflores.
My favorite spot in Miraflores is along the water. There are more than three parks that span along 6 kilometers of the cliff overlooking the ocean. No matter what time of day there are always people running, walking dogs, doing exercise classes, or taking a quick nap on the grass. The parks are interrupted by Larcomar, the main shopping center which is underground and has many high-end stores, restaurants, and clubs. Whenever I have time, I like to come down to the water and run. It is very safe and well lit at night. It is possible to see some of the other districts of Lima like Barranco and Chorillos. I have been very impressed at how clean the parks are at all times in Miraflores.