Galapagos 5 - Santa Cruz - Finally Land Tortises!

The cruises I did were wonderful taking me on a great circuit of the western islands of the Galapagos. They were also very active days averaging 4-5 miles walking and 90 minutes swimming. There was good food and interesting people. For those who planned ahead, I paid about half of their costs. I was lucky to have some extra time in the islands to both relax and explore at a more leisurely pace. 

The only nature item worth mentioning in this last post about the islands is El Chato. It is a preserve of land tortoises. Unlike the Darwin Station where they have the tortoises in corals and breed them to help repopulate the different species on the various islands, El Chato is a preservation area for domed (not saddle-back) tortoises. I went there my last full day and was able to see in a relatively natural habitat the amazing and long-lived creatures. Some were as young as 10-15 years while others were well over 100 years. When startled, they pull into their shells and let out a sound like a slowly leaking tire. Using some of their natural food sources, I gave some of the larger ones guavas that were falling from the trees. 

At the center there are some shells of large deceased tortoises. People can put them on and get a photo. I couldn't fit but they are cool to see. 

Galapagos lobster

Much of my last two days in the islands were exploring Puerto Ayora and its tourist traps. There is a street in town that closes down every night to set up tables for the numerous restaurants of varying types that serve dinner there. Wow! What you can get varies from fresh lobster (looks nothing like Maine lobster), shrimp and seafood, and fish, to chicken, pork, and beef. There are juices of almost any fruit you can think of and ice creams of the same flavors. There are traditional dishes as well like menestras, and corn flour options like tamales. Compared to the restaurants on the main streets these were pretty inexpensive but still 3 times more than you would see on the mainland. 

There were a number of tourist shops most of which were standard stuff you would expect to see and others for the more refined visitors including some high-end jewelry stores and galleries. I think many of the same items appeared in all stores just with different prices. One little item of a blue-footed boobie ranged in price from $8 in some of the low-end shops to just $3 in a higher-end gallery. Crazy stuff.  Another example of crazy prices was sunscreen. On average $20-$25 per bottle and I am talking a regular size not a gallon.

Those last couple of days I also took advantage of the hotel amenities, mainly the pool. It was not really cool but refreshing. Then relaxing in the shady spots. It was a nice quiet time after the pretty constant activity of the cruises. 

I had a few missteps with my chosen wardrobe for the trip. When it came to footwear, I did not plan well for this whole trip. With all of my shoes, sandals, and slippers in boxes from the move, I did not select well. For the Galapagos you need at least three pairs of foot coverings; light hiking shoes or hearty sneakers/kicks/trainers/whatever-you-call'em; sandals or flip-flops; something to get wet like aqua socks, sandals or old sneakers. I realized in Guayaquil that I only had the shoes I wore on the plane. Needless to say, I had to augment my foot wear collection. Similarly, Quito has very different climate than Lima, Guayaquil, and the Galapagos. I brought few clothes that prepared me for the cool wet climate found in the higher elevations of Quito. Again, I had to augment my wardrobe in an area that really doesn't need any additions, jackets. Oh well, I will need to reduce my collection even further once I return home. 

The Galapagos this time of year are hot and humid.  I loved it for the most part. Aside from my one day that the heat seemed to get to me, it was a wonderful experience.  One thing to be aware of for potential visitors. Everything stays kinda damp. You are in and out of the water, in the heat sweating, drinking lots of water, it is just damp. I am currently still drying out clothes.

Here are a few other pics from Puerto Ayora.

El Jardín de cerámica: The cermaic garden was really more about mosaics

Moasic wall

Mosaic serpent entrance to the garden

Depiction of volcanoes and animal life in the Galapagos

Random pics

One sample of the favorite t-shirt

Prickly heat or something on my feet.  UGH!

Tribute to Darwin

Kicker Rock through the arch near Cerro Brujo

Alien looking landscape

Crabs and a sea lion on volcanic rock

A mossy tree near the gemelos (volcanic craters) on Santa Cruz

 Some beautiful flowering trees at my hotel

Galápagos 4 - the Anahí - cruise 2

It has been a few days and the wonders of the Galapagos continue. I moved to my second cruise on the Anahí, another catamaran. A bit smaller but just as nice as the first one. The group is very different. There is a Quebecois family of 8 on board with three generations. The youngest are almost 2 and 3. Their parents in their late 30s. Grandparents and siblings to the grandparents. There is a young couple from The UK and another 40ish couple from Italy. These two couples are very active and experienced divers. 

We caught up at midday of Tuesday and went aboard for lunch. We then went back to San Cristóbal for my second visit to the interpretation center though this time we could actually do the walk and see some sights. Back to the boat where we met the other new couple from Switzerland. This was a younger couple in their 20s adventurous but not as experienced as the other couples. I mention this because of how this different type of group affected the second cruise. 

It was much more active and focused on deep water snorkeling. The captain was very experienced snorkeling and diving. In a sense we had two groups on board; the family who because of their limited English and Spanish language skills did not interact with many of the others, and the active group who were their for the full experience and many of whom were very experienced travelers and divers. One conversation was about filling up a passport to require the addition of pages. The brits and the Italians had already done this. What a different life experience. 

We sailed to Española island where we saw a large number of land iguanas that were ready to or had just lain their eggs. The brightly colored males were doing their best to protect the females in the process. The females too were displaying their protective sides by bobbing their heads and flaring their jowls. The guide pointed out the nests and how to tell if the females had lain their eggs or not. Again, I was blown away by the fact that this was happening all around us like a National Geographic special. We also saw Galápagos hawks, Nasca boobies (red feet), swallow-tailed gulls, and one dead albatross. In the right season, this is the place to see the albatross. There is a section of the island called the albatross airport where thousands of the birds come to nest and have their chicks. Some of the views were spectacular. We stopped at the 'airport' to view the cliffs and a blow hole. Just gorgeous. 

After a long hot morning, most of us jumped into the sea at the back of the boat for a swim. It was so refreshing and nice. After lunch we did some deep water snorkeling and a beach. In general the snorkeling was not as spectacular as the first few times but with the captain leading we did things most guides would not. We were dropped off hundreds of yards from anything where there rocks not too far below the surface. We then moved toward a rocky outcropping with the current. Most of what I saw were sharks, black-tip and white-tip, though some in the group saw a couple hammerhead sharks. 

The next day around the island of Floreana we snorkeled around a submerged volcanic crater called devil's crown. Here we swam into caves and around rocks. At times we would be in very warm water and then all of a sudden in cold water that made me catch my breath. It was a fun experience until we got into the center of the crater and we had very strong currents impeding our progress. I got too tired and had to get back in the dinghy/zodiac. Everyone did and we moved to a different location but I was exhausted and did not get back in. Some everyone else tried to get to the location but three like myself were just drawn out with the current away from the group and the leaders. So, they got back in with us. 

Also on Floreana we did a boat tour of Gardener bay and baroness point where a German baroness was going to create a resort but disappeared mysteriously on day. Floreana is also where there is post office bay. In the time of pirates going back to the late 1700s, buccaneers would leave messages for each other in a barrel. They would also leave post that would be picked up by other ships and delivered. It still works the same today. I left a postcard myself, and picked up one to deliver. 

There was a beach right there and we swam and I did my last snorkeling experience. I saw the last thing I had been wanting to see more closely, a huge sea turtle. I was less than a yard from him while he was eating. He moved on and I followed only to see another not quite as big. The phrase I would use for the first one; it was as big as a tractor tire. For those who have seen tractors, you know what I am taking about. For those who haven't, think 7-10 feet in diameter. Ok I may be exaggerating but refraction in the water does alter perception. I just know it was at least bigger than me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I am only 5'6" but even at 6' in diameter it's huge!

After that it was back to the boat for dinner, a drink with the crew, and packing. 

Galapagos 3 - Galápagos Islands

from http://discovergalapagos.com

The first cruise tour is coming to an end. What an experience! 

To give you an itinerary for cruise days, we would generally have breakfast at 6:30 am to be able to take a dingy over to an island at 7:30. Why so early? one might ask. Well it is so hot that even when you complete a hike across a lava field about 9:30 in the morning the temperature is 95ish degrees. Even hot for me when there is no real break from the sun. 

After the hike/walk/amble/step...step...step...pause-listen-to-the-monotonous-drone-of-our-guide, we would go snorkeling for an hour or so. Then back on the boat for a light refreshment and snack (usually fruit and something salty -my favorite so far was mochín, a yucca croquette filled with cheese dipped in honey) followed within the hour by lunch. About 2:30 we were back in the dinghies headed for our next walk and snorkeling or swimming adventure. We get back on board about 5:30 with another light refreshment and snack. We are given just enough time to shower and relax before dinner at 7:00. Then a bit of time to relax, chat, talk about the day's adventures, or pass out from exhaustion. 

That was just the logistics. I have already described some of what we saw the first day. What we have seen is amazing. Frigate birds with their red pouches engorged with air to attract females; blue-footed boobies nesting;  sparrow-
tailed gulls with hatchlings; land iguanas of orange and yellow; and sea lions. 

Watching the male frigate birds try to attract females was like something out of National Geographic. The has the red pouch that they inflate during mating season. When a female comes close they spread their wings and call to them. We saw one female approach a male after his call and the reject him. Poor guy. We saw others nesting either newly mated or with eggs. The gulls were nesting as well and we saw these very young ones, one a week or so old and another about 6 weeks. So cool to see the in real life. 

The blue-footed boobies seem to the a favorite of visitors due to their name. Across the populated parts of the islands in tourist shops there is all manner of "I love boobies" paraphernalia. Amybeth sent me an article about them just before I got to the Galapagos. It is interesting to see birds with a unique color of blue feet. It is kind of sky blue but richer in some cases. We also saw them with their eggs. The interesting thing is that they only stand over their eggs to keep them cool because of the heat. 

I am sure I will have other stories but two of the most interesting experiences I had while on our excursions were with sea lions and land iguanas. The land iguanas are big lizards. So, I am guessing you're asking yourself, "What in the world could be interesting about a big lizard?" On one of our walks, we saw a female (black and gray in color) land iguana eating part of a cactus pad that had fallen to the ground. It had clearly been eaten over a couple of days and the female was taking chunks out of it. As we stood there and our guide described the food sources for the iguanas another couple of females joined her. They were enjoying their breakfast when a large male (have orange yellow coloring) arrived followed by a smaller one. The first female who was smaller than all the others tried to stop the large male and they had a nose-to-nose standoff. They both huffed and cheeks kind of flaring. The male advanced a bit on the female who tried to stand her ground but eventually backed down and was chased off. She tried to return to the cactus pad but each time she was chased off by the male. Eventually she approached from a different direction and was able to eat more. Just seeing this display in real life was so cool. Not anything I would have thought to see.

Now on to the sea lion experiences. First of all sea lions are cute, inquisitive, playful and fun to see. We have seen sea lions throughout the cruise. On one snorkeling trip the sea lions played with some of the group biting the rubber flippers and at one point trying to eat one guy's GoPro camera. So cute. We watched the video one night. It kinda blows you away that they can play with humans and know what is ok to bite/nibble. On one islet we saw a good number of sea lions just lounging and and catching some rays (sun not the sea creatures). Walking further down the islet I saw a mother sea lion nursing a cub. It was such a cool sight. The next day we were on a different island and found a small colony of sea lions mostly sleeping but again there was a mother with a cub feeding but the cub was bigger than his mother and probably 4 years old. I was bizarre looking. Our guide was surprised to see it because they normally say that sea lions nurse for about 18-24 months. There was also milk from the mother leaking from her as he nursed. What a sight! 

We have come at the right time of year to see so many of the animals with their young. 

As I have said the trip so far has been great. I did succumb to the heat and sunshine one day. I know! Me!? Have a problem with the heat! The second full day we were out on the water we did a walk in the morning that was both interesting and tedious. Interesting because of what we saw and tedious because our guide cannot make a story interesting to save his life. He could make fireworks dull. Anyway, we spent about 90 minutes in the early morning heat and bright sun. I was in shorts a t shirt and a big wide brimmed hat, a necessity in the Galapagos. I could feel the skin on my calves crisping in the blazing sun. Even with multiple layers of sunscreen. It is like being under a broiler. There was also little to no wind where we were. We walked this rocky terrain looking at birds and iguanas (cool stuff) but we moving glacially partially because our guide did not keep us moving at a steady pace and partially because some of our group were straggling or taking thousands of pictures of the 90th bird sitting on an egg, or the 8 millionth iguana. When we got back to the boat we had some juice and fruit. I was feeling a bit nauseated, tired, and weak. It was odd.  At one point it felt like my whole body temperature had risen 100 degrees. My face and head were all red, my arms were red; my torso was red. I opted out of the snorkeling excursion and rested. Anything that touched my head or neck felt like sandpaper on my skin. I slept for a bit and even took a cool shower. After lunch I was still not feeling great but decided to go on the afternoon walk and beach time. I felt the sun was my enemy that day and had light weight long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. There were points during that walk where I struggled with the heat and a couple of times with my breath. I came back with a blistering headache and my face and arms bright red. I took another cool shower and some Advil. I had a cold Pepsi with dinner and relaxed on the top deck in the coolish breeze. By morning I was feeling better. It was strange for me. I was concerned I wouldn't be able to enjoy the rest of my time here. Our last day on the water was great because it was cooler, there were some clouds, and I felt like myself.

Galapagos 2 - Treasure of the Galapagos

I am lying on the upper deck of the yacht enjoying the cool night breeze and the full moon. I can't explain how nice this is. It was a blistering day both for our feet as well as the heat of the day. 

We started early with a lovely breakfast to suit the variety of people and cultural backgrounds. We then punted off to Sullivan Bay on Santiago Island. 

Pahuihui lava - rope-like

The way the day started you might have thought we were deliberately being tortured with a monotonous rambling set of presentations by our guide as we walked across a Pahuihui lava field. Not an easy walk and honestly not a whole lot to see. After an hour of this we moved to a neighboring beach that is what was left to snorkel. 

A bit of background on me and snorkeling. Personally, not a big fan and the plan for these cruises is all about hiking and snorkeling. The only real snorkeling I have done prior to this trip was in the Caribbean at Grand Turk. I think I freaked out a bit based on my extreme fear of drowning. We had the little motors we could use to go down deep. It was interesting and I saw some cool things, but I was scarred. 

So back to today. We are about to do our first snorkeling trip of the day and the tour. After the rather tedious and foot blistering walk, everyone is looking forward to getting into the water and seeing the fish and other wild life. I apply coat number 2 of sunscreen and decide to leave my t-shirt on. I head to the beach plop down in the shallows of the very warm sea and put on my flippers. Nerves are high, my breath a bit rapid, my fear of a panic attack rising. I walk backwards into the shallow waters and when deep enough flop face first into the lagoon. My initial discomfort is actually realizing itself in that my goggles started to fill with water, my breathing through the snorkel is not going well. I readjust my gear and push on. 

This looks like severed cables

Ok. After this trip, my whole attitude has changed regarding snorkeling. Wow! The water was warm but periodically streams of cool water would cross your path. There were schools of sardines, some larger colorful fish, a shark, and even some Galápagos penguins. While adjusting to snorkeling and the leaking goggles I didn't get as far out as some of the others but saw a number of critters, fish and formations that were amazing. I am bummed I do not have pictures to share since I have no underwater camera. 

Galapagos penguins at Bartolome Island

We had a second "deep water" snorkel trip after a nice lunch and rest. That is really what changed my attitude about snorkeling. We were dropped off in a little inlet along the a rocky volcanic shore on the island of Bartolome. What an experience! All my fears disappeared as I just floated along with the current. We saw so many fish both large and small of all colors. The parrot fish were gorgeous in the 4-5 species we had seen. We saw a couple sharks again. My third time since being in the islands. One of the most wonderful sights for me was seeing three differ types of star fish: one was big-bodied and yellowish in color with what looked like stitching around its edge; the second seems to be like a five-pointed asterisk in an almost sea blue color; the third was most surprising being a huge black one with red dots that polka-dotted its whole body and legs. The penguins were so fearless with a couple swimming among us like they were inspecting us for their approval. We saw sting rays and sea urchins, barnacles and coral of varying types, and most beautifully a sea turtle. Our guide spotted him on the lagoon floor. He was looking up at us like, "just keep going and leave me alone." Then WTF is happening because a crowd was gathering. He then took off swimming and we followed him for 10 minutes or so.  Wonderful!

Vista from Bartolomé Island

We came back to the boat to rest a bit, have a snack and head out  third time to walk to the Hughes point of Bartolomé. The walk was long and steep. My phone tells me it was 24 floors high. What a gorgeous view and we were there at the end of the day for sunset. We walked back down, went back to the boat where we had a snack and juice, followed by a shower and an application of aloe to my sunburned parts. 

After dinner and our briefing, most of us came up to the top deck to enjoy the night. There are three or four groups chatting and laughing. A couple people are just relaxing. I am basking in the light of the full moon writing. 

My shadow in the moonlight

Galapagos 1: just getting started

Arriving in the Galapagos Islands

I got into the Galapagos about 1:00 pm on the 9th. Got to my hotel, relaxed a bit, then went out to grab some lunch. What I saw of the town was less than impressive. After lunch, my goal was to find a "last-minute" cruise to get that experience in the Galapagos. After stopping at 5 different travel agencies, I finally heard a cruise and price I was interested in. I went to pay for it with my credit card (Visa - Amex is not welcomed in the Galapagos.) only to discover that it is a cash only transaction. I definitely did not have the cash need. On top of it, my ATM card was lost 10 days prior. After almost two hours working with my credit card company, I finally got a PIN and the cash. Yay! It leaves the next day. I just had to confirm my hotel would allow me to adjust my prepaid night. Thumbs up 👍🏾everything worked out.



Before meeting up with the group on Friday, I had some time to go to Tortuga Bay. It is a nesting ground for the giant marine turtles. For tourists it is mostly a gorgeous beach. I did some minor snorkeling. There were some very cool things to see. The marine iguanas were surprising. Dozens of these huge prehistoric looking beasts just lying in the sand to get the warmth of the sun. I had not realized that they had just come out of the ocean. I saw one swimming to shore to and was startled by his approach. They walk over each other to get the sun. There are two beaches in Tortuga Bay. After a 2km walk you enter at the one that directly faces the ocean and are discouraged from swimming due to strong currents. Another km down the beach you get to the second beach  that is calm and beautiful. I swam there and enjoyed the warm water and this is where I saw my first shark of the Galapagos. On the way back, there was a part of the rougher beach that that was teeming with life both human and non-human. I tried a bit of snorkeling and just enjoyed the activity happening there.

Snorkeling in Tortuga Bay

The big beach

Baby tortugas

After my hot morning at Tortuga bay (no tortugas to be seen unfortunately), I wended my way back to the hotel.  I got cleaned up taking a cool shower in the pool area rinsing away the salt sand and sweat from the bay. Then I went and had a simple lunch because what would cost $3-$5 in Guayaquil or Lima, would cost about $20-$25 in the Galapagos. About 4 pm I met up with some others, a young couple from Antwerp, that would be on the Cruise. The majority flew in in the morning and met on the boat.

Lonesome George - last of his kind

We connected with the rest of the tour about 4:30ish and walked to the Darwin Station tortoise breeding center. Most of the turtles we saw looked like regular turtles, some tiny and some about 8-12 inches in length. After passing these corrals we came upon the bigger tortoises. So impressive they are. One named Diego came from the San Diego Zoo in 1972 because he was one of just a few surviving males of that breed. He can now count about 800 hatchlings as his descendants in his more than a century of life. Another we saw was stuffed, lonely George. He died about 5 years ago. He was the last of his species and thus the station was witness to the extinction of one species of tortoise.

I am looking forward to seeing a live tortoise in a natural habitat.

After the center we walked to the center of town. I walked much of the way with a pleasant British couple from Leicester. They have travelled the world. Something I aspire to do. We got on to a bus to head to the boat. About an hour later, we arrived at a dock on the other side of the island and got into the dinghies that took us to the boat.  It was dark and mostly what you saw were lights from boats that were anchored in the channel as well.  The ship was pleasant with spacious rooms large common areas.  The top deck had lounge chairs that were better at night than in the blazing sun of the day.






The guide commented at one point that it is odd to have a tour with only one American. There are 15 of us on this cruise. It is a wonderful group. There are two separate groups for the German area of Switzerland, four people from England in three groups, a couple from Sweden, a couple from Belgium, a man from Austria, and myself. About five of us are taking this trip after leaving a job to pursue other things. It is quite refreshing to be with a group that has such varying backgrounds.

After dinner and our daily activity briefing, it was late and time for bed. G'nite.

Peru and food

So, let's talk food. Yeah, I know I have been mentioning food in many of my posts but let's really talk food. (There will probably be more food-related posts coming since culturally some of the most unique differences happen around food, and honestly, I really like food.)

By people near and dear to me, I have been told I will eat the weirdest thing on a menu especially offal; I have heard statements about the level of spiciness I like my dishes; and I have been called a food snob.  I claim I am an adventurous eater.  I like to try the new, unique, best, interesting, etc. When going to a restaurant for the first time, especially a highly recommended one or one that has some truly unique cuisine that I may not get back to often, I frequently order way too much because I want to try everything.

[Tangent Alert! You can take the detour to get back to the main storyline]

Paul Rumbach - Uncle Buzz

I attribute this adventurous food spirit to my Uncle Buzz (Paul). He was quite a character who has had a rather significant impact on my life when it comes to food and drink.  First the drink; when I was growing up Buzz lived in my hometown for a while. One day he was sitting in our living room relaxing and asked me to get him a beer.  I believe I was about 10 give or take a year. I went to the kitchen, pulled a beer from the refrigerator, opened the bottle, and brought him the beer. I must have had a curious look on my face because Buzz asked if I wanted to try the beer.  I said sure, and he gave me the bottle. I took a drink, and almost lost it on the living room floor. I had never had anything so vile in my entire, albeit short, life (except maybe cooked carrots and beets). I couldn't understand why anyone would drink that. And for those of you who know me, I cannot comprehend drinking beer. I even had someone tell me you get used to the taste, and I thought, Why?! But my distaste for beer began with that sip from Uncle Buzz.


Now on to a more positive influence he had on me, food! In college, I spent the Spring semester of my junior year in Spain. After the term ended, I travelled around a bit.  Uncle Buzz lived with his wife Monique in Paris at the time.  I went to visit them. On the first day I was there, we went for lunch. It was June. The weather was gorgeous and we sat at a corner cafe not too far from their apartment. I remember being at a small round table and looking over the menu. Buzz looked at me over the top of his menu and asked, "is there anything you don't eat?" My response, "No. I'll eat anything." That was my mistake. I believe I had steak frites and my uncle ordered kidneys. I was grossed out at the thought at the time. I recall his dish was about as deep as a pie tin but not as large. There were five or six oddly shaped pieces of meat (but not meat) in what looked like a buttery sauce. We began to eat and enjoy our meal. A few minutes in, Uncle Buzz looked at me and asked if I would like to try the kidney.  I scrunched my face up and shook my head, saying no thank you. Reading the look of disgust on my face, he said, "But you said you would eat anything." There it was. Stabbed in the back by my own words. My feeling at that moment was fear. Going through my head was "OMG! I am going to have to eat that stuff. YUCK!" I just responded, "Yes. I did say that."  He then cut off a piece of the kidney and put it on my plate. I stuck my fork in it and put the bite into my mouth. WOW! The flavors came bursting through. There was kid of a briny taste to it. The sauce which looked greasy was almost herbaceous. The texture was a little off but the bit was tender and juicy. The furrow in my brow turned into a smile on my face, and I recall saying in an excited but questioning tone, "This is good."

I wish I could say it was like a flip of a switch and I now love everything.  It takes time to develop a taste for odd things. It was six or seven years later that I could bring myself to even consider sushi.  Wasn't a big fish fan, and raw, NO WAY! Well, thanks to Tom Tarantino, let's just say I think sushi is OK now. Considering my favorite restaurant in DC is Sushi Taro, maybe its more than OK.  Needless to say that Uncle Buzz and that meal with him had a strong impact on my life, however, I no longer say I will eat anything.  I now say I will try anything at least once and most likely twice before turning my nose up at it.

[Tangent Alert over. Resume normal story line]

Varied colors of ajís used in Peruvian cooking

If I am a food snob, I learned it from one of the best, my good friend, Amybeth. Luckily, I am in a foodie paradise with someone so knowledgeable about food. Peru has some amazing food. With a long coastline there is seafood galore; this is a potato-lovers paradise with dozens of varieties; the rain forest and jungle bring their own offerings to the table like tropical fruits and fresh water fish; there is even a level of spiciness from the ajís (peppers) used in cooking.  Peruvian food has also had centuries of influence from diverse cultures including the indigenous populations, the Spanish conquistadors, and the Coolies, asian slaves/indentured servants brought to Peru beginning in the 1600s.

Cocona - a fruit from the Amazon

I have already talked about some of the unique food I have had since I arrived while going to various markets, restaurants, and having lunch with Julie's parents.  I am going to break this topic up a bit because I feel this post is getting long, and would be its own book if I just kept writing now.  My next post will be on more "traditional" or "typical" Peruvian dishes and the dining experience in Peru.  I will follow that with one about random finds and contemporary influences in the food world.

A beautiful morning for Lima Center

Casa de Correos where the Archives is.

A few days ago Julie took me to Lima center, the heart of the government, and the oldest part of the city.  We were trying to go to an exhibit on gastronomía at the Mail and Telegraph museum.  The museum is in a grand old mansion that Julie wanted me to see.  Unfortunately, when we got there, the whole Plaza de Armas plus an extra block circumference we gated.  Politically in the US we have our challenges. Well, so does Perú.  There is a huge scandal that goes back decades about a conglomerate, Odebrecht, that has been bribing officials to get various public contracts and the like.  The manner in which it was done was brilliant and almost undetectable.  So, the day we were down there, the Peruvian President was in the US meeting with President Trump, and a planned protest was going to be marching the main plaza.  We were bummed because the museum was within the cordoned off zone.  So we wandered a bit and discovered the national archives and a small exhibit there on the archives themselves, and on shipping in the colonial period.

The cordoned off Plaza de Armas

It was a fun discovery. One thing I learned is the Francisco Pizarro actually was spelled Piçarro. Knowing the timeframe it really is interesting to see that orthography had not yet stabilized to what we know today.

We even got to have some fun taking pictures like we were ship captains (see below).

When we left the Archives, we were wandering a bit more and came across an old mansion.  I was taking pictures of the exterior of this beautiful blue and white building.  The color was unique for much of the area.  The entrance was open and we were peering in only to discover it was that was the Centro Cultural Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, that houses the Academia Peruana de la Lengua (near and dear to my heart), and the Biblioteca de la Academia Nacional de Medicina.

Casa Osambela showing the Mirador

Julie was able to talk our way into this centuries old building and the man we met gave us a tour to places no one usually has access to.  It was a traditional setup where we walked into a central courtyard.  The stairs going up were off to the left which, according to our guide, meant that it was not a noble house. Nobles would have had stairs going off to the right. There was a small exhibit on the main level of some historical discoveries from the building including a partial fresco that was restored. There were 40+ rooms in the building when it was built.  The rooms in open today are mostly used the Academía Peruana de la Lengua. The guide took us up to the mirador/cupola/tower that was built in a traditional moorish style. He showed us one of the meeting rooms for the Academía and took us out onto one of the beautiful original balconies. He pointed out that the enclosed balconies were perfect for a sitting in the afternoon but also displayed the wealth of the house because some houses only had open balconies.  This was the casa de Osambela a wealthy merchant.  The coat of arms is below.

When we came back down to the main level, we were showed the medical library. He actually took out a book published in 1556.  He opened the book for us and showed us some of the pages that had drawings. These were medical procedures some looked like torture, a couple like the were early chiropractic treatments, and at least one that was about dentistry.  It was awesome to see and touch this ancient book.  I wish I could read latin better.  It would be great to know what the recommendations and treatments were. I was truly blown away by seeing this book and its significance.

Model of the Casa Osambela - now the Centro Cultural Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. 

This is the coat of arms of the Casa Osambela

The stairway off the main courtyard going off to the left.

A view from a balcón

The dedication to Inca Garcilaso

A view from the Mirador

The moorish style mirador

Here are some images of the medical from 1556.

The medical book Galeni... from 155

Me handling the book.

The opening image shows the practice of dentistry

 Fun Pics from the Archives