Ceviche & Reed Boats - Salaverry, Peru

We docked in Salaverry early this morning and took off a little before noon for the ocean side town Huanchaco, located about 45 minutes from the port. The drive gave us ample opportunity to get a feel for what the coastal part of northern Peru looks like. As we rode, our guide talked to us about the crops they grow and pointed out fields of sugar cane, tomatoes, asparagus and blueberries. I’m not sure if it’s from rainfall or irrigation, but I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that Lima has not had rain in 5 years! Lima does have areas of green of course, but they are irrigated from rivers and I suspect this area is much the same.

 

can you see the gulls floating in the water?

We also saw tons of trash all along the roads and walkways – it was truly disgusting. I thought Indonesia was the worst as far as trash everywhere, but I believe that Peru has Indonesia beat. Trust me, I could have taken much, much worse photos than these. They apparently have not figured out a way to deal with this and I suspect they have become somewhat blind to it. 

 

trash is EVERYWHERE!

We arrived in Huanchaco in time for lunch at a waterfront restaurant called Big Ben. We watched as a master chef demonstrated how to prepare Peru’s iconic cured fish, ceviche. Although its precise origin is disputed, this dish has deep roots in this region. According to the chef, fresh sea bass makes the best ceviche, although sole or tuna can be used as well. To the chopped fish he added lime juice, diced red onions, habanero peppers, cilantro, seaweed, celery water and salt. He explained the purpose of each ingredient as he added it to the dish. In the early days, the raw fish was cured in maize juice but today it is cured with lime juice.

 

fresh sea bass

various peppers and limes

The dish is usually served with cold sweet potatoes and cob corn. The cob corn looks and tastes very different from the corn we eat in the U.S. It’s hard to describe the texture; it's not at all similar to our fresh corn or hominy either. Actually, it doesn’t have much flavor at all to me. After he finished making the ceviche, he mixed up the alcoholic drink Pisco Sour, again explaining each ingredient he used. 

 

cobb corn, ceviche and sweet potatoes

 

Following his cooking demonstration, we moved to a different area where we were served a lunch of – you guessed it – ceviche and Pisco Sours. So I did a first – I tried both. I don’t care for alcohol so that didn’t appeal to me at all. However, I would have enjoyed it if he would have left out the alcohol, egg white and bitter whatever. ha! The ceviche tasted o.k. but it was hard for me to get past the idea of it being uncooked. I know, I know, the lime juice “cooks” it but it still had the texture of raw fish. But I tried it, which is more than I can say for Ronnie. After lunch, each guest was given a chef’s certificate and a reed boat souvenir to remember our visit by.

 

guests having lunch at Big Ben's restaurant

Afterwards, we moved down the beach a short distance to see a local fisherman show off his skills piloting a reed “caballito” or surf fishing boat. These boats are constructed and used by local fishermen to fish in the early morning hours. The reed boats are only good for 3-4 years before they have to be replaced. They are dried each day by standing them on end in the sand. Souvenir stands line the sidewalk between the street and the rocky beach. I was disappointed that my pictures weren’t better. For more info on the reed boats see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caballito_de_totora

 

families relax on a very rocky beach

paddle is made of split bamboo

 

fisherman straddles boat on knees

reed boats and nets drying after the morning's catch

 

As one can see from the photos, the beaches here are extremely rocky. It's hard to understand how sitting and lying on them could be that relaxing but this is what they are used to. Perhaps the biggest draw to these Peruvian beaches is the surfing. The waves are huge and perfect for that sport. There are many surf shops where boards are sold and surfing lessons can be purchased. 

I snapped a few bus window photos as we drove through the town on our way back to the ship. Most of the houses are built straight up - 2, 3 or possibly 4 floors for multi-generational living. Almost all are made of red brick. I suspect the bricks are not fired, as many of the older ones are badly deteriorated. Very few houses are finished, so most have rebar sticking out of the top floor. Our guide explained that if they finish their house, the taxes automatically double. Thus, the unfinished houses.

 

We were greeted all day with literally thousands of sea birds floating in the ocean water and standing and flying around the dock. I snapped a few more as we walked from the bus back to the ship. 

 

so many sea birds!

fishing boats resting in bay

The sun was setting as we pulled away from the dock. Goodnight and goodbye, Peru.

3-for-1 in Lima, Peru

Our excursion today was called Peruvian Art and we definitely felt we got our money’s worth. We left the ship around 9 am, skipping lunch and not returning to the ship until 2:30 pm. Our first stop was in the historic Pueblo Libre District at the Larco-Herrera Museum, housed in a viceroy’s former mansion. 

Museo Larco

property full of colorful bougainvillea & variety of cactus

The museum houses the world’s largest private collection of some 45,000 pieces of pre-Columbian ceramics and textile art. Did you get that? 45,000 pieces!! The history of this collection is most interesting. The site will allow you to translate to English.  https://www.museolarco.org/en/collection/

several rooms just like this

individual's faces on drink containers

mummy containing small child who died from hydrocephalus

this person buried with 7 lbs of solid gold 

burial headdresses

From there we were driven to The Museum of Contemporary Art of Lima, a collection of modern and contemporary Latin American art. We didn't spend a long time there, as it was a rather small museum. I confess I’m not much into modern art. Perhaps I’m not deep enough to figure out what messages the artists are trying to convey. Sometimes I suspect the artist isn’t sure either. I’m personally more into realism. 

 

 

 

The art on the Vista is modern as well and I feel the same way about it. In fact, we have one piece of art hanging in our room that only within the past week or so did I discover that it is a drawing of a woman. Prior to that I just thought it was lines and shapes. It’s safe to say that I’m just not that into modern art.

Much of our time was spent riding in an air conditioned coach between the 3 different museums. Peruvians work a half day on Saturday so the traffic was quite heavy. From there we traveled further south to the enclave of Barranco where we visited the private home of Javier and Yvonne Luna. 

life size pope in the living room

every wall in every room is absolutely full

Their personal home contains the art and treasures of the Luna Elias-Polo family who own and display an extensive collection of Niños Manuelitos (nativity scenes) from Peru and all over the world. Mrs. Luna conducted the tour of their home while sharing the history of different pieces they have collected. 

It’s safe to say that both she and her husband are serious collectors, evidenced by the fact that they have enough nativities to turn their home into a museum. They have a souvenir nativity that she and her husband are a part of along with tote bag they offer for sale at the end of the tour.

 

Yvonne Luna 

These photos are but a tiny sampling. There was one room that had entire miniature scenes with animated characters fishing, roasting a pig, woodworking with running water, music, lights, etc. I took a short video of it but unfortunately this blog site isn't allowing me to post videos. There really are no words to describe this place, and my photos don’t even begin to give you the full picture of what their home is like.

All in all it was an interesting day.

Penquins, Poop & Boobys in Pisco, Peru

We docked in Pisco Peru early this morning. After breakfast, we took off for a water tour of the Ballestas Islands. 

 

greeted by local dancers

First we rode by bus along the coastline of the Paracas Peninsula to a hotel pier where we boarded boats that would take us along a coastal desert reserve unique to this part of the world. The beautiful turquoise water was a stark contrast to the surrounding expanse of sand.

 

beautiful beaches in the middle of the desert

boarding our boat

our guide, Sonia

 

explaining what we'll see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it was cold in the water!

We were taken to an area where we saw the famous Candelabro de Paracas, an enormous pattern etched into the hillside in the style of the Nazca Lines. From there we continued to the cluster of Ballestas Islands, the most ecologically significant coastal wildlife sanctuary in Peru.

 

Paracas Candelabra or Candelabra of the Andes 

Like the Nazca lines, the origin of the Candelabro de Paracas has been the subject of much debate. For more info, here's a link. https://www.discoveryuk.com/mysteries/the-paracas-candelabra-desert-beacon-or-ancient-enigma/

It was hard to hear our guide over the boats noise, but the captain slowed and approached close enough to for us to observe and photograph some of the seabirds and marine mammals who live and breed on the small islands. 

 

Bellesta Islands home to much wildlife

 

There is a terrible smell around the islands coming from the enormous amount of seabird poop (guano) along the rocks. The Ballestas are sometimes referred to as the "White Islands" because of the huge amount of accumulated poop which makes them completely white in places. Our guide explained that it has to be harvested by hand. In the 19th century, guano made Peru one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America due to their global exports of guano. It is extremely nutrient dense because the seabirds eat fish in the cold Humboldt current. Can you imagine shoveling bird poop for a living?

 

There was a huge number of Peruvian boobies (different from the blue footed boobys of Galapagos), pelicans and Humboldt penguins. There were also large colonies of lazy sea lions and their young along the rocky shores. We got to watch a penguin hopping and making his way down the huge rock to take a dive into the water.

 

can you spot the Humboltd penguins?

Peruvian boobies

 

sea lions and their babies line the beach

can you spot the babies? (hint: they are black)

I’m not sure how fast the boat was going or how many miles we rode but it was probably a 30 minute ride each way. It was really cold on the water and we both felt like we’d been whipped to pieces by the time we returned to the dock!

 

lazy sea lions sunning on a buoy as we near land

 

Here's a couple of bus window shots of the downtown. Some in our group were dropped off in town but we were ready to get back to our "home away from home."