July 7, 2012
After an epic multi-day journey we've stopped in Arequipa, Peru's second largest city, for a week of Spanish language classes. Our flight from Fort Lauderdale to Lima was majorly bumpy - enough to earn the pilot a round of applause when he landed - and arrived at about 1am. Despite the hour, immigration was packed so we were fortunate to be ushered through a preferential line for families. When we emerged like blinking, new-born puppies into the main terminal, there must have been a few hundred people waiting for new arrivals, half of whom were waving signs with people's names on them. Bethany managed to spot the sign with our name on it within a few seconds and we gratefully followed our kindly driver out to his waiting van. A short drive along the beach then up into Miraflores and we were deposited to our accommodations for the night, the family-run Miraflores Inn. Never has a bed been more welcome. It was a struggle waking up the next morning for breakfast, but we managed it and then spent the rest of the day pottering about Miraflores. We ate some giant corn in a busy park full of cats and also walked down to the cliffs overlooking the beach.
Strange to think we'd been by the Pacific Ocean two days before (in Victoria), then by the Atlantic Ocean yesterday (in Fort Lauderdale), and now by the Pacific Ocean again (albeit in the same time zone as Chicago). We'll post an update of our 16-hour bus from Lima to Arequipa shortly ...