Peru

After 3 weeks in the Netherlands and many family visits and other fun activities, I made it back to Lima on May 7th. I've spent the last three weeks in Lima studying Spanish and doing a bit of exploring. I have been taking 20 hours of private class per week at El Sol, a Spanish school which I can wholeheartedly recommend, and have taken a few trips outside of Lima to Lunahuana, Chincha and Pachacamac. I've also seen some more parts of Lima and, of course, tried some more delicious food...!

I've eaten my fair share of Ceviche, a local delicacy made of raw fish, but also managed to eat a whole "cuy" (or in English: Guinea Pig) - quite nice but I never realized how small they actually are! In Lunahuana I went white water rafting and was able to witness the process of making Pisco, the local firewater. Around Chincha I had a look at the cotton fields; with cotton about 9 feet tall and growing very rank, it was quite a difference with Australian cotton! The Chinca area is know for eating cats and they have a cat festival each year; it's not the kind of festival that cats enjoy, if you know what I mean... I stayed a way from trying a bit of cat myself though. I also had a look around the Cienguilla / Pachacamac district close to Lima for a weekend; high mountains, green valleys and a river dissecting it all; just lovely.

I haven't got much other news to share about Lima, seeing as it's already the 5th time that I'm here and my school schedule has provided a pretty good routine this time around. I have also been doing some work here for an Argentinian company and even managed to spend a day back in an office environment... it felt almost strange! I am about to head to the airport to take a flight to Mexico city. The plan is to spend the next 5 orso weeks traveling from Mexico city to Panama; I'm meeting up with a friend in Mexico city but have nothing else planned.... I am excited to explore some new places, see new sights and meet new people... I shall try to keep you all posted!

At http://reinderprins.nl/photos.html you will find the link to some pictures from Peru and Colombia and a new album for Central America as well... hopefully soon to be filled with new pictures...

Hasta pronto!

So after tying up all the last loose ends in Narrabri, I finally left for Sydney on Monday February 26th. I flew, with a slight delay, to Sydney and was able to get some last minute shopping done whilst in town. After some final farewell beers and walk on the Coogee-Bondi trail, I returned to the airport on Wednesday February 28th for my flight to Lima. The flight itself was pretty uneventful and due to the time difference I arrived in Lima that same day at 6PM.

All in all I spent a week in Lima, with my friend Charles, in a beautiful part of Miraflores - probably one of the nicest areas in Lima. We did go down to San Bartolomo for the weekend, which is a beach town just 30KM south of Lima. For the rest I just took Spanish classes during the day and enjoyed the town at night. The Spanish school, El Sol, is of very high quality and I enjoy the challenges of learning a language again... my time in Lima simply went too fast, but on Wednesday the 7th of March I flew to Medellin in Colombia. It is my plan to stay here for around 5 weeks and study Spanish full time...!