Day 14 - 10/20/23 - Callao (Lima) Day 1, Peru

 The dock in Callao is an interesting place.  This port is probably the busiest port on the west coast of South America and we berth at a bulk products pier which has several giant cranes in place to load and unload cargo,  We were tied up by 7am but our meeting time for our excursion wasn't until 8am.


Callao's port is extremely busy and people are not allowed to walk through the port area.  So there are two shuttles to transport passengers who are not on a Holland America excursion.  The first shuttle transports passengers from the gangway area to Miraflores at Parque Salazar which shuttles running until late in the evening the first day and until 3:15pm the second day. The second shuttle runs 24/7 from the ship to a terminal gate #3 outside the entrance to the port and back to the ship.  All of the buses and shuttles have to pass through two sets of security gates.  The port area of Callao outside the gates is not a safe place for tourists, so it was wise to have these shuttles.


As for our group, we assembled in the Ocean Bar and headed off the ship around 8:10.  We were all put on the same shuttle and taken to the Gate #3 and let off the shuttle bus to wait for our guide and shuttle van.  Around 8:30am Caesar, our guide showed up and greeted us.  A few minutes later the Haku Tours van showed up and we filled a comfortable Mercedes van and headed off to the Pachacámac ruins which we had visited 5 years ago.


Traffic in Callao/Lima is horrible and it took 45 minutes to reach the site.  Once there, Caesar purchased our entry tickets while we all got up close with a pair of llamas and some guinea pigs.  Some may not know it, but Peruvians really like to eat guinea pigs.  On our last trip, we tried it, and they tasted like chicken.  This set of ruins is the temple of the sun and was used by many people groups with the Incas being the last whose useage was only about 70 years.  At this location women and children were sacrificed as opposed to Trujillo where warriors were sacrificed by the Mochi people.  The complex is not as complete as those in Trujillo, but they are still worth visiting.  We were transported by our van to the base of the hill and then we hiked to the top and the temple of the Sun.  There were great views from the top including the ocean, a bullfight ring, a polo grounds and a shanty town which formerly inhabited the ruins site.  After visiting the ruins, we then spent a short amount of time in the museum.  







Leaving the museum, 6 of us wanted to get off at Miraflores and our guide needed to get off there as well.  So we drove into the Miraflores area and found the shuttle pickup/dropoff point at the Salazar Park.  Angela and I went in search of Ceviche and found it in the food court below the park.  It was really good.  Afterwards we shopped a bit before taking the 3:30pm shuttle back to the ship in the heavy traffic.  After arrival alongside the ship, we shopped for a bit at the local vendors and I purchased a belt and Angela some other things.

Tonight was a Peruvian themed dinner and I was thrilled to discover that there was a ceviche bar, so I had a a custom mixed seafood ceviche made up and accompanied it with a Peruvian spiced drumstick and some jumbo shrimp.  


Tonight's entertainment was a local dance and band group and they were simply the best local entertainment we have ever seen on a HAL ship.  Un Peru Para Todos (One Peru for Everyone) was so colorful, energetic and entertaining that we watched the 7:30 show and returned for the 9:00 repeat show.

Tomorrow will be another tour, so off to bed we went.  It was a great firstday in Lima.

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