Day Two Hundred Seventy-Seven: Alpaca and Guinea Pig

We had an absolutely crazy travel day, but we finally made it to Cusco. We had dinner at Chicha, where we got to try some more new-to-us foods, including alpaca and guinea pig. The alpaca meat was wonderful, and the cuy (guinea pig) was pretty good, though it took a bit more mental preapation to eat. We were just so thankful they didn't serve the guinea pig whole, as it is done in many places, but rather as strips of meat.

Guinea pig with purple corn crepes

Alpaca carpaccio

Alpaca curry

Day Two Hundred Seventy-Six: Juane

We spent the day exploring some markets in Iquitos and then took to the water to explore a small portion of the Amazon and one of its tribitaries. Our tour included a lunch of a typical Amonzonian dish: juane. It consists of chicken, an egg, and an olive, hidden in a ball of rice and wrapped in some sort of leaf and then baked for hours. The taste was somewhat similar to a tamale, though of course, the texture was quite different. I thought it was really good, and it was made even better by the surroundings in which it was consumed!

Juane

Day Two Hundred Seventy-Five: Where the Desert Meets the Sea

We got to visit the Paracas National Reseve today, which is a fascinating national park where the desert meets the sea. I have never seen a more desolate landscape and was struck by the intense contrast between the sandy desert land and the blue ocean water. It was almost eerie in its barrenness but beautiful nonetheless. I never cease to be amazed at all the wonders of this amazing world!

Where the ocean meets the desert

Day Two Hundred Seventy-Four: Dune Buggy and Sandboarding

Oh what a fun day! After an amazing aerial tour of the Nazca lines and a wonderful lunch at Hotel El Huacachinero, we hopped in a dune buggy and headed off into the massive dunes of the Atacama Desert in Ica. Bumping over the dunes was a grand adventure, but it got even better when our driver stopped and got the sandboards out. We cruised down massive hills, sometimes on our rears and sometimes head first, covering ourselves from head to toe with sand and making memories that will last a life time!

First dune buggy experience

Sandboarding in style

Day Two Hundred Seventy-Three: Stoplight Entertainment

As we rode in our Uber over to the Gold Museum today, we got to see a truly unique spectacle. When we stopped at a traffic light, a man dressed as a clown jumped up on the flatbed truck stopped in front of us and began juggling machetes. At the end of his act, before the light changed, he even balanced one of the machetes on his tongue. His timing was perfect, and he hopped down just in time to solicit donations from a few onlookers before we all started moving with the flow of the crazy traffic again. I have honestly never seen anything like it!

Stoplight Entertainment

Day Two Hundred Seventy-Two: Ponderacion

Following an after-dinner walk along the malecon, we  popped into a restaurant called "Popular" for drinks. An item on the menu called "Ponderacion" caught our attention, as the only description was: "traditional Peruvian dessert. Order it!" We were intrigued with the surprise factor and ordered one to share. We truly didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be a lovely surprise! It is a spiral of crispy pastry covered with caramel sauce and topped with ice cream and fruit. It was delicious!

Ponderacion

Day Two Hundred Seventy-One: Pisco Sour

Today was actually full of Firsts! First time to Peru. First time to survive Lima traffic during rush hour. First walk along the malecon in the Miraflores district. I'll go into more details and share pictures of our trip over on my regular family blog, but here I'll just focus on one. Tonight, during a lovely dinner at Mangos, overlooking the Pacific, I had my first Pisco Sour, which is sort of the national drink of Peru. It's kind of like a slightly sweeter margarita but with foam and bitters on top and no salt around the rim. We thought they were really good and a fun way to jump into Peruvian culture!

Pisco Sour