Date: Jan 14, 2008 9:57 PM
Subject: 1/14/2008
1/14/2008
Salaverry, Peru
It was a great night. Fog thick as mud. All night long the ships horn was sounding every couple of minutes. Not real conducive for sleeping. Just after dawn the fog started to abate somewhat but it remained overcast and a little foggy all day.
Salaverry is pretty much just the port. It is a busy port but not very large. The interesting city nearby is Trujillo. Sounds like – true he oh -. A town of 750,000.
Even though we are only 8 degrees South of the Equator it is cool and comfortable here. The ocean is cool and the cool breezes from the mountains keep the temperature very comfortable. It was in the 60s at night and the low to mid 70s all day. It did start to warm quickly whenever the sun poked through every once in awhile. The whole area is a desert but not of sand. It is all mud and dirty looking. I guess that’s because mud is dirt and does look that way. The least bit of water turns everything into a muddy mess.
Everywhere we went, wherever there were buildings everything was swept clean and there was rarely any debris lying around. There was very little green and even though places were swept clean, everything looked a little dirty from the bare soil being blown on it. In total contrast, whereever we saw large areas of open land, it looked like it had been landfill. What they used for landfill was total garbage. Every open and unused area looked and must have been covered with raw garbage not covered by a layer
of soil.
We had a tour this morning to some newly found ruins and an old Spanish mansion in Trujillo. The buses being used were amazing. They were huge double deckers. Some had two sets of front axles as well as the double real axles. Inside there were huge leather seats and washrooms. There was far more leg room then in airplanes. The seats and aisles were so wide, they could only have three seats across rather then the usual four. The seats would lie
almost all the way down and there was pull down foot rest. They also rode extremely smoothly. This was the way to travel. There was one small problem with them however. They barely fit down the narrow streets wherever we went. They required two drivers and one would have to get out and direct at many places, where we would have to back up several times to make turns.
There were very few cars here and most of the ones we did see were very old. Traffic was light everywhere.
The first place we went was a huge brick temple buried in mud. This was the largest mud brick temple in the Americas. Six have been found here. It had all just been discovered in 1992 and only a small part has been dug out. These temples had been built from 1 to 619 AD. There was a long steep up hill walk and many stairs to see this site. Once up and into the temple, it is great to see and much of it is as it was a couple thousand years ago due it being buried for many years. The like new walls of artifacts in their
original bright colors are really something to see. I wish we had several days and an easy way up. The ship’s description however, is completely misleading and describes it as moderate walking. That sucks. I know they want to make money on these tours but I wonder if they are going to find it profitable to piss me off. Some of the older people looked like they were going to die there. Misleading is not funny when it could kill.
Among the many drawings you can see the depiction of an ancient
breed of hairless dog, a Viringo. Down in an area of little huts, where they are selling souvenirs, was one of these dogs sleeping right in the middle.
Next we took the bus to Trujillo after many fun turns and very small streets to get back to the main highway. In Trujillo we toured the old Spanish mansion which was partly occupied by a bank that is the owner. It was very interesting and even though it was built by the Spanish, it did not have European quality
construction. It was not nearly as rough looking as the recently built buildings but it still was not like seeing the quality interior of European built buildings of the era in some other places.
Across from this house was the public square with a large statue of someone or other. It was very impressive. Maybe even more so if I remembered who, but it was suppose to represent their independence from Spain in 1820. It says this was long before the liberation of the rest of Peru.
Then we bused back to the ship. The tour had taken about four hours. We only had a couple of pieces of toast and some juice at 6:00 AM before we left. With all this exercise and not much to eat, believe it or not, I was starving and I must have been very low on blood sugar. When that happens I get ridiculously famished and a little shaky. This I am told, means I will pass out soon. So we just dumped stuff off in the room and ran (walked quickly) down to the main dining room. We were going to go to the outdoor grill on
the pool deck but there was a freighter, just across from us, unloading some sandy looking stuff all day. It was making far too much dust to eat outdoors. We were afraid it would take a long time to get food in the dinning room. They do usually serve at a relaxed pace. After all, it is a fine restaurant and not a McDonalds. But Remey was there as we walked in. He is the restaurant manager there as well as in Signatures. He traveled much of the way around the world with us twice. This guy is great. He has always taken wonderful care of us and this was no exception. 
Almost as we sat down he had a waiter get me a Coke. I drank half and started to feel a little better from the sugar. I have mentioned the gourmet food many times but I don’t know if I mentioned the fantastic burgers and French fries they make. Anytime you like you can order a burger and made the way you like. I don’t know what they do, but these are worlds best burgers.
At about 4:00 PM we left Salaverry for Lima where we will hunt for beans. As soon as we left the harbor it started to get foggy and
soon it was thick as Peruvian mud. Off goes the horn every couple of minutes. It really sounds and looks nautical around here. Like one of those old creepy movies. Uh oh. There was just a huge thump and a loud crashing sound. We must have just smashed into something in the fog. No we didn’t. I just made that thumping crashing part all up. Did it scare you? Well, its down to 67 degrees and the fog is so thick we can’t even see the ocean from our balcony.
Salaverry, Peru
It was a great night. Fog thick as mud. All night long the ships horn was sounding every couple of minutes. Not real conducive for sleeping. Just after dawn the fog started to abate somewhat but it remained overcast and a little foggy all day.Salaverry is pretty much just the port. It is a busy port but not very large. The interesting city nearby is Trujillo. Sounds like – true he oh -. A town of 750,000.
Even though we are only 8 degrees South of the Equator it is cool and comfortable here. The ocean is cool and the cool breezes from the mountains keep the temperature very comfortable. It was in the 60s at night and the low to mid 70s all day. It did start to warm quickly whenever the sun poked through every once in awhile. The whole area is a desert but not of sand. It is all mud and dirty looking. I guess that’s because mud is dirt and does look that way. The least bit of water turns everything into a muddy mess.Everywhere we went, wherever there were buildings everything was swept clean and there was rarely any debris lying around. There was very little green and even though places were swept clean, everything looked a little dirty from the bare soil being blown on it. In total contrast, whereever we saw large areas of open land, it looked like it had been landfill. What they used for landfill was total garbage. Every open and unused area looked and must have been covered with raw garbage not covered by a layer
of soil.We had a tour this morning to some newly found ruins and an old Spanish mansion in Trujillo. The buses being used were amazing. They were huge double deckers. Some had two sets of front axles as well as the double real axles. Inside there were huge leather seats and washrooms. There was far more leg room then in airplanes. The seats and aisles were so wide, they could only have three seats across rather then the usual four. The seats would lie
almost all the way down and there was pull down foot rest. They also rode extremely smoothly. This was the way to travel. There was one small problem with them however. They barely fit down the narrow streets wherever we went. They required two drivers and one would have to get out and direct at many places, where we would have to back up several times to make turns.There were very few cars here and most of the ones we did see were very old. Traffic was light everywhere.
The first place we went was a huge brick temple buried in mud. This was the largest mud brick temple in the Americas. Six have been found here. It had all just been discovered in 1992 and only a small part has been dug out. These temples had been built from 1 to 619 AD. There was a long steep up hill walk and many stairs to see this site. Once up and into the temple, it is great to see and much of it is as it was a couple thousand years ago due it being buried for many years. The like new walls of artifacts in their
original bright colors are really something to see. I wish we had several days and an easy way up. The ship’s description however, is completely misleading and describes it as moderate walking. That sucks. I know they want to make money on these tours but I wonder if they are going to find it profitable to piss me off. Some of the older people looked like they were going to die there. Misleading is not funny when it could kill.Among the many drawings you can see the depiction of an ancient
breed of hairless dog, a Viringo. Down in an area of little huts, where they are selling souvenirs, was one of these dogs sleeping right in the middle.Next we took the bus to Trujillo after many fun turns and very small streets to get back to the main highway. In Trujillo we toured the old Spanish mansion which was partly occupied by a bank that is the owner. It was very interesting and even though it was built by the Spanish, it did not have European quality
construction. It was not nearly as rough looking as the recently built buildings but it still was not like seeing the quality interior of European built buildings of the era in some other places.Across from this house was the public square with a large statue of someone or other. It was very impressive. Maybe even more so if I remembered who, but it was suppose to represent their independence from Spain in 1820. It says this was long before the liberation of the rest of Peru.
Then we bused back to the ship. The tour had taken about four hours. We only had a couple of pieces of toast and some juice at 6:00 AM before we left. With all this exercise and not much to eat, believe it or not, I was starving and I must have been very low on blood sugar. When that happens I get ridiculously famished and a little shaky. This I am told, means I will pass out soon. So we just dumped stuff off in the room and ran (walked quickly) down to the main dining room. We were going to go to the outdoor grill on
the pool deck but there was a freighter, just across from us, unloading some sandy looking stuff all day. It was making far too much dust to eat outdoors. We were afraid it would take a long time to get food in the dinning room. They do usually serve at a relaxed pace. After all, it is a fine restaurant and not a McDonalds. But Remey was there as we walked in. He is the restaurant manager there as well as in Signatures. He traveled much of the way around the world with us twice. This guy is great. He has always taken wonderful care of us and this was no exception. Almost as we sat down he had a waiter get me a Coke. I drank half and started to feel a little better from the sugar. I have mentioned the gourmet food many times but I don’t know if I mentioned the fantastic burgers and French fries they make. Anytime you like you can order a burger and made the way you like. I don’t know what they do, but these are worlds best burgers.At about 4:00 PM we left Salaverry for Lima where we will hunt for beans. As soon as we left the harbor it started to get foggy and
soon it was thick as Peruvian mud. Off goes the horn every couple of minutes. It really sounds and looks nautical around here. Like one of those old creepy movies. Uh oh. There was just a huge thump and a loud crashing sound. We must have just smashed into something in the fog. No we didn’t. I just made that thumping crashing part all up. Did it scare you? Well, its down to 67 degrees and the fog is so thick we can’t even see the ocean from our balcony.
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