Erin & Regan's South American Adventure
We're here
After a shaky start were here! The first hurdle was leaving NZ - one cancelled flight due to Wellingtons fantastic weather threw the whole airport into turmoil. Through good luck we were rebooked on an Air NZ flight and made it to Auckland in time for our flight to Santiago. We were fortunate to be able to spend a few extra hours with Regans parents.
The flight to Santiago was pretty uneventful except a wheat free meal for Erin did not eventuate. We waited for 8 hours in Santiago which was especially long for Regan as he couldnt sleep on the plane.
The flight to Lima was much shorter at 3 hours but Erin was still hungry because there was yet again no special meal :-( (Good for the waistline though!)
We got through customs and managed to find our bags after a bit of a trepidatious wait only to search fruitlessly for a sign with our name on it. Tambo Pacaya did not come through for us. So Erin rang to find out what had happened. Regan was glad Erin had spent all those boring hours learning Spanish. Erin found out how much and what type of taxi to get. We asked a security guard to help us which stopped us being hounded by other taxi drivers.
The taxi driver then proceeded to tell us how dangerous the area was as we got further and further away from civilisation. The houses all looked like compounds with razor wire surrounding them and big metal gates. We were both hoping we were actually going to the hostel....
After asking for directions the taxi driver finally dropped us off. The hostel owner was very friendly and helpful (somewhat of a relief). We found our room and then got into bed. We were both so wired that it took a good half hour to go to sleep.
This morning we met two nice Croatian girls at the hostel who are at the end of their trip. They thoroughly recommended Colombia so we are thinking hard about our plans.
This morning we went shopping which will be much easier when we know how much things should cost. They see us and the price magically increases!
We are very keen to learn more Spanish asap.
We are now in Pisco and about to go and get some dinner and a Pisco sour.
More updates and hopefully some photos soon.
Ross: hah! thats so cool... well sounds like you guys are hitting the "eventful holiday" straight off the mark... loving the weirdness throughout your blog too, very exotic ;o) (10/06/06)
Rochelle: Hey guys, Pleased you have made it. Hope Erin has been able to find some food that agrees with her. Enjoy your time getting to know your way around and finding out about the locals. Rhianna is off to school on Monday and very excited. I remember when Erin was all ready to go to school and was right into wearing frocks! Anyway guys have fun and will keep an eye on what is happening. (10/06/06)
Duncan Bayne: So, how's it going? Not that I'm impatient to hear more or anything :-) (10/06/06)
sue: Wow, sounds a bit scary! Razor wire... Just as well you spent that time learning Spanish, eh Erin. Did the Croatian girls speak English? Wellington is still turning on fab weather, southerly gales, trains planes and boats cancelled all over the place. Looking forward to the photos. (10/04/06)
Juanita & Allan: Hi there, good to hear you have arrived safe and sound but with enough excitement so that life is not boring! As Sue said Wellington weather has been particularly bad with no flights leaving on Wed, so You must have had a good pixie or fairy godmother on your side. We looked at the map and wondered wether you would have a pisco sour in Pisco. Looking forward to the photos (10/04/06)
Duncan Bayne: Very cool! Congrats on making it ... from what you said about the local security provisions, I did a bit of digging, and AFAIK there are no prohibitions on carrying locking-blade pocket knives (think Spyderco, Benchmade, etc.) in Peru. Just FYI ;-) (10/04/06)