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November 5, 2005
Change of plans
After breakfast and paying for another night at the hotel we decided to map out exactly what our schedule was for the next two weeks. We need to be in Miramar, Argentina by Nov 18th which doesn’t leave us much time for Peru and Bolivia.
Once we put it all on paper we decided we needed to leave today. Em, who worked in the Genetics division of the San Diego Zoo’s Conservation and Research for Endangered Species, wants to see the Andean condors located in the south of Peru. One of the major projects she participated in at CRES dealt with saving the California condor, a close relative, so it should be fun to see one in the wild.
Our first stop will be Arequipa then onto Cabanaconde where the condors are located. So quickly, we had to inform the hotel owner we would be leaving and took a taxi downtown to buy the bus tickets.
After getting the bus tickets we headed to Lima´s historical center as we had a few hours to spare. As soon as we sat down on the steps outside the main cathedral a guy tried to steal Em’s bag. Luckily he grabbed it as I was looking directly at him and all I had to do was yell to stop him cold in his tracks. He handed the bag back and scurried off as a security guard from the church came over to make sure everything was alright.
After that little adventure we toured the cathedral which housed the remains of Francisco Pizara. I had just read all about him, the Incas, and Cajamarca in the book Guns, Germs, and Steel so it gave this historical sight a bit more perspective. Next, we continued to walk around for the city center for a few hours, this time with our bags constantly closely guarded. It looks like a beautiful city, it is unfortunate that we have so little time here and have to move on so quickly.
On the taxi ride back to the hotel and then to the bus station we had a lively but friendly discussion about U.S. and Peruvian politics with the driver. Our back and forth over free-trade, the Summit of the Americas, and the FTA was particularly interesting. I’ll hopefully get into more detail about the subject in an essay but it is suffice to say here that while he agreed with me with regards to the moral arguments of free-trade, he was not convinced that it would benefit Peru.
At 5:30 we were on the bus and on our way to Arequipa. The bus ride was something to behold. One of the highlights was that they had everyone on the bus play bingo and the winner gets a free return ticket. The guy that won even had to give a speech. Hilarious. Hopefully the buses we are on tomorrow will be just as entertaining.
Posted by Peter Mork at November 5, 2005 1:27 PM
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