We are fine-the ATM worked fine today so we have money and are doing great. We are all looking forward to going to Amazon tomorrow early. Tonight we have a group welcome dinner. Today we took an optional tour to what was described as the slums but really, it was much better than that. We saw all kinds of development, and we walked through a neat market. A little girl named Rosa who was 8 followed us all over the market and we enjoyed her. It was a fun adventure. We went to the ocean and to a nice beach and fishing village. It is the school holiday here now so families are vacationing together. We ended up in Miraflores where Jim and I stopped and had a great pizza (no garlic or onions) at Luigis and walked to the Indian market and found a few things. We can leave our carryons here so that will make the rest of the trip easier and we have that stuff already packed. We come back here just for a dayroom at the end of the trip.
Forgetting my orthodics was not smart as we walked and walked today and my back and feet surely felt it. We did all we wanted to but I won't make that mistake again. Or at least I hope not! Our group is very congenial and there are several bird lovers so think that maybe on the rest of the trip, we will have fun and lots of people with knowledge we will enjoy.
Just wanted to update and let you know that our crisis was resolved. The BBVA Compass is EVERYWHERE here so it was easy to find a bank to use just to give us that extra confidence. Having money makes things a lot less stressful. ha. So all you who were worried about whether I could buy souvenirs, fear not! The Madge is back on track! We had a good night last night and got organized and repacked and it was a good evening. We needed a bit of downtime to get organized and ready to move on.
We leave early in the AM-like a 6AM flight. So I am not sure when I can post again-probably not til next Sunday when we are back here at the hotel, but who knows! I will blog along and put it online whenever I get to an internet.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
One more thing!
I forgot to tell you about our adventure in the elevator this morning. Our room is on the 14th floor so we are not wanting to just run up or down like we do sometimes on the trips. After breakfast, the main elevators were not working, according to someone at the front desk who directed us to the service elevator around the corner from the lobby. So Jim and I and 5 of our newest and closest friends crammed into this elevator along with one of the spanish speaking ladies who works in the hotel. The elevator started and went up just a bit and sat there. Ok picture the lady talking in spanish and pressing buttons and one of our guys pressing the other buttons and believe it or not, Jim and I were the two calmest people on the elevator! I guess our experience in Italy with the Germans helped us to know we'd eventually be rescued. And about 10 minutes or so later, we were-we just had to step down about 12" when we got off.
The bank says all is well and tomorrow we can use the ATM without problem so hopefully that problem will no longer exist. You would think we never traveled before!
The bank says all is well and tomorrow we can use the ATM without problem so hopefully that problem will no longer exist. You would think we never traveled before!
Off to the Amazon
We are in Lima, Peru on our way to a riverboat cruise on the Amazon. It has not started out to be an easy trip so far. Well, I take that back-our visit with Barbara and David was wonderful and without a hitch except that they are spending the winter in FL to escape the cold weather and we brought freezing temperatures with us. We had a great time though and love their place there. We had a delicious dinner too with the Hoffmans who have a place a couple of blocks away and it was great to see them again as well. While we were with the Wagners, I discovered that I didn't have my credit card or my ATM card. I could not figure where I could have left them and I spent several hours mentally trying to figure it out-when it hit me that I had made copies of them and I bet they were still on the copier at home. BINGO. Becky went and checked for me so at least my mind was at rest.
So Barbara and David drove us graciously to Miami to catch our plane due to leave shortly before midnight on Thursday night. We got there with plenty of time and got through security with no line at all, found our gate and were relaxing and enjoying ourselves. About 10, we got word that they were moving us to a new gate. That again was no problem. But at midnight, they announced to a full waiting area that our plane was not going to get there and they were sending us all over to the Wyndham hotel to spend the night. Well, by the time 7 shuttles of got there and checked in, it was about 1. The shuttle drivers also told us in the morning there would only be one shuttle. So with that in mind, we got up at 3:30 and caught the 4 AM shuttle. We went back through security and managed it all ok but needless to way, we were all pretty tired by this time. It had however, given us a chance to shower and change clothes and feel a little more decent than we would have if we had not gone to the hotel. The flight was good and uneventful and we left not too long after we were originally scheduled to land in Lima.
OAT changed our hotel for this trip at the last minute. We can't say it was for the better. We had stayed at the original one before and it was good and had a great location. This one is in downtown Lima where we don't feel safe going out at night unless we are with the group. The hotel was probably a 4 star hotel about 30 years ago. It could be worse but it is not great. We have a suite however and are on the 14th floor and have two bathrooms. If the air condtioner would just cool a bit more, we'd be happy campers. Some of our fellow travelers have water problems and all sorts of things so don't think this one is going to get any excellent rating from any of us.
Our trip guide is excellent so far-his name is Erik. We spent today on a city tour and went to some new restorations at a newly discovered archeological site. That was my favorite thing. On returning from this trip, Jim asked Eric where at ATM was and we went and tried two different banks and our card was denied. Can you say, panic? We think that when we called to flag the account, instead it was turned off. It is the only thing we can figure and since mine is in Auburn...... we are so prepared for this trip! I am sure we will work something out but meanwhile it has left us in panic mode.
There is not too much to take photos of so far so I am not going to bother downloading any to put on here. We have wi fi in the lobby but not in our room so it is not that easy to use. But it works. We will keep you abreast of the latest adventures and misadventures of the Burtons...sigh
So Barbara and David drove us graciously to Miami to catch our plane due to leave shortly before midnight on Thursday night. We got there with plenty of time and got through security with no line at all, found our gate and were relaxing and enjoying ourselves. About 10, we got word that they were moving us to a new gate. That again was no problem. But at midnight, they announced to a full waiting area that our plane was not going to get there and they were sending us all over to the Wyndham hotel to spend the night. Well, by the time 7 shuttles of got there and checked in, it was about 1. The shuttle drivers also told us in the morning there would only be one shuttle. So with that in mind, we got up at 3:30 and caught the 4 AM shuttle. We went back through security and managed it all ok but needless to way, we were all pretty tired by this time. It had however, given us a chance to shower and change clothes and feel a little more decent than we would have if we had not gone to the hotel. The flight was good and uneventful and we left not too long after we were originally scheduled to land in Lima.
OAT changed our hotel for this trip at the last minute. We can't say it was for the better. We had stayed at the original one before and it was good and had a great location. This one is in downtown Lima where we don't feel safe going out at night unless we are with the group. The hotel was probably a 4 star hotel about 30 years ago. It could be worse but it is not great. We have a suite however and are on the 14th floor and have two bathrooms. If the air condtioner would just cool a bit more, we'd be happy campers. Some of our fellow travelers have water problems and all sorts of things so don't think this one is going to get any excellent rating from any of us.
Our trip guide is excellent so far-his name is Erik. We spent today on a city tour and went to some new restorations at a newly discovered archeological site. That was my favorite thing. On returning from this trip, Jim asked Eric where at ATM was and we went and tried two different banks and our card was denied. Can you say, panic? We think that when we called to flag the account, instead it was turned off. It is the only thing we can figure and since mine is in Auburn...... we are so prepared for this trip! I am sure we will work something out but meanwhile it has left us in panic mode.
There is not too much to take photos of so far so I am not going to bother downloading any to put on here. We have wi fi in the lobby but not in our room so it is not that easy to use. But it works. We will keep you abreast of the latest adventures and misadventures of the Burtons...sigh
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