Lima, Peru

By the time we were up and packed and had finished breakfast there wasn't a lot of time left before we took a taxi to the aiport for our flight to Lima. Cuzco is surrounded by mountains so I'm not surprised they struggled to find a good spot for an airport but even so I was amazed that it was so close to the city centre and surrounded by houses on all sides! We ended up being pretty early for the flight but at least we weren't rushing which was a relief. The flight left on time and was smooth and we made into Lima by mid afternoon, took a taxi to our hotel and settled in. We spluged a bit more for these last few days on a proper hotel and wow did we appreciate it! Hot shower, towels, soap, shampoo, comfortable bed, TV - these things you take for granted most of your life but when deprived of them for long enough seem like extravagant luxuries!

For dinner we wander to a nearby Italian restaurant and have a nice enough meal...except hours later Sandra awoke in the middle of the night and was very ill which we could only speculate must have been something in her salad. Poor Sandra she was really in a bad way.

A very uneventful day today. Sandra was in bed nearly the whole day recoving from gastro/food poisoning, while I did a lot a reading and finished my new book that I'd only started yesterday.

Another slow day, but then that's why we booked this nice place anyway so we feel guilt free on that front (plus the weather is overcast and by most accounts there isn't a lot do in Lima anyway). Sandra is still feeling weak and unwell but still better than yesterday. In the evening we stay in for pizza and watch a couple of movies including Invictus (about the 1995 Rugby Union World Cup in South Africa) which reminds us vividly of our time in Johannesburg and Cape Town including our visit to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. As we think about everything we have seen and done these past 5 and a half months it is really quite amazing: 15 countries, 3 continents and something like 40,000 kilometres.

Sandra is feeling somewhat better today which is great. We spend a lot of the day checking out accommodation for our onward travel to Cuba (for Sandra) and the US (for me). In the late afternoon we take a walk for a couple of hours and check out a big Indian Artesanal market for some last minute purchases for family and friends. In the evening we enjoyed a very nice dinner and bottle of wine at the hotel restaurant.

Tough day today. Sandra is off to Cuba today while I am off to Fort Lauderdale. Sandra left early (7.30am) leaving me alone to reflect on these past 162 days of travelling. My flight isn't until 10.30pm so I took the opportunity to catch up on these journal entries from these last week or so. Sandra is going to soak up the sun in Cuba for a week and I will go from Lima to Fort Lauderdale, and then the day after onto Los Angelese from where I will fly back the Melbourne on the 17th of July. It will be nice to visit home and catch up with family and friends (and get my tax refund asap) but beyond that I really don't know what the rest of the year will hold.