Callao

Yesterday as we waited to hear back from the Embassy, our friend Cami took us to the port city of Callao. Callao is a province inside Lima that is the main port and the headquarters for their Navy. It was so quiet and peaceful. Their beach was very clean and we had fun throwing rocks and looking for crab shells on the rocks. The beaches here are not sand like we are used to, they are all very smooth rocks, like river rocks. It is actually quite pretty and it makes the coolest sound when the waves come up on them and then recede back in the water.

After playing on the beach and a little time on the playground, we went to eat at what is their Navy officer's club. Luckily it is open to the public and we had the best seafood...ceviche, calamari, shrinp...YUM! The Peruvians definitely know how to cook. The restaurant was at the top of a building where we could look out over the port and see all the ships. It was so nice! Alexandra did great and Becca enjoyed the quieter pace of it all.

After lunch we walked to the other side of the square that opens up to the ocean. There was a nice walking trail along the tidal pool where there were hundreds of pelicans, a flamingo, and many other birds. It was so nice to watch that and hear the waves crashing. It made for such a relaxing day. I was even able to carry my camera on my shoulder instead of crammed in my purse. The nice lady at the bodega where we bought ice cream did make sure Cami knew it wasn't safe to do that in any other part of Lima though. I appreciated her looking out for me.

Maybe one of the reasons it was so nice to be somewhere quiet and not crowded was on the way there, we were stuck in major traffic. Driving here is a dangerous sport as the lane lines mean absolutely nothing and it is a every-man-for-himself type mentality of driving. Cars literally push their way into "lanes" of traffic. As we were moving in the traffic, a truck tried to push its way in front of a bus. The bus, not to be bullied, kept going. I heard metal on metal and thought "oh, no! Now there will really be major traffic." Well the caller on the bus (the one who hangs out the side and calls where the bus is going) just reached down and picked up the headlight that the bus had knocked off the truck and handed it to the truck driver and everyone kept on. It was truly a sight. I wish I had had my camera. Even Layne said it would be a challenge to drive here. It gets really crazy in the taxis as they weave their way in and out of traffic and go up against buses that are so tall. Mind you a big taxi here would be a Nissan Sentra. We have been in some that wern't more than a covered go kart!

Until our next adventure!