Along the coast in Peru

In Lima we had the best host ever. We met Omar in Barichara, Colombia and he invited us to visit him in Lima. He lives in the awesome “Barranco” neighborhood and he generously offered us to stay at his girlfriends apartment with ocean view. Lima is also a world-class food destination and our host Omar knew exactly where to go for great food. He made us try Peruvian specialties such as ceviche (= raw fish, hot chili peppers and onions marinated in lime juice), causas (= colourful potato dish), seafood appetisers, a tasty “pisco sour” but also went to a great organic café and a vegan pizzeria. He toured us around in pretty Barranco and vibrating downtown. Thank you so much Omar! You are the reason we had a great time in Lima. We went over to the hostel where all the overlanders stay and met Christian Weinberger with his Landrover. Sarah & Erdem were there as well, together we went for breakfast and checked out the Miraflores neighbourhood. Also we were lucky with the weather; normally the city is known for its thick, grey sea mist that lingers over the city.

After a few days with full bellies and happy faces, we left Lima and drove south along the coast via Ica and stopped in Huacachina, a small oasis town surrounded by sand dunes. You can take dune buggies out on the sand dunes, ride snowboards down the dune faces, and soak up sun at the little oasis pond. But we were not impressed. We had lunch, took a few pictures, and decided to hit the road again towards Nazca. At the camping we ran into a group of Germans who travel also with Mercedes G-Wagon. You can imagine what the boys talked about all evening??? Instead of going inland towards Cusco we got many recommendations to continue along the coast and head to Arequipa, then drive north to the Colca Valley. Read the next post about Peru:-)