Before I begin the events of the post, I would like to thank you for all the comments that you send.  I read every one of them, however do not have time to answer all of them, much as I would like to.  It makes it all the more satisfying to know that somewhere in the world there are readers who are enjoying our travels, reading of our exploits over a cup of coffee in the comfort of their homes. 

Writing is the easy part; taking the photographs enjoyable, it is the gathering of them, reducing them so that they are not of too large a size to transfer them to a web page which is a laborious task, albeit worthwhile.

Now all this is completed for our call to Callao (pronounced “Ky-Ow” by the Peruvians).  We have stayed here 2 days and 1 night and will be departing later this afternoon for Arica, Chile.  We are here to await the return of many of our guests who have ventured further afield, land tours to Cusco and thence to the fabled ‘lost city’ of the Incas, Machu Picchu. 

😯

Callao lies on Peru’s west coast and lays claim to be the largest port on that coast.  The capital of Peru, Lima, is 1 hour away by road.  Judging by the number of ships here, they are not wrong; the harbour piers are full and the ‘waiting’ anchorage outside the port has numerous vessels awaiting a berth. 

It takes me back to my early years on cargo ships; anchoring and waiting for a berth was quite common, my longest period being 2^1/2 months off Lobito, Angola.  We spent Christmas there and, as often occurs, the boredom was passed with foolish matters.  In this case, by rigging a lifeboat with out-riggers and lowering the ship’s piano into it.  Nobody could play it very well, however that didn’t stop us from cruising to the numerous anchored ships and subjecting their crews to some awful carol singing and even worse piano playing.  This didn’t deter them, inevitably we would be invited on board for a Christmas ‘tipple’ before proceeding on to the next victim.  Needless the say, courses steered after several days of this became quite erratic.

Karen and I spent some time ashore yesterday; a shuttle bus into the city and then took a taxi for a photo session. First the lovely seaside resort of Miraflores, a far cry from the noise and odd buildings of Callao, it is a ‘rich’ area and popular for its restaurants and holiday, (vacation), spots.

On our way back to the ship, our driver, Erick, took us past what remains of a large Inca complex, Huaca (pronounced “Waca”) Pucllana.  It was a ceremonial and administrative complex of 18 acres, however, due to Lima’s expansion, only 6 acres remain, the other 12 being destroyed.

 During the evening, we went on a tour with other guests, “Lima by night”.  What should have been a 25-minute journey took 2 hours; the traffic was chaotic.  Peruvians don’t take notice of traffic lights, or whom should give way to who, the end result being total chaos and grid-locked roads, mayhem would best describe it.  We did a tour of various ‘squares’ before going to a park where fountains were numerous and a splendid light show using water.  Having taking a video, the file was massive (720MB), however, after compressing and compressing I still can’t get it small enough to post, unfortunately.

Finally, during our World voyage we invite renown Chefs from parts of the World where we cruise.  This week we had a Peruvian chef preparing a wonderful dinner and Sommelier for guests, in our Pinnacle Grill restaurant.  I could hardly carry a wacking-great camera in such surroundings. so I slipped my phone in my uniform pocket and (surreptitiously) took some photos of the occasion.

 Peruvian Chef Palmero Ocampo and Cellar Master Jacques