January 5th, 2025–Lima, Peru and the Silver Ray

Yesterday we flew from Cusco to back to Lima.  When we arrived at the airport, we boarded a bus and headed to Museo Larco (Larco Museum) for lunch and a tour.  I didn’t do any research ahead of time, but later I googled the website, and part of the blurb says “This major collection of pre-Columbian erotic art offers a different and interesting perspective on ancient Peruvian sexuality.”  Wait, no one told us that!  Of course, not all of the artifacts were erotic, but some of them were pretty vulgar.  Lunch was good, though, and the gardens were beautiful.   (We took pictures of the gardens, but not of the erotic art.)

After that, uh, interesting experience we boarded the Silver Ray, a cruise ship from the Silver Sea Cruise Lines.  We cruise for the next couple of days until we arrive at our next stop, Guayaquil, Ecuador. After that we transit the Panama Canal and stop in Panama City.  Then we move on to Cartagena, Columbia and Aruba, with our final destination as Fort Lauderdale.  Pictures of our room:

If you are wondering, our excursion to Machu Picchu was a Silver Sea pre-cruise option.  We usually don’t do the pre-cruise or post-cruise tours, but we decided if we were going to be this close, it would be a shame to miss Machu Picchu.  And although it was fast-paced and exhausting, I’m glad we made that choice.  Our tour group to Machu Picchu consisted of 22 people from all over the US and the world: California, Massachusetts, Washington DC, Missouri, Rhode Island, Florida, Australia, Canada, Portugal, and Belgium (these are just the places I remember).  It was a diverse group of people for sure.  Over the course of 4 days, we were thrown together constantly, which can be a lot, especially for us introverts.  However, it actually worked pretty well.  No complainers, everyone was polite and friendly, and we had only one lady wander off the trail in Machu Picchu and get lost.   

In case you are wondering about the lost Machu Picchu lady, let me tell you about it.  First of all, we were split into two groups of 11 to hike in Machu Picchu.  Each group had a guide.  As, I have mentioned it was rainy and the stone steps were steep, slick and treacherous.  Heather, an older lady from Canada (maybe about my age, haha), seemed to be having trouble navigating the trail. At some point on the way  down, someone in our group said, “Hey, where’s Heather?” Roger, our Spaniard hating tour guide, counted only 10 people and then immediately leapt into action.  We were on a flat spot with several buildings around, so he said, “Look around here and I will go back to look for her.”  As he ran out of sight, I almost screamed, “But, Roger, it’s pouring down rain, we are soaking wet and there’s no shelter!”  But, I refrained. After a few stunned seconds, some people wanted to revolt and hike down immediately, while others thought we should wait.   I said, “Why don’t we give it until 4 PM, and then we will hike down if Roger is still gone?”  It was 3:45 then, so we waited.  Roger showed up at 4 PM sharp.  Heather seemed to have vanished into thin air, so we proceeded with our hike.  Then voila, she showed up several hours later at dinner.  Nancy, the outspoken Australian, asked, “Heather, what happened to you?  We had to stand there in the driving rain for 20 minutes while Roger went to look for you!”  Everyone at the table looked at Heather.  She said in a defiant voice, “Well, I got a little behind.  But I’m an adult and I can take care of myself.”  Really, Heather?  

So, here’s my theory on Heather’s disappearance.  The last time any of us remember seeing her was somewhere at the beginning of the trail.  I think Heather lagged behind unnoticed, then turned around and went back to the Sanctuary Lodge and hid until dinner.  My evidence is that we walked very slowly and stopped often.  And when we did stop, Roger’s lectures were long and detailed.  No one can make me believe she was back there somewhere unless she was crawling.  She just didn’t want to admit deserting the group and inconveniencing everyone, so she gave a defensive non-answer.  She will probably go home and tell all of her friends that she did the hike and it was fabulous.  The nerve.