Start our South America adventure

After an intense week at home, where we enjoyed family and Baselbiet, our big adventure finally started on August 27th. On Tuesday, we flew from Basel to Lima, Peru, with a stopover in Madrid. Surprisingly, we managed the ten-hour layover in Madrid quite well. We were able to spend most of the twelve-hour flight to Lima sleeping and landed just before six o'clock in the morning. We passed through customs without any problems and our backpacks made it through the long journey. Since it was still dark outside and we couldn't check into our hotel until 2pm, we spent some time at the airport. At 8am, we took a taxi into the city and that's when we noticed for the first time that we had landed on a different continent than Europe. The chaos on the streets is indescribable - no one follows lanes, three lanes easily turn into five. Honking is rampant and traffic jams are everywhere. We were able to leave our backpacks at the hotel and set out to explore the Miraflores district. We found tranquility by the coast in various parks after this already long day. Finally, when we could check into the hotel and had a bed, the jetlag greeted us. If only it were already seven hours later at home!

Since we arrived in Lima, we haven't seen a single piece of blue sky, let alone the sun. Apparently, Lima is the second driest city after Cairo. So on our second day, we set out to explore the culture of Lima. We visited Huaca Pucllana, a temple pyramid, and gained insight into the former Lima culture. When you take a closer look at the temple, it looks like an oversized bookshelf. Thousands of adobe bricks were placed next to each other and on top of each other.

In the evening, before dusk, we visited the Circuito Magico del Agua. And finally, we found our first very romantic moment in Peru. This park has 14 fountains and as soon as it gets dark, the water is illuminated in different colors, creating a wonderful spectacle of colors. We really enjoyed this time in the park, as it wasn't so stuffy and the constant honking was in the background. We are looking forward to continuing our journey to Paracas tomorrow.