Lima to Cusco and back to the coast

We spent just over a week in Lima and during that time Mark had a dental implant done in place of the tooth he had extracted in Antigua Guatemala.  

We stayed at Miraflores near the coast and saw the statue of Paddington Bear. We also did a walking tour of the centre and saw many of the sights 

From Lima we decided to travel to Cusco by plane rather than drive the 2 days to get there. At 3,300m it certainly took our breath away. We were greeted at our airbnb with Coca tea. Not sure if it helped with the altitude but it was certainly welcome. Here are just a few photos of Cusco 

I came down with gastric flu just before leaving Lima so wasn't really up to exploring much of the surrounding area. Mark went on a day trip to the Sacred Valley and here are just a few of the pictures he took

From Cusco  we caught the train to Machu Picchu  (see next blog)

We then took the plane from Cusco back to Trujillo near the coast, picked up the car  and continued our journey south. We are now in the small coastal town of Paracas. Yesterday we went on a boat trip to the Ballestas islands, a national reserve also known as the poor man's Galapagos. We saw Humboldt penguins, sea lions, Peruvian boobies, pelicans and lots of seagulls. They also mine guano every 6 years and it pays off the national debt.

Next we'll head down to Nazca then inland to Arequipa