On my first day in Lima, I went to the nearest bank to change some American Express traveler checks. While walking to the bank, I was stunned by all people on the street approaching me for changing money. Many of them were congregating on the street corners and near the banks. Can you believe that? It was only later that that I found out that people are licensed to change monies on the streets in Peru. It is completely legit! The yellow and black vest that they all wear identifies them as licensed moneychangers. Believe it or not, they can also change traveler’s checks and exchange rates are comparable to the bank. Of course, they check your passport first. Exercise caution when exchanging monies on the street though - make sure you get the proper exchange and count your monies, and by all means make sure you get your passport back.

Lima, Peru and San Francisco have two things in common - both cities have their share of foggy days and both are located on the Pacific Ocean. On the surface, one would think by virtue of being located in the tropics, it would be hot all year round in Lima. Wrong! Actually, the climate of Peru’s sprawling capital city is very similar to cities in the temperate zone - there is both a defined winter and summer season. The winter season, which runs from May till November is very similar to San Francisco - during the days it usually does not get hotter than 65F and nights tend to be somewhat cool and damp because of the somewhat moderately thick fog/mist that blankets the city. Talking to locals, they tell me that foggy, relative cool days are the norm for the winter months, but during the summer season, November-May, Lima heats up and is a bit on the humid side.

After the massive 8.0 earthquake that rocked Peru’s south coast on August 15, seismologists have indicated that this region would experience many aftershocks and small tremors during the next couple of months. During my short stay in Lima (2 nights/1 day), there was not a single tremor - the gals at the hotel were begging me not to leave, as they believed I had the power to control the earth’s movements. Sure enough after reaching Cusco, located in the Andean highlands, I telephoned one of the girls at the hotel and she told me shortly after my plane took off, there was another small tremor. Oh well… I am also happy to report, I was not the victim of any falling debris and I didn’t have to wade through any rubble while walking on the streets of Lima.
As a side note, I didn’t notice any damage in the Lima area from the earthquake. Now, I’m not saying that there wasn’t any damage, just that I didn’t see any. Some tourists I met in Cusco told me that the earthquake caused some structural damage to Lima’s International Airport, but apparently it was fixed or it didn’t have an immediate impact on airport operations.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, by now, you’ve probably heard about the monster 8.0 earthquake which pummeled the southwestern coast of Peru on August 15. The epicenter of the quake (terremoto in Spanish) was about 100 miles south of Lima, the major population center and capital of Peru. In particular, the earthquake wreaked most of its fury on the coastal cities of Pisco and Ica. All told over 500 people died from the quake and countless others were injured and left homeless. In Pisco, it is estimated that 70% of city was destroyed - many of the houses and buildings that were made of clay or adobe crumbled to the ground from the force of the quake. Lima got shook up pretty good but did not experience any significant damage. If the epicenter were a lot closer to Lima, this earthquake would have exacted a considerably higher toll in deaths and destruction.

Believe it or not, I have a friend of mine who thinks that I am jeopardizing my life by traveling to Lima right now. Nay, i say! I know he has been watching the extensive quake coverage on CNN and has seen the many images of death and destruction (over and over again) that resulted from the quake. He just doesn’t understand that the images he is viewing are not from Lima but from the aforementioned cities of Pisco, Ica and Mallao. He cautioned me to be careful of crumbling buildings and debris in the street. Unfortunately when a natural catastrophe like this happens, there are many people besides my friend who get confused and jump to conclusions about the scope of the damage. I can imagine what their thought processes are - If there is an earthquake in this small third world country, then traveling anywhere in this country must be unsafe. Ring the Alarm! Such fallacious thinking, sort of guilt by association.

Undeterred by the recent catastrophe, I will be commencing my three-week South American Adventure on Tuesday, August 21 when I arrive late night in Lima, Peru. I will be Lima for a brief 2 nights before continuing to the Andean Highlands, the Peruvian Amazon, then onto the Ecuadorian Highlands. During my one full day in Lima, I will be taking a private tour of the city and will report back to you on the state of affairs of Peru’s capital city in light of the recent quake. For the rest of my journey, I will be share with you my own unique insight and commentary about the culture, natural history and places of interest of these two South American countries. Stay tuned…

.

I am scheduled to fly into Lima, Peru on Tuesday morning, August 21 for a three week vacation to Peru and Ecuador. During the last couple of weeks, I have been very busy getting ready for my trip - I just finalized my itinerary about a week ago and have recently received all my immunization shots for traveling to these countries. Totally oblivious to the latest events, I was at a local Internet cafe yesterday afternoon in the San Francisco Bay Area, when I innocently opened up an e-mail from a friend of mine in Thailand. In her e-mail, my friend asked me whether I heard about the 7.5 earthquake that rocked Lima, Peru this afternoon. News travels fast in the age of the Internet - and here I was finding out this giant quake in Peru from an e-mail sent to me from Thailand. Later the earthquake’s magnitude was upgraded to 7.9, the epicenter being about 90 miles
southeast of Lima in the Pacific Ocean

In light of the recent events, I guess I will have to reevaluate whether I should postpone my trip. In the next couple of days, I hope to discover the extent of damage to Lima, where I am scheduled to stay or the initial 2 nights of my trip before moving on to Cusco in the Andean highlands. Inasmuch as my 3-week vacation is now in jeopardy, my real concern is for the people who were affected by the quake. My sympathies go out to them as both a concerned human being and traveler. Hopefully, the people of Peru were spared the massive devastation that a 7.9 quake can generate. In the meantime, I will wait for further news. Stay tuned…

Believe it or not, I was vacationing in Kamala Beach, Phuket in December 2004 about 2 weeks before the Giant Tsunami devastated the area, and in September 1989, I left Jamaica about one week before Hurricane Gilbert bulldozed the island. This will have been the 3rd time that as a worldwide traveler that I have narrowly averted being in the middle of a natural catastrophe. I guess, I you could say I have been lucky…