South American ports Dec 15-23

Manta, Ecuador

0 degrees latitude! We crossed the equator and experienced summer!
We docked in Manta a seaside city and were able to walk into the shops. We walked around the mall and the nearby beach. It was interesting to see the Christmas decorations in the summertime. We successfully accessed wifi when we ordered our large $2 beer. Manta is a popular expat community that we might like to revisit:)

Peru

We arrived in Callau the port for Lima. It’s very industrial and requires a bus ride to reach the tourist areas safely. We toured the highlights of Lima. UNESCO recognizes the old town centre. Many places were built in the 1600s-1800s. One of the old monasteries became the first University in the Americas. It is called the University of San Marcos. We made a brief stop in the trendy expat Miraflores neighbourhood. We saw a man walking a Newfoundland dog! The Park of Love sculpture’s artist is 96 years old! Lima is a city built entirely in a desert. They get 7mm of rain a year! In our next port at Pisco, we sampled our first, but not the last, Pisco sour. We also experienced some of the desert landscape!