Lima, Peru

Left the Ritz at 7:10am this morning to go meet our plane at Samford International Airport for departure to Lima, Peru. Met Chef Geoff and Julie, our lead attendant as we walked onto the plane. After takeoff, the trip started with champagne and Caviar with all the trimmings. Then we had excellent lectures by 2 of the National Geographic guys while we were en route to Lima. The trip photographer is incredibly interesting and Jim is bonding with him. Chef Geoff served a fabulous lunch on board. 6.5 hours later we landed in Lima…time to face the ordeal of getting through the airport and out to the buses for our museum tour. Lima traffic and insane driving techniques rival the wild driving in Shanghai. The only thing they’re missing here are the little Chinese people on motor scooters. It was interesting to learn that they have a lot of Chinese restaurants in Peru. Had an excellent tour guide who led us through the historically rich Museo Rafael Larceo Herrera pottery museum. We all had a few chuckles and jokes about the “female pottery” pieces which included some rather graphic female genitalia sculptures which then lead into the room of sculptures depicting several various sexual positions. Peruvian history was a bit more advanced than I would have thought! Must remember to check and see when and where the Kama Sutra was written! The tour terminated with yummy appetizers and Pisco Sours. We finally rolled into our hotel at 8:30pm for dinner. We were fortunate enough to dine with Jay, the NG photographer so Jim got a mini photo class while I slipped away to the room to chill out for a bit. OUR EXPERTS: Jay Dickman Photographer Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer Jay Dickman has worked in photojournalism for more than 35 years, covering topics as diverse as the war in El Salvador, the Olympics, national political conventions, six Super Bowls, the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, and Shirley MacLaine. A popular photo instructor and expedition leader, he lived for three months in a Stone Age village in Papua New Guinea and spent a week under the Arctic ice in a nuclear attack sub on assignments for National Geographic magazine. He has also published five books and numerous articles for National Geographic Traveler, LIFE, Condé Nast Traveler, Time, Sports Illustrated, and Forbes. Robert Hernandez Editor, Naturalist, Wildlife Ecologist A 28-year veteran of the National Geographic Society, Rob Hernandez began as a senior editor for National Geographic magazine and later founded its International Publishing division, which publishes magazines, books, and other media in more than 35 languages. Raised in Cuba and Spain, Rob spent his early career doing ecological field research and documenting the wildlife and culture of the world’s more remote places. He filmed a television special on lions in Namibia, explored the wilderness of New Guinea, journeyed to rarely visited corners of South America, and circumnavigated the Indian and Pacific Oceans in a small sailboat for 2 years. So far, this inveterate globetrotter has made multiple visits to nearly every destination on our Around the World itinerary. David Harrison Linguist Anthropologist and linguist David Harrison is a National Geographic Fellow and a co-director of the Society’s Enduring Voices Project, which documents endangered languages and cultures around the world. He has done extensive fieldwork with indigenous communities from Siberia and Mongolia to Peru, India, and Australia. His global research is the subject of the acclaimed documentary film The Linguists, and his work has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, USA Today, and Science. Jan Nijman Geographer Jan Nijman, a geographer and former member of National Geographic’s Committee for Research and Exploration, has traveled across the globe supporting research projects at many of the sites we visit on our journey. He has received multiple grants funding his fieldwork from National Geographic and the National Science Foundation. Jan currently chairs National Geographic’s Global Exploration Fund—Northern Europe, and he also directs the Centre for Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. A Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Miami, Jan is the author of four books, as well as more than 80 publications that have appeared in a wide range of international journals. A native of the Netherlands, Jan speaks five languages and has received numerous awards, including the Nystrom Prize, the University of Miami’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. OUR TEAM Leader-Lynn Asst Leader-Leslie Luggage- Josef, 71 yo Czech Asst- John