Peru: Miami, Florida to Lima, Peru (Day 2)

I didn't sleep very well but managed to try and sleep some of the hours away while on our flight to Miami.  I tried not to drink or eat very much because I didn't want to have to get up and disturb Mom and Rhonda since I was next to the window.  I checked my caching app to see if we were getting close every half hour or so.  We heard that Amy had to be redirected to Charlotte for some reason and that was going to delay her meeting up with us in Miami.  Then we heard back from her (when we could) that she was going to Dallas from Charlotte and wouldn't be in Lima until late, like after midnight.

 We arrived to Miami around 8 a.m. local time, since we arrived later than anticipated but still had some time to wander around and find something to eat.  We got off the plane and walked to our next gate to see where it was.  Then we all walked around for a while checking out shops and deciding if we needed souvenirs from Miami.  I found some post cards, a stuffed animal gator and a magnet.  Afterwards, we found a place to eat breakfast since we haven't eaten since we were in SeaTac.  I ordered an omelet, wheat toast, home fries and chocolate milk.  Mom had sausage and pancakes also with chocolate milk and Rhonda had a sausage breakfast sandwich and a tequila sunrise because she needs to be liquored up when she flies due to anxiety.  We ate our food, paid and went back to our gate to get ready to go to Lima.  It was going to be another 5+ hour flight.

We boarded our flight and we were in the same three seats as our first flight, in row 22.  At this point, I was tired so I got comfortable for some attempted napping.  Shortly after we took off and leveled out, the beverage cart rolled by and we got chips, chicken wraps and a dessert for lunch.  Rhonda got a brownie and Mom and I got this cinnamon churro thingy.  I pretty much slept right after we left the Florida Keys until we reached the border of Colombia and Ecuador.  I spent some time writing in my notebook since the WiFi was having a hard time staying connected.  Mom watched a movie up until the WiFi stopped, then she slept.  Rhonda slept and read from her Kindle.  As we got closer to Lima, I put my stuff back in my back pack and prepared for landing.  When we finally touched down, I noticed the thick marine layer over the coast of Lima.  It almost reminded me of Seattle nine months out of the year.

We got off, the plane (which was very organized, they would do a few rows from the front, then a few rows from the back, etc.), funneled through the hallways to immigration where we stood in line until we were called to one of the enclosed stations where we presented them with our documents and passports.  I was asked some weird questions such as, are you married or single and what is my profession?  I really didn't think those were really necessary.  They then asked why I was visiting Peru and how long we would be here?  I answered all the questions and was handed back my passport and documentation.  We were all disappointed that they didn't stamp our passport but scanned the barcode.  We all wanted our Peru stamp.  Bummer.  I asked the question, if they are not stamping passports anymore then why do we have one?  Might as well issue us a card that they scan instead of having a booklet.  I was truly disappointed.

We had to double mask inside the airport.  We had some money exchanged into Peruvian Sols so we would have money to tip them with.  We each did $100 and got back S/343.  The ratio was about $1 to S/3.4.  

We went and got our bags and called Amy to see how she was doing.  She safely arrived to Dallas and had to run to her next gate.  It was a brief conversation.  We gathered all of our luggage and exited the baggage claim area into the lobby.  I tried doing the virtual cache, Bienvenidos a Peru (GC891P6) but couldn't get the door with the correct number because it was gated off.  I did the best I could and hoped it would work.  

We went outside and met with one of the Peru for Less reps and our driver.  They helped us put our luggage into the van and headed across the busy road to the Holiday Inn.  We had trouble getting the driver's parking card to work for the gate so we went to the next gate.  The traffic here is similar to Ecuador and Mexico. 

We got to the Holiday Inn and our rep helped us get checked in, documents signed, got our keys, etc.  He gave us Peru for Less llama bags and went through our itinerary for the rest of the time we were in Peru.  Mom and Rhonda asked about Amy and if she was taken are of and he said she most certainly is.  She had a driver and they will help her get checked in when she gets here later tonight. 

We went up to our rooms, Mom and I were in room 419 and Rhonda and Amy were in room 519.  The clerk took our bags up to our room first, we gave him a tip, he thanked us and then dropped off Rhonda's luggage to her room.  We got somewhat settled in and then Rhonda came down to our room stating that she couldn't find her phone.  We speculated on where it could be.  We knew she had it on the airplane and at baggage claim in side the Lima Airport.  The only place it could be is in the van somewhere or in her room hidden amongst her belongings...or maybe even in the lobby.  We tried calling it a few times and no one answered it.  She went back to her room to go search for it.  Meanwhile, Mom had to call our emergency contacts in Peru to see if Rhonda did indeed leave her phone in the van.

We finally got a hold of someone and they said they would check with the driver.  We couldn't remember which room Rhonda was in so we waited until she came back to our room for an update.  She never did until she had her phone and said that they found it and delivered it to the hotel.  She went back to her room and Mom and I got cleaned up and then relaxed with some Spanish television, my computer, our phones and pajamas.  It was finally nice to relax after spending most of the day traveling. I logged the two caches, wrote in my journal and got a little organized for the next day.  

We plugged our phones into the outlet with our 220-volt C-type plug adapters.  I bought them last year from Amazon thinking we were going to go to Peru then before the world shut down and I wanted to be prepared.  I am so glad I bought them because they came in handy.  We didn't need a voltage converter since we had the adapters.   

We brushed our teeth and set our alarms for 6 a.m.  We each had our own queen bed with three pillows each and it was so nice to actually lay down and sleep.  I talked to Ben for a little bit and my face hurt so much from being tired.  I had to go to bed.  I finally went to bed around 10 p.m.  I fell asleep instantly.

Next Adventure:  Lima to Cusco, Peru (Day 3)