“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” ~Lao Tzu

So the plan was to fly from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Quito, Ecuador. We got to the airport at 3 AM for our 6 AM flight. No lines. We checked in at the desk with our boarding passes, ready to check luggage, and we were asked for our Yellow Fever Inoculation Certificate. Hmmm. We didn’t have one and didn’t know we needed one. We really do spend a lot of time figuring out the ins and outs of getting into different countries and we base our decisions on the info we find. The airline clerk said that if we were just passing through Brazil and heading right to Ecuador then we’d be all set. But since we’d stayed in Brazil for a week then Ecuador would require this shot and not allow us in the country. (We booked the fights weeks ago and the airlines never alerted us.) We asked what our options were and the clerk said:

1- Since we were scheduled to fly to Peru first and then head to Ecuador, that we could fly to Peru today, stay there a week, then head to Ecuador. The requirement for the shot would be waived (sounds sketchy). We’d have to reschedule the flight from Peru to Ecuador to the tune of $350 per seat, which was he original cost of our complete flight. So instead of $700 to get to Ecuador it would be $1400 – ouch.

2- Another option would be to stay in Brazil and get a free shot, but that required us to stay in Brazil for 12 days. We’d have to cancel our ticket and lose a ton of money – ouch.

It sounded like a scam – and an elaborate one at that. We pulled out our credit card and paid the difference and headed to Peru. We had to cancel our accommodations in Ecuador, and find a new place to stay somewhere in Peru.  We chose the Barranco area of Lima, known for its artists, musicians, etc. It was right on the coast.

It was cool and overcast every day. We took the opportunity to start running again. The cool weather and the coastline made for a great place to run in the mornings. Our accommodations were a little rustic, but we sucked it up and embraced the area and the adventure.

Early each morning I would walk a few blocks and get 2 Cafe Americanos from a small cafe. The place that sold them also sold “Arepas“. I asked about them and got a lesson from the cook. They sounded good. It’s a roll made from corn flour. The Venezuelan version is cut and stuffed like a sandwich, The Columbian version has the goods on top. This place did the Venezuelan version. Later in the week Laurie and I tried them and they were delicious – a black-bean, fried plantain and avocado version.

One of the anticipated highlights of Lima, Peru would be a visit to the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco. The place is famous for an order of St. Francis, but even more-so for the large amount of catacombs, complete with thousands of skulls, femurs, SI joints and pelvises. It was going to be a great day – the opportunity of a lifetime. The expensive detour didn’t seem too bad right now. With my camera and phone ready we headed to the church. We paid our admission and met up with our tour guide who informed us of 1 rule, just 1, no photos. Damn. I abided by the rules and did not take any photos. At this point you should google “skulls lima catacombs” and then choose images. Go ahead, I’ll wait. You can see what I saw.

Well, it was amazing. As an amateur anatomist the huge selection and variety of bones was incredible. The differences between the length and angle of the head of the femurs, shapes and sizes of all kinds of SI joint, more skulls than you could ever ask for, some with teeth remaining. I marveled as we travelled from room to room underground. Thousands and thousands of bones, some lined up neatly, others waiting to be organized. The tour itself was very good. Before we descended to the boneyard, we had a tour of the church, and were served more information about St. Francis than you could swallow.

We didn’t do much more in Lima except explore our neighborhood, Barranco. There was street art everywhere. Similar to Sao Paulo. There are also a LOT of VW’s in South America. VW kept making cars here, VW buses and beetle, long after they stopped selling them in the US. There were tons of beetles and buses in great condition.

Lima was nice but we were ready to move on to Quito, Ecuador. On Friday we headed there and were welcomed into a nice apartment. Now it’s time to explore Quito, the capital city that sits at over 9000 feet high. We’ll spend a day to get acclimated before we start running here. We plan to check out some of the rest of the country, probably Loja. We’ll be spending the final 2 months of our journey here and heading home for Nov. 1st.