Our adventures in Lima got a bit more interesting once our friend Diego arrived from Cuzco. He picked up Ross and Tabor on Sunday afternoon and took them to his aunt's home in a neighboring district. His cousin was celebrating her 23rd birthday and, naturally, Diego's friends whom the birthday girl had never met, had to attend her party! 

Once Nash was up from nap, Diego sent an uber to pick us up and take us to the party , too. I had no idea what we'd be walking into because the last time we went to one of Diego's family birthdays, the kids at the party were all riding around the countryside on horseback. The neighborhood where his aunt lives is an oasis in the middle of the dusty, crowded district. Tall fortress-like walls enclose big homes with expansive lawns. Nash and I rang the bell at the gate and we're let into a festive party scene on the home's sprawling patio.

Much of Diego's family lives in Cuzco, Lima, and the surrounding areas. On his mother's side, he has three aunts and three uncles - just like my family on my Dad's side! Many of these aunts and uncles and their kids were at the party. It almost felt like a family party at one of my aunt's homes with all of my cousins! We all ate and drank and got to know the family. Diego's cousin Pierro, whom we'd met on our previous South American adventures, and his family were there. It was Pierro's second son's 1st birthday (mentioned above) that we'd attended seven years ago. This kiddo is now eight and it was fun to see him! He is also a sponsored by Specialized bikes for downhill.  Saw a video of him jumping 20+ gaps.  Attached is a picture of Pierro's kids from our travels in 2009 and present.  We will hopefully see them again as they too will be driving to the futa for summer break. 

Diego's aunt Rosa, whose daughter's birthday we were celebrating, was extremely welcoming and made us feel like part of the family. At cake time, we all sang happy birthday in Spanish and English and Nash made such a stink about wanting cake that he got the first piece! Tabor entertained the girl cousins with her karaoke and Nash was ridden around the yard by Pierro's boys on one of their mountain bikes. If there is a way to beat homesickness in another country, it's definitely to be taken in by a wonderful family!

As promised, Diego delivered his van to us in Miraflores on Tuesday. He's a rockstar and got all of the paperwork in order for us. One has to have a book's worth of documents assembled to rent their vehicle to another person in Peru; especially if there are border crossings involved. After lunch with Diego and a serious coaching session on driving in Peru, we dropped him at his aunt's home and got on the road!

About two miles after we dropped Diego off, we got lost.  Peruvians are crazy once they get behind the wheel, and the roads in Lima (and every other Peruvian city) are even crazier.  There are lanes but nobody uses them and speed limits are ignored. I've been nervous about us driving ourselves since we got here, and now it was time for us to be on our own.  Everyone down here uses the app Waze to navigate and Diego recommended it, so it's what we're using.  The directions we were getting weren't clear and we missed a turn. We found ourselves heading back into Lima without the option to turn around. A few roundabouts and a million near misses later, we were once again on the Panamerican Sur heading sur.  

Coach Diego had explained that everything in Peru is negotiable. If you don't like the way something is, you can find a way around it. He's said we need to change out our North America "chips" for South America ones. So the first time we get pulled over by the policia (20 minutes in), we have to talk our way out of why we didn't have our headlights on in broad daylight. Apparently it's obligatory to have your headlights on anywhere on the pan American sur. We successfully got out of that one without having to offer a bribe. We didn't fare so well the next time we got pulled over an hour later though.
 
There was a checkpoint on the highway and policia were selectively flagging down cars.  When they see us coming, they do a happy dance and excitedly flag us down.  They know that we know that we are at their mercy. This time they didn't like our plates. I was using every word of my limited Spanish but it wasn't working. After a few frantic texts to Diego, he reminded us to use our South American "chips."  So as if on que, the kids start screaming because they're hungry and tired. It worked and he said he was going to let us off. 

Unfortunately, third times a charm. We forgot to turn our lights on again. This time the guy giving us the shake down was going to make it a bit harder for us.  He said the infraction was 948 soles or $287.00 us dollars. We said no and asked how much it would take for him to let us go. He said $20US but we only had 40 soles.  We offered him 20 soles and he took it and flagged us on.

We pulled into Ica after dark but thanks to the Waze app, we found our air bnb.  After five hours in the car and all of the excitement, we were exhausted and crashed. In the morning they served a breakfast of fried eggs, bread with butter and jelly, coffee, tea and fresh squeezed o.j.  Once again, the kids didn't eat much.  

We took the 15 minute drive to Huacahina which is an oasis in the desert.  We'd read on TripAdvisor that this was a party mecca for backpackers. Tripadvisor nailed it.  The town was crawling with backpackers.  We were glad that we'd booked our place in the quiet residential area of Ica!  Our friend Erik had visited Huacachina a few years ago and told Ross he had to do the dune buggy ride.  It was clearly not something suited for kiddos so Ross went and the kids and I went to a backpacker spot and had lunch and hung out by the pool.  When Ross returned after the ride, he was dazed and looked exhausted.  He said it was pretty nuts.  Check out the video of the ride and his sandboarding experience.  

We spent that afternoon watching the kids play in the pool of our air bnb casa and I did laundry.  The home is lovely and the family is very nice. They have a dog, a cat, and a very loud parrot. Coach Diego had said that we needed to get out of Lima to breathe.  Once again, he was right.  We were so relieved to be in a quiet, comfortable spot that we decided to extend our stay by a day.  

On day two, we headed to a Peruvian bodegea just outside of Ica; Tacama Winery.  After driving dirt roads through the countryside for a half hour, we came upon this sprawling pink building.  Such a place was surprising and completely unexpected. The grounds were lush, perfectly manicured, and filled with colorful flowers - and some of the best playground equipment we've encountered in Peru! It was serene and gorgeous and the kids loved it.  We did a quick tasting and our guide told us that grapes have been grown on that land since since 1554.  The family who currently owns the operation has been making wine since the 1800's.  

We're packing up now and heading South to see the Nazca Lines. Tonight we'll be staying outside of Chala in a place recommend by coach Diego.  More to come!