OVERLAND JOURNAL FALL 201937It wasa contrasttothepeaceful,emptystreetsofthesmallal-
pinetowns,butourtravelshadconditionedustothetraffic,noise,
andrandomlane changing.Benbarelybatted aneyelidinthe
manicrush-hourtraffic.
Aswedroveouttotheairport,wefoundourselveshemmed
inbytrafficonallsides.Weweresoclosetoourdestination,but
everythinghadgroundtoa halt.Ittookbothofustonavigate
thisstretch,leaningoutwindows,waving,swoopingintoseeming
non-existentgaps.It wasallwecoulddotoavoidbeingsqueezed
outoftheflowoftraffic.Success—wearrivedaboutanhourlate
andfoundourjet-laggedpassengerspatientlywaitingattheter-
minal.
Thiswasn’tquitetheendofthejourney.It’sunreasonableto
pickpeopleupfromtheairportwithoutofferingtodropthemoff
againlater—that’ssimplygoodmanners.DidI mentionwewere
droppingthemtocatchtheirnextflightfromLaPaz,Bolivia?
SobeganthesecondhalfofourPeruvianjourney.Relishing
ourroleastheworld’smostunpreparedtourguides,wetreated
Ben’sparentstoanadventuretoremember.Orperhapsonethat
theywouldprefertoforget.
Notwantingto throwhisunsuspectingfamilyin thedeepend,
we thought it wise to refrain from immediately embarking on one
ofourpoorlyplanneddrivingroutes.It seemeda saferbettostart
withintheconfinesof thecityof Lima.
Ourideaofeasingintoanexcursiondidnotincludetimefor
recoveringfromjetlag.Withsomuchtosee inthissprawling
metropolis,wemadegooduseofour
briefstay:ancientruins,a creepyun-
derground crypt,a park full of stray
felines, and some musical fountains.
History, food, culture, and cats, our
Limatourhadit all.
From Lima, we followed the
smoothtarmac ofthePanAmerican
Highwaysouth,a journeyweremem-
beredwellfromourearliervisittoPeru.It hadallfeltsostrange
then,almostsurreal,andourpassengerswereexperiencingthese
placeswiththesamewonder.Thistime,forus,it reallydidfeellike
returninghome.
ThedeepemeraldwatersoftheoasisatHuacachinapooled
atthefeetoftoweringdunesnowfeltfamiliarratherthanexotic.
Palmfrondswavedgently,greetinguslikeoldfriends.It wouldbe
impossiblenottofeela littlenostalgic.
We climbed the rickety roadside Nazca Lines ObservationDozensof hand-cut,
rough-hewntunnels
link sectionscarvedinto
the narrowcliffs,and
signsremindyoutohonk
yourhornto prevent
collisionsin the pitch
black, one-lane tunnels.