Marian Johns' Journal of the Desert
Explorers trip to Peru in 2002
Images by John Page unless otherwise noted
Day 3,
September 6, Friday
Lima to Pisco See Map
Sept. 6,
Friday – The tour bus picked us up at 9:00 a.m. and took us to the Museo
Raphael Larco Herrera. It has an unbelievably huge collection of Moche
pottery. Displayed are hundreds and hundreds of ceramic pots. 
These pots
depict every aspect of Moche life – occupations (artisans, farmers,
fishermen, servants, slaves, and beggars), musical instruments, tools,
jewelry, foods/crops, food preparation, domestic and wild animals, marine
creatures, houses, surgical procedures, people afflicted with various
diseases, ceremonies, ceremonial pyramids and temples, priests/nobles,
warriors, captives – including punishment, mutilation and death. My
favorites were the “portrait” pots which represent individuals – 
fat, thin, 
smiling, laughing, somber, young old - you name it, it probably
exists. Even sex is shown realistically and the museum has a collection of
erotic pottery in a separate building. I’m guessing it’s in a separate
building so the school kids who come on field trips 
won’t be
scandalized. In addition to the pottery, there was also an impressive
pre-Columbian gold and silver show.
After the museum tour, our bus driver, as requested, took us to the big, nearby, super mercado. This was a real super market, similar to ours – a hub of activity with a wide selection of products. The produce section was particularly interesting to me. There were a number of strange fruits and vegetables, and many varieties of potatoes – a Peruvian staple. Here we purchased lunch fixings – bread, fruit, cheese, and lunch meats, and John Hunt bought a rotisseried chicken.
Then it was off to the airport
where we picked up the three double-cab pickup trucks we had reserved with
the National Car Rental company. John Page, John Hunt and Kathy Mitchell
each put a truck in their name and on their credit card. At the end of the
trip everyone else will need to pay their fair share. We were supplied
with two Toyotas and a Mazda, but only one canvas tarp to tie down over
the luggage.
But since all of our luggage wouldn’t fit into one truck,
we needed at least two tarps. So, we were taken to the National Car Rental
maintenance garage where we were supposed to get an additional tarp.
While we waited there, we
decided we’d best go ahead and have our lunch on the tail gate of one of
the trucks. 
That worked out well - by the time someone finally showed up
with the tarp, we had had lunch and were ready to head out of Lima.
Lima is different from what I remember when we were here 36 years ago. I suspect this is partly due to the fact it was so long ago – memories that far back have become fuzzy. Lima seems to be more congested – narrow streets – it’s nearly impossible to find your way around. Luckily, a kind gentleman from the maintenance garage took pity on us and guided us, by driving one of the trucks himself to the outskirts of the city, and got us on the Panamericana (Pan American Highway) headed toward Pisco. I guess he had to take a bus or taxi back.
The process of getting the
trucks and tarps took so long, we had to skip ruins of Pachacamac and went
directly on to Pisco where we found our hotel – the Hostal Posada
Hispana – without too much trouble. After settling in, we all walked to
a restaurant a few blocks away for dinner. I had fish in garlic butter –
pretty good. John and Mary, who were sitting across from me, ordered
ceviche, 
a traditional Peruvian dish made of marinated raw fish or other
types of seafood. I sampled a bite – not bad, but don’t think I would
want to eat a whole meal of it.
