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Normally we would begin this holiday with a night flight from Amsterdam. But Lufthansa stopped flying to South-America since august, so everyone is booked onto the KLM flight. And the departure hour is now 10.40 in the morning. This adds an extra day to our vacation (almost for free).
The disadvantage is that we must take the 4.55 train in Ghent. Via Berchem and the international train to Schiphol, we finally arrive at the airport. An additional advantage of KLM is that the airplane ticket is also valid on the train (at least in the Netherlands). And we are there more rapidly than some Dutch co travelers who are delayed by traffic-jams.
With hundreds of peoples traveling to work, we see the October sun slowly clime above the horizon. Would the sun rise in the Southern hemisphere also be this beautiful?
On Schiphol we have a quick search find the man of Baobab (who hands out our tickets). Manfred (which we already know virtually from the chat sessions prior to the trip) is also here. Because checking of luggage lasts longer these days (September 11 is still fresh in our memory) we must go to the check-in before our group is complete. We will see them on the plane.
A small technical failure creates a small delay, but no worries. Our group (3 Belgian's friends and 15 'unknown' Dutch people) is grouped together in the plane, but it is not obvious to get to know each other. However, we are becoming gradually worried because Britta does not show up. Eventually she needed to take a "bath" in the plane toilet, since she had to run throughout the airport. Her Geneva flight had been (mistakenly) announced 50 minutes earlier on the Internet. This resulted in an (unofficial) record to run from the European to overseas terminal (carrying 2 backpacks).
Finally we depart to... Aruba. Indeed, this flight will make an exotic stop on the Netherlands Antilles. The main meal is a choice between chicken or pasta (seems to be the same on all flights). And because the time on this flight ticks slowly (flying west), we even get a second meal (chicken or paella). "Moulin rouge" and "Shrek" kill some time until arriving in Aruba. The landing over the lagoon gives a good impression of what this island to offer has. But that would be for another holiday.
We may walk around in tax-free shops for exactly one hour, and then (at 15.00 - 6 hours differences with Belgium) up to Peru. Again 4 hours flight (and again gaining one hour compared to European time).
Eventually we touch down at 18.15 on Lima International Airport. And administration kicks in : filling migration papers, stamping passports, ...
Veerle carried a camera (including tripot) for a colleague's family. Fortunately we quickly find "Carla", and can concentrate not to loose our travel group. Willem, our guide (who was already in Peru), shows us the money exchange (and ATMs). Tomorrow we pay with "Sol's". We can practice already a bit for the new Euro: 10 Sol = $2.8 = 130 BEF = fl 7 = 3.15 EUR.
When the luggage has been thrown on top of the bus, we need to drive another our through this big city to arrive at our ocean-side hotel "El Camera" (near Parque del Amor).
After handing the chambers-keys for a refreshing shower we get a drink in the lounge and much explanation/information from Willem regarding the different options during this four week trip. Also the "unspoken" rules to enjoy a stress free holiday (with this amount of people) are spoken.
Six of us (Wim, Fien, Willem, Angelique, Veerle and Mark) walk one block (including a small fries-meal) before getting into bed at 23u30 (meaning that I was awake for 26 hours, not bad to start a 'holiday').
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