712. Peru Trip | One Day in Lima

Our Peru trip started off in Lima, its capital city. It was the most convenient city to fly into from Toronto. If we weren't flying in and out from there, we probably would have left Lima off the list. There isn't a whole lot to see and do there, and one day was definitely enough to explore the city. My favourite thing about Lima is the food there. Before coming on the trip, I was told/heard multiple times that Peruvian food is really good..and Lima is like the "food capital" of Peru. Unfortunately we don't have many Peruvian restaurants here in Toronto but the ones that I've tried, I really loved.

Now after having visited several different parts of the country, I can safely say the food in Lima is the best. I loved everything we had in Lima, even the hotel breakfast was the best out of all subsequent hotels.

One of the highlights of our time in Lima was dinner at Kjolle, one of the best restaurants in the city. I will make another post of it next time. Besides that, we just walked around Plaza de Armas (the main square) and Larcomar (area beside the coast).




Our first meal in Lima was here. I don't remember the name of the place now but the pasta was soooooo good. It tasted so fresh and flavourful. To be honest I was quite surprised how good it was as it wasn't a fancy place or known restaurant in particular. We just went into the first decent place we found on the street. After that I realized that what I heard about the food in Lima was indeed true.


There are a lot of these red cars there.


We stayed at a hotel in Miraflores that was close to Kennedy Park. It was FULL of stray cats. There are 6 in this photo.




This is Larcomar, a shopping area beside the coast. We just came for photos but didn't have time to walk around the stores.

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711. Peru Trip | Amazon Rainforest Trek

We've been back for a few weeks now and I still go through moments of really missing being in the Amazon and on vacation in general. I enjoy making these posts though to relive it in a way. This is the final post of the Amazon (for now). After this I will go back and finish the rest of the posts from the other cities.

On our second last day, we went on a long walk through a rainforest in a new area. I really loved it. It was exactly how I pictured an Amazon rainforest to be like. Thick with vegetation and a LOT (!!!) of insects. That part I didn't like.

Can you spot our guide in the photo above?

We arrived on the banks of the actual Amazon river, and pulled up to this tiny village. During wet season, the water level goes up several meters and the bridge is absolutely necessary. It was pretty rickety.


The chief of the village lives in this house. To the left corner you can see a very small white cat.


It was so tiny and dirty :(





The cat is also in this photo in case you miss it.


Ready to enter the rainforest!


This one felt more "wild" than any of the others we've explored.




About an hour into the walk we reached this house. The owners were not there (according to our guide they were probably out hunting for animals such as armadillos, anteaters, monkeys, birds etc). They are a very young family. The father is only 22 years old while the mother is 16. They have a 2 year old child. They happily live here in isolation. On the bottom is the kitchen and the top level is where they sleep (I didn't even notice the '2nd floor' at first). The oven for cooking is on the left. They had a pack of very skinny and underfed dogs, a lot of chickens, roosters and ducks..and a bunch of trees containing different fruits surrounding the property. Whenever I travel I love observing how the local people live. It's so interesting to me, especially people who actually live in the Amazon and are completely self-sustainable. Quite a difference to life in the city.




Banana tree


This is a Blue Morpho butterfly. I was trying unsuccessfully to take a good shot of its open wings when I turned around and saw our guide had caught one for us lol


Nearing the end of our walk..we came across another home.


Exotic fruits. Our guide cut one for us to try.


It didn't taste like much. Maybe a slight lychee taste.



The kids were really curious about us and followed us around near the end. I think they are not used to getting visitors.


This man is completely blind in both eyes and spends his days making and fixing fish nets by feel/touch.



We visited a rum factory and had lunch there.



There were a couple cats on the property. I shared most of my lunch with them.

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710. Toronto | CNE 2019

Taking a quick break from the Peru posts! Visiting the CNE is a yearly tradition for me. I've been going at least once every year for as far back as I can remember. I didn't get a chance to last year since I was in Europe during those weeks (I was a bit sad to have missed it!) but this year it started once we got back from our trip. I love going in the evening and taking photos of everything with all the lights. I went on opening night with my boyfriend, then again a couple days after with my mom and sister.

CNE is on until next weekend (September 2), ending with the annual Air Show. I will try to go again next weekend as well to see it.

If you are interested in visiting this week, the hours can be found here: CNE Hours. A general admission ticket is $19.99.



This is my favourite ride! It's probably the only ride I actually enjoy. My sister and I used to go on all the time.






Lantern installations: Legends of the Silk Road come to Light








In case I didn't post enough alpacas from Peru..




These "Fiesta Fries" were soooo good.


I get an ice cream waffle on almost every visit.





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