Standard eggy breakfast after a lie-in and then back on board with new BFF Americo to visit Pachacamac, the capital of Chimu culture in the 14th century. Americo takes the scenic route there, passing the newly elected Peruvian presidents house in decidedly upmarket San Isidro. PPK takes office in the 28th July, Independence Day. Then via Miraflores, the plush coastal district, and home to Maria Reiche, re-discoverer of the Nazca lines. The Pachacamac exhibition...

We returned to Lima airport to meet Alfie after his month's voluntary work in the diocese of Chulucanas with Bishop Dan and his crew. Our new BFF - Americo Yanque - let us write our own welcome on the name board and we all welled up on seeing him walk though from air-side. After dropping his bags back at our suite we headed off to the Museo del Arte de Lima or MILA as its locally known. A cracking little museum that seemed tardis-like with exhibits from Moshe, ...

We are safely returned to the faded (and fading) grandeur of the Gran Hotel Bolivar, Lima. Here, for the price of an Ibis on Commercial Road we have an entrance hall, a main bedroom with sofa and armchairs, leading off to the dining room with dining table, 6 chairs and the door to the kitchen-ette, while in the other direction the second bedroom looms and off it the bathroom, with parquet floors throughout. Chain hotels take note! Granted, there is more than a h...

Right, that's it! Fed up with turmoil in the labour party, disquiet in the provinces post-Brexit, unrest in Turkey, idiots playing hall monitor in the US and elsewhere globally suffering from a catastrophic common sense deficit, the Halls are off the South America for a bloody good sulk!

On-line check-in? Check! Canine cross-checked and flight plan logged? Check! Currency and travel documents checked and re-checked? Check! Well, it would appear everything is in order and in a little over 24 hours thunderbirds will be GO! I will aim for near daily blog posts, connectivity allowing for the duration of the trip, but full photo publishing will have to wait until we are back. I re-read the prequel to this blog - shameless plug for my infrequentnoma...