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PERU    INFO & DIARY  1

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 GENERAL INFO (Jump to Diary)
The Republic of Peru is an unitary presidential constitutional republic, covering 1.285.216 square kilometres in the north-western South America. It borders Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east and Bolivia and Chile to the south. The western part is dry and semi-dry desert while the east is cloud forests and deep jungles in the Amazons. My tour is mainly in the dryer areas.
It is the home of more than 32 millions citizens, of which 97% are Christians. The ethnic groups are 45% Amerindian, 37% Mestizo, 15% White, and 3% others. The Official languages are Spanish, Quechua and Aymara - neither I understand.

The currency is Peruvian Sol, worth 2,20 Danish Krone and €0,27. The GDP is US$180.291 billion.

The climate is diverse due to the high mountains. See the maps on the button this page. The rainy season is December to Marts, but that does not mean much to the coast, as it hardly rain here at all.
The diverse climate offers the diverse habitats for a huge range of flora and fauna. I will not be looking for anything in particular, as I'm here to study the desert biomers in general.
Among the more interesting mammals are the Vicuña; Vicugna vicugna, Guanaco; Lama guanicoe, Vizcacha; Lagidium Peruanum, Puma; Puma concolor, Spectacled bear; Tremarctos ornatus, Jaguar; Panthera onca, Anaconda; Eunectes murinus and the Andean condor;Vultur gryphus.
Peru has over 1,800 species of birds, of which some are absolutely spectacular. I only hope to see some of the Aras. Her are more than 300 species of reptiles, and 380 species of amphibians. And then there are the animals along the coastline.

The flora is even richer with more than 25.000 species. Due to my interest and the rainy season, I will mainly be looking at the many cacti and other desert dwellers. Here are at least 232 or more cacti species! I think here are 69 caudiciforms, and I would like to see them all.
Another interesting quest will be looking for the 2,500 species of orchids, distributed in 224 genera.

    I was actually in Peru some years ago – by mistake.
My friend Jesper and I was on our way to Ecuador, via Heathrow in England and Bogotá in Columbia. But the flight from Heathrow was delayed three hours, and we missed the Bogotá flight. Here, they have keep another connecting flight to Quito in Ecuador, back. We run over to it, along with a lot of others, and in the air, the captain tell us that we are landing in Quito in about 1 ½ hours, and we go to sleep.

I think we fly for an eternity, but we have been on the road for 19 hours, the 14 in the air. Finally, we land, rush out of the plane, but get halt back in the arrivals hall. Must wait, we don't know for what. The other passengers rush past us. We wait a little, then decides that the other can wait for their suitcases, while we take a taxi to the Hotel Grand.
Through the empty custom, show the passport and the handed-out visa form. We are just not allowed to pass. We are laboriously explained in a correct and easily understood Spanish (or is it Portuguese?), that we have the wrong visa form. For crying out loud! Then, the stewardess has given us the wrong form, when it was distributed out to us, and those who would continue the flight to Peru. We ask if we cannot just get a new one, so we can get out to Quito, and find a hotel. "Quito? - You are in Lima / Peru!"
I would not rule out that we look a little baffled, in 1 ½ seconds which elapse, before we rush back to the transit hall. No hurry, the plane is only about 5-6 hours. When we left Bogotá, we were told we flew to Quito, first, and then to Lima. Then it just started to get windy in Quito, and then we flew just a few additional hours to Lima. We cannot fly back now; the airport in Quito closes at midnight. There will be arranged for a small sandwich and Peruvian coffee – which by the way; is not recommended!
We spend a very long night in Lima, before we finally fly to Quito / Ecuador, and landing 12 hours delayed.

DIARY
Well, I will get her 8/5 2024 from Bolivia.

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