Peru-Club Peruano, Lima

Journey In Peru
September, October, November 2010

WELCOME TO LIMA
We pulled into Club de Peruano Yacht Club in the town of La Punta, Callao and started the process of checking-in (unbeknownst to us before we left Ecuador Peru increased their check in fees by about $400 for health inspections-(yeah right, they don’t step a foot on the boat). We lined up workers to fix the radar, fix the watermaker and fix the heater, “ching.$ ching” . A few days later our friends Jill and Doug from S/V Companera , whom we had met in Ecuador sailed in. They are both from Alaska and are avalanche rescue specialists. They have spent many years launching rescue operations in the Alaskan wilderness, an area of deep snow and extreme temperatures. 

They had been following our route and we had been in constant contact.  We met the local representative, Gonzalo Revalo, from Seven Seas Sailing Association, of which we are members.  Gonzalo speaks fluent English and is a local businessman.  He and his family have adopted us-he took us to the market, hardware store, assisted with vendors, treated us to our first taste of Peruvian food (it’s fantastic) and our very first Pisco Sours, the National drink of Peru.  He even invited us to his daughter’s 15th birthday party, took us for a tour of his cosmetics factory “Unique” which makes everything from lotions, creams, lipsticks, perfumes….an extraordinary experience..  We are now in the process of using his company as the supplier/producer for a product that we have been developing for the past five years. 
LIMA CENTRAL
What would a journey of a country be without visiting its major, crowded cities?  During our “city hike”, we visited monasteries and palaces, replenished my oriental food supplies at a Chinese market, and bought my grandson, Peter,  his first musical instrument, the Cajone- a square wooden box drum that you sit on to play, and not to be confused with cajones (bulls balls).  We again spent many weeks at Club Peruano socializing with other boaters.  A fellow boater, Pam from S/V Precious Metal, and a solo sailor at that, organized a trip for friends from Canada and we joined them visiting the wine region near ICA.  Gonzalo’s friend owns the winery “Picasso” (which is the best wine of Peru) and we were treated to a tour and tasting.  From there we went to a local hotel for dinner and sandboarding (think snowboarding on sand hills).

We took another tour, of the jewelry factory owned by UNIQUE.  Incredible to see how costume jewelry is made -  from resin stones to metal plating to assembly. This company had previously made products for the well- known, “Monet” brand of costume jewelry.  And of this writing, March 2011, we now have a working relationship with “”Unique to produce a product for us.  We’ll keep you posted.

Peru has been one of my favorite places and it was very hard to say goodbye to new friends.  Frano Branovich my Peruvian/Romanian chef who gave me the book “The Art of Peruvian Cuisine”, by Tony Custer”, a Harvard MBA who created the program “Aprendamos Juntos” (We learn together).   The program installs full time psychologists and therapists to give remedial help to learning disabled children in Lima’s poorest schools. I scanned the book and have gifted it to my daughters who love to cook.  Frano took me to a local club to celebrate my 59th birthday and allowed me to be his sous-chef in his kitchen.  He will be truly missed.  Gonzalo and his family will forever be in our hearts. And our sailing friends we will continue to meet on the sea.

A Quick History of Peru
Originally inhabited by Indigenous tribes of “paracas”, “moche” and “Huari”, the Inca Empire lasted only 100 years.  The Spanish conquistadores, heading south from Panama overland overtook Cuzco and later founded Lima.  Peru is famous for Alpaca, Baby Alpaca and Vicuna (the most expensive) wool and the weavings that are produced both as art pieces and for clothing. Interesting comparison is the history of the US and slavery.  South America too used indigenous peoples as slaves which led to many uprisings. The wealthy families of Spain were given the land and the indigenous people worked it.  The Chinese, working the Panama Canal, migrated here and the cuisine is indicative of their influence.