I had never been so happy to see blue sky as I was when we arrived in Huaraz, a town nestled in the Andes in Northern Peru. After just over a week spent in Peru’s grey, dull, overcast capital Lima, I was hanging out for some clear skies and a little sunshine. That wasn’t to say we didn’t enjoy Lima – on the contrary, we had found some delicious food, stayed with locals courtesy of Air B&B and even rented our own little modest penthouse apartment for a few days. Mum left for NZ from Lima, after which I promptly drunk a bottle of wine and went out dancing with new friends to distract myself from worrying too much about when I would see her next (hint: I actually have no idea). But we chewed through a lot of work, and found a lot of pleasure in being able to cook for ourselves once again.

Oh, and did I mention the avocados? We ate the most perfect avocadoes I’ve ever seen pretty much every day we were there. These, as well as mangoes and these funny huge passion fruit things, meant that we consumed more fruit and veggies in Lima than any other place we have visited. This, combined with (almost) daily runs on Lima’s seaside boardwalk, meant that I felt healthier here than I have in ages.

From Lima, we watched Germany play Argentina in the football world cup final – choosing to cheer for Argentina because of what lovely friends we had made while we were there. It’s been world cup fever for the past month in South America, and we have loved every minute of it. Any excuse for a party and a few beers! Holland was our favourite team from the get-go and we were a little disappointed when they didn’t make the final, but being treated to so many world-class soccer games has been a real treat and we were sad to see the tournament come to an end.

One evening we visited the main museum of Lima, Larco Museo, excited for an impressive display of Incan & ancient artefacts. We were a little disappointed with what we found, but Joel immediately perked up when we found South America’s most comprehensive collection of erotic ancient sculptures. These artefacts are around 800-1500 years old, and I giggled like a school girl walking through this part of museum. However, Joel insisted that we slow down and take pictures for our photo album. See below. I apologise if they offend any of our readers, but they are meant to be one of the most interesting demonstrations of ancient South American cultures’ relationship with death, longevity and procreation. Well, that’s what I read during the small window when I wasn’t blushing or giggling.

We’ve spent a few days in Huaraz getting through this week’s workload and prepping for an upcoming hiking adventure. Come Wednesday or Thursday, we’re heading for the mountains on the Santa Cruz trek; a 4-day hike that is meant to showcase some of the most spectacular Andean landscapes in Peru. Both of us can’t wait to get back to nature and spend a few days camping in the mountains. We’re both hanging out for a bit of nature after so much time spent in the big smoke.