-

Most flights from the US to Lima are scheduled to arrive at night; ours was no different - 11 pm. We were met at the airport by Juan, from LIMA TOURS, who helped with our luggage and assisted us into the van for the drive to the hotel, Casa Andina Private Collection, Miraflores. This area of town is about 45 minutes away from the airport and we were all amazed at the twists and turns the driver took to get us to the hotel.

There aren't many expressways in Lima, although there is a lot of road and other construction, in preparation for the November APEC meeting hosted here.

8 am was our departure time from Lima. Braddy from LIMA TOURS helped us load into the van and we were off down the Pan American Highway, south to Ica.

Along the Highway were rows and rows of squatters' villages - created when the Shining Path terrorized the farmers and country dwellers, forcing them to leave their homes and farms to move to the relative safety of Lima. There were countless communities of these dwellings, without water or electricity - the government doesn't officially know they exist. The majority work off the grid, so they had no official record.

Also spotted along the highway, which runs along a very narrow strip between the ocean and the mountains, were row after row of buildings meant to house chickens. Right on the beach.

After 3.5 hours, we arrived at Las Dunas Hotel in Ica.

Next up, a flight over the Nazca Lines.