Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32It’s a cool and grey Melbourne autumn morning, and I’m walking to my favourite café in Rathdowne Street for a coffee hit. Three weeks ago I was in Lima, on a similarly cool and grey morning at the start of a Peregrine South America tour. REMEMBERING SOUTH AMERICA The small group I travelled with were high-spirited, well-informed and thoroughly good humoured. After sightseeing, walking and climbing, we were always ready to sit down with our guides over dinner, talking about the day’s experiences and what they meant to each of us. While I was travelling I kept a diary and tried to write in it every day. Looking back at it now, it’s hardly a literary masterpiece; just a jumble of notes written on the run and sometimes late at night under the influence of one too many glasses of red. But what I wrote about still surprises me. There’s very little about the spectacular sites we visited – the ancient city of Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley, the Amazon jungle – my scatty notes are more about experiences, and people. I flick back to my pages on Lima. After a day spent exploring the city centre and the Franciscan monastery, with its catacombs and ruined library, we set off for Cuzco. On the way to the airport, I experience some jet-lagged confusion. Is this South America or South Asia? Lima has a population of 8.5 million (that’s twice Melbourne’s) and it seems that everyone is on the road in tiny commuter buses, honking and weaving through dense smog, cycling or walking in great squadrons. Another metropolis, Buenos Aires, a week later. Its centre is breathtaking, with great avenues and a grandiose blend of architectural styles. Our guide here is Candelaria, a strikingly intelligent and politically savvy young woman who takes us to the Plaza de Mayo, where she speaks www.peregrineadventures.com | Call: 1300 854 445 Peregrine_Go_Xplore_16_page.indd 12 5/08/2016 10:19 AM