Welcome to Miami

From Cancun we flew to Miami- when booking the trip we couldn´t get from Cancun to Peru directly and had to go into USA for the connection. So we decided to spend a weekend in Miami and meet up with Lorraines friend Lanette who is from New Mexico. On Friday we had an early flight and got to the airport at 5.30am in Cancun. When we arrived in Miami, Lorraine got pulled over in customs for possession...........of 2 red mexican apples that had to be disposed of. From there we rented a car and went to meet Lanette who had arrived the previous evening. We had booked into a hotel for the weekend- luxury for a second time for us backpackers which was located on Collins Avenue (which was funny for me as my parents just live off Collins Avenue, Dublin) and which is miles and miles long. After settling in we headed to Cuban district to sample authentic Cuban food. The restaurant the taxi driver recommended was packed- i got fish and rice for dinner, wasn´t too impressed as it was quite dry but the fried bananas served alongside were great. We asked the waiter to recommend a club for drinks and music and he pointed us to one across the road. A live band was going to be playing. But when we entered at 11.30pm we were the only ones in the place. The band didn´t start playing til about 1.30am but by then the place was jammers. It was a fantastic night, i think we were the only tourists in the place.

Next day we hit South Beach Miami, famous for the art deco district. There is a tour of the area available when it isn´t raining but just our luck, it rained all morning so we had to make up our own walking tour. The buildings are impressive and are in very good condition. The rain continued for pretty much most of the day and that night it turned torrential. Nonetheless we headed back to South Beach for dinner. There was no let up and by the time we finished the roads and sidewalks were flooded- now if i was at home and it was raining this hard i wouldn´t venture out but when you are on holiday you are in a different mindset. From the restaurant we headed down a few blocks to a popular club ´Mango´s´where we danced the night away. We met some Canadians who were down for the weekend to watch the the Miami Dolphins play. One of them turned out to have neighbours in Ontario who were also McKenna´s- Rose and Kieran- so they may very well be distant relations!!!

I was very impressed with Miami, has a great atmosphere and is very well laid out. Aswell as the beach (which we managed to visit several times), the clubs, there is a lot of nature to see aswell. We managed to drive down to the Everglades National Park but got there just as the sun was setting. It was too late to do any hiking but definitely is a must do when i go back.

Arrived in Lima, Peru, yesterday evening. Not much to see in the city. Are due to meet the group we will climb Maachu Pichu with tonight. We head for Cusco tomorrow and start climbing on Friday. I am bit wary of this as i have heard loads of stories of altitude sickness etc. We get as high as 13,000ft at some points during the 4day hike. Next time i blog, i will have plenty to tell i am sure.