Bob and Ann in Peru and Equador in 2008

We were up at 3 am. Bayporter Express arrived 10 minutes early for a 4 am pickup but we made it out of the house by 4. One passenger was already in the van and we picked up another on campus before heading for SFO. We checked in easily and breezed through security to wait at our gate for an hour before boarding our American Airlines plane for Miami. We watched for the Claussens and the two other couples in our OAT group on this flight. Not a sign until we were seated on board and John and Pat Lee and Terry and Zoe Sternberg sat in seats in front of us unbeknown to us at the time. Finally as the plane doors closed Kelly and Bill Claussen struggled down the aisle, laden with carry-on luggage, and sat in seats behind us.

We had an uneventful flight with minimal service augmented by a tuna sandwich picked up at SFO and cups of water that we accepted whenever they were offered. We landed 1/2 hour late in Miami where we had a 3-hour wait for our flight to Lima. After walking the airport and snacking on atrocious MIA food, we finally met our LA contingent - Jane and Keith Trotman and Maryrose and Charlie Caspary at the gate before we boarded our huge airbus. Except for the 4 in business class, the CA folks had seats on the side, window and aisle, cramped but bearable until finally the girls met in the rear at the incredibly tiny heads and tried to stand for a while. Out our windows we saw large pillars of storm clouds over the ocean and a darkly ominous sky.

We arrived in Lima at about 9:30 where we met our guide Manolo who shepherded our bags and us to a small bus. The 12 of us checked into the 3rd floor rooms at Jose Antonio Executive Hotel in the Miraflores district. We had a King-sized bed and a Jacuzzi tub, but Ann never got warm under the light cover and in the cold damp air.