We traveled with President Sean Douglas and his wife Ann to several cities in the Lima South Mission. We had a memorable four days seeing their sick and healthy missionaries, many of who were in our branch in the CCM. It was great to see them happy in the field and speaking Spanish! We were also able to check on the hospitals and clinics that they use to make sure they offer the best care. Along the way, we saw many cultural sights and enjoyed getting to know the Douglas' better!
This is the chapel in Chincha! President Douglas did his interviews, while Steve and Elder Hartsvigsen went to visit clinics. I went with Ann and two office elders to do apartment checks. It was a humbling experience to see where many missionaries live.
Sister Douglas is greeting these missionaries and the one in the middle is Sister Holbrook, who was in our branch at the CCM.
It was surprising that the rooms were so neat and clean! They must have gotten the word that Sister Douglas was going to do inspections!
Even the refrigerator was tidy! These were the nicer apartments.
Oops! Some missionaries did not get the memo!
Elder Whitely checks the music!
Some Elders were tidy on one side of the room and their companions were untidy!
It was fun to see how they decorated their walls with pictures of the Savior and uplifting quotes and scriptures!
These missionaries did NOT get some cookies!
This is the chapel in Pisco and we repeated the same schedule. Interviews, clinic visits and seeing sick missionaries, and room checks. We loved seeing all the missionaries and especially those we taught in our branch at the CCM.
Pisco was a small humble city and most neighborhoods looked like this!
This Elder did not get cookies, either!
This donkey was tied up across from a missionary apartment.
I met these cute kids, when we were doing our inspections! It was fun to learn their names, how old they were and what they like to do! I really wanted to take them home!!!
Elder Hartsvigsen and Steve joined us to help inspect.
Look at this organized desk!
I was sad to say goodbye to my new friends! We traveled East to Independencia and repeated our routine. At dusk, we returned to drop off the Office Elders to stay with missionaries in Pisco for the night. We drove down to Paracus and stayed at a beautiful Hilton on the beach. We all felt a little guilty for staying at this lovely resort, after inspecting the humble missionary dwellings. We all had a wonderful dinner and a great nights sleep and in the daylight enjoyed our surroundings!
Lots of wood and stones were used to beautify the hotel.
We didn't have time to sit around the pool and drink frozen lemonades!
This was a beautiful pool!
The beach area!
We did take time for a nice breakfast!
We left Paracus early the next morning to head to Ica and saw more missionaries, clinics and apartments! This was a nice one and had a view of the Ica chapel.
You can see the chapel steeple two blocks ahead.
Love the pictures of Christ and the neatness of their study area!
This apartment had neighbors that kept a lovely garden in the open hallway!
Most apartments have no washers or dryers, thus they wash and hang their clothes outdoors, even with high humidity!
These are happy missionaries!
This missionary put out his workout clothes to greet us!
We passed this donkey carrying a heavy load!
This little dog was on the roof of his house!
In the distance, you can see one of the big sand dunes in Ica! They, also, have dune buggies, sand surfing, and a beautiful oasis to enjoy in this area. But, we were working, so no time to play!
The Hermanas in Ica had the best apartment in Peru, with lovely flowers and carved doors! The inside was emaculate and well organized!
After inspections and clinic visits, we headed out to the Dunes Hotel. This was the view from our room! It was a very traditional Peruvian hotel.
A great castle for the kids!
A nice waterside and pool.
The grounds were lovely with ponds, swans, llamas, and horses.
You can see the giant sand dunes in the background.
The horses were being fed!
There were poinsettia trees everywhere!
We missed this tour, because we were working, but it looks like fun!
This was a lovely place to stay and very peaceful! The food was very good, as well!
Steve, after his run and my walk!
We left Ica and traveled South to Nazca! Mostly desert with patches of green in the valleys.
The green valleys looked like an oasis!
Nazca is an 8 hour drive from Lima.
We arrived in Nazca just in time to do apartment checks, clinic visits, and see a handful of missionaries with health problems.
This missionary was super organized!
This was the nicest bathroom we saw!
More happy missionaries!
These are the streets that the missionaries track!
This was our last apartment to check and was the best one in Nazca! The flower below was outside this apartment !
Flowers are so needed, when everything else is dusty and dirty!
This was a neat and clean missionary desk! Afterwards, we checked into the Nazca Lines Hotel, which is very charming and has the warmth of a family hacienda!
Lots of arches, tile art, and nice gardens!
Great doors!
This is the reception area and room dedicated to Maria Reiche and her discovery and protection of the famous Nazca Lines!
This is the view from our doorway!
Look at the swans!
Early the next morning, we walked one bloc to the souvenir shop that is owned by the District President and his sweet wife. After buying a few treasures, and a photo we left for Cahuachi and drove 45 minutes into the desert.
Cahuachi was a great political and ceremonial city! This complex includes several pyramids and plazas, with urban centers and cemeteries. It covers over 24 square kilometers and is being uncovered by the Italian government. Music formed an indispensable part of the ceremonies as indicated by the large pipes and drums found at the site! On the way to Cahuachi were many skeleton remains from mass wars or a natural disasters!
Check out the pieces of pottery in the rubble.
Bones were scattered as far as you could see!
A long piece of hair was uncovered.
Now we have arrived at the Cuhuachi Complex! The Nazca civilization flourished between 200 A.D. to 600 A.D. in this very hostile environment. This area was rich in minerals, but few basic resources, including water! Their work in jewelry, fine metals, pottery. and feathered textiles are evidence of their cultural development. After almost 2000 years, their hydraulic works and aqueducts are still used by the farmers!
The Italian government is slowly uncovering the pyramids and urban living areas. They believe there are 36 more pyramid centers here in Cahuachi!
Many holes are visible where the Nazca people kept their food and water stored.
Our travel buddies on our P-day included Elder Whitley, Elder Hartsvigen, Elder Burgos, Ann Douglas and Pre. Sean Douglas.
Part of the cemetery!
President Douglas believes this could be Zarahemla! He loves showing this site to his missionaries!
This is President Douglas and the District President, who was our guide!
We left this amazing place, passing this marker, where so many Nazcas were killed and headed to the famous Cantalloc Aqueducts. These were built to water the arid land and are underground water channels that ensure a constant water supply just as they did 2 thousand years ago!
The beginning of the Cantalloc Aqueducts!
These spiral aqueducts lead to an underground water channel that has been used over a thousand years!
There are 16 of these aqueducts in this area. Each one gets progressively bigger and deeper!
Their are 30 more aqueduct sites like this one in the Nazca region!
This was the biggest and deepest of them all!
Before leaving Nazca, we walked around this site near town to watch this newly uncovered ruin.
This was a new ruin being uncovered near town. As you can see, some people spell Nazca with an "s". Most books and the internet sources spell it with a "z"!
We did not have time to see the famous Nazca Lines, which requires a plane ride, but we could see one figure known as the owl man and attended a planetarium presentation of the Nazca Lines and learned much about Maria Reiche who spent her life discovering the figures and lines and working tirelessly to protect them for generations to come. We also bought a great book that shows them all!
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