Swimming with the Sea Lions in Callao

I started my malaria pills today and they are making me SOOO sick!

Alejandro went to the dentist and while he was gone Mom, Al, and I wandered around Los Sauces trying to find breakfast again.  We found a Panderia (bakery) and bought some empanadas and peach juice and took it back to the hotel.

When Alejandro was finished with his appointment he came to the hotel and we all caught a taxi to Callao to go swim with the sea lions.  We arrived at Callao a little too early, so Alejandro and I walked around and found this lady carrying a large basket of powdered sugar filled bread and butter…it was SOOO good and soft and sweet! Just writing about it makes me want it all over again.  Finally an old wooden boat pulled up to the dock.  It didn’t look anything like the shiny speedboat in the flyer, but we hopped on and hoped for the best anyways.  As we were puttering away from the dock we pulled up to the pretty boat in the picture and piled into that.  After we started moving Alejandro called me up to the bow of the boat to enjoy the view, but as I was making my way to an empty seat I slipped and busted my butt. 

Thousands upon thousands (3,000 to be exact) of sea lions sat sunbathing, flopping around, and bobbing up and down in the water with the waves.  As the boat got closer the sea lions began to swarm the boat, inspecting it curiously.  We slipped into our wet suits and dove in.  The water was so cold it took my breath away and my hands immediately went numb, but I was too excited to care.  The waves were crashing against the rocky island violently and I remember thinking “is this safe?” but no matter how close the waves brought us to they always pulled us safely back as they retreated.  It was so surreal to be surrounded by thousands of bobbing sea lion heads coming right up to you.  They were even showing off for the camera

We went back to the hotel, picked up the laundry, and showered for dinner.  We ate dinner at that $1.75 hole=in-the-wall where we ate at a few days prior, but dinner was not as impressive.  They didn’t have anything on the menu, so we all ended up eating the same thing.

Mom had seen a Starbuck earlier and had been nagging us for an “American” cup of coffee ever since, so we decided to shut her up and take her.  I must admit it was delicious.  Coffee in Peru is nothing like coffee here.  It is really thick and gritty.  Starbucks did not disappoint, they even had Peruvian flavored coffee like Lucuma and Manjarblanco!