Vivas Los Mayorgas Part 4

For lunch we ate at a restaurant called El Crusesero. By the number of customers it seemed to be a local favorite. There were only three items on the menu. Hen soup with wheat grains, Cuy (which is deep fried GUINEA PIG) and a dish called churky which is deep fried pork slices that look like jerky. LoLo ended up ordering a few of everything for all of us to share. At this type of restaurant your food can take between 1-2 hours to arrive since the guinea pig is alive when you order it. We ordered some beers and started playing a Peruvian game called Sopito (meaning frog). The object of the game is to throw copper coins at holes in a board for different amounts of points. Kim ended up scoring the most and winning the game!

Our first dish of wheat grain and hen soup arrived. Next up was the famous CUY (guinea pig). This was graphic and new for Kim and I but we both agreed to try it. CUY tasted similar to duck or rabbit. The Cuy still had the head and teeth attached. We have to admit it was not our favorite Peruvian dish.
The following day we woke up early to head back to Lima and decided to stop in Barranca, Peru. This beachside town is about 200 km from Lima. We stopped here at a Ceevicheria right on the beach. We ordered ceeviche and Tacu tacu (which is rice pan fried with pea’s and fried seafood). We soon learned that we were eating octopus, sea snail, and a variety of local white fish. It was VERY good.

After leaving Barranca Peru, LoLo asked us if we would like to take a 90 min detour and go see the original city of Caral. Caral is the OLDEST civilization in all of South America. They Caralino’s lived from around 3000 bc to 1800 bc. There is a whole village being excavated here from when it was discovered in the 1960’s. They have been excavating this site since 1994 and they probably have another 30-40 years before everything is uncovered. Another neat fact about this civilization is there were lots of artifacts found. They found flutes and horns made from stone, as well as combs made from shell. The unique thing about this civilization unlike other civilization’s of this era, is the Caralinos had no weapons or signs of military presence. The buildings of Caral where made using vegetable meal and fibers to create adobe bricks. This allowed their buildings to last over 5,000 years. 

We headed back to modern Lima later that afternoon. Weren’t resting long before we went out in the Barranco district to Celebrate Hunts birthday. We ate on a balcony with some friends over looking the famous Bridge of Sighs. We stayed up very late that evening and paid for it the next day. In the morning we stocked up Pennys car with food and spirits and headed off for some relaxation at the Mayorga’s new beach house. We were astonished when we walked into their mind-blowing beachfront property. It has a truly spectacular ocean view with HUGE sand dunes in the background. We have been cooking tons, drinking’s tropical fresh fruit drinks, and getting lots of sun. Penny made the best bloody Mary mix from scratch. It was a process for her to make but it tasted simply amazing. She brought them to us on the beach. You can see how much we enjoyed them in the picture below. 

We are having a great time here in Peru (much thanks to the wonderful Mayorga family!!!!!!!) and getting such a lifetime experience thus far on our trip. We have become VERY accustomed to the “siesta” (afternoon nap). We both now require one every day.

We are so lucky to have such great friends and family to help us along the way. After dealing with a loss of Hunt’s best friend this week we truly know why we are making the most out of every amazing day on this earth. Carpe Diem! We know we are so blessed and lucky! We are consistently working on our Spanish and getting better every day.

Until next time
Hunt and Kim