We woke up and it was still raining, which meant it was cool enough to snuggle in the same bed. Around 6 we got up and packed, and I finally tried out my rain pants even though it wasn't raining much anymore. We had breakfast around 7 and loaded into the boat around 7:30. The plastic was down around the sides of the boat which made us slower, but they raised them up at the checkpoint, and going down river must've helped too because it barely took an hour to reach Infierno. From there we loaded the bus, but now the one lane dirt road to Puerto Maldonado was muddy and slippery. The plank bridges were more treacherous, and a herd of cows stampeded us. We still made it to the office in good time, got our luggage, and made it to the airport.
We said goodbye to Cesar, gave him a tip, and dropped off our baggage and paid our airport tax. I'm still amazed at how small the airport is. One line for baggage check, only LAN Peru flies there! There was a huge group of 14-17 year old kids on our flight that were super annoying. We boarded our flight to Cusco, stayed on the plane, and then arrived in Lima. The plane was really dirty because we had all come from the muddy jungle. We had to deboard down stairs and take a bus to baggage claim. We got our bags and looked for our airport transfer, but no one was there. After awhile Ryan used Martine's cell phone to call the GAP office in Lima. After he got disconnected once he got through but the guy showed up while he was on the phone. He brought us to the van and then disappeared...when he got back we left the airport but we still had no idea what hotel we were going to. This time we drove along the beach (it must be faster when there's traffic?). The beach in Lima is dirty, literally. There are just mounds of dirt and rock along the shore with trucks dumping more dirt all the time. We were hoping we'd arrive at the Hotel Exclusive, but we arrived back at the same hotel we had before, the Hotel Colonial.
We checked in, they still had our passport info, and headed to our room without tipping the driver. He was late. Our room this time was smaller, with 2 single beds and a smaller bathroom, and no balcony, but it had a real shower with a shower curtain not just a big tub, so it was better. It also didn't scream orange at us. The curtains and coverlets were stil orange, but it wasn't so much glowing. I went downstairs and used the internet, we couldn't check in for our flight online because we booked with expedia not COPA, but it looks like we were still on schedule for a 2:33 departure. I managed to figure out how to use the @ symbol on the keyboard so I logged onto facebook and friended people from our trip. Then I went upstairs to take a shower and Ryan used the internet. The water took about 10 minutes to get hot, I thought I'd be taking a cold shower! and then it was steaming hot! When I was out of the shower Ryan got back, and we watched the pilot for Grey's Anatomy. We met Betina, Martine, and Chenine for dinner at 7.
We walked down towards the main square of Miraflores and found a restaurant called Solari that we settled on. I had lasagna bolognese and an oreo milkshake with some sort of alcohol in it and a coke zero. Coke light is not the same as Diet Coke! Ryan had 2 cusquena negros and a lomas steak that was really good. Then he finished my lasagna. We sat around talking for a little bit, and headed back to the hotel. Ryan headed upstairs to use the bathroom and I looked at facebook for awhile. Then he came down to use the internet and Betina came down and gave me her rain jacket because she was going to throw it away because she didn't have room otherwise. Its a small so it fits pretty well. We agreed to meet her and Martine for breakfast at 8 to say goodbye. I headed upstairs to journal and started watching Hitch. Ryan came up a bit later and he wasn't feeling too well so he went to sleep pretty soon. He woke up around 3 and took some medicine so hopefully he'll feel better soon.
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