Peru in 1974

  We came home to Ponca City after our trip to Peru in 1972 and begin to get ready for our school year. Dale had purchased 6 school bus routes and we needed to find drivers and get the buses shape for the school year.  Gail was in 7th grade that year and this started our long days when school started.

    My granddaughter Carolina was born in Dec of 1972 and we didn't get to see her until June 1974 when we went back to Peru for the second time.  Daniel was born in April of 1974 so we got  to see him when he was a baby We were busy with our buses the rest of 72 and 73. 

 In 1974 we went back to Peru and welcomed our new grandson Daniel who was about 2 months old.  Hugh & Betty were living in a house on  Cusco Street which had a lot more room.  Hugh met us in Lima and we went to Huancayo.  On this trip we went back to Lima and then made a trip to the Hot Springs at Churine.  Dale ate some food at a restaurant there and got sick with food poisoning.  The next day we started up the coast to go to Trujillo and on to Chan Chan, the mud city ruins.  We bought a sack full of oranges and after Dale ate 2 or 3 he begin to feel better. We stayed at Trujillo overnight in a hotel and we were in the second story. Down below were several produce trucks carrying produce and they all had a mean dog on the top of the truck.

    The next day we spent looking at the ruins at Chan Chan.  This city was built a long time ago and has many ruins that still look good as the climate is dry in that area.  We went on back to Huancayo and stayed a few days and then decided to go to Tingo Marie.  This is a nice small city in the high jungle and the climate is wonderful.  It was a long and beautiful drive and we went from an elevation of 12000 feet to an elevation of 2000 feet.  In the 1980's until now you can not go to Tingo Marie safely as it is the headquarters for the coco trade.  We stayed in the tourist hotel and then went back to Huancayo for a few days.

    There are several good restaurants in Huancayo and one served  good hamburgers. I liked to go where they served fried trout. There were several trout farms in the mountains and the trout dinners were inexpensive.

    On Sundays in Huancayo we would go to the Sunday Fair.  This was a flea market with new and used things for sale.  Clothing, shoes, jewelry, sewing machines,auto parts bicycles and hardware and anything you might want.  A whole street was used and the stalls were 4 across the street and 2 miles long.  It is the largest open air market in South America. We would see tourists from all over.  Young French people were there as well as people from all over South America.

In 1976 Dale and I went to Peru again.  Gail stayed with Brady and Caroline for a week and then went on a back packing trip to Colorado.  They were having some political problems in Peru and we were unable to go by car up the mountain to Huancayo so we were met in Lima by one of Hugh's Peace Corps friends and stayed at a Hotel overnight.  Hugh's friend took us to the airport and we flew up to a tiny airstrip at the beginning of the Mantero Valley.  Hugh met us and we drove about 30 miles to Huancayo.

    Betty and Angelica had started a small store selling clothing, they were both teaching and Betty had Carolina and Danny and was expecting a baby, so everyone was extremely busy.  On this trip we made a day trip to Satipo and we also went into the mountains where JoSues had painted the inside of a church with Biblical  personalities.  The people in this small village had not seen many gringos or foreigners.  All the children gathered around us and wanted to see us.  The priest met us and he was a young man from France.  He talked to the children and we went inside the church and afterward around the square where it was market day. There are still many isolated parts of Peru in the high mountains where people live like they they did before the Spanish Conquest.