Category Archives: diary

Lima is the capital of Peru and is located on the western edge of the country. It is an urban sprawl fast approaching nine million people and it’s a mix of old and new and very busy. The traffic has that Asian chaos about it but not the volume. Cars, buses and bus-vans make upContinue reading “Lima (Thursday)”

The Plaza Sam Martin in the heart of Lima. Sam Martin declared independence for Peru. I arrive in Lima at 4.30am! I’m catching up and staying with a friend here in Lima. Micht bravely meets me at the airport at 5am and after dropping my luggage off at his place we go into town. WeContinue reading “Lima (Tuesday)”

Today was a non-day. I had to book out of the hotel and return the hire car to the airport by 11am. My flight isn’t until 11.20pm! I could have caught a bus into town but it’s raining so I spend the day at the airport! On the positive side, I have managed to catchContinue reading “Miami to Lima (Monday 26 September)”

Floriday Keys tailing off the end of Florida. You can literally drive off the end of Florida. The Florida Keys is a string of low-lying coral islands that tail off the bottom end of the Florida peninsula. The term ‘key’ comes from the Spanish word ‘cayo’ that means small island. This used to be aContinue reading “Miami (Sunday 25 September)”

I hire another car. To do what I want to do here in Miami is not possible on public transport. I want to visit Key West. There are a string if islands that tail off the bottom of the Florida peninsula. And they are linked by a series of bridges, or skyways. Anyway, more ofContinue reading “Miami (Saturday 24 September)”

Another Greyhound experience. There aren’t too many options for getting around the US. Greyhound is fairly rough and many of the buses are run down but you seem to be able to go anywhere every day. You can purchase tickets online at a discount and the website works well. How they coordinate all of theContinue reading “Orlando to Miami (Friday 23 September)”

Orlando is a city of theme parks, hotels and freeways. It’s sole purpose is tourism as I understand it. I thought it was just one huge theme park here but there are many splattered across the city. You need to know which theme park you want to visit and find accommodation close by. I onlyContinue reading “Orlando (Thursday)”

I managed to return the hire car without incident. My first driving experience in the US wasn’t too bad. I only got beeped at once and that was when I shot across three lanes of speeding traffic on a freeway to avoid another smug ‘recalculating’ from miss gps. On the bus the other day theContinue reading “Tampa to Orlando (Wednesday)”

The Skyway over water between Tampa and St Petersburg. They eat Tilapia here. I have seen it on the menu many times through my travels in the US but I’ve been afraid to try it. If nothing else I would be ridding the world of one more. I finally work up the courage today toContinue reading “Tampa (Tuesday)”

I finally get to the beach, and with very few ‘recalculatings’! Miss smug gps had it easy today! The beaches here are interesting. They are long island strips that go for miles but are only about 100 meters wide. They connect to the mainland via many bridges of course. The beach front is solid withContinue reading “Tampa (Monday)”