Santa Cruz is just a stopover before we fly to Sucre. Our flight left Lima at 9:30 pm on the 18th and arrived after 2 am this morning. Checked into the Hotel International Park around 3am and slept till 7 am. There are 20 of us including Natasher our guide. After breakfast I took a short walk and back to the hotel to pack and leave for the airport at 1pm for our 50 minute flight to Sucre.

Two long flights. Amsterdam to Madrid then 12 hours Madrid to Lima. We arrived around 5 pm. Immigration, luggage and finally a bus to the hotel in the MiraFlores area of Lima. We have a full day to explore and start our day with a walk to the Huaca Pucllana Inca Ruins. They were closed but we could see the adobe and clay brickwork through the gates. A coffee stop then on to the gardens to see if there were any birds around. Not much bird life but about a hundre...

A full day walking around Amsterdam. Stopped at The Oude Kerk, Amsterdam’s oldest building and oldest parish church, founded in 1213. After the Reformation in 1578, it became a Calvinist church, which it remains today. Some very nice Stained glass and a beautiful organ. There is a coffee shop just next door with excellent lattes and sweets. We did an hour canal cruise before taking a tram in the wrong direction and a bus back to the city central, on the way...

Chaz & Sue, good friends from England arrived this afternoon with Keith in tow, another enthusiastic birder and very nice chap. We had a light lunch at the hotel and caught up on old and new news. Paul and Joke picked us up at 6pm for dinner. We drove to a delightful restaurant on a pond with a water feature and lots of reeds. Spotted a Eurasian Coot with nesting material, a Common Tern hunting, and a long tailed parakeet as we were leaving. Keith got a few p...

Raining this morning. Took the train and tram to the Rijksmuseum and then walked over to the Van Gogh Museum. A very kind man generously let me in early. Four floors filled chronologically with Van Gogh’s art, drawings and writings. The sun is now out as I enjoy lunch in the cafe. On to the Rijksmuseum the 3 pm tour I signed up for.