My lovely cousin said to me just before I boarded the plane in Auckland "don't forget to breathe cuz". Words of wisdom as it turned out.

My theory now is that travel/airports might be like childbirth pains ... it's awful at the time and you say to yourself 'never again' but then you forget about it all when you see your first amazing site or have your first amazing experience.

Much of my time in the last 3 days has been spent in very slow-moving queues, even though some were called 'express' - perhaps that word has a different meaning here? Yet it was all forgotten as we sped through the streets of Lima on a busy and lively Friday night. I imagine this is what being in a Fast and the Furious movie is like … high speed and chaotic, darting in and out, yet somehow it all comes together! You know it's going to be an interesting ride when your taxi driver locks all the doors as he stops at the first intersection. Just breathe Mish.

The speed limit appears to be just the number you start from. Traffic lanes are non-existent …. well, they are there but no one pays any attention to them. Indicating is for amateurs. Honking is apparently a better alternative. Obedience at traffic lights is optional. Stepping out onto a pedestrian crossing appears to only be for people with a death wish. In NZ we have window washers at the traffic lights hoping to score spare change - in Lima it's a guy in a chef's uniform juggling large knives! How much does one pay for traffic lights and a show I wonder???

Yet, after only having a few sporadic moments of sleep in the previous 31 hours …. I'd never felt more awake and alive as I did in this moment.

The unplanned and unexpected night in Lima turned out to be a godsend. The flight from there to Tumbes was cancelled after 2 hours of numerous 'delayed' messages and Latam Airways put us up in the Sheraton for the night with complimentary dinner and breakfast. Lima has over 10 million people living in it and is the 3rd largest city in the Americas (after Sao Paulo and Mexico City). There is a lot of poverty here and people live very simply.

After 4 hours sleep, a hot shower and a good feed, Saturday morning was a slightly less chaotic ride back to the airport. Although seeing it in the daylight was a different experience again. Rubbish litters the streets and the smell hits you when you open the window to take a photo. Dogs wander around looking for scraps of food. Graffiti is scrawled over every building not already boarded up with security grilles and people relieve themselves as and where it suits. You get the feeling that the problems here are just too overwhelming to fix. The airport is chaotic and there's security guards with dogs everywhere. Just breathe Mish.

Boarding flights in Chile and Lima is a long winded and painful process as they take you via bus to the plane. It's about a 10min drive which doesn't sound very long but trust me, it is! No air-con, no seats, all squished in, holding on tight in the hope you don't fall onto some stranger and everyone staring at the white girl with the WTF look on her face. Just breathe Mish.

The journey's end is in sight as I jump onto the plane to Tumbes (pronounced Toom-Bees). This city is up the top of Peru near the border to Ecuador. It was inhabited before the Inca empire by natives called Tumpis. It has a population now of only about 112,000 and the weather is warm and humid. Tumbes itself is dangerous at night and I certainly would not travel there on my own, however we are located 28kms south in the Zorritos District (pronounced Zor-Ree-Toss). The township has a population of just over 6,500 and is a popular holiday location. Zorritos means 'little fox' in Spanish and the district is named after said foxes, that live in the hills around here. Some of the team went to the mud baths yesterday and saw a couple of them. They are quite shy but will come down from the hills in search of food occasionally.

The resort here is very, very basic by NZ standards but is apparently well regarded in Peru. Most of their customers are rich Peruvians or people holidaying from Ecuador. All staff (bar 1) speak only Spanish, so my grasp of the language is going to improve rapidly over the next month. Just breathe Mish. Today one of the course coordinators took a couple of us to the markets in Zorritos. He was invaluable in showing us the good spots for fresh fruit/veges, explaining stuff and introducing us to some locals. And in the interests of raising awareness/support for the game this Friday, I also spent some quality time practising my scoccer skills with a coconut husk and the resident puppies, Luna & Rocky. So cute.

The course starts Monday but more about all that next time. Meanwhile I shall just not forget to breathe! (PS: photos uploaded to the photos tab)