Tuesday 24th January 2017
Black Watch docked in Callao well before dawn, and, to the crew's credit, very gently.
It was only after the engines stopped that I realised we were moored. A very few other passengers and myself ventured out on deck, the others it seemed mostly because they were in need of a smoke.
I though was enjoying the views of the massive port from various parts of the ship.
It was by far the biggest port we'd been in during the whole cruise, including Southampton.
Lights extended in almost every direction. Small tenders were scurrying around, large container ships were being unloaded and, despite the hour, the port was a hive of activity.
As the grey dawn broke, the port assumed a less picturesque panorama. It all looked greyer, more industrial and less romantic than the sparkling images earlier.
Our last Black Watch breakfast beckoned though; possibly our last good meal that day, so we wanted to make the most of it before having to abandon ship by 10 am.
A few expensive souvenir stalls had been set up just outside the ship, but having had trouble enough getting our packing down to the correct weight limits for the forthcoming flight, the last thing we needed was a cuddly llama!
Our 10:00 shuttle bus was waiting as we found our heavy bags, checked by customs overnight, and then boarded the comfortable vehicle. We had no choice other than to take the shuttle all the way into Lima, to the Marriott Hotel, in order to then get a taxi all the way back to the airport in Callao.
The views from the bus confirmed what we'd been warned about, Callao is a fairly rough area. Dwellings had spikes or razor wire at ground level, and most windows had bars across.
People in general didn't look happy with their lot in life.
An hour or so later, the bus had struggled through the traffic jams to the Marriott, and we unloaded our bags only to reload them into a taxi to take us virtually the same route back to the airport, just a mile or so away from where we'd left Black Watch.
Despite trying to establish at the Marriott that the taxi was 'safe', the driver, having agreed a price of $25 before we set off, insisted on arrival at the airport, that the price was 'per person' i.e. double what he agreed. Annoying, considering that we'd been advised aboard ship that the price should have been about $20. An English tenner eventually kept him happy.
Then we had a long wait for our 17:30 flight. The announced boarding time came and went without any sign of a Sky Airlines aircraft at the relevant gate. We began to wonder if we'd been advised of the right gate to board at. Eventually, ¾ of an hour before the due departure time, our plane arrived, far too short a time we thought to disembark all the arriving passengers, clean and replenish the plane, and get 200 of us aboard.
But, amazingly, they succeeded and we were pushed away from the gate spot on the due time.
As we climbed away from Callao, we could clearly see the harbour through the evening mists, and a tiny but distinct white shape was visible in the centre of the view - 'our' Black Watch. Bon voyage Black Watch, have a good onward cruise around the world.
Three hours later, slightly ahead of schedule, we landed at Santiago. Full marks to Sky Airlines, it all worked perfectly. But then we waited for 35 minutes on the tarmac before being assigned to a gate - annoying as it was getting close to midnight. By the time our bags had made it to the carousel, it was well after midnight.
We were very pleased to find Eddy, Sara and Clemente still waiting for us, having been there for at least two hours.
They'd been able to borrow a large pick-up truck so there was ample room for us and all our luggage, so off we went to Hostal Providencia for new adventures.
Black Watch docked in Callao well before dawn, and, to the crew's credit, very gently.
It was only after the engines stopped that I realised we were moored. A very few other passengers and myself ventured out on deck, the others it seemed mostly because they were in need of a smoke.
I though was enjoying the views of the massive port from various parts of the ship.
It was by far the biggest port we'd been in during the whole cruise, including Southampton.
Lights extended in almost every direction. Small tenders were scurrying around, large container ships were being unloaded and, despite the hour, the port was a hive of activity.
As the grey dawn broke, the port assumed a less picturesque panorama. It all looked greyer, more industrial and less romantic than the sparkling images earlier.
Our last Black Watch breakfast beckoned though; possibly our last good meal that day, so we wanted to make the most of it before having to abandon ship by 10 am.
A few expensive souvenir stalls had been set up just outside the ship, but having had trouble enough getting our packing down to the correct weight limits for the forthcoming flight, the last thing we needed was a cuddly llama!
Our 10:00 shuttle bus was waiting as we found our heavy bags, checked by customs overnight, and then boarded the comfortable vehicle. We had no choice other than to take the shuttle all the way into Lima, to the Marriott Hotel, in order to then get a taxi all the way back to the airport in Callao.
The views from the bus confirmed what we'd been warned about, Callao is a fairly rough area. Dwellings had spikes or razor wire at ground level, and most windows had bars across.
People in general didn't look happy with their lot in life.
An hour or so later, the bus had struggled through the traffic jams to the Marriott, and we unloaded our bags only to reload them into a taxi to take us virtually the same route back to the airport, just a mile or so away from where we'd left Black Watch.
Despite trying to establish at the Marriott that the taxi was 'safe', the driver, having agreed a price of $25 before we set off, insisted on arrival at the airport, that the price was 'per person' i.e. double what he agreed. Annoying, considering that we'd been advised aboard ship that the price should have been about $20. An English tenner eventually kept him happy.
Then we had a long wait for our 17:30 flight. The announced boarding time came and went without any sign of a Sky Airlines aircraft at the relevant gate. We began to wonder if we'd been advised of the right gate to board at. Eventually, ¾ of an hour before the due departure time, our plane arrived, far too short a time we thought to disembark all the arriving passengers, clean and replenish the plane, and get 200 of us aboard.
But, amazingly, they succeeded and we were pushed away from the gate spot on the due time.
As we climbed away from Callao, we could clearly see the harbour through the evening mists, and a tiny but distinct white shape was visible in the centre of the view - 'our' Black Watch. Bon voyage Black Watch, have a good onward cruise around the world.
Three hours later, slightly ahead of schedule, we landed at Santiago. Full marks to Sky Airlines, it all worked perfectly. But then we waited for 35 minutes on the tarmac before being assigned to a gate - annoying as it was getting close to midnight. By the time our bags had made it to the carousel, it was well after midnight.
We were very pleased to find Eddy, Sara and Clemente still waiting for us, having been there for at least two hours.
They'd been able to borrow a large pick-up truck so there was ample room for us and all our luggage, so off we went to Hostal Providencia for new adventures.
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