When credit cards dont work...

So I have to pay for various bits of my fieldwork before taking them on. Today, I had the following conversation with the admin staff of the MLC

MLC "So you need to pay $580 before you go"

Me "Great, can I use my card"

MLC "Sorry we dont have a machine, its cash only"

Me "But I can only get $200 per day from the cash machine"

MLC "Yes, $200"

Me "But I leave for the field on Sunday and you will not be in tomorrow, so I can only pay $200"

MLC "Yes"

Me "OK, so..."

MLC "Perhaps you can pay half when you get back"

Me "OK, but I will only have 2 days when I get back, and I need to pay other people too"

MLC "But its only $300"

Me "Yes, thankyou"

And then I went to InkaNatura, to confirm I would use their platform for camping for a week (Roughly translated from Spanish):

InkaNatura "That will be $105"

Me "Normally it is free for Scientists"

InkaNatura "OK, I dont know about that, can you email Mikail?"

Me "But normally the person in charge tells me to visit you first"

InkaNatura "OK, but you should talk to Mikail"

Me "Thankyou"

I really cant wait to get into the field and actually do some work!

The start of another year

I was supposed to post this a couple of days ago but I have since moved to Cuzco and suffered the first round of food poisoning. Have checked into a nice hostel with hot showers in the hope it will help!

Anyway, I wrote this on Tuesday...

Im going again. For  the first time ever I started fieldwork with a couple of days in Lima. I took the opportunity to explore Miraflores, the 'tourist' part of Lima, but there is not really a lot to say for it. I did have lunch in a resteraunt on the cliff-tops overlooking the Ocean, but even these are slightly spoiled the busy road at the bottom of the cliff and the ever-present low clouds (turning to fog from time to time), and also, despite the 22 degree heat, the instance of the staff that we have an outdoor heater on the balcony! Flying onto Cusco tomorrow morning...

This is a picture of my hostel in Lima