Standing at the Peruvian Airlines information counter at Lima airport, I couldn’t quite believe how I had come to find myself in this predicament. I’d checked in for my flight on time, a full two hours before the scheduled departure to Ecuador, and I’d certainly made it to the departure lounge on time. I’d given my full attention to all the announcements and updates about how my flight was delayed; how it would be leaving at eight o’clock, then nine o’clock and finally ten-thirty – only to somehow, and to this day I still cannot fathom how, miss it. So now I had to get my ticket re-issued for Saturday’s flight and spend another night in Lima. People who know Lima will appreciate that the situation contained very few positives. However, I was not alone in my misery because a Mexican girl, also bound for Ecuador, had contrived to make the same mistake, and she too was faced with an extended stay in the Peruvian capital.