After 2 overnight flights via San Francisco, and a 44 hour day (in which we spent an afternoon wandering downtown San Francisco), we landed in Lima, Peru to a blanket of grey sky. Apparently the 2nd driest capital city, next to Cairo, this city often is covered in grey. Being so tired, we were most grateful to be met at the airport by our Airbnb host, Emma, who would take us to her home in the Miraflores district where we would spend our first 3 nights. I must admit I was feeling a bit daunted to be re-entering the developing world after leaving Australia, knowing that this part of our trip would be the most challenging in terms of getting around, having nothing booked, knowing nobody, and not speaking Spanish! But when Emma picked us up and we passed by the half-finished concrete homes, the noisy traffic, the grey shanty shops plastered with Coca-Cola signs, and entered Miraflores, I was pleasantly surprised, and relieved. Miraflores is one of the nicest and safest districts of Lima, where paved sidewalks are lined with modern restaurants, shops, café’s, and there is plenty of green space – parks and oceanfront greenways covered in monuments and flowers (hence ‘flores’). There is still an edge of evidence that this is a developing country but maintains a civility about it that was enough to allow me a sigh of relief that maybe this part of the trip wasn’t going to be as difficult as I imagined. Emma took us on a stroll around the neighborhood to get our bearings after making us a breakfast of corn bread. We came upon a small crowd in Kennedy Park where an artist was teaching people how to make these clay figures in wooden boxes (a traditional Peruvian art). Emma approached the artist and before we knew it, Lia and Kali were at the table rolling clay and making figures for their box. I’m not sure how they focused as I was so tired it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. Our first night finished with Emma and Alphonso taking us to one of their favourite restaurants in Barranco, for antichuchos (cow heart on a kebab type stick, or in our case we also tried beef and chicken) as well as a traditional juice drink, Chicha Morada – made with purple corn, lime, and cinnamon. Both were very yummy! It was Earth Hour this evening and there was a big rally in one of the squares supporting green energy, recycling, and other environmental initiatives – spearheaded by many young people. Quite inspiring for this developing country!
We spent 3 days in Miraflores, visiting the local market, doing the city tour – day and night - on the open air bus, wandering the waterfront watching the surfers, and strolling the upscale outdoor mall and restaurant area of LarcoMar. It was here I tried my first Pisco Sour – the drink of Peru. It is made with Pisco (a type of brandy from grapes), lime juice, and beaten egg whites on top. To me, it tasted a bit like a lime margarita. We also spent the better part of one day making plans, and booking bus and airline tickets since Semana Santa (Holy Week), which runs from the Monday before Easter until Easter Sunday, is a very busy holiday time in Peru we wanted to make sure we were not stuck without transportation. This meant we had to make a lot of decisions about where we were going and for how long, which was a bit stressful as we are used to making plans on the go. Alas, our next stop… Ica.
We spent 3 days in Miraflores, visiting the local market, doing the city tour – day and night - on the open air bus, wandering the waterfront watching the surfers, and strolling the upscale outdoor mall and restaurant area of LarcoMar. It was here I tried my first Pisco Sour – the drink of Peru. It is made with Pisco (a type of brandy from grapes), lime juice, and beaten egg whites on top. To me, it tasted a bit like a lime margarita. We also spent the better part of one day making plans, and booking bus and airline tickets since Semana Santa (Holy Week), which runs from the Monday before Easter until Easter Sunday, is a very busy holiday time in Peru we wanted to make sure we were not stuck without transportation. This meant we had to make a lot of decisions about where we were going and for how long, which was a bit stressful as we are used to making plans on the go. Alas, our next stop… Ica.