C & C globetrotting around the world…

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in a valley on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Actually, it is the second-largest city built in the desert, after Cairo, Egypt. With a population approaching 9 million, Lima is the fifth largest city in Latin America, behind Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. Around one-third of the Peruvian population lives in the metropolitan area. Like Trujillo, Lima was founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535, as la Ciudad de los Reyes, or “the City of Kings”.

We arrived to Lima in the evening from Huaraz. The scenery was pretty nice before we reached the Panamericana, from where it gets flat and boring. We spent a few nice days with Nicolas, an old room mate of Christoph’s from Amsterdam, so it was nice to see him after such a long time. We also met his girlfriend Ana, who is really sweet. He lives in Miraflores, a touristy, richer and safe neighbourhood of Lima. On our first evening we went to the boardwalk which also has sort of a shopping mall in the cliff called Lacromar. We had dinner together at Pardo’s Chicken, a restaurant that reminded us a lot of “Poulet St-Hubert”. We had the typical roasted chicken, but also tried the “anticuchos” – beef hearts. It was good and it was fun to chat with them.

On our first day there, we went all around Miraflores to buy Christoph a new pair of pants, as his regular pants tore in 2 places during the Huaraz trek. After 11 months on the road, it’s not surprising. Afterwards, together with Nicolas we went to the “Deutscher Klub” to watch the Euro 2012 soccer game of Germany against Portugal. It was great to have some German food and beer and cheer on the team. They didn’t play very well, but they won anyway, so that was good. In the evening we headed to Centro Historico, Lima’s old colonial centre. From Plaza San Martin we walked along the pedestrian street of Merced to Plaza de Armas. There were a lot of people in the pedestrian area, as it’s the only one in Lima. The Plaza de Armas is very nice, surrounded by beautiful colonial buildings. As most of these plazas in South America, it has the Palacio del Gobierno, the Cathedral and the Archbishop’s palace. Then we took a taxi to Parque del Circuito Magico del Agua. This is a park with a dozen water fountains of different shapes and colours.

The next day, we took a taxi to Callao, Lima’s port city, from where the tour left to Isla Palomino. We hopped on the yacht that took us around a few islands. During the 4 hours, the yacht was rocking in the waves so much due to many currents meeting, that most people got sea sick. We saw huge jelly fish (at least a meter long) and lots of pelicans and other birds. The highlight of the trip was seeing the 4,000 sea lions on Isla Palomino. They stay there because they have plenty of fish to eat and the water temperature is good. Christoph got into a wetsuit and jumped into the water. He swam with these huge mammals and enjoyed it immensely. It’s unbelievable how curious and friendly they are, so they come very close. We also saw some Humboldt penguins, which are smaller than the regular ones, but still as cute. We got back to shore and made a quick visit to “Castillo de Real Felipe”, a historical fortress where the Spanish fleet tried to reconquer independent Peru. We had lunch in Callao: ceviche and grilled chicken. The ceviche was very good and we were happy to finally try this delicacy. We then came back by combi bus to Lima and walked around Parque Kennedy where there were lots of people and painters. We spent a relaxed evening at the house with Nicolas and Ana while watching a movie and having pizza.

On our last day in Lima, we walked to Parque del Amor and the Cliff Promenade (Malecon), where we took some pictures. Afterwards it was time to watch the soccer game Germany-Netherlands, so we went to a sports bar. There we met up with Andrew and Theresa, whom we had met in Otavalo and Banos. It was fun because there were other Germans as well and the atmosphere was great. We also met a German with his Peruvian wife who invited us all to a restaurant in Lacromar for a Pisco Sour. They were super nice and we love Pisco Sour, so we went. We had a nice view and a good chat with them before returning to Nicolas’ place. For dinner we went with Nicolas and Ana to a Peruvian restaurant and we got to try some great local dishes. We stayed a bit longer in Lima than necessary since there is not much to see and do here, but it was nice to stay with Nicolas. We also took care of some administrative things and cooked some food. Thanks Nicolas for the nice days.