Peru 7: Lima and Modern Peru

Casa Garcia Alvarado, Mireflores
One of the nicest things about a group tour is the special events a tour can organize, which we could not have done on our own.

At the close of our first full day in Lima, we were treated to a delicious dinner in the courtyard of an old (1912) private mansion in a part of the city called Mireflores. The owners trace their history back to Spanish nobility in Peru during colonial days. Ever since, the family has been involved in government and commerce in Lima.

Our hostess, Ann Maria, showed us around and spoke with us about her upbringing. She got a fine education in a private convent school, but regrets not being allowed to go to college. She was taught English from an early age and on one international cruise as a teenager, competed with American passengers in an English-language spelling bee. She came in second place, with a tight two-way spell-off at the end.

The courtyard was as large as a small municipal park.

Street scenes in Lima
The most remarkable thing about Lima itself, for me, is the climate. Only 12 degrees south of the equator, the city enjoys relentlessly moderate temperatures. The key is the Humboldt current that sweeps up from Antarctica.

Technically a desert, the city receives less than three inches of rain a year, all of it as foggy drizzle. And yet Lima has plenty of greenery. The key to that is the 52 rivers that drain into the Peruvian Pacific coast from the Andes, providing plenty of water and hydroelectric power.

Tulip trees bloom year-round.

The climate is so moderate that it is not uncommon to see buildings without windows and street-side store fronts that are nothing more than metal grates, like those inside shopping malls. In the monastery, we saw precious oil paintings hanging on the walls of the open courtyard with nothing to protect them from the elements except the overhang of the second-story balconies. Ali said it was impossible to buy an umbrella in Lima and that many natives would not know how to open one.

Traffic in Lima is nightmarish.

The billboards reminded us we were no longer in the prim United States.

All over Lima, buildings appeared to be missing their top floor, with clumps of rebar sticking up like cowlicks. The reason for this, it turns out, is the same reason that many otherwise-finished Wisconsin basement recreation rooms have ceilings with exposed joists: property taxes.

On the Plaza des Armes, you could see the Lima City Hall, the Presidential palace, and the Lima Cathedral. Just like in Madison, Wisconsin, the city hall is homey and welcoming, decorated with a banner probably made by some community group...

...while the central government building is imposing and security-minded.

Out and about

PeruRail knows how to make travelers comfortable. Keith asked if I got a photo of the bathroom--a wood-paneled and marble-appointed affair the likes of which none of us had seen on any kind of transportation. I did not, and all my photos of the lounge car and its live Peruvian flute-and-guitar band were out of focus.

I liked the contrast between the polished brass luggage racks and our travelers' backpacks. When I commented on it, someone quipped "That's what you get when you put three-star passengers on a five-star train."

I loved these pink, feathery grasses that were often along the track in the Sacred Valley.

A presidential election with 30 candidates is coming up in April. All over the countryside and many places in the city, houses were painted with what our lecturer on modern Peru, Carlos Seibt, called "political graffiti." Some of these adobe buildings in the countryside looked as if it was the only paint they had received for many years. Peruvians are required to vote. Each political party has an emblem (like this soccer ball) to help illiterate voters find them on the ballot.

The mysteries of Machu Picchu did not confound me as much as did the reasons why Peru is completely modernized in every way except water. Tourists still cannot drink the water and no one is supposed to flush toilet paper anywhere--even in the nice hotels. Our tour leaders made sure we had plenty of bottled water, but it was nice to to brush our teeth with tap water again when we got home.

This internet cafe is in the central plaza of the village of Ollantaytambo, continuously occupied by natives since before the Spanish conquest.

Among the more unexpected places we visited were a few ancient but still occupied homes in the village of Ollantaytambo.

Down an alley of pre-conquest construction...

...we arrived at a charming house, where the residents invited us in for a look. We were told it was perfectly polite, especially if we left them a tip.

The walls of the house, like the whole neighborhood, were of ancient construction. I did not ask how old the dessicated llamas hanging above the fireplace were.

Keith did ask the identify of the skulls on the fireplace mantle, and was told they were grandmother, great grandmother, and great-great grandmother. With fresh flowers, I noticed.

Both families we visited kept guinea pigs, though not as pets.

Awanacancha Interpretation Center
While in the Sacred Valley, we stopped one afternoon at the Awanacancha Interpretation Center, a very well-designed camelid ranch (llamas, alpacas, vicuna, and guanaco). They allow tourists to wander in the pens with the llamas. This delightful young gentleman brought us alfalfa that we could hand-feed to the llamas.

 

 

 

 

Inkaterra
If I win the lottery or get a six-figure book advance, I'm going to retreat to this resort for a month. Individual adobe cottages are sprinkled in a jungle-like setting on the banks of the Urubamba, within walking distance of Aqua Calientes. The resort maintains an extensive nature preserve of native species. In addition, they operate a small coffee, tea, and herb plantation that supplies their restaurant.

Staff will light a fire in your cottage's fireplace, if you like.

This path leads to the main lodge from the porch of our cottage.

Brugmansia outside our cottage door

Coffee plants

Harvested coffee beans, ready for roasting

The herb garden

Keith and I went on the orchid tour. These are some of his photos.

Whew. You would not believe how much I left out, and how many more pictures are in those folders! It was a lovely trip, and--in case you hadn't noticed--is fun to tell!