Some stories from Lima

Lima is a large city and it requires time and patience to travel between its parts. For tourists, who normally doesn't know what places look like and when to get off the bus, each little trip is a project in itself, which requires both planning and risk assessment. Here are some of the places I have managed to visit during my time in Lima.

Parque de las Leyendas

The "Park of Legends" is a large zoological park with recreational lakes and playgrounds for children. For the grown-ups who arrive without a bunch of children, there are plenty of animals on display. It does most types of animals, including some African spieces (such like Lions and Zebras) but most interesting is probably the broad range of local peruvian fauna, with animals from the coast, mountains and forest. Plenty of llamas and vicuñas can be seen here. 

The beaches

Lima is a seaside city, flanked by beaches. The beaches are however some of the worst you can imagine. OK, it doesn't beat an Ecuadorian fishing town with a stinking inlet and where rotten fish or their intestines are floating up on the sand (it's not a joke, this place exists!), but on the other hand no-one is swimming there either. In Lima most beaches don't have sand but stones. 'Stones' is on the other hand a compliment; a more proper term would be 'rocks'. Sometimes sharp rocks that, if you would step wrong and fall, easily could rip your flesh up and injure you badly. But the Peruvians seem to love it. A sunny day, plenty of people pilgrimage to the rocks in hoards to swim, get a tan or just let the children play.

Chorillos

Chorillos is an area south of the centre, also on the coast. Chorillos features beaches which are a little bit better than the ones further north, but still not as good as the ones that are found outside the city. Chorillos is not a very touristic place but I headed here because it was easy to get to.

Barranco

Barranco is a neighbour to Miraflores. It is not as posh but features excellent nightlife. The few backpackers who don't stay around the centre of Lima or Miraflores will probably be found in Barranco. Apart from discos Barranco has nice restaurants, a picturesque cliffside area with good views over the sea and a pretty plaza with a nice church, attracting many weddings from other parts of the city.

Parque de las Aguas

The official name of this park is Parque de la Reserva, but is nicknamed "Park of Waters" for its stunning display of fountains. It is actually noted in the Guinness World Record book as the largest fountain complex in the world.
At 20:00 every night there is a light and sound show with pictures displayed on water, somewhat magic. The music varies from traditional Peruvian tunes to Beatles and ABBA. Its crowded but the whole show is very unique. It is actually a pretty nice place and I can't even think out anything sarcastic to say about it. Top stuff.

Miraflores

This is the area where I preferred to stay, and the area in Lima I know best. It is also the safest area with most services and, unfortunately, the most expensive. Sometimes it is however worth paying a little extra for security, especially in a city like Lima. Miraflores is centred around a central park, around which most backpacker hostels are located together with some of Lima's best nightlife; bars, restaurants, discos and casinos. A few blocks down along the main street, on the waterfront opposite Marriott Hotel, is Larcomar; a shopping centre in several floors built in the cliffs facing the sea. Larcomar is a landmark which any city worldwide would be proud of.

Parque del Amor

After making it all the way to this "Park of Love", one would certainly be disappointed by its small size. Also, the lousy monument in the middle did hardly make up for it but on the contrary, added more frustration on top of the experience.

Central Lima

Some people like to stay in the centre. I don't really know why because the centre doesn't offer much in addition to other places and to be added to that statement is another major disadvantage: The centre is practically dead at night and if the hotel is not on a main street, you better be a bodybuilder in company with at least one or two other bodybuilder friends in order to keep your belongings on the night stroll home from a club. Personally I think the centre is good for a day-trip or two but not more. It does however not appeal to me too much. The central square have some pretty nice buildings around it but is far too poorly designed to be the centre of a massive metropolis of almost eight million inhabitants. The square is plain and pale with few decorations and its centre is not even aligned with the centre of surrounding buildings. Some churches and municipal buildings are however quite pretty but there are some really ugly buildings too, which would be more suitable for a backstreet two-three blocks away. Not impressive.

Callao

Callao is located the port-area and this picture is from a rock-beach at the sailing boat harbour. Unfortunately the weather was not too great this day so not many people went to the beach. Nevertheless, it was an interesting daytrip to a new area. The most challenging was however the change of  buses to get here, both on the way there and back.

San Cristobal

The last story will be the San Cristobal hill, which is crowned by a cross and is located just next to the historic centre. Tour buses climb the 10-minute long route to get to the top and from here, tourists can view Lima and its surroundings at all directions. It instantly becomes clear how large the city is and how many parts and suburbs there are where no tourist with a common sense will ever go and where a Burger King will ever open.