Visit of Lima

---

(Please note: travelblog.org has changed the format of their entries. I´ve posted 30 photos. Please scroll way down to see them all. Thanks.)

Our first two days here were very busy ones. We arrived at the airport yesterday about 4:30 a.m. where we were met by Marco, our "tour leader" who hails from Cusco. We were then taken to our hotel, which is a very comfortable one in Miraflores, an upscale district of Lima near the beach. After a briefing session and lunch in a nearby restaurant, we then drove to the Museo Larco, which is lovely and has a very interesting collection of pottery and gold artefacts. Our local Lima guide was Dante, a young man who was born in the Andes but grew up in the shantytowns of Lima when his father moved his family to the coast from the mountains so that they would have a better life and more opportunity. Dante later went on to university and became a guide.(Note: We were supposed to go to the National Archeological Museum, but because it was May 1st, it was closed. Luckily, the Larco is a private museum and was open.) After that we drove to the "centro" of Lima, which has a main square and some lovely colonial buildings but also has parts that are quite run-down. Our visit of the Franciscan Monastery took us to the underground catacombs, which we weren´t allowed to photograph. That evening, Laurie, a nurse from Napa, California, and I had dinner together in a small restaurant near the hotel. She and I, as well as an elderly gentleman named Henry, are the only "singles" in the group.
Today, Tuesday, May 2, was also a state holiday here, so some of the sites were again closed. (This was the case of the Inca site of Pachacamac south of town. Luckily, though, we drove by there and were able to take photos.) Our first stop was the site of Puclana, which is the archeological site of the Lima peoples (pre Inca). From there we drove past Pachacamac and then on to the Villa El Salvador, a huge shantytown south of Lima. Some 300,000 live and work there. Apparently, our tour operator, OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) is the only one that offers an optional visit to see how "the other half" lives and supports them through its foundation. It was very interesting. Lunch in another restaurant followed, and then a few hours of shopping or sightseeing. We leave tomorrow morning by plane for Cusco and the Sacred Valley.

---

Comments

[Tessa]

OAT as well
I'm glad you're travelling with OAT - I much enjoyed our trip with them to Tunisia. The visits to "native" homes and schools were very stimulating and interesting. Hope you enjoy Peru - we were there back in 1979.