Four days in Peru

Day 1: Trujillo, Peru – like visiting the moon

January 14, 2016

Welcome to Peru!

We docked at Salaverry, Peru this morning. This is the port city for nearby Trujillo. The beachscape here is miles of gray sand transitioning into standstone mountains. We had not realized how arid the west coast of South America is. In this case, the coast reminded us of a moonscape. If the moonwalk was faked, Salaverry is where it could have occurred. We are told that in General San Martin, Peru – which we’ll visit on the 17^th – the Mars rover would feel right at home.

We took the ship’s shuttle into Trujillo and spent a couple of hours wandering around. The Plaza de Armas, the central square, is quite picturesque. It is surrounded by colonial-style buildings, churches and museums. Trujillo was the Spanish resting place between Quito (Ecuador) and Lima. It was founded in 1535 and named after Francisco Pizarro’s birthplace in Spain.

Plaza de Armas, Trujillo with my postcard

We have been warned by the ship of increased crime, including attacks on tourists, in Lima. Apparently this is not limited to Lima as the town center was filled with police.

From the Plaza we strolled down a pedestrian street filled with restaurants and shops. In one shop I found my Trujillo post card and used my high school Spanish to get directions to the post office (Correo). When we arrived, however, the line was literally out the door. A woman standing near us noted our dismay and commented that “such is life in Peru.”

Sharpening knives in Trujillo

Back at the port we bought a ball cap to add to John’s collection and, of course, a tee shirt from the many vendors there.

Tomorrow we arrive in Callao, the port city for Lima. We dock at noon and depart the following day (1/16) at 10:00 p.m. We are still on Eastern Standard Time.

Days 2 and 3: The Limas in Lima

January 15, 2016

And so we have arrived at “our city”, Lima. We are docked in Callao, a busy industrial port where our little cruise ship, next to the Silver Sea’s Silver Whisper, is dwarfed by the many huge container ships. Callao is a typical seaport – rough and grimy. We have been warned not to walk around in the port due to high crime. We arrived at noon and will sail again at 10:00 p.m. tomorrow.

For the first day we took a “Highlights of Lima” tour. This included visits to the monastery and to the Cathedral of Lima – a World Heritage Site where Pizarro is interred – as well as a stroll around the Plaza de Armas, the main square, which is surrounded by the Cathedral, the President’s mansion, the Archbishop’s home, etc. It is quite a lively place made livelier by the preparations for a large festival the next day.

In the Cathedral of Lima

On the Plaza de Armas

Polishing the brass at the Lima Stock Exchange

In front of the Monastery

For a city of 10 million, Lima is surprisingly clean – even the poorer sections. Peru has suffered from many years of corrupt government. It has no government services for the poor or the elderly. Yet we did not see excessive amounts of begging. According to our guide, in spite of the corruption, the country enjoys a very large middle class. He pointed out the various middle and upper class neighborhoods as we drove by. Tourism is the country’s major industry so when a crime spree against tourists broke out police presence was dramatically increased.

January 16, 2016

Lima, day 2, and we decided to strike out on our own. The cruise line provides two complimentary shuttle busses – one to the San Miguel Mall (ironic given that John Lima was born on the island of Sao Miguel), and one to MilleFlores, an up-scale neighborhood and shopping district next to the coast. We took the shuttle to the mall with the thought of grabbing a taxi back to the historic district. After running the gauntlet of eager taxi drivers who met us as the bus stop, we decided to visit the mall and grab a taxi later. The ship wasn’t sailing until 10:00 p.m., so we had plenty of time. Once we got into the mall, however, we passed a salon with reasonably-priced manicures and pedicures (compared to the ship), so we treated ourselves, the walked to the local Starbucks for some free wifi while our nails dried.

We then grabbed the shuttle back to the ship and changed to the shuttle to MilleFlores. This bus dropped us off in front of OUR hotel – the Marriott Lima – and once again we visited the shopping center where we found a lovely store with high-quality, light weight alpaca clothing. John bought a new sweater. I found a chocolate store for some genuine Peruvian dark chocolate.

Then we found a restaurant overlooking the beach and enjoyed a sampling of Peruvian appetizers. One that really stood out for us was the Tomatillo Verde – a green soft taco wrapped around a potato mixture. I know it doesn’t sound impressive, but it was delicious. Seems potatoes are a major crop in Peru so much of the cuisine features potato.

Peruvian cuisine is quite varied due to the influence of large populations of Japanese and Chinese who immigrated several generations ago to work on the haciendas after Peru abolished slavery in 1849 and the African former slaves found other forms of employment.

The beach in Lima is covered with smooth stones instead of sand. Yet lots of people were sunbathing on the stony surface on this sunny, warm Saturday afternoon. It didn’t look all that comfortable.

All in all, we liked Lima – both its historic and modern areas. Peru is having a big presidential election this year but, according to our guide on the first day, it looks to be more of the same corruption no matter who is elected. One of the candidates is the daughter of Fujimori, the son of Japanese immigrants who served as president for many years before resigning in disgrace. She has a chance because before Fujimori succumbed to temptation he did many good things for the county and his name is still a symbol of good things in the country.

Day 4: General San Martin and Pisco, Peru

January 17, 2016

Our last stop in Peru – the port of General San Martin and the nearby village of Pisco – made us wonder why we had stopped here. The port is very small – just us and a single container ship – and surrounded by the same desolate “moon scape” we saw in Trujillo. In this case, the landscape is a major archeological site and nearby is an island that boasts thousands of species of birds, sea lions, and penguins. I was surprised to learn they were this far north, but apparently the water here is very cold due to currents. The village, a 20-minute bus ride from the port, is home to no more than a few thousand people, but has become popular for weekend visitors from Lima. The harbor is filled with fishing boats, the restaurants specialize in ceviche (cevicherias), and the handicraft shops stretch the length of the street. We browsed, found the ball cap, and got up-close and personal with a pelican.

As we sailed away we sailed past the Paracas Candelabra – a large carving into the side of the cliff done by some ancient peoples who left no language of record and who remain an enigma to the archeologists.