Day 36 – Lima, Peru

Drink of the Day – Hot Summer

Our ship was docked in the harbor in Callao, Peru by the time we woke up. This was the last South American port-of-call for this trip. Based on the advice of several crew and passengers we decided to rent a cab to take us to Lima and show us the sites. We found a gentleman just as we stepped off the gangway who offered to show us the highlights of both cities in his brand new Toyoto. We decided we should go for it and ended up having a wonderful day.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover how modern and metropolitan this part of Peru was. Although like any large city there were impoverished areas with rundown stores and homes, most of the areas were clean and well kept. Most of the homes are painted with very bright colors and have beautiful gardens with flowers and shrubs. The downtown sections of each town had a mixture of old traditional open air markets and modern big box stores similar to our home centers, department stores, and grocery stores.

Peru also had many casinos, some for public use and some for private members. Even in the nicest areas we found some casinos that seemed to not fit with the surrounding ares. The one below had a giant Statue of Liberty on the roof. We didn't see any Eiffel Towers or exploding volcanoes though.

While the US seems to have a Starbucks or Walgreens on every corner, cities and town around Lima seemed to have a church or cathedral on every corner. (They also had quite a few Starbucks and Inka Farma stores, too).

Our tour started at a Park and Naval Museum in Callao. Typical of most parks we have visited, a large monument stood in the center surrounded by colorful landscaping and artifacts.

It seemed like there were numerous squares in La Perla, San Miguel, Miraflores, and few other towns we traveled through. Each square had impeccably manicured gardens and fountains and monuments. The squares were also surrounded by important landmark buildings such as churches and government offices.

We did have an opportunity to visit two cathedrals while Sunday Mass was taking place. Although it seemed strange to walk around the inside of a church during a Mass, it did not appear to distract any of the worshipers.

While visiting the Inglesia San Francisco Church in Lima we also took a tour of the museum and catacombs below the cathedral. The museum contained many paintings, artifacts and a huge library with thousand of volumes of books and manuscripts still in place. The entire museum and library were sadly open to the air and elements. Many of these priceless items from the 17th century don’t look like they will last another 100 years.

The catacombs were very macabre. To get to them we had to climb down stone steps and through dark winding tunnels that were only five feet high. Once totally inside we saw the actually burial pits filled with bones. Around 1950 a team of archeologists, in an attempt to organize the remains, sorted the bones and placed them in deep pits by bone type. Femurs in one pit, skulls in another, etc. Along some of the passageways we noticed grates in the ceiling above us. Looking up we could see the inside of the church and people praying or walking about. While this was really interesting and something we are glad we saw, we were all anxious to get out into the fresh air. We were not allowed to take pictures so you will have to use your imagination or look up the church and museum on the Internet.

One of the highlights of the day was eating in an authentic Peruvian restaurant. Our driver took us to the Bahia Azul (Blue Bay) for a seafood lunch. The restaurant was filled with local families with the exception of the three American women who could not read the menu. Our driver ordered for us and the food that appeared before us was unbelievable. Each dish contained fish in some form. We never got the names of each dish straight and can only say the first one, cerviche, which had three kinds of raw fish prepared with different sauces and vegetables only grown on Peru. We also had either clams or muscles covered with cheese and a sauce on shells. A fish pate wrapped with orange potato-like stuff, and what we think was salmon covered with a molasses-type syrup and fried. While we are not sure what the actual cost was, we think it came out to about $40 or so for the four of us.

After lunch we had an opportunity to visit the local open air markets and look at Peruvian art and goods made from Alpaca wool. Our drive back to the pier took us along the coast and sharp volcanic cliffs. We returned exhausted and ready for naps.

Rather the taking a nap, Linda decided the wind behind the ship as it pulled out of the harbor was perfect for kite flying. This time she was successful and was able to get the kite up above the deck and in view of anyone eating in the Windjammer restaurant above us. It was exciting but as soon as the ship turned the kite came down.

Tomorrow will be the first of three sea days before we reach Costa Rica. Believe it or not we are looking forward to some time at sea.