Peru: Lima
So friends, I'm going to start reaching way back here.
We have tons of trip photography I've never posted, and this is the first in a series on the 6-week backpacking trip Jason and I took to South America in 2014. Jason had just gotten out of the Marine Corps and we had several weeks of Terminal Leave to enjoy before entering back into the real world.
We chose to use that time (as many military families do) to do some traveling before we made our move to California. Sans kids, it was easy to be away for as long as we were. I still look at these pictures and remember all the incredible times we had while in each of the towns and cities we visited.
First up: Lima.
Our touch down in Lima marked the start of our first South American adventure. We didn't stay there long (two nights) before heading on our way. But our time in Lima gave us just enough opportunity to experience city life before heading out into some of the most remote places we'd ever encounter. We were pretty jet lagged, so we spent most of those two days walking around in a bit of a daze, doing some sightseeing and ducking into coffee shops. Here are some of my favorite moments:
On our very first walk in Lima, we encountered tons of these little kiosks. They had everything from grittier tabloids to Peppa Pig.
Lima is a really interesting place. Manicured boulevards like this one were cropping up everywhere while we were there. Street signs saying "Explore the New Lima" were ubiquitous. Yet the immediate surroundings, a lot of the time, seemed pretty run down. It was clear to us that the city was trying hard to turn its image and quintessential experience around for the better.
Seriously, what is it with me and South American windows?
At one point, we took a walk down to a brand-new beach park (so here's what I mean by old and new — and a sense of both welcoming and foreboding). Jason and I were really comfortable in these seemingly nice surroundings until a police officer pulled us aside and kindly told us not to walk with our cameras around our necks for fear of theft.
While we were there, we took a selfie, and my hair did its thing.
Some sweet person went to a pretty big effort for Mom.
We hiked on a small mountain trail overlooking the beach and saw this melancholy little memorial.
The view from the hike was pretty cool: Lots of surfing that day. When we arrived in March, it was early fall and the weather was getting unpredictable (and progressively colder we would find, especially as we moved further South).
It got pretty blustery in the afternoon, in fact.
And finally, there was this little guy, who joined us for lunch at a local restaurant. Apparently he's a fixture there and VERY social.
While we were in Lima, we also visited Choco Museo and learned all about the art of making and tasting chocolate. The food was incredible, especially this ultra-reasonable burrito joint near our hotel. We must have eaten there five times! Try any variety of fish taco. Vogue photographer Mario Testino is also from Lima and we were told he founded a really cool museum there, but we never made it (I still regret this). We were also told about this famed restaurant, but we never found that, either. Maybe next time.
Have you ever been to Lima? Would you ever go?
