Lima, Peru

After a standard, rather uneventful flight from Toronto to Lima via Miami, we arrived at the hotel  just after 11:00 last night. We, and two other couples from our tour, were met at the airport by one of the local tour operators who gave us a few quick tips about Peru in general and Lima in particular. Did you know, for instance, that it hasn't actually rained in Lima since 1970?? There's quite a bit of humidity in the air, but it falls more as mist than as rain. Our guide from last night said that he remembered when it rained 44 years ago - the buildings here are made with flat roofs and no allowance for excess water - and that the water that fell on the roof of his apartment building all drained down through the elevator shafts!

Our hotel, the Belmond Miraflores Park, used to be the Orient Express hotel and is one of the nicest in the city, according to our guide. It certainly is beautiful and in a very nice part of town, right by the ocean.

 

The lobby meeting and sitting area looks
like a library

There is a little pond outside the main entrance that is
home to quite a few of these guys

 

Our room is quite large - in fact, we might guess that the bathroom itself is about 3/4 the size of one of the bedrooms at home - and has an ocean view. The room, not the bathroom!!  The sitting area is right in front of the picture window with a couch and two chairs. Very comfortable!

This morning after a lovely buffet breakfast we took a walk through the park across the street and along the cliffside. Our guide from last night told us that there is a shopping plaza, the Larcomar, UNDER a park a short distance from the hotel, so we decided to check that out. Only here could they think of building a two-level mall into the side of a cliff!!

We stopped at the Juan Valdez Coffee Shop for a mid-morning coffee (instead of Starbuck's which was on the next level up) and scoped out places to try for lunch.

After spending a little time relaxing in the hotel's lobby bar with our e-readers, we wandered back to Larcomar for lunch. We ate at the Mangos Restaurant, outside overlooking the cliff and the sea. It is a bit cool, not so much from the temperature but from the breeze. You could tell that we must be tourists since the locals were wearing long sleeves, jackets or sweaters, and many of the women were in boots!!

Larry looking forward to trying his fish ceviche

Quinoa salad with fried prawns - and a Pisco Sour,
the national Peruvian drink, on the side
 

We're back in the hotel now, getting ready for the evening. There is a very nice restaurant in the hotel called Tragaluz where we plan to eat dinner. We will be meeting our tour director, Marcos, and the rest of the group at breakfast in the morning.

We've taken a quick look at the itinerary Marcos has sent for us, and it looks like we will be in for our share of early mornings and long days on this trip as well, although not quite as early or as long as the African Safari last year. We will probably have some time to work on blog posts most days. Keep an eye out for updates.