Tammy is the one with the 20 pound brain and I’ll let her continue to write about topics for those who dwell in their cerebrums. Me, I’m a simple guy, more of a brainstem kind of operator so I want to boil down Lima to what mouth breathers really need to know. For the person who’s thinking …yeah…Lima…let’s go there for a couple months…how different can it be?
Getting around Lima is an adventure. I think I’ve read that most people fly into Lima because they have to if they want to visit Machu Picchu. They spend very little time in Lima itself, maybe overnight and hoping on the next domestic flight from Lima to Cusco. I have another theory. They make plans to spend a week in Lima before off to the Andes, but that first cab ride to their hotel changes their mind. They now decide to sleep at the airport and never take another car ride in the city.
Lima a city of neighborhoods. In this respect it is not that different from Chicago. On the other hand the differences between them are more along the lines of socio-economic status. We’re staying in San Miguel, what I would call a working class neighborhood. People are friendly, you can walk around and feel safe although you must follow defensive walking principles. More on that later.
When we go to Milaflores, San Isidro or Barranco it’s definitely upscale and you’ll find fancier places and tourists. There are also places we’ve been advised we would do best to avoid. Again not much different from any large city where you can get yourself in trouble if you’re not paying attention. We’re fortunate that we have Dante to give us wise advise.
Food. OK I was all in for the when in Rome thing and I like chicken and potatoes….but gosh. 4,000 varieties of potatoes are grown in Peru. Chickens seem to come in a lot less variety although they are proudly displayed in every possible stage of disassembly at the Mercados.
You have to study the menus ad nauseam to order something you think is potato free but…nope….they still sneak a room temperature potato onto your plate. Having said that, Tammy has found us some awesome restaurants and if I ate potatoes I didn’t care. The fruits are exotic and we’ve kind of taken a try-that approach. Some have worked out and others not so much.
Note – Peruvians have an obsession with Lucuma fruit. Apparently it has been here since the Incas (called Gold of the Incas) and is super good for you. Some studies are now showing that lucuma may be helpful for supporting skin health, blood sugar, and even cardiovascular health. Tammy and I may come back super healthy as you find lucuma used in everything, almost as prevalent as potatoes.
In search of a little taste of home comfort I have found several good reliable items.
- Meringues (inexpensive but Tammy counts how many I can get at a time)
- Wiener wraps also known as pigs in a blanket (great with aji sauce)
- Peanut butter (let me know when you’re coming and I’ll share my source)
- Coffee – good beans to grind can be found, some require a little more adventure in obtaining than others
- Chocolate – I include this as I am not a chocolate fan, especially dark chocolate, but dang they have some gooooooood stuff here
You can find lots of cool stuff around Lima like catacombs, mummified remains, skulls and old VW bugs.
I said I would address the term “defensive walking”. There is a lot to see here and I never get tired just wandering around looking but there are dangers lurking.
- Traffic – as mentioned cars and especially motorcycles take every available inch to make a new lane. If you’re walking by the road and your hair blows a little towards traffic, someone will honk warning you they are coming through and don’t even think about it.
- Uneven walking surface – the term uneven doesn’t really do justice to the traps you’ll encounter. Curbs of 18″ or more, ramps, potholes, broken pavement and disappearing sidewalks.
- Sidewalk doubling as driveway – depending on the neighborhood, cars may come out of their parking spots and back across the sidewalk.
- Free-range dogs – enough said
- People with head stuck in their phone – not exclusive behavior to Peruvians for sure but still worth noting as part of the walking risk assessment.
Absence of terrorism-phobia. Drives me nuts how much we spend on terrorism this and that in the states. I think the last figures I saw showed for every US citizen killed at home or abroad from “terrorism” there were 1,000 killed by firearms in the US. It’s kind of refreshing to see all the efforts they have taken here to help people know how to stay safe and evacuate from earthquakes and tsunamis rather than slink around fearful of terrorist waiting to strike. I have not seen anything like our see something say something program but I did observe some odd behavior.
Fellow in the blue shirt is watching his computer bag. I snapped the photo in case something sinister went down. 
He left his bag on purpose in a very busy area. No one disturbed it so I have no idea what game we were playing. P.S. it never blew up either while we were sitting there.
Hopefully the reader now has enough basic information to realize you can survive in Lima. There is also the possibility to even enhance your health if you embrace the lucuma. For me, even if I don’t eat anymore lucuma (little chance) I will continue to enjoy the sounds and view of the ocean in this desert city.
