We planned for almost a week in Lima after our Galapagos cruise and island hopping adventures. Although based on our research it didn’t look like we would need that long to see the highlights, we figured we would also have some downtime and enjoy some time in a city after so much nature.

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Getting to Lima

We had used frequent flyer miles for our departure from the Galapagos Islands, and the only reward flights happened to be in business class. It was a couple of short flights, so we didn’t get a whole lot of pampering, but a glass of cheap sparkling wine before takeoff was nice.

The first leg of this journey took us to Guayaquil on the Ecuadorian mainland. We had a five and a half hour layover here, but decided against leaving the airport for what would have been a very quick visit to the town center. Instead we spent the time in an airport lounge enjoying complimentary snacks and the best internet connection we had experienced since leaving home.

After another short flight we arrived in Lima. We made it through immigration and customs with no dramas, and found our prearranged driver waiting for us. It was about a half hour drive to the Miraflores area where we met our AirBnB host and hauled our luggage up four flights of stairs to our apartment. The apartment was basic (and did I mention the four flights of stairs with no elevator?), but the two separate bedrooms, living space and kitchen were just what we needed after a couple of weeks on a boat, then in small hotel rooms.

Settling in to Miraflores

The next morning we found a great little cafe for fancy coffee and croissants for breakfast. It isn’t in our budget to do this every day, but it was a nice “welcome back to civilization” treat. Our next stop was the Larcomar shopping mall. This is an up-market mall in an amazing cliff-top location. We browsed for a while enjoying the novelty of seeing familiar brand names in an unfamiliar setting, then went to the supermarket to pick up supplies to do some self-catering during our week in Lima.

After dropping the groceries off in the apartment, we continued exploring the Miraflores area in the opposite direction from Larcomar. It turned out our AirBnB was in a quiet residential area, but very close to lots of shops, restaurants and public spaces.

We visited John F. Kennedy Park and saw the cat population that lives there, fed and looked after by volunteers.

They hold adoption events here, but the cats look content to live in the park where they get plenty of attention.

We went to another supermarket for research purposes, and balanced out our fancy breakfast with a super cheap lunch deal, less than USD 5 for four empanadas and a 1.5 liter Inca Kola.

The final stop on our Miraflores exploration was the Mercardo Indio where we browsed souvenir stalls. We looked at a bunch of stuff that we didn’t want to have to carry around the world, then bought stickers for our water bottles.

Lima Free Walking Tour

We decided to do a free walking tour early into our week in Lima to help us get oriented to the city. So the next day we met up with the Lima By Walking downtown tour outside a Miraflores hostel. The guides shepherded us onto the bus to downtown, which was a pretty intense experience. The bus was very crowded and zoomed along a dedicated lane next to the freeway.

When we got off the bus downtown, the guides separated us into Spanish and English-speaking groups. The tour proper started in the Plaza de Armas, where we arrived just in time to catch the changing of the guard at the Governor’s Palace.

Our next stop was the Basilica of Santo Domingo.

Next we checked out some more historic buildings.

We walked down an interesting passageway which had an amazing arched roof structure. This structure used to have stained glass panels, but unfortunately, these were destroyed in an earthquake.

We also went to the Casa de la Literatura Peruana, set in an old railway station, now a cultural center celebrating Peruvian literature. Here, and at all the other stops, our guide did a good job of providing commentary and some context.

The last stop of the tour was at a shop selling various types of pisco. We enjoyed the free samples, but resisted the temptation to buy any. Of course, the tour wasn’t really free, but tips-based. The guide did a good job, so we were happy to contribute.

More Time in Miraflores

The next day was basically a rest day. Heide and I went out for a great seafood and ceviche lunch at Punto Azul, but apart from that we spent all day in the apartment.

The following day we decided to be a bit more active, starting with a walk along part of the Malecon, a six-mile long park on the cliff tops that overlook the Pacific Ocean. Our first goal was to reach the lighthouse we could see in the distance.

Along the way we watched some surfers in the waters below.

There were various statues and artworks along the way, including this statue of a poet which had been brightened up by the addition of fresh flowers.

We eventually made it to the lighthouse, where we turned back and headed towards one of the main attractions on the Malecon, the Parque del Amor.

Along the way we passed the launch point for paragliders, but unfortunately no one was flying at the time, so we didn’t get to watch any action.

The Parque del Amor is famous for its larger-than-life sculpture, El Beso (The Kiss), created by Peruvian artist Victor Delfín.

The sculpture is surrounded by mosaics and quotes celebrating love. The park is well-used by couples enjoying the romantic atmosphere.

Scenes from Miraflores

After a break for crepes overlooking the water, Heide and Lachlan headed back to the apartment, while I spent a bit more time wandering the streets of Miraflores. The area is an interesting mix of old and new, and we got to know it pretty well during our week in Lima. My aim was to try and capture some of the character of the neighborhood in photos.

Museo Larco

After lunch we took a taxi to the Museo Larco. This is a private museum with an impressive collection of pre-Columbian art and artifacts. As well as being interesting as beautiful objects, the museum gave us some historical information that we thought would be useful context to have as we visited archeological sites during our travels in Peru after our week in Lima.

One of the most interesting things we saw at the museum was a mummy. It looked very different to the Egyptian mummies we are more familiar with.

Another highlight was the number of gold artifacts. It was interesting to learn that most of the gold is actually gold plating with a low concentration of pure gold. The Incas valued gold for its decorative qualities, not as a store of intrinsic value. This explains why the Spanish never succeeded in finding any of the legendary Inca treasure troves. They simply didn’t exist.

Museo Larco is famous for its erotic art gallery. Lachlan waited outside while Heide and I checked it out.

As well as the artifacts, we enjoyed the gardens. The museum is housed in an 18th-century mansion, so the building itself has a lot of character.

Another interesting thing about Museo Larco is that it puts its entire collection on display. The artifacts that aren’t featured in the galleries are kept in a separate room where they are visible to visitors.

The museum also features a highly-regarded restaurant. We enjoyed dinner there (ordering from the less expensive end of the menu) before moving on to our next destination.

Magic Water Circuit

At the prearranged time, the taxi picked us up and took us to our next destination. The Magic Water Circuit is thirteen illuminated fountains set in a historic nineteen acre park.

We timed our visit to catch the light show synchronized to music. As well as illuminated fountains, this included laser projections of Peruvian culture. It was all a bit cheesy, and we enjoyed the other fountains more.

Our favorite was the water tunnel. It was a bit cold, so we were wary of getting wet. However the tunnel was designed so there was only some incidental splashing.

As well as the fountains themselves, it was fun to see the local Lima residents enjoying the park. After a couple of hours here it was time to head home after a long day.

An Unfortunate Incident

We arrived home after our busy day of sightseeing to find that our AirBnB apartment’s lock had been drilled out. We couldn’t get the door open, so we called the AirBnB host for help. She was out of town, so she sent her son and a locksmith. After they arrived we were quickly able to get into the apartment and confirm that someone had broken in. The burglars had taken their time and searched through everything.

All of our electronics were gone, along with the camera gear I wasn’t carrying. We also lost cash, credit cards and most of the prescription medication we had stockpiled before the trip. My U.S. and Australian passports and Lachlan’s Australian passport (all were in my passport wallet) were gone, but Heide’s passport and Lachlan’s U.S passport (which had been in Heide’s passport wallet) had been left on the bed. The burglars took all of our day packs to carry everything, so we lost a lot of random travel gadgets which were of no great value, but annoying to lose. We actually kept discovering random things that were taken for a while after the incident, e.g. Lachlan’s swimsuit.

After I had made some phone calls to cancel credit cards, the AirBnB host’s son took us to a nearby hotel, the Hotel Senorial. She paid for the remaining nights of our AirBnB reservation, then an extra night as well to help us as we dealt with the aftermath of the burglary. This hotel was great and the staff were very helpful. In the unlikely event that we go back to Lima, I’d definitely stay there.

Dealing With the Aftermath

After we had got the luggage into the hotel, our host’s son took me to the Tourist Police station to make my statement and get the report I would need for various purposes – most importantly the insurance claim. I made it back to the hotel after 2 a.m., very tired but unable to sleep with al the “what if”s and “should have done”s rolling around in my head.

The burglary happened on a Friday night, which was the worst possible timing. We tried calling the Australian and U.S. embassies the next morning, and confirmed that they wouldn’t talk to us about replacing passports until Monday morning. To make some progress on recovering from our setback, we decided to do some shopping to replace some essentials. These included a new computer, a new down jacket for Heide and a daypack so we’d have at least one for our onward travels.

We were scheduled to leave Lima on Sunday, which obviously wasn’t possible now. So our Saturday activities also included a visit to the Peru Hop office. Fortunately, the office is in Miraflores, and they were very helpful, letting us change our bus pass reservation to a later date. They also agreed to let us have some mail sent to their office in Cusco for us to pick up (most importantly new debit cards so we could get cash from ATMs).

On Sunday, instead of leaving after a week in Lima as planned, we did some more shopping for bits and pieces. We also did a more normal tourist activity, checking out an artisan fair that we stumbled across.

An Unexpected Development

On Monday morning we were up bright and early to start the process of replacing passports. The first step was calling the U.S. Embassy, who set me up with an emergency appointment at 7:45am the next day to apply for a new passport.

The next task was to apply for new Australian passports for Lachlan and me. Fortunately, the Australian Embassy is a short walk from the Hotel Senorial, so by mid-morning we had filled out our forms and headed back to the hotel.

While we were sitting at the hotel eating lunch and rearranging travel plans impacted by our late departure from Lima, we got a phone call. It was the consular officer we had talked to at the Australian Embassy. She advised that someone had found our passports and credit cards and called them to report it. It turned out that they had been dumped in a public garbage bin in a neighboring district, and were now in the possession of the Cleaning Supervisor. The Australian consular officer gave us his contact details, advising that he didn’t speak any English.

The hotel front desk staff called the Cleaning Supervisor for me, and we arranged to meet for me to pick up the passports and cards. One of the front desk staff kindly volunteered to come with me to translate. The pickup wet without a hitch, I received a ziplock bag with two passports and a bunch of plastic cards. In return I handed over a modest cash reward. I was especially relieved to see Heide and my drivers’ licenses in the stack of cards. We hadn’t been able to figure out any way of replacing these without one of us returning to Houston to go to a DPS office, so it was very fortunate that we got these back.

That night we went back to Larcomar to do a bit more shopping to replace essentials. We decided to celebrate the return of some of our important things by relaxing the budget and having a nice meal.

As well as good food, the restaurant had a spectacular view over the ocean, and we saw an interesting sunset that peeked out from under the grey clouds that persisted all through our week in Lima.

Wrapping Up Our Week in Lima

Although I got my U.S. passport back, I had already reported it lost, so I had to go ahead with my appointment at the U.S. Embassy to apply for a new one. I was able to arrange to pick up my new passport in Cusco, which saved me a trip back to Lima to collect it. After the embassy visit, we went to the Nikon Center to replace a couple of the lenses for my DSLR that had been stolen. We were lucky at least that this incident had occurred in Lima where we the embassies were, as well as stores where we could replace camera and computer equipment.

Our last task to get ready to escape from Lima was to get a cash advance so we would have enough cash until we picked up our new debit cards in Cusco. This turned out to be a bit more complicated than anticipated as I needed to use a credit card with the old-school raised numbers. My new-fangled Chase Sapphire Reserve with its smooth printed numbers weren’t acceptable. Luckily one of the cards that had been returned to us had raised numbers, and I hadn’t cancelled that particular card because I had forgotten that we’d brought it with us. So I was able to get a stash of Peruvian currency that should see us through to Cusco, and we were all set (and more than ready) to finally move on after more than a week in Lima. We had rescheduled our Peru Hop pickup for the next morning, three days after our originally planned departure. We had one last meal at our favorite Lima sandwich place, La Lucha, and we were ready to get a good night’s sleep to prepare to get on a bus the next morning to start the next phase of our adventures in Peru.