Cruise Portao, where cruise ships dock, is about 14 klms west of Lima. Calloa was founded in 1537 and quickly became the main port for Spanish commerce in the Pacific. The merchants here suffered English raids from Drake, Hawkins and others until 1746. In 1746 an earthquake caused a massive wave that completely destroyed this port. Now a commercial hub, port and cruise ship terminal, you can take a bus or taxi which should cost about $12 USD and take about 30 to 45 mins to get you into the capital of Lima. We had a free shuttle service take us to the Miraflores district which is known for its gardens, flower-filled parks and beaches.
Note: The immediate area around the docks is known to be dangerous and passengers are advised not to venture past the dock gates unless on a tour or in an approved taxi only available inside the gates. taxis are divided between “formal” taxis, painted and marked as such and informal cars with windshield stickers that say ‘taxi” - these are better suited for the spanish speaking locals. Taxis should run about $10 USD per hour. More on this note latter.
The city of Lima is colourful, historical and cosmopolitan attracting visitors from around the world. The historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, graced by colonial Spanish Mansions, beautiful churches and some lingering Inca ruins. There is a changing of the guard at 11:45 at the Government Palace, home of the Peruvian President.
We docked at 11am and on the shuttle at about quarter after and into the Miraflores district at around noon. Michele and Silvey a couple from Montreal that we met on a few occasions during our cruise to date, joined us for a stroll along the very picturesque waterfront cliff walkway. It was a great warm (26 degree) sunny day as we strolled past incredible vistas and beautiful statues. We did about an hour loop before finding a taxi large enough to take us comfortably to the Museo Larco. This museum is amazing with artifacts that date from 1250 bc to about 1532 ad. The highlights include an impressive Gold, Silver and copper display. This museum displays the intimate and dynamic relationship the ancient Peruvians maintained with their natural environment underpinned wth their belief in the existence of an upper, celestial world, inhabited by the sun, stars and gods, from where the rainfall required for the crops fell. If you visit this museum give yourself enough time to not only view the gardens but to enjoy a meal at the garden restaurant - try the scallops - best we ever had.
We left the museum at about 4:30 to visit the UNESCO world heritage site of the Plaza Mayor which includes a Cathedral built beginning in 1535 and the Government Palace (for those interested this Palace conducts an 11:45 am changing of the guard ceremony). Beautiful but took us almost an hour to get to it only a few kilometres away, traffic was not cooperating. We then planned to head back to the ship where we found ourselves pinned inside of a political demonstration. Now this was crazy, absolutely crazy with thousands of people representing many different political positions parading back and forth with us trapped in the middle. When asked we found that this could last some 2 hours - we abandoned our taxi (yes we paid him more than enough) and walked passed the blocks of demonstrators, we had to cut across them twice as they circled around the downtown core. We then tried to find a taxi, not so easy as we were not in the best part of town, one refused us as he was a “local” taxi and then we were approached by a clean cut, english speaking young man trying to help us out by calling us an Uber. As we were thanking him for his assistance, Jan said that she will not get into the car from this guy. She said it was too perfect and that this guy had eyed her about a block away and here he was. She didn’t trust this guy sending an unmarked car to pick us up. Side note, the ship had a document that stated to watch out for this type of scam - we did not read this but Michele recalled it after we walked away. So, don’t know for sure but Jan could have saved all of us from a very difficult situation. So now it was getting dark and we were definitely not in a tourist part of town. Michele finally convinced a taxi to take us to the Port and through no english we were able to show where we needed to go , thanks to an Maps2Go app I had downloaded (with a GPS map of Lima) and a picture of the ship I showed him from my camera. So all was going well now that we follow the GPS blip all the way back to our port, well not so fast. He dropped us off at the port but we found that were three blocks away, so no big deal we can walk that, nope, the port authority said that this neighbourhood was dangerous and that we cannot walk here, he said we had to take a taxi and that he had already called one, wow, really. So for 2 more dollars we went the 3 blocks in the taxi to the shuttle just outside the port to take us into the port and our ship. What an ordeal. We were on the ship by about twenty to eight, so great just in time for dinner at eight. We were so happy to see our ship and to be sitting at our places in the dining room. 9:30 was a excellent, local folklore show with amazing music, dancing and costumes. In our room by about 10:30 for a shower before preparing this and getting ready for a good sleep in our comfortable bed as you never where we could have been tonight. Although we are aways from the port gate, we hear lots of honking and what sounds like fireworks, so our sleep may not be as sound as it is when we are floating at sea.
Some pics of our day, hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day: “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you may as well stay home” - James Michener
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