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The cold Humboldt Current running down the Peru coastline creates two things; a desert and fog. When we went to explore the Lunahuana Valley the locals told us that the fog would lift in the afternoon, sadly it didn’t, but we saw enough to mark it down as a trip to do on our return. The Lunahuana River has excellent river rafting possibilities as well as providing water to all the vineyards scattered along its course. Vineyards that make undrinkable semisweet wine and Pisco, a 42% schnapps type drink that is drunk with lime and a variety of mixers. We stayed in a really interesting campsite which was aimed at the climbing fraternity. It had a huge climbing wall and while we were there a Costa Rican company Costaricanopies had just finished building the ultimate jungle gym (Arial structure) and a huge fuffy slide across the valley and back

Neblina is Spanish for fog. It normally blows away by the afternoon, except in Lima, where it remains for eight months of the year. I really don’t think that I could live in a city that does not see the sunlight for the majority of the year and hardly ever sees rain. On top of the unusual weather Lima must have the worst drivers in the world! They have to be seen to be believed or rather experienced to be believed, yet despite the mayhem of hooters and car alarms the city has a charm that is appealing. The sea with its amazing waves is cold but very accessible, all one needs is a wet suit, which is exactly what I will don when we return, as the opportunity to try and catch those endless waves cannot be missed. 

View from cliff walk

Lima is a large city of about 10 million people. The high density housing is broken up by numerous plazas and neighbourhood stores. It has a downtown area which is on the USESCO Heritage list. 

Downtown Lima

Punte 

Old houses in Punte

Yours truely

The luxury apartment blocks that are strung along a cliff edge overlooking the sea and beaches below, would do justice to the smartest Mediterranean Coast line, and the historical Punte area where the mainly Italian forefathers arrived has very pleasant feel to it.

Santa Maria with Llama's!

Food is a big priority in the lives of Peruvians and Lima is the centre of a gastronomic delight, but it is the friendliness of the people that gives this city an edge. In the main downtown plaza there is an amusing sculpture of Santa Maria. The sculptor was commissioned to do the sculpture and was told to include a crown of flames, but was not told that the Spanish word for   flames and llama is the same, so now Santa Maria has little Llama's delicately placed on her head! 

Love Park sculpture

There are some really interesting sculptures around the city. We really enjoyed the one in what has become the Love Park.

Guillermo (Chino) and Ewa

On arriving in Lima our fortune continued. We somehow played real life “dodgem cars” and arrived in Lima at 5.00pm in the afternoon. I parked the bike while Ewa went to negotiate our accommodation. As I stepped off the bike the very first person who walked passed stopped to chat. Guillermo was a member of the MOTORIDERS motorcycle club and invited us to a meeting the following evening. Why this was such a fortuitous meeting was because we had to leave the motorbike in Peru for what could be a year, but the normal permit lasts for 90 days. We were told we would need all the help and influence that we could get and here we got it within the first minute of arriving in Lima! Fate? I think so. We were further told that we would have to grease many a palm to legalise the terms of our motorbike, so it was with intrepid steps that we entered into the offices of the Aduana. We expected a formidable battle with entangled beaurocracy. How surprised we were to deal with two exceptionally bright and helpful ladies, who sorted out or permit in a flash and bid us bon voyage. It was an experience which was the complete opposite of what we expected. At the end of the day we have decided that it is all about education; the less educated, the more officious the individual.

We met some really wonderful people in Lima as a result of our motorcycle and Carlos and Monica were no exception. Carlos must be the only Moto Gussi owner in Peru as well as the owner of ten other motorcycles in various states of repair and disrepair. They gave us a wonderful Sunday driving us around the sights of Lima and introduced us to Peruvian cuisine at a really local restaurant in the Pueblo Libre area of Lima, where we had humita verde (corn pate), tiradito (raw fish and yellow chilli), coritos (mussles with olive oil onions and corn), papa rellena (mashed potato wrapped around mincemeat) and cau cau for lunch. 

Monica and Carlos

Traditional lunch spot

Lunch as described

After lunch and a visit to Carlos’s home to see his array of bikes, we capped the evening by a visit to the artistic, somewhat Bohemian area of Barrancus, where we ate anticuches ( the heart of cattle), picarones (a dessert made with pumpkin and sweet potato and topped with honey) and chichi morade (a drink made from purple maize). It was all really delicious and sat well with the Pisco Sour aperitif.  

Barracas library

Oldest pub

We have always said that it is the people along the way that makes travelling such a delight and the friends we made in Lima were no exception and we will certainly look forward to meeting them again on our return.

It was with a tear in our eyes that we said goodbye to our motorbike, which has been our home and reliable means of transport and adventure partner for the past five months. Wrapped up in its blue plastic cover in the basement of Arellio’s building and watched over by Manuel and his son, it looked a little forlorn, but I know we will return in a year to find it exactly as we left it and it is very comforting to know that it is being legally stored and has a police certificate to prove it!

Wrapped and guarded!

That is the end of an amazing five months. We have had the time of our lives, made wonderful friends, seen astounding sights, tasted tantalising food and above all we have and remained healthy. Long may it last?

Our home!