Peru, Paddington and Protests

27th-28th January , 2023

Two days at sea before we make landfall in Peru. The weather, as you might expect just below the Equator, has been lovely with the advantage that the ship generates a very pleasing breeze. So we have been out on deck taking part in the quite raucous competitions of quoits and shuffleboard. There is a contingent of Yorkshiremen that keep up a running commentary on everyone’s efforts, so it does feel as though you might have strayed onto the set of ‘Last of the Summer Wine’. All good fun. Just to prove I am on the trip, Val has taken a few photos. A select few….

However, it has not all been fun and games. There has been some serious wildlife watching going on and I have finally spotted my first whale – plus, of course, some seabirds that I know you have been waiting for. I think one of them was an albatross (without wafers, of course – Monty Python reference!!).

There are some serious ‘twitchers’ on board with someone who is available to tell you what is what. They even have two-way radio to advise ‘dolphins off the port bow’ – usually when I am on the starboard bow! I did see a seal out of our cabin window yesterday, but of course did not have the camera to hand. It is a waiting game….

Sunday, 29th January, 2023 – Callao and Lima, Peru

We were due to have two days in Lima (the ship berthes at the container port/city of Callao), but due to the political unrest this had been reduced to one day. We had been booked to go on a tour of historic Lima, but this was deemed a little risky by the ship, who understandably did not want to chance losing any passengers in a riot, so instead we went on a tour more in the outskirts. As it happens it was a quiet day in the centre with no protests at all. Ah well, next time…..

Our tour went through the port city of Callao, about 10 miles from the heart of Lima and stopped at our first destination, the Museo Larco which has a superb collection of pre-Columbian art and artefacts. It was excellent and was much enhanced by our very informative guide, Renato. It was really the crème-de-la-crème of the period and very well displayed. It is worth noting that the people of South America came over the land bridge from Asia, some from Europe and some from Mongolia. The depiction of the faces shows an astonishing range of features from African to Mongolian. Apparently there is even a tribe in northern Peru with blue eyes and Scandinavian features and DNA.

Lots of pieces of pottery, some textiles and some jewellery. But also a cross between a knife and an axe that was used for human sacrifices. It was instructional to learn that the Incas only represented about the last 10 minutes of the ‘hour’ that was pre-Columbian Peru with other cultures before them all the way back to around 3000 BC, thus being contemporary with Ancient Egypt. The following is a VERY select few of the many photos available….. my apologies for the lack of detail as to what they are exactly. There was not enough time to make a note.

That really is the tip of the iceberg of what was in the museum (and I have not even touched on the section that displayed pre-Colombian erotica!) and I only wish we had had more time to study it in more detail. It was on to our next museum which was in two parts, one housing more ancient artefacts and the other tracing the history of Peru’s war of independence from Spain. It is housed in the Vice-Regent’s palace that later became the home of Jose San Martin who was an Argentinian who declared Peru’s independence in 1821 and then of Simon Bolivar who effectively won the war that followed in 1824. Bolivar was a Venezuelan who seems to crop up all over South America and after whom Bolivia is named.

We had one more museum to visit, which we reckoned was a bit of a filler to make up for the loss of our visit to the city centre as it was certainly on the unusual side and decidedly niche. The owner, who I believe goes by the name of Senor Lunar, was Minister for Culture in an earlier administration and who met us all at the door of what was effectively his house which doubles up as his museum of – nativities!! It was certainly different, though I am not sure I would have bothered if given the choice. It was more interesting than I imagine the Museum of Barbed Wire might have been that we saw in the USA once, but not really my cup of tea. We also met his wife and I could not resist asking her if she had been aware of his interest before they were married and apparently he already had over 350 pieces by then and now has around 3,000. I feel for the person who does the dusting! A small sample…

We were dropped off at a shopping mall of Larcomar in the seaside suburb of Miraflores from where the shuttle bus would be able to take us back to the ship and where we hoped to be able to find some Wi-Fi for the all important posting on the blog. Miraflores is a nice area of a mixture of the old grand houses often in post-colonial style and high-rise apartments. By the time we arrived the sea mist had descended so anyone expecting an ocean view from the top of their apartment block must have been sorely disappointed. The whole area is set on cliffs above the beach where lots of family were enjoying their Sunday out. The reason for the mist is the Humbolt Current which lowers the temperature (I think). Apparently it does not rain much in Lima! The shopping mall was cut into the cliff and was certainly a dramatic setting if a rather dull collection of international brands (H&M!). We did manage to get some rather limited Wi-Fi and have some lunch though.

We did meet one old friend while we were there – Paddington!! A statue of the Peruvian bear had been donated by the UK government to Miraflores. Not sure what the locals made of it but all the Brits flocked to it for the all-important photo – including us, of course.

All-in-all we were rather impressed by Lima and its surrounds. The streets were not always in the best of condition in the more working class area of Callao but they were scrupulously clean and free of any litter and in most places they were very nicely landscaped and well-maintained. There were a lot of houses in Callao that were dodging tax by not finishing the outside of the shirts floor, even though the interior was all occupied. reminded me of Greece.

The whole country looks like it would be a great place to visit and explore further. The pre-Columbian history especially warrants further study.

We were due to stop at Matarani, the port to drive to the city of Arequipa, but that too has been cancelled, so next up is Arica at the very north end of Chile. Until then….