tomandbuntytrails

Our first time ever in South America! We had always wanted to see Peru, and we thought that bearing in mind we’d come all the way to Costa Rica to spend three months learning about conservation, we had to treat ourselves to a trip to this magical country!

Lima was a stopping off point before we headed to Cusco – the former capital of the Inca Empire! Lima is a sprawling city of 11 million inhabitants and of course we only saw a tiny bit of it – we are so glad we stayed in the bohemian area of Barranco! If you’re going to Lima for a just a night or two, we’d highly recommend staying here. You can spend a happy afternoon and evening wandering around the district, admiring the street art, take a walk over the Bridge of Sighs to look down on the topography of Barranco (which means ravine in Spanish) – make sure you hold your breath as you walk across the entire span of the bridge, as all your wishes will come true! The colonial architecture around here is so beautiful! The houses are stunning and many have ben turned into really trendy boutique hotels with galleries and coffee shops attached. We had great Pisco sour cocktails and stunning ceviche at Picas bar, literally underneath the Bridge of Sighs. Then had a superb meal at uber trendy Merito which is nearby – that was a meal we will never forget – it’s been voted one of the 50 best restaurants in the whole of Latin America!

Sadly the modern art gallery Museo de Arte Contemporáneo https://maclima.pe was closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, and gutted we didn’t get the time to see the MATE Mario Testino museum down at the marina. Here is a link for more cool stuff to do (which we didn’t have the time to do!) https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/peru/san-isidro/barranco/

Lots of protests and strikes kicking off during our first few days in Peru – Lima old town was all cordoned off and lots of police presence, and we experienced several roadblocks and random goings on during our Cusco leg! Next stop Cusco – we grabbed a taxi after seeing what we could of Lima old town and headed for the airport!