Peru May, 2017

Day 1 Lima (Wed. May 17) (La Castellana Hotel)
• I did my own personal adventure for Day 1. First I changed $220 into 708.4 Soles. Then I had a walking tour that I got off google. I also spent a lot of time just sitting and reading and conversing in Kennedy Park (named after JFK), aka Cat Park.
Walking Tour: MIRAFLORES –an upscale, very nice suburb of Lima.
1. Huaca Pucllana. This is the “Temple of the worshippers of the sea”. For 12 soles (about $3), I got an hour tour as well as entrance to the museum. It is billed on Google as “Remains of a clay & adobe stepped pyramid from the Lima Culture (200–700 A.D.)”. At this pyramid one is exposed to 3 different cultures that inhabited the pyramid. The most significant attribute of the Lima people’s belief system was the importance given to the sea. (Remember, Lima is on the ocean.) The tour included a demonstration of how the bricks for the pyramid were made. Farming was explained with the growing of a variety of vegetables and the raising of livestock, most notably llamas and alpacas and guinea pigs, a favorite meal. Pucllana is a flat top pyramid and the tour took us to the top. It was built between 600 and 700 AD. The site was abandoned for ceremonies when the Wari empire (650-1000AD) took over who eventually did use the pyramid for the elite. This empire collapsed and the Ychsma, a local society, took over.
2. Miraflores Indian Market Bustling outdoor destination with vendors offering souvenirs, antiques & regional handicrafts. Checked it out and bought my wall hanging.
3. Miraflores Central Park and Kennedy park. Triangular urban park offering trees, landscaped lawns & paths, plus an amphitheater & a playground.
4. Salazar Park Park atop the coastal cliffs, with walking paths, contemporary art, shopping & views of the bay. I got directions to the ocean and the parks. Watched surfers for a while.
5. Amor Park Landscaped park overlooking the ocean with a huge kissing sculpture, mosaic walls & a snack stand.

After the long morning/early afternoon of walking and sight-seeing, I then went to Kennedy/Cat park to relax and enjoy cats. I was sitting on a bench below a tree and after a long time I became aware that there was a cat in the branches above me. Then a gentleman sat down with a clear glass bowl with his lunch – rice, veggies, beef. He bent down and fed cats, which came from all around. (It turns out more cats come out at night, though – so I only saw about 6-7 different cats.) We started a conversation but it was limited b/c he spoke no English and I tried my best. He was a bank guard who had retired from the policia. I told him he looked like “jefe de la policia”. It was at that point that I noticed he had Kevlar vest on. Boy, Linda, you aren’t very sharp. He comes to that bench everyday for his lunch hour to eat and enjoy the cats. He was really nice and people came by to watch him feed the cats.
Pictures:
1-4 Lima: Huaca Pucllana, "Inca Temple of the worshippers of the sea"
5: Huaca Pucllana, tomb-people buried in fetal position but standing
6: An entrance to Kennedy ParkLeer más