A stroll around Lima. Livable – but not everywhere…

Some cities in the world are located amid exceptionally picturesque landscapes. For example, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Hong Kong, and Sydney are all surrounded by scenic mountains and/or unique coastal formations. In this regard, Lima, the capital of Peru, is also rather lucky:

The city center is situated on a high oceanfront cliff, offering absolutely stunning views:

And this district is wealthier than the outskirts. If you look at the country’s GDP per capita (PPP), there’s no reason to expect great urban wealth. Just judge for yourself: Peru ranks somewhere around 100^th in the list – between Moldova and Algeria:

Lima is, in principle, interesting; and historical – just a decade short of its 500^th anniversary. Everything is what should be expected – conquistadors and missionaries, palaces and cathedrals, even UNESCO World Heritage sites, alongside modern glass business centers and contemporary infrastructure. However, most of the city doesn’t look too appealing. We didn’t walk around those areas, so here are some photos taken from the plane. Not exactly Brazilian favelas, but quite poor nonetheless.

Overall, it’s a typical Latin American capital in many ways. Though it does have a subway system, which is still expanding. So far, there are two lines with a total of 12 stations – for a city of 10 million people…

If you’re interested, you can take a “walk” through the capital using Google Maps’ Street View:

By the way, I’d had a couple of layovers at Lima’s airport down the years (it’s one of Latin America’s major hubs), but this was my first time actually visiting the city. So, of course – it needed checking out! The view from the hotel window was nothing special – so we were to head somewhere more scenic…

…Of course, to the oceanfront! From up above it looks like this:

Up close – also quite nice!

Steep cliffs, incredible views, a promenade, and stores for a bit of shopping – overall, a great place! Interestingly, Lima has a unique climate. It’s located in a completely tropical latitude, yet there’s no extreme heat – even in January, the peak of summer!

To one side, there’s the cool Pacific Ocean; on the other – mountains. As a result, it’s not hot and, oddly enough, it almost never rains either! However, the sun shines less often here than in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Shanghai, London, or Vancouver – in fact, fewer sunny days than almost anywhere. Yet frequent fog and near-100% humidity are the norm. Never seen anything like it!

Look to the left – breathtaking beauty! ->

Look to the right – just as impressive! ->

It’s simply nice to take a walk along the well-kept paths in the evening. Unfortunately, the sunset wasn’t visible due to thick cloud cover ->

A few atmospheric city photos from my practically constant travel companion, DZ ->

We took a walk around the prosperous Miraflores District, so the views are far from “favela-like”:

And of course, cerveza! ->

We keep walking, looking around, and enjoying the sights:

Here are some photos of the city’s poorer areas, taken from a bus window…

From a plane, south of Lima you can see some full-fledged resort areas with yachts:

Some resorts are nestled in secluded bays; looks lovely! ->

And assorted other oceanfront beach establishments:

However, I don’t really believe in this whole beach scene. My reasoning being that the cold Humboldt Current, aka the Peru Current, dominates these waters, bringing with it an Antarctic chill to the local climate. As a result, the ocean water is cold (by local standards), and hardly anyone swims in it – except surfers. But if you check online, the water temperature right now is +20°C! I should have pushed myself to take a dip… But alas, it’s too late now. So instead, here are some photos just after take-off from the airport heading toward the Nazca Lines! ->

The city’s incredibly densely built-up; reminds me a bit of Cairo, but at least here there are some green patches occasionally ->

The wealthier central districts:

The Andes on the horizon:

To wrap up – a short overview video:

That’s all about Lima folks – it’s time to sleep. The next day we had a very early wake-up planned – but we seasoned travelers are used to such relative inconveniences…

Oh, and btw – Lima = the latest +1 to my list of visited cities. Salud to that!