Lima layover: Exploring Miraflores and Barranco

Peru is renowned as being a great country to visit with wonderful people, varied geography, some of the best food in the world and of course the home of some impressive sites- Machu Picchu being the most well known example. It is also somewhere we have not been to before, so we were keen to take time to explore. Unfortunately in recent times the fallout of a close and hard fought election has led to increasingly deadly clashes in the streets which, aside from the obvious dangers, have led to several airports and main tourist sites (including Machu Picchu) being closed. While much of the violence has been in the south of the country these protests also spread to the capital Lima recently.

Against this backdrop we decided to only stay briefly in Lima and head straight on down south to Patagonia. Even so, in only a single day Lima has already left a fantastic impression. We are fully intending to return in a few months as we head back northward.

To maximise our short time we explored fairly close to our lodgings, checking out the Miraflores and Barranco areas on foot.

The many cats of Miraflores

Between us and Barranco lay El Parque Central de Miraflores which is informally known as Parque Kennedy (yes, named after the bust of JFK which is in there). It is itself a welcome green space in the city but it stands out for the stupendous number of cats that make it their home, generally lounging about as cats do. Apparently they were introduced by locals in the mid-90’s to take on a mouse problem and have stayed ever since. Today they seem pretty well looked after, with food left out for them and a kiosk housing the cat rangers who look after general cat welfare, and organise adoption of kittens. Dessa spent a good while in here stroking many of the cats in an effort to assess which was her favourite – she remained undecided. Rafe also took the opportunity to sniff out a geocache in the park.

Historic Barranco

Unusually for Jim, he got chatting to the Peruvian sat next to him on the plane down from Miami and they agreed that the best way for a rapid immersion the local culture would be to explore Barranco. In particular they suggested a visit to Isolina to deliver classic local food. They were very right.

Walking through Barranco certainly relit our senses after arriving into Lima in the early hours of the morning. The colourful streets and sounds of life and latin music left us in no doubt that we were somewhere new and lively.

Lunch at Isolina was one of the best meals we have had in a long time. This was certainly in part down to the excellent food, but also the relaxed atmosphere of the place. We were lucky Rafe spotted that by default the dishes are served large for sharing – what you see in the photos are the half portions which meant we could try several of the local dishes. It was all outstanding, but the pork ribs were sensational. Alongside the food the kids also tried the local favourite Inca Kola. This radioactive looking drink went down incredibly well which is unsurprising given how sweet it is.

Museum of Contemporary Arts

We had spotted Lima’s Museum of Contemporary Arts as we walked south from Miraflores into the Barranco area, as the museum sits on the border of the two districts. As we had some time on the walk back we dropped in for a look and it was certainly a pleasant diversion for an hour or so. One of the temporary exhibitions showcased the textile work of women from the Cantagallo region. An exhibition on the theme of returning to the sun as a central icon exhibition captured all of our imaginations as it consisted of works that played with light, materials and motion engineering to create unusual effects, as well as living organisms in water (hence the green water in the star image below).