LUCY OLIVER

 I had originally planned a shorter trip to Peru, but a recent redundancy gave me the excuse, and money, to make it a full month and I added a week in Lima before I went into the mountains.

Lima is a huge, sprawling city with a traffic, and therefore a pollution problem. It’s not easy to get around, pedestrians aren’t really provided for, there is no underground system, there are buses but they get stuck in the traffic. I used taxis where I could and tried to walk. My large characterless hotel was in the misleadingly-named Miraflores area and, in hindsight, it would have made more sense to stay in the older part of the city, although I was very close to the Parque Kennedy and all its cats.

I wandered around the centre visiting the creepy ossuaries beneath the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco, and having my first chicha in a little bar. Lima was founded by Pizarro and the Conquistadors and the Casa Aliaga, was built for one of them, Gonzalo Jorge de Aliaga Ascenzo, and has been continuously inhabited by the same family ever since.

It is beautifully decorated with fine examples of art and furniture set against perfect wall colours and stunning flower arrangements. It also had an ambience, my first sense of place since I had arrived.

I was keen to see some other sides to the city too, so I used a local company called xxx who took me out for a day to go to some less popular places.

We went to the Pantanos de Villa wildlife park in the south of the city near some of the vast slum areas. Under a grey sky it didn’t look very promising – under-invested and a bit shabby, struggling with pollution and encroaching development. But it’s a hugely important trip out for local school children, many of whom live in the slums. and there were plenty of them there when I went. Sadly, I seemed to be the only foreign visitor, a few more would bring some money in.

To be honest, I didn’t really see much in the way of wildlife. There was a very promising walk around an arachnid area but nothing appeared which was disappointing. It is, however, an important site for birds, and the best bit was walking down to the beach where there were lots of interesting sea birds including the neotropic cormorant and a black skimmer surfacing the water with its beak open.

I finished the visit on a boat on a small canal where I saw a bittern for the first time in my life. All in all it had been a positive experience, that could have been depressing, but the lively, enthusiastic children, clearly enjoying their day out, and the profusion of birds, had made it special.

The company also took me to one of the so-called slum areas making it clear this wasn’t a gawping-at-poverty excursion. The people who live there showed me round and are proud of how they have overcome so many challenges. The community spirit is much stronger than I expected, much stronger than most affluent communities, if someone’s roof blows off, everyone gets together to fix it, they help each other.

They took me down to their food market where I saw the huge range of potatoes Peru is famous for. Apparently 4000 different varieties. I didn’t take any photos of this trip other than in the market, it didn’t feel appropriate. Today both excursions had been very positive, and defied expectations.

I managed to walk across busy roads and traverse dangerous roundabouts to Barranco for a food tour. Two young brothers were trying to set up a business showing people around this arty area known for its food. I was to be (forgive the pun) their guinea pig on this Peruvian food tour and let them know what worked and what didn’t work.

What didn’t work for me was the coffee shop start where I politely drank a strong but uninteresting espresso, and the then boring, ubiquitous craft beer stop. Both of these things I could do at home in Sussex, but I don’t particularly like either, I had wanted to eat and drink the local food. However the rest of it was very good. We went to the Isolina restaurant where I had a my first ever pisco sour, and then some very tasty food including papa rellena, stuffed potato, and xxxx. It was slightly disconcerting eating so enthusiastically while the brothers watched me and took notes.

Afterwards we went down some back alleyways and came to an unpromising sports bar full of plastic chairs, and local men drinking beer and watching the football on a huge screen. I was the only ‘gringo’ there, and was wondering why we had come. Out came a plate of ceviche and avocado that was incredibly fresh and delicious, I polished it off so quickly they immediately brought out anther plate. The brothers were writing furiously, my enthusiasm for this local speciality clearly evident. Ceviche, this one was sea bass, is now in my top global food experiences.