To build a state-of-the art
Community Learning/Cultural Centre
for the disadvantaged in Peru
Introduction
Passport
I obtained it from one of the decentralised locations in Miraflores.
(The Ovalo Gutierrez)
They had state-of-the-art computer systems for finger printing and a camera to take your face picture for passports.
There was a queue of about 3 hours. But, it took less than 2mins to apply (hand in application and have my finger prints and picture taken).
I then picked up my passport 2 hours later. There was no extra cost.
My DNI (social securiy card) had taken 3 elapsed weeks, but I only had to wait for approx. 15mins to apply and the same again when I picked it up; one is given a date and time.
This is very impressive.
Tasty Food
Beautiful Parcs
Circuito Magico del Agua - Parque de la Reserva
View video
View Location
Opened in July, 2007. Built at a cost of US $15m.
Entrance fee: S/.4 Soles ($1). It has 13 fountains.
It holds the Guinness Record as the biggest fountain complex in the world and the tallest fountain (80m) in a public park .
Next parc
Miraflores: Costa Verde
Central Lima: Parque de la Exposicion o Gran Parque de Lima
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New Buildings in Lima
Commercial:
In San Isidro and in Miraflores
see Residential properties
Residential:
In Miraflores and in San Isidro
see Commercial properties
Rennovation of Colonial style buildings
In 1988, UNESCO declared the historic center of Lima a World Heritage Site
Archeological "finds"
Oldest civilisation in the Americas - 3,000 BC
The walls represent fishing nets
Pre-Incan temple complex which was used by both the Wari and Lima cultures from 500-800c. It initially had an area of approximately 20 hectares, but now is only 6 hectares, due to urban development, which did not value ancient ruins until only recently.
Caral:
Built around 2800BC.
It is the oldest civilsation in the Americas so far discovered.
Chan Chan and Huacas del Sol y Luna.
(In the north of Peru)
The Huaca Pucllana (200 - 700 AD) in Miraflores, Lima.
I remember flying my kite on top of this whilst my mother went to the nearby Clinica Delgado.
It is good to see money being spent on uncovering these historical ruins.
(I didn't get to visit Machu Picchu this time; I went there in 1969)
Driving
Size matters!
Unless otherwise controlled by police or traffic lights, a smaller vehicle will always give way to a larger vehicle - even when joining a roundabout. (and "Yes", drivers do tend to obey the traffic lights!)
No "carcochas"! (these were old, rusty cars).
I learnt to drive in Lima when I was 17, it was fun!
It used to be like dodgems; trying to avoid other (older) cars crashing in to you so that they could claim from you to get a wing replaced.
Today, nobody wants to crash in to you as they will loose time, and time is money!
Cars are relatively expensive, as are motorbikes over 250cc. Smaller motorbikes, mostly imported from China, are relatively cheap.
I had bought myself an old 4x4 Huyndia which I overhauled as I had planned to travel extensively; so all cars tended to give way to me.
Smoking
In comparison to the UK and France, there are very few smokers in Peru.
It was noticeable that it was largely the higher income earners that smoked.
Tobaconists are very scarce; even in Miraflores, Lima.
I saw two street sellers in Miraflores who sold cigarettes individually.
Unsuprisingly, I couldn't buy cigarette papers in Villa María del Triunfo!
(I smoke - I have rolled my own cigarettes for about 25 years)
Click to See: "Peru per capita cigarette consumption drops by 20 percent"
Safety/Security
It was difficult for me to get my head around this subject.
On my arrival I was impressed by Pablo to be very careful. "Put your camera down so it is not seen", he told me in the car.
(Pablo is 52 and of Amerindian origin and had worked for my father since he was 16).
Had Lima changed that much since I was last there?
I used to catch the collectivos and buses, and go into some rather dubious districts of Lima at night when I was 19; sometimes alone. And here I was being told to be careful in our own car?
I went out on foot from my father's apartment in Miraflores with some trepidation - what a fool I was!
I am pleased to say that I was soon taking the buses and collectivos again and visited the centre of Lima at night on foot.
In my view, it is a state of mind. Most foreigners, and "the better off Peruvians", do not catch public transport; they never have!
more . .
Safety/Security (contd)
However, don't get me wrong. One has to be careful.
In the time I was there, a German was shot in Lima taking money out of an ATM, a Swizz woman was raped and murdered in the south of Peru (near Arequipa I think; she was travelling alone in a car). An American I met in Huanchaco told me how he was robbed at gun point by three youths on the beach in the south of Peru; they took his Ipod!
Outside of Lima one does not/should not travel at night. Like any country, there are places one does not go unless you go with "a local".
I was unsure whether to buy a hand-gun for my travels. I should have.
Police that I met on my way into the Andes (to the Callejón de Huaylas) expressed surprise that I was travelling alone. A policeman, to whom I gave a lift near Huaraz, strongly advised me to have a handgun.
I didn't encounter any problems in my 6 week travels, albeit that there was one occasion that I would have liked to have had a handgun.
This was when I was on a country track and had sought the help of a couple of local indigenous farmers returning on their donkeys from ploughing the field. They warned me to be careful as at night "highwaymen" frequented the track; they told me that they had made a detour "just in case"!
The Police
"The two national policemen kicked the guy hard two or three times as he lay unconscious on the pavement". Nope, this wasn't Lima, this was in a busy tourist area in Lanzarote-Spain, ten years ago!
(I had seen this guy collapse in the street and I had asked the police for their help).
In general I found the police in Peru very approachable and friendly; I even gave one a lift and treated him to lunch in Huaraz.
The traffic police in Lima are incredible, very good at their job; to keep the traffic flowing.
Some of the female traffic police are very beautiful, (and even flirt with you!)
Yep, there is corruption. I was approached three times with the opportunity of bribery.
I will relate one event which I believe demonstrates progress.
The Police (contd)
I was returning in my car to Villa María del Triunfo with Fernando and he was filming with my video camera.
We passed two policemen in a car that were talking to someone at the side of the road. In no time at all they had caught us up and stopped us and asked for our papers.
"Who are you?", and "Why were you filming us?", they asked.
I explained that I was on holiday and filmed everything. They thanked us and went on their way.
Basically, they were concerned that we may have been "spying on them"; there has been much media coverage of police corruption.
Years ago, they would not have been the least concerned .
Fewer beggars in the street
I see more street beggars in London!
That is not to say that there aren't any poor; just that they have been "discouraged" from the streets of Lima.
Suprisingly, this was also the case in Huancayo - in the Andes, which is very much poorer than Lima.
Social Housing
I really don't know the extent of social housing projects in Peru.
However, there is one that is worth a mention, right behind the President's palace in central Lima.
This is a prototype project created by the Mayor of Lima, Luis Castañeda Lossio .
The people were moved out, the properties were completely rennovated and the tenants offered a contract which involved them paying an affordable monthly rent. In ten years they would own their apartment.
It was just nearing completion in 2008.
Castañeda is one of the most popular mayors of Lima with a popularity index close to 79%.
He won re-election as the city's mayor in November 2006 with 48% of the vote.
see more about Luis Castañeda Lossio
Infrastructure
We now have a new highway into Lima - the via Expressa, and a new road running below the cliffs stretching from the Magdalena area to the Chorrillos district in Lima.
There is a lot more - and it looks as tho Luis Castañeda Lossio (Lima Mayor) has been quite busy.
I also saw new cables being laid alongside the Pan American highway to the north of Lima for what I believe to be communications.
The road east from Lima to Huancayo in the Andes looks new too.
And, remember, I did not travel south, to Arequipa, nor to Cuzco. Neither did I go to Cajamarca in the north. So, I don't know what is happening there.
Stronger Media
OK - this is something that really impressed me!
In 1969 one didn't talk in public about politics in case you were over-heard.
"Are you trying to get me arrested" were the words my father used when I asked him some 15 years ago over the phone from England to fill me in on the political situation in Peru.
Today, there are political satirical Television programs, as good as those one may see on UK television.
Also, remembering that the higher income earners largely originated from Spain and have retained their "male domination" (un-like contemporary Spain), I was impressed by a Peruvian current affairs TV program.
It was a woman interviewing the Mayor of Miraflores concerning some scaffolding that had collapsed on a building project in Miraflores and I guess the "safety" issues.
The Mayor's body language was incredible - he shifted in his seat, was extremely uncomfortable, looked to bring in the second (male) interviewer (with no success) as he was grilled by the lady interviewer.
Jeremy Paxman would have been proud of her!
Jeremy Paxman
Stronger Legal System: Trial of Fujimori
I am not qualified to discuss the Peruvian Legal system nor Peruvian politics.
However, the fact that the trial of a previous President was held is an incredible achievement.
It was also televised live during the time that I was there.
Alberto Fujimori
What did I like?
I got a copy of my birth certificate in 30min. from the Town Hall in Miraflores and I re-newed my Peruvian passport in 5 hours.
Tasty food, such as chirimoyas, avocados, mangos, papayas, strong lemons (for lemonade), ceviche (fish) and anticuchos (beef hearts): I had forgotten how tasty the fruit was - delicious!
Beautiful parcs.
New buidlings; residential and commercial
continue
What did I like? (contd)
"What didn't I like"?
