Hi there,
We arrived in Lima at the end of January 2022. From the plane, the scenery reminded me of Morocco and Egypt.
The first thing we noticed upon arrival at the airport is that the health protocols for covid were impeccably followed. Many of the airport staff even wore full suits. Coming from the disaster of Colombia, we were amazed at that order. We passed many security checks, and they even opened our suitcases and we still left faster than in any other airport.
In Lima they required a covid certificate even to enter the supermarket and withdraw money from the ATM. What I admired the most was that we didn’t see anyone on the street wearing their masks wrongly. In fact, people even wore it for sports.
Also, I was overwhelmed by the education from day one. People in the supermarket listened to you talking about a product and if they were in the middle, they immediately moved away and let you pass.
When we were like crazy looking for a prepaid sim, a guy from a Claro store gave us the sim of a friend of his for free and that way we had a line for a month. He saved our lives because there were no prepaid sims anywhere at that time.
In the stores, with few exceptions, they also attended us with care and dedication. In Falabella to buy some headphones, the guy stayed with us for about an hour, and he got them for us even cheaper than buying online and in the end, he said goodbye to us as if we were lifelong friends.
Through the streets you can walk calmly without the fear of being robbed. Imagine the great change that meant for us coming from the horror of Colombia.
Almost all taxis/Uber were normal, clean and had seat belts.
What we visited in Lima:
- City center
The center of Lima is clean, cared for and you don’t feel insecure. Here we valued even more normal things such as sidewalks, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, etc., they seemed like a luxury to us. Something very important is that there were no homeless people on the street and during the 3 months that we were in Lima, we saw very few.
Here we visited the Catacombs of the Convent of San Francisco that cost 15 soles per person; It is mandatory to visit with a guide that is included in the price. Since we arrived early, we were the only ones, and the tour was relaxed and interesting.
- Miraflores & Barranco
These are the two best areas to live in Lima and Miraflores is the most expensive. Also, we walked the entire beach area from Chorrillos to Magdalena del Mar.
- Huaca Pucllana
It is an archaeological complex prior to the Incas. Admission per person costs 15 soles and it is mandatory to do the guided tour (it is included). The tour was very interesting.
In 1981 the social process of investigating what was there and recovering the entire area began. Before it was a mountain of dirt and a dump, plus the area was very dangerous and full of thugs.
In 2005, the first visit lasted 5 minutes because there was very little to see. They spent most of their time removing trash. The complex will be finished in 2050.
- Museums
We visited all the museums in Lima because we spent three months in the city. Almost all of them are free and you must make a reservation online. We visited during the week and first thing in the morning, so we had the museums to ourselves. Also, I was amazed that they were all immaculate and very well cared for.
I did not visit the Larco Museum or the National Art Museum because they seemed expensive for what little they offered.
Also, we visited Fortaleza del Real Felipe in Callao.
General experience in Lima
Lima is a relatively clean and tidy city that is not bad. Despite being a desert, it feels green because there is a lot of work to maintain the vegetation; all the parks are watered twice a day and you always see people working in the green areas. Although it is a city where you hardly see garbage, it is quite dusty due to the type of land in the area.
I don’t recommend it for staying a lot of time because it has a lot of traffic, and the streets are excessively noisy. We spent the first two months in the Lince area and the second month became quite annoying because the noise from the street was unbearable, especially in our accommodation because the building was on a main avenue.
During peak hours it was crazy with ambulances, firefighters and cars honking horns. I was delighted with the Peruvians for their politeness and courtesy, but those who drove seemed to be crazy. In addition, to the madness of traffic we had to add the noise of constructions since the areas of Lince and San Isidro (mainly) were in the midst of an architectural boom. Another unbearable thing: car alarms are going off everywhere all day long.
Barranco and Miraflores (the most expensive) are the best areas of Lima and the best option to stay. Lince and San Isidro are also good areas, but they have a lot more traffic and I don’t recommend them; anyway, there will always be noise.
It is important that, if you are going to look for accommodation, you see exactly where the building is with Google Maps, this will make the difference between being able to sleep or not. Remember that buildings in Latin America are poorly isolated and you must make sure that the accommodation is on a small street where there is no traffic.
Regarding tourist rentals, here we found better and cheaper accommodations than in Playa del Carmen and Colombia. In addition, most of the hosts were super attentive and concerned about giving you a good service.
When I visited, Lima was in full architectural boom; the number of new and under construction buildings was impressive. The typical architecture of Lima is disappearing, and the old houses are being replaced by new mega buildings.
Another thing that I liked is that in the buildings there are a series of strict rules that are followed to ensure proper rest, such as that it is forbidden to make noise after 18h; if there is any problem, you call the security personnel so that they take charge and if the problem persists, it is reported to the administrator so that he can issue the respective fine.
This is something that we would have dreamed of in Spain; but there, if you have noisy neighbors or a dog that barks all day, you have no choice but to sell the apartment.
Lima has a beach, but in my opinion, it’s not pretty and it’s all made of stone; plus, you have the highway right behind you, so you’re bathing on the beach listening to the crazy traffic.
Supermarkets are very well stocked, and you can find everything. I was surprised to find quinoa cheap like any other lentil-type legume; in Europe, quinoa is much more expensive. In general, the food is of a very good quality and there was a lot of variety of fruit and vegetables; besides having the best corn in the world.
Medical centers seem to function well. I had to do my routine breast echo in Lima, it cost me $35, they treated me without any wait and in 20 minutes they gave me the results. We also got Botox which was cheaper than in Europe and the service was excellent.
Some things are more expensive than in Europe. Of the food, olive oil, tofu, nuts, and other seeds, were very expensive. Skincare also has crazy prices; for example, The Ordinary products were 4 times more expensive than in Europe or the United States. I asked about laser hair removal prices and the full body session for men cost between $250 and $1000, when in Spain it costs $120.
Gyms and swimming pools were excessively expensive. An hour in the pool was $10. Gyms were $100-$200 a month and you could only go 3 times a week.
We also got the third dose of the Covid vaccine in Lima and I was delighted with how well everything worked. Much more organized and better attention than in Spain. Also consider that in very few countries you can get a free vaccine as a tourist.
In general, the stay in Lima was good, especially considering that we arrived traumatized from Colombia. I loved the order, the cleanliness, the education of the Peruvians, the smooth running of everything. The bad thing is the excesive noise in the streets and that’s why I couldn’t live there. In addition, there are no parks or large green areas, so you have almost nowhere to walk or play sports. We were there for three months and in addition to the absence of large parks, we lacked a good weekly sports routine since the swimming pools and gyms were excessively expensive and with very limited plans.
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