So Pepe and I successfully met up in the Lima airport and so the journey begins.

We stayed in a youth hostel for a few nights about 2 blocks from the ocean in the district called Barranco. Barranco and its neighbor, Miraflores, are the more posh end of town. It didn’t seem like we where in a Latin American country. The colors, architecture, and vibe definitely aren’t like most places in Central America, at least. Of course, once you leave the posh districts it looks a lot more latino–dilapidated cinderblock cubes.

I admittedly didn’t know what to expect or what there was to see in Lima. I had, however, seen a commercial back in Guate that was promoting a board game that is dedicated to Peruvian cuisine. I was surprised to find out that Peru is notorious for a plethora of dishes. One dish we had set out to find right away was the Peruvian ceviche. Most Latin American countries seems to have their own varieties of ceviche, but apprarently Peru is its place of origin (or so I understood from a Jeopardy question I heard recently.) The dish of Peruvian ceviche we tried is basically raw seafood (oysters, octopus, fish) covered in lime juice. I think I prefer the Guatemalan version better–chopped tomato, onion, cilantro and shrimp over saltines. Another daring dish we tried is anticucho–skewered cow heart. If you didn’t know which organ it was you would probably think it was just steak. I exposed my blonde roots when I pointed out to everyone that you could see the vein canals…they were actually just the skewer holes. My bad.

The biggest food risk we will have to take is the cuy–guinea pig. They usually bake or fry them whole. It will be a hassle to convince Pepe to split it. He doesn’t even like to eat pork.

I’ve taken quite a liking to a traditional drink called chicha morada-boiled blue corn with apple cinnamon and clove. If you can find some blue corn in your local super, I suggest you find a recipe online and give it a try. (image from stock)

We didn’t spend much time in Lima because we would both prefer to spend more time in more natural places. In Lima, we mostly just walked around and hang out in the parks.

Next: Paracas National Reserve & Las Islas Ballestas