Callao y Lima, Perú

Our stop in Callao and Lima continued on Friday, March 12, 2010 and we were given the opportunity to do some sight seeing on our own. We were told that many of the café’s and bars offered free WiFi for its customers so Alice and I took the shuttle and headed to the shopping center. Our drive to the center was by a different route than yesterday and gave us a chance to see another side of the city.

The government is making a major effort to create a park like atmosphere at the coastline. A new road runs along the shoreline for miles. In an effort to fill in the land and make parks for walking, biking etc., fill dirt and rocks are being added to extend the level areas adjacent to the roadway. Long lines of huge dump trucks are bringing fill and depositing it along the edge of the hillside and bulldozers are pushing it around and making it sort of level. A closer look at the fill material was quite a revelation. Mixed in with the rocks and sand were plastic bags and bottles, clothing, shoes and even some small automobile tires.

I’m guessing that a landfill somewhere else was being emptied to provide the new fill required to create the new Coastline Park. Some day the archeologists will have an interesting time exploring the coastline beneath the grass and the walkways.

We arrived at the shopping center and went directly to the arcade of shops and restaurants. We found the Sofa Café, took at seat outside on the shaded patio, ordered a couple of beers and set up the computer. Luckily the power outlet available was a standard North American style so I did not have to drain the battery.

Cusquena, is a local dark beer that is full bodied and a little sweet, very enjoyable on a hot day. We sat there for a few hours taking advantage of the WiFi and ordered a few more beers and some sandwiches. Soon it was time to meet the shuttle bus to return to the ship.

As we were walking up the steps to the street level we noticed that there were a half dozen hang gliders in the air above the beach. The strong prevailing winds of the Pacific made a near perfect setting for this interesting sport. Some of the gliders had two people riding on the wind. It was a beautiful site.

The bus arrived on time and we went back to the ship one more time. Early in the evening the ship sailed north from the Port of Callao. Next stop is expected to be Salaverry, Peru, which is the commercial port for the city of Trujillo.