Lomas de Lúcumo

As promised I told you I would tell you more about the new finds I have discovered in Lima. First, we'll start with Lomas de Lúcumo.

I think the best way to start describing Lomas de Lúcumo is with a picture...

Does anyone else feel like singing songs from the Sound of Music after seeing this sight? Well, we did! The hills were definitely alive with the sound of music whether the other hikers liked it or not!

Here's a picture of some of the lovely ladies I went hiking with!

We spent all day at Lomas de Lúcumo soaking up some sun, chilling on big rocks we climbed up on to, and hiking of course. It was definitely worth the slightly tricky two combi and one taxi ride to get there! I'd go back in a heartbeat, but there are so many other places I want to explore as well!

So I'm sure you're all wondering how such beautiful green hills are located within the desert region of Lima... Or not, but it's actually very simple so I'll tell you anyways! As I experienced during my first month here, winter in Lima is simultaneous with a constant light mist and depending on how close you are to the ocean, a sea mist too. Lomas de Lúcumo are kept in this luscious green state from both of these factors, despite their desert status! 

In fact, for being in a desert Lima does a surprisingly good job at maintaining green space... which in my opinion brightens any city. One of my favorite additions of green space can be found in areas that double as yards and parking lots. Having alternating stripes of grass and concrete seemed unnecessary to me at first (and probably very time consuming to pour concrete for), but now I have grown to love it! Isn't this so much nicer than just having a slab of solid concrete?....

Try not to be distracted by my SWEET future car and peruvian sweater... 

Below both of those you can see the half grass/half concrete yards I'm talking about. Nifty looking, huh?

Anyways, as I mentioned in my last blog I want to tell you more about random things I've discovered in Lima that have made me feel more connected to such a big city... It's just like finding your own place within any city and I've started to do just that within Lima!

One of my new favorite things to do is go to Parque Kennedy in the Miraflores district of Lima. There is always something going on there whether it's an art exhibit, a small market, or my most recent find... Every Friday night a bunch of people gather to watch sassy "viejos", or older peruvian men and woman, shake it to tradition peruvian dances. It makes me so happy to not only experience part of their culture through dance, but also see how much energy they all still have! If this doesn't make you smile I don't know what will...

Another great find is el Peruanito in Miraflores. This sandwich shop is a bit off the beaten path, but well worth it. The constant crowd speaks for itself. The sandwiches, fresh fruit juice, and deserts are out of this world! I'll definitely be going back...

This final activity isn't something I discovered in Lima, but it sure helped pass time the other day when I didn't have much to do and no one to travel with... I decided to get creative and try a nail painting technique I found online the other day. If you look very closely you'll be able to see little letters on my pink nails. Don't try to read the words too hard because not only are they in spanish, but they are also backwards. The technique I used entailed dipping my already painted and dried nails into hydrogen peroxide and holding a newspaper cutting (in my case, a clipping from a recent Perú soccer game) on the drying nail for 30 seconds. When all was done I not only had nifty looking nails, but also could remember stats from the game! :P

That's all for now, but I just got back from a weekend trip with some friends so you can expect a blog all about Huaraz soon! In the meantime, here's some spanish vocab just for fun...

Las lomas= hills

Hasta Luego,

Katie :)