Corruption

Lima, Peru 85F sunny

We are now south of the equator where the seasons are opposite. It is summer in Lima. Hard to equate summer with February but the thermometer supports the season. The numbers and such in this post are from the various tour guides. The numbers were consistent between the different guides, but I have not verified them.

Peru is a developing country. Their economy is tied to mining, agriculture and tourism. They hold about 45% of the available lithium in the world and copper is another huge ore for them. Agriculturally, the rain forest makes it very easy to cultivate produce for export. They export flowers, a lot of potatoes, corn, tropical fruit and blueberries even though blueberries are not native to Peru. Peru is one of the top world suppliers of blueberries. While Tourism is important, the guides all agreed that the government is completely corrupt, and that instability affects tourism numbers. 4 past presidents are in jail for their actions. There should be 5 but one former president convicted, shot himself before entering jail. Peru is formed as a democratic republic, but the high level of corruption makes that very fragile. Fun fact - voting in Peru is compulsory. Anyone who does not vote is fined the equivalent of $30 USD.

Lima is built in a desert that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Any green that is present in Lima is due to irrigation from the Rimac river as it rarely rains in Lima. Lima's economic divisions are very visible. 70% of jobs are considered 'unformal'. The 30% formal jobs are working for a business or company that is obligated to pay taxes and provides health insurance, life insurance, vacation time and retirement. Unformal jobs do not pay taxes and are more entrepenurial such as street food vendors, windshield washers, selling items to cars in traffic, street market stalls. As unformal jobs, there is no provided health care, life insurance, vacation time or retirement. 15% of Lima's population lives in low poverty.

Those living in the upscale neighborhoods next to the Pacific Ocean have clean streets, nightlife, parks, security and multiple stores/restaurants. However, it costs $5000 usd per sq meter and much more if you have an ocean view.

Miraflores is one of the high end neighborhoods in Lima. Love Park full of statues, grass and flowers runs across the top of the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The edge of the park was a sharp drop over the cliff, down to the Pacific Ocean. So sharp people were paragliding off one section of the park.

You can get some idea how far down the ocean really is.

There was beach access at the bottom-but not a large beach at all. Peru has some world class surfacing and you can see some surfers along the left of the picture.

Middle class neighborhoods have newer construction, are clean with businesses and restaurants. New apartments are priced at $2000usd per sq meter with the usual size of 80 sq meter for a family of 4 (860 sq ft). If the family has been able to purchase a house, the children will normally live with their parents until marriage. At that point a new level will be added to the parents' house for the new family to move upstairs. Houses have a flat roof to accommodate the build with a saying of their house is never finished - it just gets taller.

Slums or 'shanty town' are home to the 25% living in low poverty. Lower class neighborhoods are crumbling, dirty and unsafe. This picture was taken from the side of the presidential palace, looking across the Rimac river to where the slums are located, behind the taller business buildings. Notice the arid mountains - there is no irrigation for green space in slums. Without irrigation, all of Lima would look like that.

Lima is located in the Pacific ring of fire. Tremors are quite common on a monthly basis. So common that they have indicated 'safe zones' for people to gather. Safe zones are really just out in the open identified with a painted 10 ft circle and an 'S' painted in the middle. They have not had a devastating earthquake in recent history so the historical center is well preserved and filled with Spanish colonial architecture among other periods.

The Cathedral of Lima. Due to the Spanish influence about 70% of the population is Catholic.

Examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the same plaza. The large balconies provide light and air movement to buildings.

In the evening a small group of us went to a water fountain park. This park has a large number of fountains in different designs and lit in different colors for the evening. Since it is summer vacation, it is a very popular destination for families with children. The park is open from 4pm to 10pm nightly. Very busy with families, kids, vendors, food - splash pads, trampolines, playgrounds and a kiddie train driving around the park. Starting at 7pm there were hourly shows on the history of Peru. This consisted of projecting a video onto a wall of water mist as music played. No words but you could certainly follow along with scenes such as Inca civilization, the Spanish conquering Peru, wars, Macchu Picu, agriculture, animals etc. It was definitely a typical Peruvian family experience!

Finally South America has a flourishing wall mural or graffiti community. This is a rather tame display, but I liked the very old building, the bougainvillea, and lamp post as well.

We are on the way to Arica - the first stop in Chile. The clocks are now being moved ahead on a somewhat regular basis. Clocks were moving back when we traveled west in the Atlantic but now move forward, traveling west in the Pacific. The internation date line will only confound my confusion!

Adios!