Lima - Nazca

Hotel Antiqua Miraflores. Lima.

Met the whole Solidaridad team at breakfast this morning.

Erik from Holland and Gonzalo, Fredrico and Javier from the Lima office. For reasons that later became clear later I was the only one who ordered coffee. I am open to the possibility that my new found fondness of Pret’s Flat White may have clouded  my judgment as to what constitutes a good cup but the thick liquorice brew I was served should have come with a health warning. Even after adding the complete jug of milk the colour remained jet black. The mouth puckering bitterness and instant palpitations lead me to conclude it had been spiked. I had been the victim of spiking once before in a bar in the US (ask my friend Jeff what happened that night - I have no recollection) but to mess with a man’s coffee in the morning is bang out of order. I am still convinced this was a product with its roots in either of the neighbouring countries of Bolivia or Columbia. My new Peruvian friends just laughed. I guess they had ordered tea for a reason.

Our long road trip to the mining area was to be made in a Hyundai mini bus which with 7 adults and luggage was leaning more towards the mini than the bus.

Before heading off, Gonzalo wanted to show us the artist quarter and the work of some Peruvian jewellers. Still very jumpy I wanted to hit the road. Gonzalo on the other hand was very persuasive. The gallery we visited was a cooperative started by 3 women in a large colonial style building in a wide boulevard leading to the Pacific Ocean. The place was just a blaze of colour, every kind of art and craft represented, not the same but not too dissimilar to work I had seen in Mexico City and Rio.

Dogs, armadillos, porcupines and people; some sculptural; some pictorial and some napkin rings. And loads of kid’s toy games and clothes. Gonzalo assured us the three women were not related to him. The jewellery was very organic, mainly silver, some with an ethnic feel, some gold and some very contemporary with blackened and coloured finishes. Things I might expect to see in the Electrum gallery in South Molton Street.

 Gonzalo is a 5th generation Liman (which in its self almost unheard of due to the massive immigration into the city over the past 150 years). Mid 19th century Lima had a population of 100,000 - today its 8 million; one third of the entire population of Peru. 1% of the population have 99% of the wealth and there is little to no middle class. The area of the country that sits in the Amazon basin has more than 20 dialects or languages. The people are tribal and on the whole don’t take kindly to folks who ain’t from around there.

It made me think of Avatar (pathetic I know) a paradise constantly under threat from outsiders who want what they’ve got. 

We learned that in the late 1950’s and early 60’s a military junta confiscated many of the large Spanish owned estates and land. The politics of the country even today is complicated with over 13 political parties. 11 on the right and 2 on the left. Even the ones on the left are on the right… so no different to New Labour really.

It was soon evident once on the road that every possible wall or flat surface is used to promote one presidential candidate or another. This is done in a large colourful way; kind of monotonous, establishment graffiti.

After our intense geo - political - migratory history of Peru (which by the way I diverted onto football) I was told that unlike the British trend toward single egomaniac billionaire owners, the Peruvian teams are owned by large groups of fans and investors. Crystal are currently top dogs in the 14 team premier league.

The road out of Lima followed the coast on one side and the sprawling slums on the other. Gonzalo gave us the low down on these shanty towns which are often run like conventional towns with clinics, shops and services such as the removal of waste, town planning and therefore a proper sense of community. I have to say as a complete outsider these mountain-side townships often with a sea view and an enviable climate have an order about them making them appear poles apart from similar areas of poverty I have seen in India, South Africa and Brazil.

Once out of the city the landscape changed every few miles, the two consistent elements being the Pacific to the right of us and the Andes to the left; stuck in the middle we headed south. Soon apart from irrigated areas the terrain became desert. Miles and miles of moonscape like desert.

Then out of nowhere appeared a brand new development of condo’s, fashion stores and night clubs; completely targeted at the young and affluent. Shabby trucks and mopeds gave way to Range Rovers and BMW’s. Gonzalo told us that this was the new destination for the hedonistic Liman’s, its known as Asia.

We had lunch on Asia Boulevard. Ceviche, octopus, scallops - not peasant but definitely Peruvian we were told.

From lunch to dusk we drove making only one more stop at Nazca; a town in the desert famous for a phenomenon; centuries old carved lines in the rock depicting a monkey, a spider and circles so vast that they can only be fully seen from the air. No one seems to know much about why they are there or there significance.

Nazca ended up being our stop for the night. After 12 hours driving and with a further 3 and a half to go we stopped initially for dinner at an old Hacienda style hotel. It was faded but beautiful. Complete with a pool table with 2 balls missing, a half empty swimming pool and a couple of old noisy peacocks. We were so car sick, I for one would have settled for a couple of Pesco sours and some ethical fool’s gold rather than carry on that night to the mine.

We checked in. Even Gonzalo couldn’t persuade us back on the bus that night.