I landed in Lima the 24th of August, in the morning, my first Spanish speaking country in South America. Because this flight from Brasil wasn’t planned, I did not know much about it and I was not expecting anything.
Peru was part of the Inca Empire when it was conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century. Lima was the Spanish capital of South America. Peru declared its independence in 1821 but was officially recognised in 1880. Peru is a large country: about 2.3 times metropolitan France, 5.3 times the United Kingdom. Its population is estimated at 31 millions, and about 1/3 live in its capital, Lima. With nearly 10 million inhabitants, Lima is the second largest city in the Americas, after Sao Paulo.
Peruvians say their country is separated in 3 geographical areas: la Costa, la Selva y la Sierra (Coast, Forrest and Mountain).
Most of people use Lima as a stop over to visit the treasures of the past civilisations in the mountains. But I stayed nearly 3 weeks in the capital city for 3 reasons: update the blog, learn Spanish and equip my motorbike (future article)!
As usual, I was staying in a hostel (in a suburb called Miraflores, near the sea), where I met Renee, from Holland. Together, we decided to take intensive Spanish lessons at Peruwayna school, 4 hours per day for 1 week. I also decided to live with a Peruvian family, a contact I obtained through the school.
I recommend this school, we were 4 only in our class (5 maximum) and even though this isn’t enough to be fluent, it does help a lot at being more confident! It costs about 130 US dollars for a week.
I stayed with a Peruvian family because everybody speaks English at the hostel! And I could have my private room and bathroom, and breakfast included, for 15usd per night.
I stayed 2 weeks with ‘my’ Peruvian family, to improve my Spanish, and do some freelance engineering work for clients in Australia, with my laptop.
In Lima, I also caught up with my 2 good friends Jocelyne and Alejandrina I had met in Rio, and who helped me to purchase the motorbike.
One night, I cooked for my family, a Salmon a la Tahitian, my speciality 😉
Alejandrina took me to a lot of places in Lima: her family house, a baby shower… it was very interesting to meet true locals… thanks a lot!
Of course, there have been a few parties… In Miraflores and at the hostel.
My 100th day travelling, the 26th of August:
takemethere 