Exploring Lima - Miraflores

Miraflores is perhaps Lima’s most well-known, touristic district. Home to the Parque del Amor, Larcomar shopping centre, Parque Kennedy and countless bars and restaurants, it is a vibrant hub of activity. Since it is located on the seafront, one can partake in water sports and even go paragliding along the Costa Verde. I tried both.

Paragliding

Paragliding was glorious; I went just at the beginning of summer, on a stunningly clear day, from the site just along the coast from the Parque del Amor. You get strapped into an apparatus somewhere between a chair and a harness, then the professional glider (I’m sure there’s a more elegant word for this person, but it escapes me) attaches him or herself to you. Mine attached himself to me, checked the camera as working, then told me to run. Before I even processed the words, he had started sprinting (taking me along with him), and I had just got the words ‘run where?’ out of my mouth before we were off the ground and over the cliff edge.

(Getting a bird's eye view of Lima)

We flew over the Parque del Amor’s famous mosaiced curves; the straight-edged concrete of the city’s skyscrapers; the green parks and the shimmering water crashing below. I should point out that you even get a video of yourself flying over the coastline, city and sea. I think that’s a great idea, because the sensation does feel slightly unreal – it was another rare moment of utter peace. Of course, this video did also capture the slightly hairy moment I thought I was going to crash into the JW Marriott hotel skyscraper (the change of expression on my face says it all). Fortunately (at least for me), we did not crash and instead swooped over the edifice like one of the pelicans you find inhabiting the shore. For 200 s/. (approximately £50), it’s such an exhilarating, freeing and totally worthwhile experience.

Surfing

In the water, I tried my hand at surfing. Paddle boarding, a slightly calmer activity, is also available, but I decided to jump in at the deep end this time. The school I went to for my class is based near the Rosa Náutica restaurant, already noted on this blog for its pier and excellent gin martinis. There is a concise on-land class regarding how to get to your feet on the board, when to do so, and how to stay balanced (ha!). Then, into the water we go.

My friend and I each had a personal teacher/carer to help us and, presumably, make sure we didn’t get washed out to sea. They were very friendly, relaxed and competent. For someone used to the shores of Britain and Catalonia, the waves of the South Pacific were very strong and very tall – all the better for surfing, although after the class I felt like I had been squeezed through a pasta maker. I’m going to level with you and confess that in my everyday life, I am chronically uncoordinated. At home, I have earnt the nickname ‘Dropper’ for my tendency to send any item I am holding (or just standing near) toppling to the ground. Trying to jump to my feet on a moving board atop an undulating, heaving surface was never going to be an instant success. I fell off the board about twelve times, and the one time I actually managed to stand up and balance for more than five seconds, it took me so much by surprise that I panicked and jumped off.

I jokingly told my teacher that I was a lost cause, to which he laughingly responded that he had been surfing for twenty years, nobody can expect to get it on the first day – a good thing to remember in any new venture. It was actually a really fun lesson, regardless of my lack of natural ability, and definitely a good workout. Afterwards, my friend and I climbed the hill back up to the bustle of Miraflores and celebrated our new experience with ceviche and beer – after all, we’d earnt it!

Fuelling my adventures: bars and restaurants

I have already mentioned a couple of my favourite cocktail bars in Miraflores: La Rosa Náutica and the Irish bar Houlihan’s. What I didn’t mention was the variety of restaurants and cafés there are around. One of my personal favourite places to go when I just wanted to chill out with a coffee and a book was a café-bar called Chef’s Café, just next to Parque Kennedy. The establishment has indoor and outdoor seating; I used to like sitting in the outdoor space, next to the street, where I could read or just watch the people go by, over a brandy coffee. Another lovely café is in the Larcomar shopping centre, and overlooks the vast ocean and sweeping coastline; La Bonbonniere offers a range of hot and cold drinks, as well as French and Peruvian food, but again my favourite way to utilise this space was to find a seat by the windows on the covered balcony, open my book and breathe in the sea air with a coffee. Perfecto.

(My view when having a coffee one day at La Bonbonniere)

I once was lucky enough to stumble across a great bar in Miraflores (on one of the streets off the Avenida Jose Pardo) whose name I never knew, but which seemed to be separated into two parts – one with a television, where a group of locals were watching a football match, and another with a little dance floor. I remember the soundtrack was strictly disco, with lighting to match; my parents and I danced away a good couple of hours over pisco sours and gooey, cheesy tequeños. That was a great night and one of my best memories of my time in Lima. If you have luck on your side, perhaps you will find it, too.

Parks and cats

To wrap up this section about Miraflores, I have to tell you about its park. The Parque del Amor has already been mentioned in passing in this post, but now it can get some real attention. Quite small, but overlooking the ocean, the park is full of undulating walls and seats covered in colourful mosaics. The mosaics themselves are not limited to aesthetic designs, but also include loving or heartbroken phrases woven into the artwork. In the centre of the park stands a statue of an embracing couple, representing clearly the theme of the space. In addition to the tourists passing by, you will also find local dog-walkers, couples and teenagers practicing their skateboarding or parkour.

My favourite park in all of Lima, though, has to be Parque Kennedy. This is a park in perhaps the more traditional sense of the word: trees, grass, benches, food stalls selling snacks, and cats. Cats in the trees, on the grass, on and under the seats. Cats everywhere. There is even a charity to support and adopt the cats of Parque Kennedy, with a stall just outside the park’s entrance.

(So many cats!)

I loved going to the park just to sit and watch the cats chilling out, or take photos of the more confident ones. It is sometimes also host to live music or small art exhibitions, which you might want to appreciate by walking around and admiring them whilst eating a portion of picarones (sticky-sweet, caramelly sweet potato doughnuts) picked up from one of the vendors. It is also conveniently close to a branch of Pinkberry, so there is nothing stopping you from getting a frozen yoghurt and skipping back to the park to relax under the trees, eat, and hang out with your friends or just observe the passers-by.

Next time, I will be talking about the famously bohemian district of Barranco!

Photo gallery