Barranco

This morning Cecil picked us up for our walking tour of Barranco.

We set out towards the clifftop and soon came face to face with Grand Marshall Ramon Castilla.  A three time president of Peru, he led the country to independence, abolished slavery and boosted the economy by exploiting guano deposits.

Barranco was known for its summer houses perched on the cliff tops overlooking the sea, and the architecture is very varied.  Today, those houses have been turned into coffee shops, restaurants and clubs, and the area has an arty feel to it.

We came across this family group in the park.  They are black vultures, and there are plenty of real ones perched on the ruins of the local church.  Funnily enough, we also saw a lot hanging around the presidential palace yesterday!

Street art abounds, but a lot of it is marred with graffiti.

We called in at the Museo Pedro de Osma, where once again, cameras are banned.  The building was Osma’s home, and was turned into a museum after he died.  It contains his personal collection of religious art and colonial artefacts.

While walking, Cecil explained about “compromises”.  He is originally from the Andes, where this system is still practised.  Instead of getting married, a young couple will move in together with the blessing of both families.  If they later decide that it isn’t working, they just separate.  Cecil had several compromises before he finally got married aged about 45.

Our final call was Las Pallas, billed by the travel company as an art gallery.  It is actually a shop selling indigenous handicrafts from various parts of the Peruvian Amazon and the Andes.  It is owned by a somewhat eccentric English lady called Mary, who insisted on giving us chapter and verse about all the pieces in the shop and who made them.  It isn’t a small shop!

And that was it.  We came away feeling that Barranco has been somewhat over hyped, and is past its best before date.

We did manage to get a photo of our hotel when we got back and then climbed to the top of its tower.  The two buildings were originally built by two Italian brothers, and the tower was where they sat in the evenings to watch the sun go down over the Pacific.  That was before other buildings were put up in front of it, but you can still see a bit of Pacific from the top!