'Private' bus tour of Lima, Preu

In Lima, there are many differnt driving and bus tours of the city. With a population of nearly 10 million people, Lima is expansive, covering an area that rivals Chicago. For this reason, it is a good idea to go with an organized 'private' tour provider.

After taking a look at some of these 'private' tours, I decided it would be better to venture out on foot and bus to explore the city. The private tours cost $20-50 depending on the sites visited, and I prefer to explore myself anyway. Although the privateness of not interacting with the people of Peru was VERY appealing (Why would anyone want to visit a country and not interact with the people?), I thought just getting on any of the millions of busses in the city would wet my appetite for adventure.

The busses in Peru are worse and more numerous than the busses in Costa Rica. In Peru, every bus is covered with the names of places you can go: 'TASCA', 'Barrancos', 'Chorillios', 'Miraflores', 'Tdo Arequipa'. Each bus has at least 10 places written on it, sugesting where it might go. This is quite perplexing, because most of the busses doen't actually go where it says on their sides. The only way to know where it is really going is to ask the wingman of the bus as he hurriedly shoves people on and off the bus. I waited for a while to select my first bus, knowing that this could be the most important decision I made all day. After watching for a bit, I saw the first 'Wingwoman' and promplty boarded her bus. The only seat open was right in front of her post at the front door, so I sat there. 'This is going to be a great opportunity for me to practice my spanish and get a private guided tour of the city' I thought as the bus rattled into the diesel smoke-filled Avenida Arequipa.

The entire city of Lima is a giant grid, not unlike LA, and there are good parts and bad parts. Avenida Arequipa passes through the center of the city. I got to see the national museum, capital buildings, and some of the other famous sites in Lima. I had gotten into a conversation with the wingwoman, and she was guiding me through the city as we went. I asked her to point out all the important site and some of the history. She was happy to oblige in between yelling at the driver and getting her passengers on and off as efficiently as posibble. I asked her to tell me when we were in TASCA, the central stop, so I could get off and walk around downtown.

As we passed through the center and crossed over the motorway into another part of Lima, I figured she knew better than I, and that we still hadn´t gotten to the center. We began getting into poorer and poorer areas, and the building kept getting older and older. I asked a few times if we were close, but 45 minutes later, I knew something was up. I told her I was getting off at the next stop, and asked if the busses going in the other direction would take me back to the center of Lima. She told me that her bus would take me back, at the end of its route. All I had to do was wait till the end (on a seemingly interminable ride across the urban sprawl that is Lima), eat lunch with her, and then wait for the bus to come all the way back around. I wasn´t impressed, and got off at the next stop I could.

This stop left me somewhere about one hour outside of the city center in one of the poorest looking areas I have ever been in. None of the houses had complete walls, and most looked as if they had been burnt to the ground. All of the houses were built with brick and mortar, with no doors and tin roofs, if they had a roof. I was the only non-peruvian person I had seen since I left Miraflores two hours earlier, and I was getting pretty worried about my wellbeing. I knew I could probably get a taxi back for $30, but I wasn´t quite ready to use that safety net yet.

I walked across the motoway to the traffic going the other direction and got on the first microbus that passed. Once I was on the new bus going the way I had came, I was feeling a bit easier, and my stomach began to untwist the knot it was in. About an hour later I was back in Lima Central where I had originally wanted to go.

The moral of the story is, if the wingwoman on a bus starts flirting with you, even if you don´t realize it, pay attention to where you are going and go with your gut instinct. I knew where I thought I was supposed to get off, but trusting her experience and not paying attention to her posibble alterior motives put me into a crazy situation. I feel fortunate that I got to see part of Lima that 99.9% of people visiting the country will never see. Now, that is a private tour.

The Two Guys Who Run Lima, Peru

In Lima, Peru, there are two guys who run the entire city. Whatever it is that you need or want, you must pass through them to get it. If you are crossing the street, these are the guys who decide if you live or die. They are 'the driver' and 'the drivers's assistant'.

The Driver

The Wingman

These guys share a weird kind of symbiotic relationship. While the driver is the employer of the wingman, the wingman can abuse the driver. If the wingman is on a bad day, the driver can fire the wingman. Communication between the two is rarely civil, and they rarely exchange more than a few words. The Wing Man gets paid on comission for how many people he can get on the bus. The driver is self employed, but is too bad at customer service to get clients on his bus. Thus, they need each other. While on my 'Private' bus tour of Lima, I got to observe a few of these dynamic duos. Here is a sample conversation:

Wing Man: 'Hurry, hurry, get on the bus!' (yelling at patrons)
Driver: 'Talk to me!'
WM: 'Still boarding.'
D: 'Hold on!' (as he speeds into traffic with people still boarding)
WM: 'Wait!'
D: 'Load the bus faster you asshole!'
WM: 'The people are too slow, lets go!'
D: (sticks arm out window and honks horn to indicate merging into speeding traffic)
WM: 'Paradero! Paradero!' (bus stop!)
D: 'We're not stopping at this stop. The bus is full' (traffic stops in front of bus so he opens door to let people on).
WM: 'Hurry, hurry, get one the bus!!!'

Without these two guys, the controled chaos that is Lima, Peru, would digress into utter madness. Thank you, driver and wingman.

Hola de Peru.

So, I've touched down in Peru and everything went smoothly. I checked my kayak from Portland to Lima through El Salvador and it made it, for only $50. It was a pleasant suprise finding all of my gear at the bagage claim in Lima.

Arriving in the airport in Lima is quite simlar to Costa Rica. There are tons of people offering you a ride, pressuring you to their hotel, and generally making your life more stresssful than is necessary. I think its a tactic to get people to make split decisions to do things in an uncomfortable situation.

I had a ride arranged to Miraflores and they were there to pick me up. The roads in Peru rival those of CR, with eight lanes crammed into a space big enough for only three or four. The weaving, the people, the motorbikes and the police are only there as a suggestion for what you should do or where you should go.

I went out with a few canadians last night walking around Miraflores and checking out the night scene. There is a central park here with lots of locals selling their handicrafts, foods, and services.

I went for a walk this morning along the coast. The coastline is very dramatic with a steep rocky drop down into the sea from the city. This is a popular place for paragliding off of the rocky cliff face. The paragliders were impressive, just lifting off of the ground and hovering a few feet up with amazing control.

I'm headed south in the next few days for the southern coast, making my way down to Arequipa.

daysontheriver blog back up!

Hey all,

So after a great 6 months of summer here in the US, I will be traveling again for the winter. This winter has some great adventures in store!

On October 8th, I will be flying to Lima, Peru. My first week will be spent aquainting myself with Peru, perhaps some treking around Machu Pichu, and trying to get my hands on a kayak if mine doesn't make it down. Good luck is about as good as you can do with kayaks on planes. On October 15th I'm meeting up with the Wet Planet Crew, and we're going to do a month of boating through Peru. We'll be down in the Cotahuasi, and Colca Canyons, the two deepest canyons on earth, followed by the Apurimac, Tombopata, Urubamba, and others.

After a month with that crew, Andy Round, Ben West, Scott Baker, and I will be headed out on a 4 month South American paddling epic. We'll be hitting Bolivia, Chile, and possibly others. Keep an eye on the blog to see where we're at. Itinerary subject to change. Vamos a ver.

Back in the US of A

Hello all,

Thanks for stopping by. I'm back in the US, and am now back to tracking my adventures at: daysontheriver.com Check it out.

Jonathan

3/13/2007 - Rio Toro, Lower

The Toro flows far below the silver bridge that crosses it between Aqua Zarcas and San Miguel. Unfortunatley, from here down the pig farm nearby contaminates the water, making it a less satisfying whitewater experience. However, for those who are willing to brave the "Caca Cascade", it is a section full of wonderful whitewater (brown water).

The rapids are similar to the Recreo Verde section, but not as steep, and not as continuous. There are still some tight turns and boulder gardens to be had. The fist 30 minutes in this section took getting used to the pig smell, but after that, the river was back to fun again! (photos coming soon)

About an hour down from the bridge is a great lunch spot. It is on a river right beach with a small hut on the shore. I think it may be commercial, but there wasn't anyone there when we passed through. Nothing like a warm beach to enjoy tortillas with tuna fish and chicky's. Below here is a rapid that has a log sticking out across the right side of the river. You can duck under it or go hard left.

About halfway down this run the character of the run changes dramatically. The canyon opens up, and it goes to "small bigwater" boating. The holes get a bit bigger and the river seems to double in size and volume. The open plains are a welcome change and it is surprising that the gradient continues with quality whitewater, even though the river is open and out of the canyon. There is also the drone of the chicadees that can be deafening. Its amazing that such small animals can make so much noise with their legs.

We were floating down this open pastured section when we noticed a monkey in a tree. Closer inspection revealed that there was a whole family of them, and that they were as interested in the small colorful things in the river as we were in them. Its this kind of wildlife and experiences that make Costa Rica such a fun place to be. (photo coming soon)

2/12/2007 - Rio Toro - Recreo Verde Section

Todd, Heather and I had wanted to run the Class V Casa Maquinas section of the Rio Toro. We had also met a Tico, Raulio, the previous day who came with us for the ride. Todd ran it years ago and we wanted to go check it out. The putin is at the Rio Toro Dam II, about 10km up a very steep road, indicative of incredible gradient in the run! The scene at the dam is surreal: The dam was built deep in the Rio Toro canyon. The walls rise vertically over your head, and water tumbles down hundreds of feet to the valley floor. The huge hydroelectric plant is dwarfed by the immensity of this place. Its an experience just to be there. Unfortunately, we weren't able to run this part of the Toro on this day. (photos of canyon and fun nazi coming soon).

ICE (the Costa Rican power/ telecommunications monopoly) was doing work on the dam with some heavy machinery. The guard (read=fun nazi) told us that only people wearing jackets and helmet were allowed to enter the construction zone. We agreed to wear our helmets and PFDs but the guard, who also had a gun, was not amused. So we snapped some photos, tried to find another way to the river, tried to bribe the gaurd, turned around, and headed 3 miles downstream to the Class IV Recreo Verde section of the Toro. We'll be back for the Casa Maquinas another day. (photos of dam project coming soon)

The Recreo Verde gets its name from the put in at the Recreo Verde Hotsprings. We were charged 1000 colones ($2) per person to use their river access. This seemed steep, but we didn't really have another option. The Toro river is a mineral rich river, similar to the Rio Sucio. For this reason, the Toro is a brown-yellow color all the time. Although it looks very dirty, it is actually quite clean (until the pig farm... more on that later).

The Toro River canyon is quite deep, and very isolated. Although the section of river is Class III+-IV, the commitment makes it more intimidating. The walls rise up hundreds of feet above the river bed, and vines and jungle cover the walls for as far as the eye can see. It is true Costa Rica boating. (photos coming soon)

The river runs fast and gives continuous Class III-IV rapids and boulder gardens for the first few miles. Although there are few distinct rapids, there are many that run one into another, keeping the pace fast and interesting. If there is any one character of this section, its that every wall that the water hits at the bottom of each rapid is undercut. We all managed well, but it seemed like most of the run was spent avoiding undercut walls. It was great fun!

The first significant rapid is a drop on the right side that goes over some big rocks and through a big hole. At the bottom it goes into an undercut wall (of course). In general starting near the walls and paddling away from them was most effective.

The river has a cave formation on the left side as it bends right and drops through a steeper boulder garden. There was a log on the right side of the channel, making the left ideal. Super fun move off the wall on the left. (photo coming soon)

One of the coolest things about the Toro is that the walls have lots of small waterfalls and drips coming down them. Many of them are thermals, and thus have warm water coming out of the walls. It seemed like the water in the river got warmer as we headed downstream, almost the opposite of the Green Truss of the White Salmon, which gets colder as the underground springs come into it.(photo coming soon)

There are numerous boulder gardens and fun small drops as you go, too numerous to remember. They were all good to go, and would be a total blast with a bit more water. About a mile downstream there is an old stone bridge over the river. Below this is a waterfall on river left, and a few hundred meters later is the first and only portage on the river. It comes as the river widens and the canyon opens and there is a huge boulder in the middle of the river. There are many small channels that cascade down sideways, and all of them terminate in jumbles of rocks. The best thing to do is paddle up on one of the islands in the rapid and carry your boat across it to the lower left channel, thereby walking the "jumbles of rocks". At higher water staying left from the top is an option, but at low water that route closes out. (photo coming soon)

Next up is the boof rapid. This has a big boulder with a ramp of water running up on it. You can charge this ramp and fly over the top of it. Don't go right to the side of it or you might drop into the narrow slot with a piton rock at the bottom. (photo coming soon)

About 1 km below this rapid is the bridge, signaling the end of the Recreo Verde section. Most people combine this with the Lower Rio Toro, as we did. The bridge is the putin for the lower as well as the takeout for the upper. It is noted that there is a HUGE pig farm on the river right side of the bridge, and from this point down, you must be careful to limit the amount of water that you get in your mouth, eyes, ears, ect... I'd also recommend noseplugs for at least a mile (maybe more) below the farm. Yuck. (photo coming soon) The lower section that we paddled below here can be found in the Lower Trip Report.