Inside, everything is in Spanish but you can figure out some of the information about the animals even from the Spanish. The Zoo was divided into 3 areas: Costal, International, and Jungle. Some animals I had not seen before up close and the nice part was most were visible around when we were walking around. The zoo didn't get crowded until about noon. Then lots of families came. The families often brought their own food and picnicked on the lawn. They all seem to be enjoying the day. The zoo also has a huge play area with different activities like rock climbing, bungee jumping, and many more. You pay extra for this. We left about 2 pm but managed to see most of it.
On Sunday, I decided to take the local bus to the Plaza de Armes. This is in the center of Lima and I had been there once before in 2005. I got some direction from the hostel here so off I went. I walked a few blocks and waited. Soon, I saw No. 03 which was my bus. Once seated, the "barker" came to collect my money. It cost less than 2 sols, so less than $1. I tried to tell the barker where I wanted to get off. The bus was nice and not that crowded. I could tell I was attracting some attention but thankful other things soon took their attention elsewhere. Like the rap singer that got on with his ghetto blaster and began to rap for all of us to hear. Then, of course, he passed the hat but few contributed. Later, a young woman got on selling candy and small pastries. She got some takers. Then a older man and young man got on dressed in native type clothing. The older man a wooden harmonica attached to his neck so he could play his guitar at the same time. They sang and played loudly and sounded pretty good. Then he tried to engage me in conversation. Others on the bus tried to tell me that he wanted money, which I said, I knew. I didn't have much money on me but decided to give him what I had because I could go to the ATM at the Plaza. Then, he was very happy so I took a photo of him.
After this, a young woman, comes and sits by me. She shows me a map she had drawn because she wanted to make sure I got off at the right place. She explained in perfect English the route and how I would know if I had gone too far. In giving this information, she missed her stop and I felt bad that I had caused it.
At the Plaza, I could see lots of people milling around, some like me, tourists but many local people too. A few vendors tried to sell me things but not that many. I am not sure how they can spot me so quickly. haha! One man, who I bought a map from, because he runs a school for orphan children north of Lima. He had lots of photos of the children at the school and how he helped them. There were some people playing music and dancing in the street too. The police were at the corners of the plaza with their riot shields ready incase something got out of hand. I asked to take their photos and the one policeman quickly responded with $5! Then, I said, no thanks but he immediately gestured that he was joking and offered to take a photo of me with the police. I thought that was very nice. People warned me about possible crime in this area but I felt perfectly safe. I did go though some very different neighborhoods as I rode the bus and probably wouldn't want to do this at night.
I took the bus back to the hostel. Everything went smoothly. I also went to a local church today. Behind the altar, the whole wall was painted beautifully. Mostly older people in the church but they were very friendly too. They had the young children, maybe about 12 yrs. old, collect the money during the Mass which was different but I liked it.
All in all, a good weekend, except for my aching foot. Keep hoping for improvement but can't really complain. Take care everyone.
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Location:Av de la Aviación,Lima District,Peru
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