Have you ever found yourself walking down a busy city street, admiring the colorful houses and flower-laden balconies, and suddenly stumble across a 1500-year-old pyramid? Then you’ve never been to Lima. This is exactly the surreal experience that awaits you at Huaca Pucllana Archaeological site, an ancient marvel nestled right in the heart of Peru’s bustling capital. Imagine sipping your morning coffee in a nearby café, and just a short walk away lies a pre-Columbian pyramid, a testament to Lima’s rich historical tapestry. It’s not every day that you can explore an archaeological treasure trove amid the urban sprawl—a truly unique juxtaposition that only Lima offers.

A Visit to Huaca Pucllana Archaeological Site

The beautiful barrio of Miraflores is quiet, clean and speckled with cafe’s, restaurants and boutiques, similar to something you’d see in a quaint European township. There’s one big difference: Huaca Pucllana Archaeological Site. This fifth-century pyramid rises out of the apartment buildings and churches, appearing just slightly out of place. It has been reconstructed back to its original adobe shape and glory, and gives one the vague idea of how the pre-Inca civilization once was.

Attached to the Huaca Pucllana Archaeological site is a museum of artifacts from the Lima and Wari cultures, and includes a mummified woman to intrigue the curious and repel the squeamish. The top of the pyramid offers views of the prettiest neighborhoods in Lima, and the thick fog coming in off the coast.

And boy is it foggy. Are we talking about the weather? I suppose so. When I imagined Peru, I thought, tropical climate with hot sun close to the equator. Not so in Lima. The Humboldt current brings cold water to the coasts of Peru and covers the city in a thick layer of fog, one that hasn’t peeled off since I arrived. Aside from losing my Brazilian tan, I sort of feel at home with the fog. After all, it is rare to see a sunny day in the city of San Francisco, and when the sun does finally come out, you appreciate it just that much more. I’m still waiting for that day.

On the bus ride home, a man boarded to promote a product he was selling. It is common for vendors to jump on and off buses to sell anything from candy to pencils to toothbrushes. Some give a speech about trusting in God, others about trying to feed their family, while others just wave something in your face. This time I had to giggle, however.

With all the passion he could muster, this man displayed his product on some cardboard and explained the multiple functions of the durable, the sturdy, the incredible…the paperclip. “You can use it to separate all your papers, or your homework, and keep yourself in peak organization. They come in five colors in a box of 100…”

I am sad to say that was one of my last commutes between Central Lima and Miraflores, as I am moving out of the volunteer pad and to the coastal neighborhood to start teaching English. I will still be in Lima, but instead of staying in the old center, eating enormous meals and going to house parties to dance salsa in the living room, I will once again be surrounded by foreign travelers at an international hostel in an expat neighborhood. All the same it’s an adventure, and there are more blogs to come…

papas a la huncaina karikuy volunteer — Papa a la Huancaina

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Jenny Sherman is a Volunteer in Peru with Karikuy Tours. Want to travel affordably and blog about Peru? Check out the Karikuy Peru Volunteer Program!

About the Author

Jenny Sherman

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Jenny Sherman grew up in the never-tiring San Francisco Bay Area on the California Coast. She graduated with a BA degree in Journalism with a Spanish Minor, but if there were a Traveling major, it would have been more appropriate. Since graduating from the University of Oregon in 2004, she took to the road to live and work in various places and at various trades. She continues to do that to this day, which is how she found herself volunteering at Karikuy in Lima, Peru. Most consistently, Jenny is a writer/photographer and has lived in Spain, Mexico, Texas, Maine, Brasil, Peru, on a school bus, in a tent and always finds time to go back to San Francisco.