An American in Lima

Enigmatic geoglyphs in the Nasca desert draw tens of thousands of tourists to southern Peru each year (photo c. RPP)

Great timing, criminals in southern Peru.
First a Peruvian trucking company diverts 100 tons of UN rice for cold-spell victims to the black market in July. SUNAT seizes three truckloads (32 tons) of hijacked rice in Ica; [...]

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These two kids live near Upis in southern Peru, where children are dying of extreme cold brought on by climate change. More deaths are predicted for August, typically the coldest month of the year in the high Andes (photo c. Barbara Drake 2008)

Peru is finally acknowledging that the humanitarian crisis caused by extreme cold in the Andes isn’t [...]

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Got a minor thrill yesterday when I learned that An American in Lima is mentioned in the latest edition of National Geographic Traveler. Writing for the Sept. ‘09 Lima destination guide (”48 Hours in Lima” by Nicholas Gill), Marisa Petrich observes that this blog “began as a way for author Barbara Drake to document her transition to [...]

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Appetizers ready in the kitchen of AlmaZen, opening night

I haven’t seen much of my brother-in-law El Filósofo and his wife La Orgánica lately. That’s because they are busy until 1 in the morning every day with their new vegetarian restaurant AlmaZen, which opened two months ago in old Miraflores (see address below).
What makes AlmaZen different from [...]

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These are the things I think of when I read the news reports on deaths in the highlands — the humble, hard-working people who live at such a remove from the “civilized” world and who can be helped at not that much cost, if only there are willing souls to climb the mountain paths and meet them halfway.

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Many thanks to the concerned people who’ve sent their good wishes to our dog Lola, who was poisoned last week in Parque Leoncio Prad0, in Miraflores. Lola recovered thanks to the efforts of her vet, whose office is just blocks away.
Not every animal that is poisoned in Peru is fortunate to live close to a [...]

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