Shantowns Tour

Today, I was picked up at 7 a.m. from my hotel for a shantytown tour. The tour was given by Kul Tour Peru and I booked it on viator.com. There were several shantytown tours listed on Viator, but this was the only one that didn’t require two people to book it. I was the only one signed up on the tour and I had a driver; a tour guide, Jordan; and his assistant, Valeria. We drove about one–half hour from Metropolitan Lima. Photo: Along the Pan American Highway.

A Shantytown

There were miles upon miles of shantytowns along the highway in the hills. Shantytowns started appearing in Lima in the 1940’s and 1950’s when people from the countryside of Peru moved to Lima for economic opportunities. More came during the 1980’s during the reign of terror caused by the Maoist Shining Path. Lima’s population grew from 650,00 people in 1940 to 6 million today. There was not enough housing for all the newcomers, so shantytowns were built. Two–thirds of Lima’s active, working–age population live in the shantytowns, which are made up of black, Amerindian, and metizo people. Today, the overall poverty rate for Peru is 21.7% but 54% in the countryside, with 19% living in extreme poverty living on less than $1.00 U.S. today.

Mercado

The first stop on my tour was at a mercado (market). The green building in the photo was its entrance.

Mercado

The market was very large with areas for fish, vegetables, fruit, meat, and poultry and also an area for household goods, clothing, and everything else along with eating areas. There are supermarkets in Lima but many people prefer the mercados as the food is usually fresher.

The Fish

The fish is brought in daily.

Potatoes

Many types of potatoes are sold here, most that you do not see being sold in Western markets. The Inca Indians of Peru were the first to cultivate potatoes––around 8,000 to 5,000 B.C. Nowadays, the potatoes are grown in the Peruvian Andean highlands. There are over 4,000 varieties of potatoes in Peru and they are a staple of the Peruvian diet.

Poultry

We saw the chickens being cut up and their heads and feet removed and sold for soups or to feed cats and dogs.

Everything Else

Everything else was being sold by individual vendors in a special section.

Food Vendors

There were also many food vendors in the market including some offering ceviche, one of Peru’s national dishes.

School

We next visited a school that served children who lived in one of the shantytowns. I have never met a group of such friendly and happy children as the children in this school. They treated me as if I were a movie star and they all wanted to get into the photos I was taking of them.

Shantytown

Our last stop was to visit a shantytown house. Photo: view of the shantytown from above. All is so very dry here as Lima get only about 0.3 inches of rain per year.

I have put my photos of the shantytown tour on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/shantytowns/

(Slide Shows, South America, Peru, Lima, “Shantytowns”).