Callao Port, Lima, Peru

We have friends who will be in Lima the same day as we will (different ships). They are arriving in the afternoon and overnighting while we will be there from 7AM until 6PM. We have a tour and should be back at the ship between two and three. Is there anything at the pier like a cafe where we could meet them? From what I read, it is not a particularly safe area to go roaming outside of the area where the ships are on your own.

Liz

When will you be there? We will be there in early March & would be happy to look for a place and post/email you.

When will you be there? We will be there in early March & would be happy to look for a place and post/email you.

We're going this month! Can't wait!

Liz

Have a great time. Sorry I can't help

Have a great time. Sorry I can't help

I do appreciate that you offered!

As far as I can remember, there is no cafe or anything. There are lots of stalls selling souvenirs and jewellary though. I'm sure some of these were affiliated to stores in the city. I was just wondering if any of them do a shuttle to their city store or something. If not, I'm afraid you are going to be stuck. The ship docks in the middle of an industrial port between the container terminal and the docks they use to off load car carrier ships...there is no cruise terminal as such. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Simon

I don't recall anything in the port area. I don't know if it's possible, but it might be worth asking security (well in advance) if they could be allowed to board and visit with you on the ship. Especially if it's the same cruise line, and they have already been vetted, it might be allowed.

Watch out for pirhanas! These are friendly appearing "local" families in their Sunday best who engage you in conversation while the muggers approach from behind. Happened to a friend.

Shakespeare, e've been to the port before and I don't remember seeing a cafe and we will actually be there again in January.

I just went to the ports information provided by cruise critic and it confirmed what i remembered. Here is a section on this:

Keith

Where You're Docked

The port of Callao (pronounced Kay-ya-oh) is about seven miles from central Lima and 11 miles from Miraflores. There's no terminal building, shopping, ATM's or Internet access at the pier; there are telephones that require a calling card (available for sale at the pier). Authorized cabs are reasonably priced and available at the port gate. Depending on traffic, the ride into Lima can take between 30 and 45 minutes and cost around $12.

Thanks everyone! Now I know why I couldn't find any info about what is there other than the stalls. We will be on different cruise lines, but we are doing a B2B with their ship and will board at one of the later ports...possibly they may let us come aboard since we will be on the manifest for the second leg of their cruise...worth a try!

Liz

Liz, have a great time.

Keith

Liz, have a great time.

 

Keith

Thanks...hope you enjoy your trip in January too!

Liz

Hi, We were there last year and actually spent our first day in Callao near the ship- we swam with the sea lions off shore. Anyway, as we left the port we went to the right and there was a naval museum. A little further up was a park across the street which displayed different types of military vehicles. I did not feel it was unsavory or unsafe. A little further, where we got on the ecocruceros boat, was a large clean plaza on the water. No cafe but a pleasant place to sit. All of this was within a half mile of where we were docked. Hope this helps.

Hi, We were there last year and actually spent our first day in Callao near the ship- we swam with the sea lions off shore. Anyway, as we left the port we went to the right and there was a naval museum. A little further up was a park across the street which displayed different types of military vehicles. I did not feel it was unsavory or unsafe. A little further, where we got on the ecocruceros boat, was a large clean plaza on the water. No cafe but a pleasant place to sit. All of this was within a half mile of where we were docked. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the information...sounds like a good place to walk to.

Liz

There are actually two piers in Lima. You take a shuttle bus to get to the port exit...you can take the shuttle bus that is for the ship docked at the pier that has shops, etc. to get to that side. They are close together. We originally docked at the pier with shops as we came in early due to some immigration issues, but couldn't leave the ship until the next day which was the day we were due to arrive. Didn't intefere with our tours or anything...but when we returned, the shops were gone...well, not really...the ship had moved!:)

Liz

Thanks for the port info. We spent several days in Lima last year so are hoping to find something to do near the port. Rosebriarmary, could you give us some more info about your swim with the seals? Any more suggestions?

Thanks for the port info. We spent several days in Lima last year so are hoping to find something to do near the port. Rosebriarmary, could you give us some more info about your swim with the seals? Any more suggestions?

Hi, We are actually again just back from Peru and happened to be speaking to a family who did the swim with the sea lions last week and they loved it as well. You can find the information at islaspalomino.com. The company is ecocruceros and we just walked to their dock about a half mile from where the ship docked. I emailed then first and I think the time was around 10 or so. They furnished the wet suits and we wore our bathing suits under our clothes. The cost is $45 per adult and $35 per child for a 4 hour tour. We were in the water with the sea lions for at least 45 minutes. Not everyone goes in and the boat ride can be quite rocky. The water was cold but I think I laughed the entire time and hated to get out.

After we walked back to the ship. We changed and took a cab to the

1500 year old pre inca ruins in Miraflores called Huaca Pucllana. Pretty interesting. Theyalso have a nice restaurant there overlooking the ruins and caught a cab with no trouble back to the ship.

Hope this helps Mary

Hi, We are actually again just back from Peru and happened to be speaking to a family who did the swim with the sea lions last week and they loved it as well. You can find the information at islaspalomino.com. The company is ecocruceros and we just walked to their dock about a half mile from where the ship docked. I emailed then first and I think the time was around 10 or so. They furnished the wet suits and we wore our bathing suits under our clothes. The cost is $45 per adult and $35 per child for a 4 hour tour. We were in the water with the sea lions for at least 45 minutes. Not everyone goes in and the boat ride can be quite rocky. The water was cold but I think I laughed the entire time and hated to get out.

After we walked back to the ship. We changed and took a cab to the

1500 year old pre inca ruins in Miraflores called Huaca Pucllana. Pretty interesting. Theyalso have a nice restaurant there overlooking the ruins and caught a cab with no trouble back to the ship.

Hope this helps Mary

Do you remember how much the cab cost? Thanks for info!

Thanks, Mary. I have emailed them to ask about time and how to get to their location from the cruise port. My only concern is getting seasick--if we book this I'll be sure to take the meds before the boat leaves. Did the crew speak any English? My Spanish is pretty limited. It sounds like fun and very different from sightseeing in the city. We stayed in Miraflores and toured several areas of the city while there last year.

I haven't heard back yet from my email to ecocruceros (palomino island tour). Are there any English-speaking crew on the ship? Did you have any problems in reserving your tour? If I don't hear anything in a couple days I'll try emailing them again.

We returned four days ago from out Oceania cruise which ended in Lima. The port is an industrial port and you will have to take a shuttle to the port gates. There is a taxi stand and a few vendors but not much else there. Wandering away from the port did not look to be advisable.

I received an email reponse from Ecocruceros and they said it was unsafe to walk from the port to their pier and that we should take a taxi. Has anyone else ventured out of the port area?

There two weeks ago. I would not walk around that area. Taxis are readily available.

We are there as I post this. I would take a taxi.

Keith

Sorry to take so long to respond. There was a crew person on the ecocruceros boat who spoke some English. I can understand a little Spanish but really we had no trouble figuring out what was going on. I do remember reading a little history beforehand about the islands we passed on the way to the sea lion island. One of them had been a prison. Google Isla Palomino prison. Was used for the terrorists in the 80s and when they revolted , well , it didn't end well for them. There is also some kind of sunken city due to an earthquake 300 years ago. Hope you have a great time.

12/17/12 & 12/18/12 Lima. Peru

We arrived in Lima and before we docked, there were problems! Another ship was in our berth and we were delayed by an hour or so, the international cafe was jammed with People waiting to go on tours. Getting off the ship for us was a huge bummer, mass chaos and nobody knowing where to go for the various shuttles. Princess offered a free shuttle to the Marriott hotel, which is close to a shopping mall on the side of a cliff over the ocean. We had a private tour planned, and there was another shuttle that took us to the gate of the busy commercial port. They would not allow anybody to simply walk off so aside from the Princess tours, these two options were the only options. I got the impression that nobody actually knew how this worked but by the grace of the universe we found a "gate shuttle" and found our tour guide waiting. This was the beginning of an incredible day!

Lucas (our guide and owner) and driver Jaime were standing waiting for us, they scurried the 6 of us onto their van and off we went on a culinary adventure. We used Capital Culinaria (Lima Gourmet Tours) owned by Lucas and Samantha Montes de Oca. Their website is http://www.limaculinarytour.com. This was one of the best tours I have ever been on and I am happy to share my experiences with all of you. From the second we got on the bus until late at night when we were dropped at the port gate, Lucas guided (an protected) us through the various districts of this large and crowded city.

The port area of Callao is very bad, you can see the area is dangerous and most of the establishments are covered in barbed wire as if they were prisons. As we got closer to Lima, the area got nicer and we saw every fast food restaurant you could imagine including a two story McDonalds which offered delivery!

Our first stop was at the Larco Museum in the district of Pueblo Libre, a beautiful museum with lush gardens. We headed to their restaurant for lunch. The menu was designed by Peru's most famous chef, Gaston Acurio, dining was outside in the terrace gardens. This was one of the best meals I've had on this trip, and maybe in my life! We started with a Pisco Sour that was yummy and quite strong-- I only took a sip but I could tell this was a happy making drink. The first course was a yellow potato dish that melted in our mouths; my husband got a different first course, a delicious salad. Before I go on I must tell you about the humongous corn they have here which they serve as corn nuts, as well as in many dishes. We had a bowl of huge corn nuts on the table that were delicious and plentiful. Next course was a delightful fusion of Asian and Peruvian food, a stir fry with beef and veggies that was very yummy, although weal old have ordered anything off the menu, Lucas advises us to try it and we were all grad we did. Finally we were served dessert, a pudding/Mousse made from a local fruit that tasted like butterscotch.

Next we were taken on a guided tour of the museum, we had an English-speaking museum guide who showed us all the wonderful artifacts and explained their meanings. One of our last museum stops was the sex room, filled with all imaginable symbols of sexual acts and phallic symbols. Of course this was our favorite room and the 6 of us took many pictures. ;) The last room we visited was an archive of all the items this museum owned, from pottery to jewelry, there were rows and rows of items and we were all suitably impressed. At the end of the tour our guide took pictures of us at all the best places, and we were off to our next sight!

As we headed to the Church of San Francisco with its legendary catacombs, we got a glimpse of the traffic in Lima as well as the vast population of government workers who crowd the streets and the roads. Lucas pointed out a colorful shantytown on a hill above the city where many of these workers live, their average monthly salaries equaled about $600 US dollars.

The Church was beautiful, located down town in a square filled with pigeons and people. We entered the church and had a tour of the church above ground. Then we descended down to the catacombs, which were interesting but not for the claustrophobic. The smell of earth was pleasing to me, and the plots of bones, sorted by type, were very interesting if not a little macabre. We all enjoyed this,

Next we had a visual tour of the center of Lima including la plaza Mayor, Plaza San Martin, the president’s residence, and more. We toured during rush hour, giving a new meaning to the feeling of being in a giant traffic jam! We saw all this as we headed for the upscale colonial district of Barranco. We saw a beautiful Starbucks in an ancient building, a nice crafts market, and finally we saw the "bridge of sighs" where lovers go. Lucas explained that if you cross the bridge holding your lovers hand while you hold your breath, you will be guaranteed eternal happiness. Of course we all crossed it successfully!

We continued driving along the seaside road and saw many styles of homes from Japanese to British, all side by side in this beautiful neighborhood of Miraflores. This is the nicest neighborhood in Lima. We finally came to some beautiful pre-Incan ruins that were lit up as it was nighttime. We ate tapas appetizers, Peruvian dishes, and desserts in this beautiful restaurant called la Huaca Pucillana (the name of the ruins as well) and had another incredible food experience as we ate outside viewing the ruins bathed in light. I am a picky eater and was grateful that Lucas did not tell me what I was eating until after I finished it but suffice it to say it was delicious. I'll let you all discover what it was when you visit Lima and take this tour!

After our meal, we visited a supermarket and bought wine, spices, coffee, and a delicious drink called "Che Che" made from blue corn that I loved. It is always cool to see supermarkets in foreign countries and this was fantastic. Our final experience was driving through the center of Lima and seeing all the buildings lit up at night, a perfect topper to a perfect day. We were dropped off at the port, Lucas made sure we got on the port shuttle and our day was over. We got back to the cabin by 11 pm, exhausted and happy.

Lima, Peru

Samantha Lewis (and husband Lucas)

Capital Culinaria Lima Gourmet Tours

www.limaculinarytour.com

T:+(51) 1 4466829

C:+(51) 956385854