Lomas de Lucumo

The name of our amazing hike last Wednesday. Las Lomas de Lucumo is a microclimate of lush, green mountains sourrounded by desert. It's near the coast south of Lima, about 2 hours by combi from our house.


The town where we started the hike was called Quebrada Verde. It's right next to Pachacamac, which is known for having great ruins and chicharrones (more on that later).


We started our hike at about 9:30. The base of the mountains looked like the desert around it, but it changed completely about halfway up the mountain. Eventually the ground became completely covered with plants and flowers while chirping birds flew overhead. I haven't heard birds (except for pigeons) in two months, so it was wonderful. And we also saw three or four eagles flying overhead, which was beautiful.


Besides its microclimate, this hike was known for its massive vertical rock formations. About two-thirds of this particular rock formation isn't in the photo.


About halfway up the mountain. The mountains ran in a circle, and we first hiked straight up the center of it.


View from an overlook about two-thirds of the way up. The rock that the person in the photo was standing on was hanging out over the hill. This was where we stopped just before we climbed up a vertical wall of boulders.


From the top of the mountain range. We got up to the highest peak and stopped for lunch (at 10 am), then traversed the mountain ridge. In total, we walked across about 7 peaks.


Town on the other side of the mountain from Quebrada Verde.


On the way to the last peak and the end of the ridge. From there, it felt like we were at the edge of the world.


Me overlooking the valley below from the end of the ridge


When we got down from the mountain, the first little farm we came across had a peacock in the yard surrounding it. Seriously. And it spent about 5 minutes showing off its tail feathers, which is very rare to see. It was amazing.


Chicharrones - our reward for the hike. We walked for a couple of hours into and through Pachacamac to find these. Though chicharrones exist elsewhere, Pachacamac is well known for theirs. It's baked and fried pork, sweet potatoes, onions, and cancha.