Wilde Adventures

Incan Empire Cruise: November 3 — December 4, 2013

The Aliaga House dates back to Lima's origins. When conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded the capital city in 1535, he gave the plot adjacent to that of the Government Palace to Jerónimo de Aliaga, his trusted friend and ally. Eighteen generations of the Aliaga family have lived in this home since its construction. Aliaga House is the oldest house in the Americas. Descendants of its original owners currently live in part of the lower level, but much of the original home is on display. The home features a lovely indoor courtyard; the upper level looks down onto it. Furnishings in the upper level are period pieces, but hidden behind several doors are modern restrooms for the use of visitors.

Within the Aliaga House Peruvian art and artifacts can be seen. Jerónimo de Aliaga's sword, used in the conquest of Peru, is on display,and various periods of home furnishings, decor, and artwork, going back to the 1500s and forward, await visitors.

Casa Luna, another museum within the home of a contemporary family, displays a large, private collection of nativity scenes, with over 2000 pieces to see. The exhibit is located in the upper level of the house. this home also is built around a courtyard which features plantings around a modern pool.

Both homes are featured in the itineraries of various tour companies in Lima (see sidebar), as well as offered by the ship's shore excursion department. Neither is open to walk-in visitors.

Apple in Lima: We seek out and photo the local Apple store whenever possible as we travel. There is no "official" Apple store in Lima, but I did find an authorized reseller, who was very generous with the store's Wi Fi.

The dog at Casa Luna

The homeowners at Casa Luna have an adorable little dog; very friendly to visitors!

HAL Shore Excursions

I used the ship's shore excursion; the cost, since transportation from the port to Lima must be arranged and the tours available in town would cover more sights than I had time for. An internet search will, however, reveal quite a few vendors for both of these locations.

Another Tour Source

We didn't use this service, but I met several people on our cruise who did and they were pleased with their experiences. The Mirabus, which is among several options on this site was mentioned especially, but every tour is not always available every day; plan to research it in advance. LIMAEASY

In Callao

There is a small convenience store just inside the outer gate; take the free shuttle from the ship to this area. It is not safe to venture out into Callao; the ship warned us and we heard of more than one incident of robbery/attempted robbery in the port vicinity, leading to an even stronger warning from the ship.

In Lima

I was told that the downtown area, near the Indian Handicraft Market, had street-accessible wi-fi, but I did not find that to be true. However, adjacent to the Handicraft Market is a computer store, with many vendors inside. I'm sure several offer wi-fi; I held up my iPhone in iMagination, an Apple re-seller, and the manager gave me their password and a chair where I used this excellent connection for 30 minutes or so. Another passenger from the ship reported that she had used her iPad there, as well.