How I stay busy in Lima

There was no doubt in my mind that I was coming to Peru to take a vacation from the life of work I had been in for the prior 8 months, but there came a point that I needed more than just wandering around the district and waiting for something to happen. Going to a language school for Spanish was the first thing I should have done when I arrived, but it took me two months of being here before I enrolled. Having a routine is necessary for me to function on a day to day basis, without it I kind of go insane.

After my first month of classes, I was feeling more confident than I ever had with the local language, and I got the opportunity to meet a local professional BMX rider which I have begun collaborating together with to produce and shoot a video that showcases his skills and Lima’s landscape and personality. This has given me a chance to finally get to know my photo and video gear more than I have since I first acquired over a year ago. Between this video project, landscape photography of Lima,  and capturing our journeys outside of Lima, I have managed to fill my time very well.

After my first month in Lima, I started meeting with a group that ride around the city by bicycle two days a week. It was a very interesting point of view to see the city from and I hope to go on more rides with this group in the future. My first night out with them showed massive numbers of cyclist compared to what they’re used to for these group rides. Twenty-three people came out that night and we were essentially a mob that could not be stopped. Anyone who has ever ridden with a big group of fixie riders knows that mob mentality feeling you get. About 10 kilometres into the ride, the leader of the pack got hit by a very expensive car, he was ok but a fist fight broke out and the police were called. We lost almost half the group to this interruption, however we continued on afterwards and put on another 50km’s until arriving back in Miraflores at around 2:30am.