If Lima’s party animals are eating like that every weekend, they should be the size of Americans. We discovered why they’re not after lunch. Walking through the parks of Miraflores along the coast is like strolling through Miami or parts of LA. Every 10 meters there is someone doing something physical. Basketball courts, five-a-side pitches and skate ramps are all over the place, and sit-up benches, parallel bars and pull-up frames spring up on grass verges or on pavements like modern art. Because the weather’s great (in winter it drops to a spring-like 10 degrees and rain is rare), people are always outside in skimpy clothing, which means to survive you’ve got to look the part. I got by in a pair of well cut shorts and a linen shirt, but had to stick on a T-shirt to compete with local lads working out. They were cool enough though – at least, they didn’t laugh at my pathetic attempts to pump a set of pull-ups. 

C&T recommends:

• Eat: Bananas, what all the skate kids were scoffing, oddly enough
• Drink: Plenty of bottled water, the sun can get pretty insistent through the cloudy haze, and you’ll dehydrate remarkably quickly without knowing it
• Read: The poems of César Vallejo, Peru’s most famous poet
• Check out: La U, one of a number of football clubs in Lima, popular with many of the park players I watched, as well as many cab drivers