I wasn’t all that excited to see Lima when I went to Peru because after all it’s just another big city and no matter what country you’re in, they’re all the same.  I was pleasantly surprised though by Lima.  I thought it would be much like Quito, Ecuador but found it very upbeat, modern in a lot of ways and was surprised at the many things hidden in the city.  One such thing was the fountain park called “Parque de la Reserva” (translation: Park of the Reserve) located close to the Miraflores District.  A great thing about Lima is that they have tourist information booths on every corner in the Miraflores District.  It’s all free information and a lot of the people working the booths speak really good English.

We had just been to the Gold Museum and didn’t know what to do next, so we stopped at one of these booths and asked for some info on what else there was worth seeing.  She gave us a flyer that had a map and started dotting sites on it.  One thing she said not to be missed was Parque de la Reserva and that it costs only s/4  ($1.38 USD) to enter.  She stated it had 13 fountains and was recently opened.  We found out it was only a short bus ride from our hostel and decided to go.

“The Magic Water Tour is currently the world record holder for the largest fountain complex in the world, consisting of 13 distinct fountains, many of which are interactive. All of the fountains are lighted at night, many with continuously changing color schemes. The largest fountain in the Park of the Reserve, named “Magic Fountain” (Fuente Mágica) contains a jet which forces water to a height of over 80 m. Additional attractions are the Tunnel Fountain of Surprises (Fuente Túnel de las Sorpresas), a 35 m walk-through tunnel of water ; the Children’s Fountain (Fuente de los Ninos), a walk-in automated fountain; and a tunnel connecting the two sections of the park which contains an exhibition highlighting recent public work projects in Lima. The Fantasia Fountain (Fuente de la Fantasia), site of a regularly-scheduled laser and picture show, is 120 m in length and contains jets that are synchronized to music.” ~ Wikipedia

As much as I have traveled, this was by far the best fountain exhibit I’ve seen.  The Fantasia Fountain rivaled even the Ballagio water show in Las Vegas.  For only a few dollars for entrance even an ultra tight backpacker can afford this park.  Make sure to have plenty of room on your camera chip and a good battery, as it’s a photographers playground.  Best time to go is right at sunset, then stay till it gets dark.  Leave yourself at least 2-2 1/2 hours to see it all.  For more information on the park, click the link here (the site is only in Spanish though).

To see the other parts of this series click on the links below:

• Part II
• Part III

 

Posted on November 8th, 2009 Archived in Features, Peru, Photo-Essay

Oct09, Peru

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