A Delightful Surprise
When I took my first walk around our apartment in Surco, I discovered a delightful surprise: Every two or three blocks I came across a small park – no more than a couple of acres – pleasantly laid out with trees, sidewalks, playgrounds, benches and usually a small statue of a saint somewhere in the middle. I would sit down on a shady bench to rest. I listened to the birds in the trees and observed the other people in the park.
In the early morning, I would see people walking their dogs or exercising. In the middle of the day, I might see people sitting on a blanket in the shade of a tree eating a picnic lunch or reading a book. And at dusk, when the sun sank behind the houses at the edge of the park and the air became delightfully cool, the park would fill with people. Small kids playing on the equipment as their parents watched. Older kids on skates or bicycles racing around on the sidewalks. Boys kicking around soccer balls on the lawn. Older teenagers huddled together checking their phones. And old people (like me) just sitting on a bench chatting with other neighbors and enjoying the scene.
Boulevards
I also came across many tree-lined boulevards with a shady central park strip anywhere from ten to thirty feet wide. These boulevards are delightful to walk along, even with all the car traffic they carry.
Parque de las Musas
There are also fancier parks, meant to be enjoyed by the entire city. Perhaps the best example of such a park is the Parque de las Musas (Park of the Muses) in the northern city of Chiclayo.
One evening we went out for a late dinner. The three of us ordered parillada – a huge plate of various types of grilled meat. It was so delicious that we ate far more than we should have. We decided to walk off our dinner by strolling down the main drag a few blocks to Chiclayo’s famous (within Peru) Parque de las Musas. This park features statues of each of the nine muses: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia and Urania. The statues are set among white Corinthian columns and small replicas of ancient Greek temples.
When we arrived at about 11:00 on a Saturday night, the park was lively with people of all ages enjoying the cool night air and the beautiful setting. It was still lively when we returned to the hotel at midnight
Some consider this park to be “huachafo”, a Peruvian word that might be translated as “pretentious and gauche”. After all, northern Peru is a long way, in all senses, from classical Greece. But although Chiclayo can count several pre-Columbian civilizations in its history, it can also legitimately lay claim to all of European civilization. The Spanish and Indigenous traditions don’t always mix well, but both have formed present-day Peru.
Daniel and me, being inspired by Clio, the muse of history.
Interestingly enough, there is also a sculpture garden near our house in Salt Lake that celebrates the nine muses. It is appropriately located in the bohemian (for Salt Lake) Ninth and Ninth neighborhood at the intersection of Ninth South and Ninth East. Kinetic sculptures representing each of the nine muses are placed around the intersection.
Watering all this Green Space
Given that it virtually never rains here, how is all this green space kept green? I didn’t notice any sprinklers or irrigation systems. One afternoon as we were driving down one of these boulevards, we came across a big tanker truck filled with water. It was travelling slowly down the left lane next to the center park strip. There was a fire hose connected to the back of the tank. A man was spraying water from it onto the park strip. The city floods the parks with water about once a month, keeping the vegetation green and healthy.
In some places the water forms temporary puddles on the lawn. This explains another feature that I noticed. The sidewalks in the parks are raised about 3 inches above the ground, and there are small trenches about 4 inches wide and a few inches deep between the sidewalk and the lawn. This design ensures that when the watering trucks come by water does not collect on the sidewalk.
Daniel and his sister Netita enjoying a cigarette on a raised sidewalk in the park. The house in the background is where Daniel grew up. As a child, he and his friends played in this park.
Note the irrigation channel at the side of the walkway.
Why are there So Many Parks?
I asked Daniel why there were so many small parks in the city. He told me that people could take refuge in them in case of an earthquake. Earthquakes are common in Peru and the parks provide a safe place for people to gather in the event of one.
The parks also make the city much more livable. Houses here are built on lots so small that there is no space at all between them. Most houses don’t have much of a back yard. There might be a small yard the size of a parking space or two in front of the house (and it might actually serve as a carport and be occupied by a car!) And of course, the four and five story apartment buildings that are gradually replacing the two-story houses along the more commercial streets don’t provide much space for any sort of garden at all.
But if you feel like relaxing in a garden, there will be a very pleasant park less than a five-minute walk from your house.