So far, from a few years ago where “fresh milk” was a childhood memory, or a thing one got in the country, there has been an renaissance of fresh milk here in Lima. I have had a dickens of a time explaining in some places that I was looking for fresh milk — not cold milk. But, Lima is beginning to get milky! There are now four brands of fresh milk… the stuff that expires and goes bad within a few days… you recall? Most milk here is shelf stable UHT and sold in bags or boxes. So far there are four types of fresh milk available (all since that day in 2014, when I saw it for the first time).
Vacas Felizes: translates to happy cows. This organic milk can be bought at the bio-feria, farmers’ markets, and a few shops.
Danlac: owned by the mega-company, Gloria, but they have a great publicity campaign. The bottles are old fashioned and I see the bottles being reused all the time.
Plusa: sold in plastic bottles with a red cap.
And then another brand also in a glass bottle with a black and white cow pattern on the bottle. This one is not so good. But, I’m happy it’s here.
Now, I’m just waiting for the arrival of fresh, delicious cream, in liquid form, without sugar added. There is some cream to be had, but it’s not fresh sweet cream. Or clotted cream, Devon cream, or creme fraiche, skyr, actual thick full-fat Greek yogurt, or quark… but I digress.
Vegan food in Lima? Yes, apparently. I asked some vegans for their list of places to eat. This blog posting is cribbed off of their list (though, I think you can ask at any place and then can probably make it vegan for you.)
San Borja:
Here they are called “bioferia” or “ecoferia” and as far as I can tell, there are only a few with a specific schedule. Most of them feature the same vendors, who keep move to different locations depending on the day.
****Updated address on May 29, 2021**** El Cacaotal has always been located on Jirón Colina, but it’s been in three locations. Currently, the address is Jirón Colina 111.
AJ is an American anthropologist who did her graduate degree in chocolate! Then she opened up a shop to share the knowledge and help Peru’s chocolate field. Her shop is called El Cacaotal (cocoa field) and it’s decorated with dried cacao tree leaves and everything chocolate (or items in support of non-chocolate small entrepreneurs). The shop is located on Jirón Colina 111 in Barranco (two streets west from the Metro grocery store on Grau, down the street from a yellow corner building).
I emailed to set up a class for seven of us (she can fit up to ten in a class). Her email is: 
Read a much more thorough article about her on 
In Peru, there is a 
Of course, there are many other fruits here like mango, pineapple, and mandarins, which are also delicious.
Back to the food cart here in my barrio… I am not willing to try every street food cart in the world, but, when I see a crowd lined up waiting, I have to go over and see what they are eating. As you can see, this vendor doesn’t even need to move the cart out to the street. It just stays in her driveway.
The other evening, I saw a crowd, again. So I went over to take photos. As you can see, they sell hotdogs, wings, breast, and mussels? Now, I just need to find someone who’s willing to try it…
Folks told me that Lima’s Chinatown was not that exciting. I’m glad that people played it down. When I saw it for myself, I was pleasantly surprised.
Chinatown consists of a small pedestrian street with requisite arch and aura cleaners… and many shops and mini-malls in the surrounding streets. Chinatown is actually very close to Lima’s central square, the Plaza de Armas.
I was pleased to see that the Chinese stores also sold Thai curry paste and other rare items here in Peru.
In almost every shop, there were items that I did not recognize. That’s part of the fun of exploring.
Considering that the Chinese (mostly from Canton) got to Peru a bit after they got to California in the 1800s, in many ways, lots of Peruvian food is Chinese food. For example, the Peruvians love fried rice, “chaufa,” and eating Chinese food from a “chifa” is a normal part of life.
As I was checking out at one store, I noticed that a last minute “temptation” like chewing gum or candy, were snack packs of chicken feet (three, which I thought an odd number).
When I went a restaurant to get some fried rice and wanted to make sure that their recipe did not involve soy sauce, the owners of the restaurant TOLD me that I’d have it with soup (what is a meal without soup?) and they tried to teach me how to order “chaufa” without soy sauce. In Chinese.
One thing that I didn’t expect to stumble upon here was an organic/Italian bakery. But I did, right on the main street. They even have a grinder for fresh almond butter. It’s not a shop that I expected to find here.
Sadly, I didn’t actually like their cake or gluten free cake, but I have to give them credit for trying. They also have other items so maybe those are better. 
Thankfully, I may have found my mani-pedi person here in Lima. Just as I left Bogota, I found 
One of the “joys” about traveling is always looking for the bathroom/restroom/WC/toilet. Sometimes traveling seems like The Great Toilet Hunt. The photo from my day 
Last year, when on a bike ride through Amager Faelled in Copenhagen, I noticed this guy picking something from the bushes. After racing over to him like an excited puppy, I asked him what he was doing.