Parque de las Leyendas

The Parque de las Leyendas divides its collection by the three regions of Peru, so you walk from coast to mountains to jungle: Humboldt penguins and sea lions in the first, vicuña, condor and spectacled bear in the second, jaguar, tapir and monkeys in the third, with an added section of animals from elsewhere. The grounds also contain part of the Maranga complex, adobe structures built long before the Spanish arrived, which sit fenced but visible between the enclosures. There is a botanical section, a small aquarium building and a lot of open lawn. It is a standard family day out for Lima and very busy at weekends.

History

The conservationist Felipe Benavides Barreda founded the park in 1964, naming it after the Inca and pre-Inca legends illustrated by Sabino Springett at the entrance. When the Barranco Zoo closed in 1970 its animals moved here, and a law of 2007 handed the park to the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima (Wikipedia, Parque de las Leyendas).

What you'll find

• The three regional zones - coast, highlands and jungle laid out as separate walks.
• Maranga adobe structures - pre-Hispanic mounds and walls inside the park grounds.
• Humboldt penguins and sea lions - the coastal section, with underwater viewing.
• The botanical area - planted collections and glasshouses between the animal enclosures.

When to go

Weekday mornings are much quieter than weekends, when Lima families arrive in numbers and queues form at the gate. Lima's grey season runs from June to November and the park is bleak under it; the summer months from December to March are brighter but hot, with little shade in places. Allow half a day at minimum.

Good to know

It is a large old city zoo and standards vary between sections: some enclosures have been rebuilt and others are dated and small. Weekend crowds are heavy and the site is bigger than it looks, so expect a lot of walking. The archaeological remains are poorly interpreted and easy to walk straight past. Food inside is basic and overpriced.

Nearby

San Miguel's shopping centres are close, and the Miraflores clifftop is twenty minutes south.

Key facts