A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Parque de las Leyendas

Although we have been enjoying exploring the Miraflores district of Lima, we decided this past week to spread our wings and expand our reach beyond our local neighborhood. There are so many options, it was difficult to decide on our first location! But eventually, we found a place that seemed to suit our interests perfectly: Parque de las Leyendas (= Park of Legends).

I’ll be honest, this park is a little eclectic, even by our standards. Basically, it is a combination zoo, botanical garden, major archaeological site, and family playground all in one.

As you can imagine, the facility is absolutely massive. So our curiosity piqued, we planned a trip to Parque de las Leyendas last Tuesday to take a closer look.

We had quite a day!

Let us show you how we got there and what we did, so you can plan your own visit!

A TTT Guide to Parque de las Leyendas

1. Getting to and Entering Parque de las Leyendas
2. The Parque de las Leyendas Grounds
3. The Botanical Garden
4. The Huaca San Miguel Archaeological Site
5. The Zoological Parks
6. Closing Thoughts and Considerations

Getting to and Entering Parque de las Leyendas

Parque de las Leyendas is in a different district in Lima: San Miguel. San Miguel has a reputation for being reasonably safe, so when we saw that we could travel along scenic coastal walking paths from Miraflores to get there, we decided to go that route.

The one-way trip to the park from our Airbnb was 6 miles (9.7 kilometers), so we knew we’d be tired and would need a taxi to take us home at the end of the day!

We left our place at 7:30 am so we would get to the park when it opened, more or less.

Eventually, we had to walk up the access stairs near San Miguel and make our way through the city streets to Parque de las Leyendas. The area was not as affluent as Miraflores, but it was a reasonably secure residential area and we had no problems. Sorry for the lack of photos on this stretch of our journey, but we try to avoid excessive cell phone use in unfamiliar areas.

Once we reached the park, we paid the 15 Soles ($3.81 USD) per person entrance fee and started exploring!

The Parque de las Leyendas Grounds

As you can see in the map below, the park grounds are extensive, with many areas to visit.

Parque de las Leyendas is networked with well-landscaped walkways that lead all over the park. Since we came on a Tuesday, the park was not terribly busy.

Although the park was fantastic to wander around and explore, the main attractions for us were the botanical garden, archeological sites, and zoological parks. And it was time to give those a closer look!

The Botanical Garden

The botanical division of the park is a legitimate academic group, producing publications across a wide range of subdisciplines.

And the garden itself is lovely!

Sadly at the halfway point through the garden, the path was blocked off for renovation. A bit of a bummer, but it is always best when parks regularly upgrade and modernize their facilities.

So we moved onward!

The Huaca San Miguel Archaeological Site

As you could see from the pictures to this point, the 53 archeological sites were ever-present. They represent several civilizations that lived in this area dating back over 2,000 years. The network of sites is absolutely amazing.

But one of the most well-developed archaeological sites at the park is Huaca San Miguel (huaca = mound). Apparently, this site was built in the period just before the Incas took it over (1100 – 1450 AD). It was used as an administrative center, as well as for food storage.

This site was very impressive, as were all the others we were able to see. What was really interesting was how active these sites were with archaeological work. On all of the larger huacas teams of workers were continuing to excavate these structures.

But we still had so much more to see at Parque de las Leyendas. Namely the zoological parks!

The Zoological Parks

We admit it, we are zoo snobs.

Both of us were educated near one of the best zoos in the USA (The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden), so for better or worse that is our standard against which all other zoos compare.

That said, our opinion of any zoo depends on what kind of visitor you may be. Are you a normal person viewing animal exhibits for fun with no other agenda? Or are you a naturalist with solid camera equipment looking for the perfect animal shot?

To be fair, we always try to consider both perspectives.

The Normal Person’s Perspective

From a normal person’s perspective, we found the zoo to be enjoyable and worth seeing. The exhibits are many and varied, with over 2200 animals represented at the park!

But there was definitely room for improvement. The animals seemed healthy and the pens were reasonably well kept, but the layout and design of the pens seemed less well thought out compared to other zoos we have visited globally, including in Latin America.

To us, the zoo portion of the park had a mid-to-late-20th-century feel to it, meaning that the pens were a bit less “natural” than you would typically see in a big city modern zoo. The emphasis seemed to be on viewing opportunities over replicating “natural” habitats for the animals (as much as a zoo can do under the circumstances).

Again I want to emphasize that the animals all looked well-kept and in good health. It just feels like the zoo layout and design need to catch up with other zoos in the global community (including elsewhere in Latin America).

So from a normal person’s perspective, we rate the zoo a 7.5 out of 10 possible points. The passing score is primarily due to the number and diversity of animals represented (particularly from South America). As a former professional zoologist, I appreciated that tremendously. But it is my hope that the animal pen design aspect of the park improves with time. Perhaps if we both didn’t have extensive life science experience, we’d rate the zoo a little higher.

The Naturalist-Photographer’s Perspective

Good lord, the zoo was frustrating for photography.

Many pens had plexiglass viewing windows where the glass was so clouded over that you couldn’t get a clear shot. Other pens had excessive or overly tall fencing that completely ruined any chance of getting a shot without the fence dominating the composition.

I would say that 70 percent of the animal exhibits had issues of this sort.

As a tall man using a camera with a narrow diameter zoom lens (Panasonic DC-ZS200 travel camera with 24 – 360 mm optical zoom) I was able to get around some of these issues. I could sometimes reach over fences to get my shot or fit my low-profile zoom lens through chain-link fences. But not always.

Rhonda had it worse being shorter, and using a more beefy camera setup (Nikon D3300 DSLR with a Tamron 18 – 400 mm zoom lens). Although her entire setup is superior to mine, it was more difficult for her to get shots through fences.

So the number of quality animal shots we might have taken was far less than expected. But we did manage a few…cloudy plexiglass and fences be damned.

Here is a gallery of our best shots.

So from a naturalist-photographer perspective, we rate this zoo a 6 out of 10 points. And we may have been a little generous here.

But still, the zoo portion of the park was fun. Just limit your expectations if you are a photographer hoping to get great animal close-ups. So many great photographic opportunities were lost for us here!

Closing Thoughts and Considerations

It was about 4 pm when we decided to leave Parque de las Leyendas. According to Rhonda’s fitness watch, we had put in over 15 miles (~24 kilometers) on our feet for the day! Our capacity for self-abuse never fails to amaze us.

But we were exhausted! So we used the Cabify app to summon a ride home (11.01 Soles/$2.79 USD with coupon and including tip).

Money well spent.

So what did we think of Parque de las Leyendas?

It was pretty fantastic, honestly. For just 15 Soles ($3.81 USD) you get access to a massive facility with a dizzying variety of things to do! We didn’t even look into the paddleboat rides, horse riding area, family carnival games area, or the many food courts.

And we are embarrassed to say that the facility was so large, we somehow completely missed the archeological museum!

Crazy.

Honestly, Parque de las Leyendas is the perfect place for families, or anyone interested in animals, plants, and archaeology to spend a day. Or three.

You won’t be disappointed.

Until next time…

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