Callao Reception

No sooner had we done this than a swarm of launches converged on our ship. As they drew nearer it looked as if they were manned by swarthy cutthroat pirates, such as I used to read about as a boy in ‘The Three Midshipmen’. They were at least dressed much the same, fore nefarious expressions on their dark faces and were intent on boarding our ship. They contended among themselves for a place by the gangway and fought their way up shouting and jostling one another in the mad race for the deck. All they lacked to complete the true pirate effect was pistols in their belts and cutlasses in their teeth. It was a fearsome sight as they pounced on the poor defenceless passengers, grabbed their suitcase and made off with the booty. Nevertheless, however terrifying may have been the experience for those who had never experienced it before it was not nearly as bad as it looked. The boarding party was not a hoard of pirates but baggage handlers known as ‘flateros’. The only really fierce thing in the attack was their competition to capture as much baggage as possible and convey it to the customs terminal at the landing stage where it would be up to the passengers to identify and claim their own. Since I had received a message to remain on board until someone met me, I stood guard over my belongings and witnessed the scramble of falteros and the anxiety of my fellow travellers. At length Mr Rycroft (pictured), the sub director of the Colegio Anglo Peruano, turned up. After this everything was simple. He explained the procedure to me, gave me the necessary instructions to a faltero, got me to shore and through the Customs and hailed a taxi for Lima.

Callao at that time was a very ancient looking town. Its streets were still cobblestoned, donkeys abounded, and the town was dominated by a medieval fort, complete with moat. The only road to Lima was the Avenida Progresso, which was flanked by trees. At the Callao end of the avenida buzzards were dismantling the carcass of a diseased donkey. A little nearer Lima was a monument on which were the remains of an old Ford car which had been badly smashed up in a collision. On the pedestal were the words ‘Despeciao se va lejos’ which means ‘slowly you go a long way’. It was a good lesson. Lima is about 450 feet above sea level and about 5 miles inland. The land along the coast is perfectly flat but with a definite slope seawards.