Larcomar and the cliffs

You're at the end of Avenida Larco, the great artery of Miraflores. Lean over the railing: beneath your feet, set into the cliff, is an entire shopping centre. Its name explains it: Larco plus mar, the sea. Larcomar.

1Building downwards

Larcomar opened on 27 November 1998. Instead of putting up a building that would block the view, the developers dug into the slope under the park, so it is barely visible from the street. From its terraces you can take in the whole bay of Lima.

2An airman and a park

The park above is named after Alfredo Salazar Southwell, a young air force ensign. On 14 September 1937 his plane caught fire in flight over Lima. According to the story kept alive by local memory, he managed to steer it away from built-up areas and crashed on open ground in Miraflores, where he died.

3A coast made of pebbles

Look at the cliff face. It isn't solid rock, but a conglomerate of rounded stones and sand laid down over thousands of years by the Rímac and other rivers. That's why it is fragile, and why you see it covered in netting and plants. Below, the Costa Verde is now a fast road and a string of pebble beaches where people surf all year round.

On clear days you can make out the Morro de Chorrillos to the south and the islands off Callao to the north.

4What to look for

• The layers of the cliff, full of rounded stones.
• The surfers on the Costa Verde waves.
• The Morro de Chorrillos, the great headland closing the bay to the south.