El Libertador - Lima

One of my historical heroes is Argentine General Jose de San Martin. Not long ago I featured a park in Riobamba, Ecuador where Argentine troops fought to secure Ecuadorian freedom. Recently I had the opportunity to go with sumajhuarmi and see Plaza San Martin in the center of Lima, Peru. Why a big statue of Jose de San Martin in Lima? It's because San Martin, known as the Liberator or "El Libertador", played a key role in the independence of three South American countries: his native Argentina, Chile and Peru. After several failed attempts by Argentine liberation forces to defeat Royalist forces in the high plains of Bolivia, San Martin conceived the strategy of taking Lima, Peru from the Pacific Ocean instead of overland through Bolivia (then part of Peru). To do this required he secure Chile first. After several significant battles in Chile they succeeded in driving the Spanish Royalist out of Chile and moved north by sea to Peru. They landed in the southern coastal city of Pisco where they based for several months in early 1821. While there San Martin organized and recruited Peruvians to the cause of independence. Instead of marching on Lima he sough a diplomatic approach to establishing an independent Peru. The Vice Regent for Spain would not agree to San Martin's proposal of an independent Peru so after several months he began his move to take Lima. Liberation troops from several countries (Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru) established two fronts, one to the north of Lima and one to the south. Additionally they blockaded the port of Callao so that little to no supplies could enter the city. Soon the Spanish Royalist retreated into the mountains leaving Lima to the liberation forces of San Martin. On 28 July 1821 Peruvian independence was declared from the center of Lima by Jose de San Martin. Was it all over yet? No. Royalist forces moved into the Cusco area where they held out for a few years more. In the mean time liberation forces under the direction of Venezuelan General Simon Bolivar continued to fight for Ecuador's freedom. Both San Martin and Simon Bolivar met briefly in Guayaquil, Ecuador to discuss the path forward. A great mystery surrounds their meeting. It was evident that they did not see eye to eye but little more was ever said about their meeting. San Martin departed for Peru and soon returned to Argentina, leaving the final battles in the hands of Bolivar's generals. San Martin returned to Argentina but soon found that fighting among those who had fought for independence put Argentina in great turmoil. The political situation was such that he departed Argentina for France where he lived the rest of his life. With the exception of one short visit to Argentina he did not participate in the Argentine political or social life again. San Martin is a great hero, the George Washington figure of South America. In the plaza that bears his name you can find a geocache called El Libertador (GC31EJ6). It requires some stealth to find without being discovered. Be sure to check out the equestrian statue of Jose de San Martin in the center of the plaza. Congratulations to Funbiker for the FTF! Latin America needs some more quick FTF finders! This one only took a little under a week!

Downtown Buenos Aires Parque San Martin cache

We flew on a COPA flight from Quito to Panama and then all day to Buenos Aires, arriving at 10 p.m. local time, three hours difference from Quito time. We took a remis (a type of taxi) from the airport and were at the HoJo Hotel on La Florida Street by 11:15 p.m. La Florida is the walking zone for tourist. We checked in, dropped our bags and headed out to find the only cache we were able to get on this trip: Libertador General San Martin Square GC 1K5M4).  We selected our hotel with this geocache in mind. We were just across the street. At just before midnight the streets and park in this area are always well illuminated. This is tourism central. Although the cache is not recommended for night, we had no other choice as our remis was to pick us up just at sun-up. We tracked out into the park and found that we had some signal bounce. With the clue we were able to track right to it as we back tracked. Right to the cache just as the clue indicated. We sat on the park bench and signed the log in the light of a fancy park street lamp. Just then up drove park maintenance. He parked right in view range of us and just sat there. We waited, ate some snacks, waited.... Finally we decided that we'd have to take the micro home with us and return it before sun up. Maybe this guy would go somewhere by then. I woke up a couple of hours later thinking of going after another cache five blocks away but found that it had just the evening before been archived after being muggled. I went out and to my surprise found almost every park bench in the San Martin park occupied by restless sleeping homeless people. Most had blankets and some were saw logs. Right where I needed to be, on the bench where we signed the log the night before, slept a man who, as expected, just couldn't get comfortable. He tossed and turned as I walked by. I went up the sidewalk and waited, obvious to some of the other semi-sleepers. Finally after the fellow was still a while I crept in with the large tree between the homeless fellow and I. I reached around and deposited the cache in its place and go out of there. I don't think anyone saw me. This is a nice park by day but maybe the cache owner is right to say its not for night caching. Here are a few shots of the park at night and La Florida street where several tourist hotels are. I wish I had more time to go after four more new caches here but have to fly.