He will travel on Sunday to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who disappointed many Argentines by not returning to visit during his papacy.
His trip is seen as a double homecoming of sorts, US-based Vatican expert Christopher White told AFP.
“History’s first Latin American pope, Francis, never returned to his homeland. Pope Leo, a Peruvian citizen, now carries forward that mantle and legacy,” said White, who authored a book on Pope Leo.
Peru has been gripped by pope fever in the run-up to his arrival.
In Lima, vendors are selling T-shirts and rosaries with his image on them, while Pope Leo bread is on sale in bakeries. Inmates at a women’s prison are crafting dolls in his likeness.
A towering, 14m statue of Pope Leo has also been erected in the port city of Callao, which he is set to visit.
The trip will take him to the former Inca capital of Cusco and the Amazon rainforest, but the pope will also revisit his former life as Robert Francis Prevost, with a supper among priests from his old diocese of Chiclayo and a private visit to a chapel he helped rebuild.
