October 18 and 19th we were at sea on our way from Ecuador down to Peru.
Salaverry- Oct 19th
There are THOUSANDS of Pelicans in this port. I have never seen so many anywhere. They fly in circles out over the surf and sit in the water near the ship. This area of the Pacific is so rich in wildlife, birds and fish. Salaverry, Peru looks like a moonscape.There is no vegetation here but long, lonely, open beaches of dark sand go as far as the eye can see and flood plains abound. Then mountains of gray rock lift to the sky and turns into desert. You can see houses built in the sand beneath the mountains.
We took a bus ride and drove through the fairly modern city of Trujillo. The square like many in this Spanish heritage part of the world, consist of old churches and Government buildings in the Spanish style. The many brick and concrete houses and apartments make me wonder how they will survive in the next earthquake. The last one was in 1997.
Fom Trujillo we headed over to the UNESCO sites-
First we went to a small early site of the Chimu people that worshiped the rainbow from about 700 AD. Their temple had depictions of the altar and knife they used to kill prisoners and offer them as sacrifices to their God of the rainbow. Probably because it was important to pray for rain. They abandoned this site when they had 30 years of drought and El Nino brought too much rain all at once washing everything away. El Nino is very important to people in this part of the world.
Chan Chan, Peru
A very interesting archaeological site of the city of Chan Chan where the Chimu people lived starting in 850 AD. There were 60,000 people here at one time. Amazing history here. It is full of sand dunes and many high walls still standing of the many palaces left by the Chimu and Incas. The magnitude of these ruins is overwhelming. The Chimu here worshiped the full moon as their God and had many ceremonies at the time of the full moon, which probably had to do with the tides since they were on the ocean. The walls were 30 meters high and have inscriptions of fish and pelicans everywhere. The Incas ran the Chimeos out by controlling their fresh water supply which was ground water next to the walls of the palaces. The Incas then worshiped the Sun God. In 1970, students from Harvard University were the first to come to Peru and begin studying the site of Chan Chan. By 1986 tourists began to come. It's not an easy place to get to.
Yes there were pelicans back then too so they incorporated them in the art.
Callao, Lima- Oct 20-21st
We were in this port for 2 days because there was a group of people that were going to Machu Pichu overnight. They had to fly inland and hike in so we chose not to do it on this trip. The first day in port we took a bus to the Indian market in downtown Lima. Lima is a city of 10 million people and is fairly modern with both very rich beach communities and very poor shantytowns. As tourists we visited the Indian market to buy traditional Peruvian things like knitted caps, alpaca scarves and sweaters and silver jewelry. The cloth is multi-colored weaves of beautiful, bright colors. I was able to buy an alpaca scarf with llamas on it for $10. I also bought our new grandbaby a colorful peruvian hat. Traffic is very difficult in the city but our bus drove through the ritzy area of san Isidro and the beach front Miraflores.
Chinese food! There is a large contingent of chinese descendents who came to work on the railroads.
Day 2 in Lima we took a highlights tour and saw the Lima Cathedral in the city square and the Franciscan Convent. The Cathedral was re-built 3 times because of the earthquakes. Originally the church was built by Pizarro, Spanish conqueror here in the 1500s. The convent was very old as well, with murals from the 1500 and 1600s and a library of 22,000 books all very old.The library was damaged in the last earthquake but we could look in on it. Underneath the adjoining church were some creepy catacombs with bones scattered throughout. In the same area is a train station that goes to the highlands of Peru, once a month. They drink a national alcoholic beverage here called Pisco. It is a spirit made from grapes. Typically they make a pisco sour which was quite good, like a lemoncello flavor.
We toured the Paracus national reserve which is over 300,000 acres on both land and sea of protected Marine and Land. The marine life is an amazing ecosystem of many birds that have migrated from Alaska and a primary export in this region is bird poo which they scrape off the rocks and islands every 7 years.
The land is a desert scape similar to Mars and there is a particular sandstone mound where they discovered a burial ground with over 400 bodies. These ancient people had long pointy heads shaped since they were children and they were laid in fetal positions after arm and leg bones were removed.
http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas-opinion-guest-authors/elongated-human-skulls-peru-possible-evidence-lost
We drove through the desert area stopping at beaches and on top of hills to view the great expanse.
We stopped at Red Beach where pink granite had been separated from other rock in the nearby cliffs and left the sandy beach a deep red color. There were 2 sea lions flopping in the surf who had come up to the beach to die, a fairly common practice for old and sick animals. The wealth of marine animals and birds here is a direct result of the plankton rich waters from the south. It is also incredibly deep here at 23,000 ft! I am happy to see Peru protecting this ecosystem.
We also stopped in a small town, Paracus at a textile factory. They hire young men from the highlands who save their money to attend University. The loom weaving is beautiful with Inca designs. Peruvian children go to Catholic schools if they can afford it. Otherwise public schools only run from 8-1 or 1-6 to accommodate all the children.
Finally got through incredible Peru!
Salaverry- Oct 19th
There are THOUSANDS of Pelicans in this port. I have never seen so many anywhere. They fly in circles out over the surf and sit in the water near the ship. This area of the Pacific is so rich in wildlife, birds and fish. Salaverry, Peru looks like a moonscape.There is no vegetation here but long, lonely, open beaches of dark sand go as far as the eye can see and flood plains abound. Then mountains of gray rock lift to the sky and turns into desert. You can see houses built in the sand beneath the mountains.
Fresh fruit stands everywhere.
Fom Trujillo we headed over to the UNESCO sites-
First we went to a small early site of the Chimu people that worshiped the rainbow from about 700 AD. Their temple had depictions of the altar and knife they used to kill prisoners and offer them as sacrifices to their God of the rainbow. Probably because it was important to pray for rain. They abandoned this site when they had 30 years of drought and El Nino brought too much rain all at once washing everything away. El Nino is very important to people in this part of the world.
A very interesting archaeological site of the city of Chan Chan where the Chimu people lived starting in 850 AD. There were 60,000 people here at one time. Amazing history here. It is full of sand dunes and many high walls still standing of the many palaces left by the Chimu and Incas. The magnitude of these ruins is overwhelming. The Chimu here worshiped the full moon as their God and had many ceremonies at the time of the full moon, which probably had to do with the tides since they were on the ocean. The walls were 30 meters high and have inscriptions of fish and pelicans everywhere. The Incas ran the Chimeos out by controlling their fresh water supply which was ground water next to the walls of the palaces. The Incas then worshiped the Sun God. In 1970, students from Harvard University were the first to come to Peru and begin studying the site of Chan Chan. By 1986 tourists began to come. It's not an easy place to get to.
Very deserty area
Who can resist Peruvian school children waving at our tour group!
This one is for Josh. Maybe you could work in Peru?
After Chan Chan we drove to a large beach community called Huanchaca where they not only have longboard surfing competitions but they also exhibit the reed boats that have a pointed bow and flat stern, the traditional fisherman boat. This beach is on the Pan Am highway so it seems lots of young people travel here to surf and hang out.
Callao, Lima- Oct 20-21st
We were in this port for 2 days because there was a group of people that were going to Machu Pichu overnight. They had to fly inland and hike in so we chose not to do it on this trip. The first day in port we took a bus to the Indian market in downtown Lima. Lima is a city of 10 million people and is fairly modern with both very rich beach communities and very poor shantytowns. As tourists we visited the Indian market to buy traditional Peruvian things like knitted caps, alpaca scarves and sweaters and silver jewelry. The cloth is multi-colored weaves of beautiful, bright colors. I was able to buy an alpaca scarf with llamas on it for $10. I also bought our new grandbaby a colorful peruvian hat. Traffic is very difficult in the city but our bus drove through the ritzy area of san Isidro and the beach front Miraflores.
Day 2 in Lima we took a highlights tour and saw the Lima Cathedral in the city square and the Franciscan Convent. The Cathedral was re-built 3 times because of the earthquakes. Originally the church was built by Pizarro, Spanish conqueror here in the 1500s. The convent was very old as well, with murals from the 1500 and 1600s and a library of 22,000 books all very old.The library was damaged in the last earthquake but we could look in on it. Underneath the adjoining church were some creepy catacombs with bones scattered throughout. In the same area is a train station that goes to the highlands of Peru, once a month. They drink a national alcoholic beverage here called Pisco. It is a spirit made from grapes. Typically they make a pisco sour which was quite good, like a lemoncello flavor.
presidential Palace
Police waiting for unrest in the main plaza
The Lima Cathedral
This is believed to be the remains of Francisco Pizzaro who was assassinated here in Lima in the 1500s. They have been unable to prove it is his remains yet.
Love Park
Quinoa is a staple of the diet here along with potatoes which were first discovered here. A tasty dish served in more rural areas of Peru is the "gerbil" or Guinea pig- imagine that!
We didn't have it though. By the way, Lima gets very little precipitation as this whole coast is desert. They get about 2 inches a year.
October 22nd, we made our way to the next port of General San Martin, Peru. This is a small port we visited and just before we arrived the ship passed a most incredible place. An ancient geoglyph called the "Candleabra" because of it's unusual shape. It is 170 meters tall and 3 meters deep cut into the sandstone, hardened bedrock in the side of the hill around 200 BC. They aren't sure what it represented, perhaps a navigation or constellation tool made by these ancient people.
http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas/mysterious-prehistoric-geoglyph-paracas-candelabra-002203
The land is a desert scape similar to Mars and there is a particular sandstone mound where they discovered a burial ground with over 400 bodies. These ancient people had long pointy heads shaped since they were children and they were laid in fetal positions after arm and leg bones were removed.
http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas-opinion-guest-authors/elongated-human-skulls-peru-possible-evidence-lost
We drove through the desert area stopping at beaches and on top of hills to view the great expanse.
We stopped at Red Beach where pink granite had been separated from other rock in the nearby cliffs and left the sandy beach a deep red color. There were 2 sea lions flopping in the surf who had come up to the beach to die, a fairly common practice for old and sick animals. The wealth of marine animals and birds here is a direct result of the plankton rich waters from the south. It is also incredibly deep here at 23,000 ft! I am happy to see Peru protecting this ecosystem.
Finally got through incredible Peru!
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