Blogs from Peru, South America - page 11

Mauk'allaqta, also spelled several different ways, is a very well preserved and also recently uncovered and restored area. Only in the past 20 years have archeologists been uncovering the ruins and restoring some of the buildings. Nearby is another archeological site named Puma O’qro. This is a limestone cliff that houses the cave from which the legendary Ayar brothers emerged. For a day trip to the Inca ruins of Maukallaqta, a couple friends and I caught a collective taxi from Cusco to the town of Yaurisque, where we stumbled on a fantastic tour group. We had intended to hire a taxi driver to take us to the trailhead. However, on Sunday, in a town as small as Yaurisque, we couldn’t find any taxi drivers working. Asking around, we did find a group of guys who had ... read more

We've had a fabulous day in Lima today, thanks to our friend and Debbie Wiener's cousin, Perla. She gave us a real insider's view of the city. She started but driving us around the better residential neighbourhoods where grand neo-colonoal buildings have been restored, mostly as office buildings, and mix with new housing and apartment buildings. There are lots of pleasant small parks, including one which is an olive grove, rthe emnants of an olive farm that previously occupied the entire area. We had coffee and a traditional Peruvian caramel cookie at Perla's local cafe. Then we went to Museo Larco, a beautiful private collection of ceramics, tapestries and metal craft from pre-Columbian Peru, set in an elegant mansion draped in multicolour bouganvillia. The museum is particularly known for an entire room of erotic ceramics, which ... read more

This morning we left Refugio Amazonas early and spotted an aguti just as we were leaving. They are rodents, about the size of a domestic cat, and are very important to Brazil nut production because they have very sharp teeth and are the only animals that can open the big nuts that hold the seeds we call Brazil nuts. They eat them but, like squirrels, like to save some for later so they bury them in individual holes. They frequently forget where they have buried them, thereby planting more Brazil nut trees. Actually I think they should be called Bolivian nuts as 60% of the production is in Bolivia but Brazil nuts are a very important part of the local economy in Brazil and Peru too. In Puerto Maldonado, the Brazil nut industry is second only ... read more

I am sitting in a hammock next to the open fourth wall of our magnificent bedroom in an eco-lodge called Refugio Amazonas, two hours' boat ride into the Amazon forest from Puerto Maldonado in the east of Peru. I can hear the sounds of a dozen different birds, insects and monkeys, smell the sweet, damp soil and see a range of deep greens, red leaves and orange flowers. I am also breathing much more easily as we are almost at sea level and the cold I had when we were at Lake Titicaca (very bad timing) has passed. I feel very relaxed. To recap the past couple of days, we took a bus back from Puno to Cusco, which was a direct seven-hour journey, in fact a little longer due to a mechanical problem which required ... read more

The past two days have been an amazing experience, giving us a privileged insight into some very different lifestyles. I feel as if I've been in the pages of National Geographic. We have been on the islands of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. We are now at about 3800 metres and I'm quite breathless when walking but otherwise okay. Yesterday we set off early on a boat and headed for the Uros Islands, artificial islands which are made entirely of totara reeds. The people literally build the islands with reeds and anchor them with stick formerly using reed rope but now using nylon. They also use the reeds for building their houses and boats, as food and sometimes ferment them to make alcohol. Their lifestyle is traditional and very simple, but the ... read more