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Published: March 18th 2005
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Male Vicuña
Solitary male looking to hook-up At 13,178 ft (4016m) the air is clean, clear and thin in oxygen. A most austere and harsh environment for human survival, yet perfect for the national animal of Perú - the Vicuña, the condor and a few other robust animals.
Pampa Galera is the largest reserve of Vicuñas in the world, containing roughly 6500 vicuñas in 6500 hectares. The animal is considered an endangered specias, sa the camel-like animal is coveted for fiber worldwide. One kilo of the raw material sells wholesale for USD$600 in the closed market controlled by the Peruvian government.
Rosulo Sarmiento and four other people live at the reserve to protect and keep this prized herd of animals. My trip started in Nasca, Ica, an adjacent city and state located at about 1000 ft asl at 5am, and three hours later at above 13,000 ft (S 14º 40.140 - W 074º 24.292). There I was met by Rolulo and two of the gane wardens´s - Juan and Henry which, with rifle at arm, would take me around the property in the 4x4 truck I had rented while in Nasca.
So, the adventure started, off and down the road to places
Family unit
check out the new born few white people have been, dreamed of going, or had any interest in visiting. Another two hours of bouncing around in the truck, the Juan, Henry and I started a three hour treck up the Andes to find the cave drawings. Little did I know how absolutely beautiful the scenery would be, and some of the vegetation found only in this part of the world.
It was a bit disconcerting being in the middle of nowhere, figuratively and literally with two guys who speak quechua (the original language of the Incas), have less than a high school education, and probably remember the damage the whiteman - spaniards unleashed on their country some five hundred years ago. In and by itself, the aforementioned would not add up to much, except they both had high caliber rifles, and were accustomed to shooting it out with poachers (two years ago, three game wardens were ambushed and killed while in the field by poachers).
The thought crossed my mind exactly three times during my stay, of how much camera gear and other navigational gear could bring for these men who earn less than USD$300 per month, if I were to
Fungus?
Not sure hat it is, but it is big and beautiful at over 13k feet. get lost, or be shot and left for lost...
After some two hours, we arrived at the site of the 3000 year old burial cave of this long gone ancestor of these two men. A vicuña painted on the wall, the bones from the grave left close to where they had been placed so many years ago.
After the walk back to the 4x4, we headed off to the Chaco de los Inca on Quisuarrniycc mountain. The Inca would have his herd of vicuñas captured once a year for sheering and food. The tradition continues to this date at the same place, on June 24th, and is attended by the President of Peru, as the reigning Inca.
The trees which sourrounded the Inca town seemed out of place, and must have been three to four hundred years old. For three hours, we walked aroudn the area, sat and enjoyed conversation, shot a few photos, and proceded to leave this magical place. As we left, I stepped near a nest of Perdíz brid, which flew off, and left six beautiful lavender eggs behind. Henry and I found the eggs, placed them carefully in a bag,
NOT FARC
The 3000 year old pictograph (painted vs. engraved). My friends Juan and Henry thought it would be nice to have photo.. and Henry proceeded to offer Pachamama (mother earth) a thank offering of four perfect coca leaves, placed in slitts upright in the ground, the covered by a rock. The offering was well received, as the sunset i captured, the condor i saw, the photos of vicuñas playing, and the foxes hunting all were gifts from above.
Night was upon us, and we returned to the reserve building which had an office and a few rooms for people to sleep. The rooms were as sparce as I had ever seen. The broken windows were covered with plastic, taped to the frame, the four bunk beds left behind by the Peruvian army after the 1980´s war with the Sendero Luminoso leftist guerillas were the only items in the room.
Temperatures dropped to below freezing, no electricity, no water, and the second time the thought of being left behind in the andes crossed my mind. At that point I was so exhausted from climbing up and over mountains, sleep came upon me, and the next thing i knew it was morning.
If there was ever a time in my life I felt like I did not belong,
Amdist the vastness
a natural spring high in the andes of ayacucho and abandoned; it was there and then. As I am decendant of spaniards, in the Andes, amidst the decendants of the Incas - I felt it would be somewhat of an appropriate payback for the sins of my forefathers. Alas, God would not have it as so, and I lived to tell the story. We each have an appointed time of arrival and departure...
Early in the morning, we met for a brakfast which consited of the eggs from the day before (best eggs i ever ate), beans, bread and coffee. Perfect start for another perfect day. The sunset from last night eas perhaps the most visually engaging and spectacular sunset I had seen on any of the four continents i have been priviledged to visit.
Off we went with the intended purpose of shootign a large herd of vicuñas (herds of 8 or more, are mad up of renegated young males which form herds of upto two hundred), and to go see the forest of cactus located at 13,000 feet caleld Puya Raymondi. Cacti at this altitude seemed impossible if not impropable. None the less, no one asked my for my permission -
The
Natural Predator
The fox is the second highest killero f vicuñas - man being the first. People from the USA and Europe come and kill the animals for fun and trophy. day ended with a significant amount of climbing above 13K feet to get to the Puya Raymondi located at S 14º 32.394 - W 074º 26.794 / 13,178 feet (4016M). The cactus floweres once every 100 years and dies. The majestic 25 foot tall plants, atop the mountains were a sight never anticipated nor imagined.
One of the benefits of this trip has been to look at my life, and all of the layers of varnish which I placed to cover defects, or to make myself look better for any one of reasons which seemed perfectly acceptable - like getting a job, getting promoted, etc.
From age fourty to fourty four, where i can now look back and reflect on my life, the first fourty years were spent applying varnish (school, work, cars, money, sex, drugs, rock n roll), and the past four have given me much welcomed pain which in turn has allowed the original piece created, without varnish and artifical color -
I like the original work and am thankful for the trials and tribulations which caused me to search for the underlying layer.
Peace and love from Nasca.
juan
Cerro Huamani
On the Cerro Bravo, high amidst the Andes, the city of Incas holds mysteris such as these trees
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