Blogs from Trujillo, Peru, South America - page 7

Spent the day touring El Brujo and Chan Chan but also got the chance to visit a little local fishing village, drive though the sugar cane fields, see a sugar cane processing factory and spending time with a nice local guide. He speaks no English so that is why I think we ended up at the little local spots. The workers in the field work incredibly hard and have little towns right in the area of the fields. There are also massive chicken farms in this area with over 4 million chickens housed. Chan Chan was conquered by the Incas who were eventually defeated by the Spanish. El Brujo was a time period previous to Chan Chan. Amazing museum there but no pictures allowed due to the delicate nature of the remains.... read more

The Festival of St Peter and Paul came to a close with an exhibition of La Marinera, The National Dance of Peru. Also as an introduction to the dancers several acrobats put on a rather confusing yet amusing performance which includes play fighting and a strange display of flirtation. On this occasion it was the children who put on the show in their wonderful outfits and beautiful footwork. This dance is a special part of Trujillo tradition and children begin to learn at a very young age, indeed some of the competitors were as young as 6. I wrote a piece on this dance a while back so for those who are interested this is the rough history of Marinera. A dance full of romance and flirtation. Marinera is one of the most beautiful complex dances ... read more

After a long journey that took me over 24 hours, I finally reached Huanchaco... and the first thing I did when I arrived was shower! I was especially happy because there was hot water...which is always a bonus! However, after this I realized that I had arrived on the Fiesta de San Pedro, and since Huanchaco is a fishing village and San Pedro is the patron saint of fisherman, there were festivities in town. When I arrived in the hostel I had met a girl who was actually working in Gaspesie, Quebec, so we went out have some ceviche (a peruvian specialty of raw fish, lime and onions) and then went to a party that was going on in town. It was great to take in the music and the dancing:) However, I was too tired ... read more

It's not that I completely understand the ways of the ocean but at the moment here in Haunchaco the waves are just out of control, huge washy foaming waves are pounding the shoreline, few surfers brave them, I can't see how they could. It resembles a washing machine, the fog obscures the horizon but as far as the eye can see these monsters continue to relentlessly crash on the shore and break over the sea walls, It's not even a full moon, the roar is deafening and even though it is hazy the sun still breaks through leaving the days balmy and hot. It is supposed to be winter here since April but it hasn't arrived yet, the days are very humid and summer remains. A few weeks ago when the moon was full, The waves ... read more

What an amazing first two weeks in Peru! I arrived in Peru early on Easter Sunday morning and spent the first week slowly making my way down the northern coastline visiting some nice little towns and the many archeaological sites along the way. First up was the city of Chiclayo where the main attraction was "El Señor de Sipan" an extremely well preserved skeleton dating from around the 6th century AD. The museum also had a mountain of artifacts (including an amazing collection of gold jewelley) which were all excavated from the site. I then moved on towards the city of Trujillo which lies around halfway between the Ecuadorian border and the Peruvian capital, Lima. I stayed in a little fishing village called Huanchaco, just outside Trujillo. Huanchaco is famous for its uniqiely shaped reed fishing ... read more