When I think of Peru, I think of 'color'-primary colors, secondary colors and lots of earth tones, too. Although this website has primarily focused on nature photos, I can't give a full picture of Peru unless I include people-the people of Peru, who are so colorful and have such a rich cultural heritage.
We started our trip at Lake Titicaca, 12,000 ft. above sea level. This lake is the highest navigable lake in the world. There are inhabited islands in the lake, both natural and man-made floating reed islands. The residents are skilled weavers and subsist on fishing and farming.
In this land of extremes, our next stop was the Amazon basin to observe the flora and fauna. It was troubling to find that the rainforest has been severely affected by tree poaching and gold mining. Many of the biggest, most valuable trees, such as mahogany, have ben felled and sold. Gold mining has leached mercury into the rivers and soil, which has negatively impacted the food chain from fish to birds to mammals.
We started our trip at Lake Titicaca, 12,000 ft. above sea level. This lake is the highest navigable lake in the world. There are inhabited islands in the lake, both natural and man-made floating reed islands. The residents are skilled weavers and subsist on fishing and farming.
In this land of extremes, our next stop was the Amazon basin to observe the flora and fauna. It was troubling to find that the rainforest has been severely affected by tree poaching and gold mining. Many of the biggest, most valuable trees, such as mahogany, have ben felled and sold. Gold mining has leached mercury into the rivers and soil, which has negatively impacted the food chain from fish to birds to mammals.
Peru
In another abrupt change, we left the Amazon to explore the City of Cuzco, ancient capital of the incas. Cuzco still retains many examples of superior Inca building techniques. In fact, the Spanish buildings, which came later, were mostly destroyed by earthquakes, while many of the Inca buildings still stand.
The grand culmination of the trip was a visit to Machu Picchu. This architectural site has to be one of the true wonders of the world. That the Inca civilization could have built such a site in such a location is beyond comprehension. It's a mystical, spiritual place located in a misty cloud forest-a wonderful place for viewing birds, hummingbirds and plants, especially orchids.
Since one picture is worth a thousand words, please enjoy the slide show of this magical land!
Renee
The grand culmination of the trip was a visit to Machu Picchu. This architectural site has to be one of the true wonders of the world. That the Inca civilization could have built such a site in such a location is beyond comprehension. It's a mystical, spiritual place located in a misty cloud forest-a wonderful place for viewing birds, hummingbirds and plants, especially orchids.
Since one picture is worth a thousand words, please enjoy the slide show of this magical land!
Renee
