2014 - Peruvian Adventure

Our tour of the fascinating country of Peru in May 2014.
1a casa literatura Casa de Literatura, Lima. This former railway station is now the library and literature centre in Lima. 2main square lima Plaza Mayor (Main Square), Lima. The main city square in Lima. 3a pres palace Presidential Palace, Lima. 3pres palace lima The palace has guards outside, the way we do at Buckingham Palace in Britain.
4miraflores lima Miraflores district in Lima. An early morning ride along the Pacific coastline in Lima. 5pachacamac pyramid Archaeological site at Pachacamac. A fascinating look at the pyramids of Pachacamac. 6pachacamac Former administration building, Pachacamac. One of the restored buildings at the archaeological site. 7cormorants Cormorants on an abandoned boat at Ballestas Islands. The Ballestas Islands, near Paracas, are a haven for wildlife including many different birds, seals and sea-lions.
8seal and pup Seal and pup on rocks at Ballestas Islands. How on earth they got up there is beyond me! 9el candelabro "El Candelabro", curious geoglyph near the Ballestas Islands. Believed to have been used as a beacon to seafarers. 10 penguins Humboldt Penguins at the Ballestas Islands. You only find penguins in the wild in the southern hemisphere. 11 main arequipe Main square in Arequipa, Peru's second city. Arequipa is located around 8,000 feet above sea-level.
12 misti Misti and Chachani mountains, near Arequipa. Misti is a volcano at 19,101 feet above sea level; we can also see the Chacani mountain (19,931 feet). 13 pichu pichu Pikchu Pikchu mountain, 18,599 feet. 14 colca canyon Colca Canyon, at over 13,000 feet deep, is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the USA. 15 trevor colca canyon Trevor at Condor Valley, Colca Canyon. At this point we were about 16,000 above sea level, and suffering from altitude sickness.
16 panpipe band colca Typical Andean musicians. No trip to Peru is complete without some panpipe music. :-) 17 inca terraces Inca terraces at Sillustani. 18 alpaca Alpaca and vicuña, a common sight in Peru. Alpaca and vicuña are valued for their warm and very soft fleece. 19 mountains lakes Lake Titicaca, Puno. At 12,000 feet above sea level, Lake Titicaca is the world's highest navigable lake.
20 reed boats titicaca Totora reed boat on Lake Titicaca. Boats, buildings and even whole floating 'islands' are made from the totora reed, and the locals live on the lake in them. 21 tortora reeds titicaca Totora reed island and dwellings, Lake Titicaca. 22 peruvian ladies titicaca Ladies in traditional dress at Lake Titicaca. This style of dress is very common among the Peruvian women. 23 reed village children Children on the reed island, Lake Titicaca.
24 reed craft titicaca Baballitos de totora, Lake Titicaca. Traditional straddled reed boats on the lake. 24a perurail The PeruRail train to Machu Picchu. Note the glass roof, which allowed us to look up at the mountains. 1 machu picchu Famous view of Machu Picchu. Note the Inca agricultural terraces, a well-known sight throughout Peru. 25 machu picchu Machu Picchu.
26 machu picchu Machu Picchu. 28 machu picchu temples Agricultural terraces, Machu Picchu. 29 machu picchu Machu Picchu. 30 inca terraces A good view of the Inca terraces.
31 machu picchu Temple ruins at Machu Picchu. 33 juan santillana Someone was here before Hiram Bingham! Although the American explorer Hiram Bingham is credited with 'discovering' Machu Picchu in 1911, a faint carving on the stone here shows the name Juan Santillana and the date of July 1902 underneath (date not visible in photo). 34 temples Fantastic view of a citadel up in the Andes. It's a marvel that this whole Inca city was built 8,000 feet up in the mountains. 35 view from guardhouse View of Machu Picchu from the guardhouse.
36 cuzco cloisters Santo Domingo Convent, Cuzco. 37 llamas A herd of llamas at Saksayhuaman. 38 cuzco statue Statue of Inca leader Pachacuteq, in Cuzco. Pachacuteq was the ninth ruler of the Inca state. 39 saksayhuaman Giant stone blocks at the fort of Saksayhuaman, near Cuzco.
40 cuzco from saksayhuaman A view of Cuzco from Saksayhuaman. 41 cuzco coricancha Qorinkancha temple and convent, Cuzco. 42 trevor rosario Trevor with our fantastic guide, Rosario Malca. Rosario was with us for the whole two weeks of the tour.