“I felt that after not traveling all that much in 2019, this was finally happening in 2020.”
After the mediocre New Year’s celebration, everything was going so well in 2020. In fact, I was feeling like this year was going to be one of the better years, creatively, and in terms of travel.
One of my main goals in life is to travel as much as possible. But, to travel in a way where I can get to really know the places and the people in those places in a deep and intimate way. I felt that, after not traveling all that much in 2019, this was finally happening in 2020.
The coast: archaeological & natural treasures
After my parents flew back to Australia, we went to Lima again, to meet a friend from Belarus. She’d join us for a month and then… I planned to really head out into some unchartered territory.
We stayed in Miraflores… again. If you’re coming from a modern, Western country, you’d not care about Miraflores one bit, but when you’ve roughed it out, when you want some comfort, some amazing food, if you’ve done some real adventuring – Miraflores is the perfect “bubble” to stay in.
“I love the mountains. I love the ocean. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t’ want to sacrifice one for the other.”
Soon we were off to the coast again. The dunes, the ocean, the sea-breeze! One of the things I missed most when we were locked down is the ability to move freely between these different worlds.
I love the mountains. I love the ocean. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t’ want to sacrifice one for the other. I don’t want to have to choose. While we’ve been very happy with “getting stuck” in the mountains, but if it’s up to me, I never want to be concrete about where to spend time.
Above are Palpa lines, near the more famous Nazca lines. More impressive in some ways than the famous neighbor. Believe it or not, these were discovered relatively recently. You can see from the line above the figures that the local government was planning to build a road, right over these ancient drawings. One day some archaeologists discovered what the drawings were and halted the process just in time.
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Peru has an abundance of historical and archaeological treasures. If you’re traveling by land, you might get the impression that there are cultural heritage signs every few kilometers.
Windmills on the way to San Fernando National Reserve. They’re a great indicator of where the way is. A few years ago, residents of the area marked the way to the reserve with stones. Before then, you had to try your luck and follow tire marks on the sand in the desert. All of this of course means that San Fernando is properly remote. And… wild.
Lobos marinos translate to sea wolves, that’s how they’re known in Peru. In English we know them as sea lions. There are dozens of them on one of the rocky beaches in San Fernando Reserve. There’s no way down, unless you’re a bit of a climbing expert. So, this photo is taken with my drone.
“Ancient, mysterious petroglyphs. Dinosaur footprints. Nothing out of the ordinary in Peru. ”
Curiously, until you get very, very close to the sea lions, they don’t care much for the drone. If you try to approach them by foot, they run as soon as you get within 20-30 meters.
I always try to follow “good” weather. So, rather than head to the city of Arequipa, which was getting flooded at the time, we looked at the weather reports and headed towards where there were fewer rains.
We ended up in the desert again. Ancient, mysterious petroglyphs. Dinosaur footprints. Nothing out of the ordinary in Peru.
I know how privileged I am to be able to show my daughter this world. How privileged she is to see how much there is to our world. But, we make our life choices.
Sure, there’s an enormous level of privilege when you come from a society where you can get a decent education, make a good income, and not have to worry about being bombed at night. But, so many of us in these societies obsess so much about status, about the sense of security, a false sense most often.
“I’d not exchange these experiences for a huge house or a fancy car, or social status. ”
If nothing else, this year has helped me realize that I was right to choose this life for myself and to direct my family towards it too. I’d not exchange these experiences for a huge house or a fancy car, or social status.
That famous Colca Canyon
Anyway… from the desert, we headed towards Colca Canyon. Pretty steep change in altitude. A different world, again!
There’s a famous viewpoint not far from the village of Cabanaconde, from where you can see condors gliding above the rocky mountains. I’d seen condors before, but, there’s something magical in seeing these impressive birds. I overhead a local mother saying to her children “How beautiful our Peru is!” Agreed.
“Tanya got Mia a little doll which looked a lot like Luz Milagros, the shepherd girl we met along one of the roads. ”
Wherever there’s any kind of famous attraction in Peru… there are… vendors. Thankfully most of them sell traditional stuff, which supports some of the surrounding communities. And, hey, they blend in very nicely with the environment. It’s not like they’re selling some Made-In-China Mickey Mouse t-shirts. Even the children’s toys they sell are made using traditional techniques.
Tanya got Mia a little doll which looked a lot like Luz Milagros, the shepherd girl we met along one of the roads. So, that’s the name they gave her.
How wonderful it is to be on the road. I’m doing some things to get back and to live on the road, pretty much full time. I hope all goes well and I’ll be able to update you soon.
Vicuñas are like a wilder version of llamas. While llamas always belong to someone, vicuñas can be seen roaming around at high altitude pretty randomly.
Many of the high altitude wetlands are impossible to appreciate until you get up into the air. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat, a drone definitely enhances the travel experience.
One of the things that surprised me about Peru is that most of the animals, which I believed to be llamas, were actually alpacas. Apparently there are far more alpacas than llamas in Peru. Now, I’m no animal expert, but from what I’ve been told, at least some of these above should be llamas, as they have longer necks? Anyone know?
Colca Canyon isn’t just a natural wonder, it’s home to some ancient churches and other cultural monuments. The little villages in the canyon have been around for centuries. And, yes it’s cliché to say that they haven’t changed much for generations, they’re just like their ancestors, but apart from the odd café and hotel, that’s exactly how it is.
Carnival time!
We weren’t quite aware of this when we got up into the higher part of the canyon, but, is that it was Carnival season! Carnival is a big deal in Colca and in most of the mountain villages we passed. So, we ended up going from Carnival to Carnival.
Above is a scene from a village called Huambo, which is the first seriously populated village if you enter Colca Canyon from the west side.
The celebrations were being prepared when we arrived in Chivay, the biggest village/town in the canyon. Carnival is a time for traditional dances in this town. One of the dances involves men dressing as women. There are a couple of versions behind the reason why. One was to confuse their enemies, in particular - the Spanish conquistadores. The other – so that they can seduce the girls without arousing suspicion.
What you’ll see a lot of during carnival is children spraying each other with foam. Everywhere where there are carnival celebrations, you’ll see this. It’s relentless and somewhere between hilarious to horrific, when you think about how toxic some of that stuff is.
We tried to escape the rain, but, there was nowhere to hide in Colca. The rainy season was in full swing and there was no way to avoid it. Not like it bothered the carnival participants. It’s nothing new. Carnival always takes place around this time. People adapt and, unlike me, farmers and, of course, anyone connected to agriculture celebrates the rain rather than avoids it.
Scorching Andean sun the next day and more celebrations and processions through the streets of Chivay.
Lake Titicaca and beyond
From Colca canyon, we headed towards lake Titicaca. Our friend really wanted to see it and I hadn’t been yet. A no-brainer - Let’s go!
“Dirt roads always provide a better insight into life. People aren’t just passing by here, they’re going about their everyday things. ”
As we got into the vicinity of Puno, the largest city on the lake and where we’d be staying, we decided to take a dirt road rather than a highway.
Dirt roads always provide a better insight into life. People aren’t just passing by here, they’re going about their everyday things. I always say, watching life in such places is the greatest show on earth.
Heading towards lake Titicaca and Puno, the landscape changes. You get huge, open, and relatively flat expanses. They’re at altitudes of over 3,500m, but they’re flat, with mountains only in the distance.
This woman was picking flowers, which she told me were good to treat an upset stomach. Agriculture is the central part of most people’s lives in these parts. It’s impressive how much an average person knows about various plants too. Natural remedies are used more commonly than pharmaceutics.
Further up the road… there was another celebration. Yes, some random (to us) village was celebrating carnival too. More photo opportunities. More insights into how people live and celebrate. I told you things were going great to start 2020!
Everybody dances around the Yunza tree, which is decorated with balloons which are filled with presents. The tree is eventually chopped down and everyone runs to grab the presets. I wrote more about the tradition in a past blog HERE.
Continuing towards Puno, we came across a very visibly traditional village. It was set up to sell local crafts to tourists, and initially I thought that everyone was also dressed up for tourists. A few days by the lake later made me realise that - no, this is simply how people dress in these parts of Peru.
Puno… we left the carnival of the countryside, for… more carnival. City style carnival now. Men in suits. Women in dresses with beautiful embroidery. They circled the plaza till late, and when the outside activities finished they went into a hall for more dancing.
A dance competition by the lake
Rather than do the usual tourist stuff - get a boat and go to the islands of Titicaca, we decided to drive along the coast.
Not long into our drive, we saw a few men with musical instruments. “Are there more carnival celebrations? A party?” I asked. “There’s a traditional dance competition.” Replied the men. “In the next village, it’s near.”
“I’ve had that surreal feeling of being in a Nat Geo documentary more times in my life than I can remember. It was happening again.”
We drove a little further and it was soon clear where the event would be taking place. I parked the car on a hill and ran towards the first group of the beautifully dressed dancers that I could see.
I’ve had that surreal feeling of being in a Nat Geo documentary more times in my life than I can remember. It was happening again. Colourful dresses, music and the amazing backdrop of lake Titicaca.
Suddenly, one of the younger dancers was picked up and thrown into the air. It was part of the dance rehearsal. The men were talking about how to make their performance more impactful. A lot of excitement all around.
“It’s not that these old folks were like graceful ballerinas, but they surely did much, much better than most people their age that I know. ”
Dance groups and musicians were people of all ages. But many groups were mostly elderly. My grandfather used to tell me “movement is life” and this was proof.
It’s not that these old folks were like graceful ballerinas, but they surely did much, much better than most people their age that I know. And, just to think that some people are used to this altitude, and it’s normal to them. I was puffed out from walking around. They were dancing!
The dance-ground was a school basketball court. The participants were pretty into it. Some of the older men were curious about me. How would the situation be today?
One the one hand, I’m worried that some people would be very worried and it would be hard to get access, to get close, like before. On the other hand, just today I had a local man who cuts grass at the place I’m renting offer me chicha… from his glass, like he never heard about the pandemic. I hope we’ll all be able to find some safe, middle-ground soon.
The costumes are part of the dances. Some of the costumes had impressive embroidery. Others were emulating animals. This was Andean culture at its’ finest.
“...how often do you get a chance to do this? Who can say that they’ve bathed in the highest navigable lake in the world?”
I remember that we didn’t stick around for the entire contest. Our friend’s time was limited and she wanted to take a dip in the sacred lake. I did too. The wind was picking up, the sun was getting ready to set. Off we drove, to find a beach where we could bathe in lake Titicaca.
The water had already become turbulent, but… how often do you get a chance to do this? Who can say that they’ve bathed in the highest navigable lake in the world? It was cold, but… magical. Like pressing the reset button on yourself after a day of driving and running around after photos.
Mia always enjoys searching for little stones and sticks, and shells or whatever other little things she can find. Everything can be a toy for a child. Again, so happy that she has a chance to experience this. There will be time for city hustle and bustle, and TV, and video games, and exams later.
Lake Titicaca is pretty huge. It doesn’t fit into a single drone shot. It’s definitely one of the areas that I look forward to visiting again.
A beauty contest of a different kind
One of our last pre-quarantine trips was to Pisaq, close to where we are now. Along the road we saw a gathering of people and some animals…
Usually, when you see something like this, it’s an animal market, which is interesting enough in the Andes. But that wasn’t the case here. This turned out to be a sort of a beauty contest. A “llama beauty contest”.
This dude won 6 times by the time we arrived. A relatively small-scale event, but, these folks take it seriously. There’s money at stake and the breeders take great pride in their animals.
Peruvians are pretty jovial people, especially if you meet them at some sort of a special event. They like to poke fun at the foreigner, but it’s all been in good fun.
These little adventures and encounters seemed like pretty distant memories during the months of the lockdown. But, as things eased and we were able to move around, I tasted what it’s like to be a traveler once again. And that… is i part 3.
