Peru

Look Back: Nazca Lines

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Peru contains a number of interesting places to visit:  Machu Picchu, the Andes, Amazon Rainforest, Lake Titicaca, Atacama Desert.  It’s forgivable that perhaps the Nazca Lines do not get as much attention as some of the others.

Hummingbird/Colibri

But, where else can you find hundreds of drawings scratched into the floor of a large flat plain, many of which stretch over 3/4 of a mile and were created approximately 2,000 years ago?  We took a sightseeing flight on a six seater in order to get the best view.

https://coopsecondact.com/2013/06/09/nazca-peru/#more-1603

Our visit to Nazca was in 2013 just prior to moving on to Cusco and Machu Picchu.

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Look Back: Lake Titicaca

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We got married on April 13, 2013, and then 3 days later headed to South America for a 4 month honeymoon.  This trip began in Ecuador then on to Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.  One of the most fascinating stops we made was in Puno, Peru, on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Islas Uros

The surface of this lake sits at 12,600 feet above sea level.  We took a boat tour of a portion of the lake that allowed us to get a close up look at two remarkable indigenous cultures that live here.  One group on Isla Taquile and the other on floating islands made from reeds harvested from the lake.  Also, at the end of the article is a mention of a steamboat that operated on the lake in the mid-1800’s.

https://coopsecondact.com/2013/06/28/lake-titicaca-puno-peru/

I would also mention that while in Puno we suffered through some gastrointestinal sickness, one of the only such times we encountered this type of sickness while traveling.  We had to postpose our boat tour for a couple of days until we were sufficiently recovered.

Six Years Ago Today–Machu Picchu

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On June 12, 2013, we were visiting Machu Picchu.  This was part of an extensive visit to South America that began shortly after we got married in April 2013.

Machu Picchu

Visiting Machu Picchu is a terrific experience that we would heartily recommend.  For anyone wanting to make this trip, it’s probably best to do so with an organized tour company since the logistics can be tricky.  We used the city of Cusco as a base for getting to Machu Picchu.  Cusco is the foremost city of the Inca Empire and holds the claim as the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America.

Islas Uros

After returning to Cusco, we then made another trip from there, this time to the rain forest in an area called Puerto Maldonado in the southern Amazon zone of Peru.  Once we returned again to Cusco, we finally left the city to head south to the town of Puno and Lake Titicaca where we had the opportunity to explore some of the fascinating native groups living on the lake.

This time in southern Peru was a particularly memorable portion of our time in South America.

Border Crossing–Peru to Chile

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Leaving from Arequipa, we wanted to get to Arica, Chile, just across the border from Tacna, Peru.  This meant first taking a bus from Arequipa to Tacna.  When we arrived in Tacna, we walked “across the street” to the international bus terminal.  From there we would join a “collectivo” which would take us across the border, making the stops to get us stamped out of Peru and then into Chile.

Leaving Peru

In general, a collectivo is some type of vehicle that collects passengers until it’s full before leaving.  In this case, the collectivo was a passenger car with 5 passengers.  Once we had our 5, the driver took our passports and had our Chile tourist cards prepared.

Entering Chile

Following the relatively uneventful border crossing, the driver delivered us to the international bus terminal in Arica.  The trip from Tacna, Peru, to Arica, Chile, is about 40 miles, took a little over an hour and cost us about $11.

Cañón del Colca

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It stretches for 120 kilometers and is one of the deepest canyons in the world.  Depending upon which reference you use, you may find that Colca Canyon (photos) is the second deepest or perhaps the fourth deepest.  At any rate, one of the most recent measurements has set its depth at just over 4,000 meters (13,200 feet).  The depth is measured from the top of mountain peaks that line the edges of the canyon so Colca is helped by nearby Andean mountains.

Colca Canyon

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