Peru

"If you come to a fork in the road, use it"  Yogi Berra, MLB player and coach

I believe that is how I came across Peru, taking that fork in the road and trusting where it was going to lead me. Today Peru is my second home.

Peru ranks amongst the world's great centers of ancient civilization. Peru is located in the west central part of South America and is a country of geographical and cultural contrast. It is the 19th largest country in the world and is bordered on the north by Ecuador, to the south by Chile and Bolivia, to the east by Colombia and Brazil and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. It is a diverse country due to the climatic, natural and cultural variation which includes coast, sierra and jungle.

Some fun facts about Peru ...

• The llama (pronounced yama in Spanish) is a member of the Camel family. The South American Camelids are the llama, alpaca, vicuna and guanaco.

• The potato was domesticated in Peru (it’s originally Peruvian not Irish). There are more than 400 different varieties of potato. Peruvian potatoes are rich in flavor and nutrients and very different than those found on the average store shelf in much of the world. There is one potato called Chuno. It is used in many stews and soups in the highlands. Freeze dried this kind of potato is traditionally made by layering it on the ground in the freezing high plain and repeatedly squeezing the moisture out by stepping on it.

• The Andes is the longest, as well as the youngest and highest mountain chains anywhere in the world.

• Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and is located in Puno Peru.

• Chicha is a fermented drink that is served in all of the festivals. In Peru there are about 3000 typical fiestas that are celebrated every year. The majority of those are organized to celebrate the day of a Santo patron (a saint). Those saints originally formed part of the Christian calendar in the Colonial Period but they were always mixed with the magical religion of the Andean regions.  One of the biggest festivals is the Festivity of Corpus Christi in Cusco.

• The Atacama Desert of southern Peru and northern Chile is the driest desert in the world.

• Colca Canyon in the highlands is very dry and is home to the condor. You can see them early in the morning rise up from the bottom of the canyon.

• The rain forest is amazing. Places like Puerto Maldonado and Manu are some of my favorite places. Inkaterra in Puerto Maldonado is a must see.  There is an amazing canopy walk there high about the rain forest. Seeing the jungle ecosystem in the same way that birds who fly above see it is fabulous. The canopy is 1,135 feet long and has seven hanging bridges, six treetop observation platforms and 2- 95 feet tall towers woven through the crowns of the tallest trees... it gave me a glimpse of the rare and unusual flora and fauna that was impossible to see from the ground. Once you see this, you can better understand, the cycles and the interdependent relationships the various organisms have inhabiting the jungle.

• The churches and cathedrals all over Peru have distinctive colonial art in the cities and little towns. There they have wonderful altars in the smaller towns and countryside.

• The people have these kind smiles and gentle ways about them. They have a wonderful sense of community where you often see 4 generations of families walking down a cobblestone street together.

• Handicrafts abound in places like Ayachucho and Puno. Here the artisans make traditional folk-art out of tin, cloth and reed. They are genius with their hands. I found Peru to be the most talented country in South America for handicrafts.

"When I was very young and the urge to be someplace was in me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch... In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am in my fifties perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked... I fear
the disease is incurable."  John Steinbeck (1902-1988), US novelist

I couldn’t have said it better… traveling to Peru has changed my life in many ways.