Return to Peru





Part 1 of the trip was in Cuzco (altitude ~3400 meters).  On our first day, we happened across an Easter week procession involving this crucifix known as "Our Lord of the earthquakes".  After a series of violent earthquakes centuries ago, after they had already paraded all of their other religious icons through the streets, they tried this one, and that was when the aftershocks stopped.  People along the route throw red flowers, which also adorn the float.  




The procession continues - balconies and arches along the main square, with the rainbow flag often used by Andean people, and mountains beyond.




At Qoricancha, layers of the Inca palace (once decorated with tons of gold) and the later Spanish church can be seen.





Dinner at a restaurant called Deva.  Note the dark drinks (chica morada, from purple corn) and the huge size of the corn kernals relative to the cob on the near plate.




The sort of place we spent a lot of time - San Pedro market, with holy week pastries and fruit juice stands visible here.




The next several shots come from a day trip to ruins above Cuzco.  This is Tambo Machay, with flowers, Inca stonework, and a functioning water system (look for the small cascades).




Alpacas graze in front of Puka Pukara ruins.




View from rocky outcrop at Templo de la Luna ruins.  Under the rock was a temple in a small cave.




Amanda borrows a flower from the landscape at Sacsayhuaman ruins.  




Flowers, ruins, Jesus statue, city, mountains, and a rainbow. 




Part 2 of the trip was in and around Puerto Maldonado, in the steamy Amazon basin (altitude ~200 meters).  Looking out here from a restaurant balcony at the area where the Madre de Dios river meets the Tampobata.




At the end of the trip, we had a few days to explore the jungle.  Heading up river by boat, Amanda enjoys her lunch-in-a-leaf.  




Rainforest trees often have huge buttress roots like these.




Trees are often covered in vines, like this twisted example.




This tree is protected by a loyal army of ants that live inside  (one nipped me on the finger).  




Leaf-cutter ants are slicing this leaf to bits...  




then they carry the pieces back to their nest, where they cultivate fungi that digest the leaves.




An interesting, quarter-sized beetle - on mushrooms also occupied by a few Drosophila (not sure which species, if they have even been described).




Inside the lodge meal building, this katydid's fantastic leaf imitation didn't help as much.  




A translucent-winged butterfly (Patia), with antennae and proboscis visible. 




A brilliantly colored butterfly (Doxocopa).




Pink-toed tarantula guarding its nest.




Poison dart frog rests on a leaf.




A little bat rests on a tree.




Hummingbird visiting flowers around the lodge.  




This white-throated toucan briefly visited a tree just outside the main lodge building.  




The river had been high after recent rains, then it dropped about a meter overnight and stranded a boat, requiring the lodge employees to slowly push it back down into the water.  




The non-stranded boat took us to a nearby clay lick.  Here several species of parrots, including chestnut-fronted macaws (look for the white faces).  They ingest minerals to help them digest unripe fruit.




A group of red and green macaws found a convenient vine to perch on at this clay lick.




Another pair of macaws cuddled high in a riverside tree.




The unusual leaf-eating hoatzin bird.




The most visible monkey in this area (among 5 species we saw) was the saddle-backed tamarin.




A little pile of tamarins - they usually travel in small groups.




Capuchin monkeys picking fruit from tall palm trees near the lodge.




Baby capuchin goes for a ride with mom.




We took a long early morning walk to a lake where we saw a family of seven giant otters, an endangered species that reaches about 1.5 meters in length.




The angle of the sun wasn't quite right for photos, but here you can see an otter chewing on freshly-caught fish in the shallows.