Peru is a country in South America with a very diverse geology and a long and fascinating history.
Peru has it all, from Pacific
coast, the Altiplano and Amazon rainforests to the rugged and deep Colca Canyon and high altitude lake Titicaca.
First
humans arrived from the north, either by foot or by boat and had settled in coastal Peru some 14.000 years ago. Over the following
millenia they learned to cultivate the land with corn and cotton and domesticated llama and guinea pigs.
The Spanish conquistadors under Pizarro arrived in 1532, ticked, defeated and murdered the Inca king Atahualpa and
established a viceroyalty under Spanish colonial rule that lasted till 1821 when Peru became independent thanks to San Martin.
The
country had its fair share of war and political unrest, but today Peru is a relatively stable democracy with an
economy based on exports of gold, copper and fish products.
Peru has always been high on our bucket-list, but Shining Path and
busy schedules kept us from going. But in 2008 we finally went there.
We admired Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley,
travelled the Altiplano and stood on an Uros floating island in Lake Titicaca.
We returned in 2010 for a trip to the
Pacific Coast, the Nazca lines and the majestic condors in Colca Canyon.
