Pass to Cuzco’s archeological sites
Ocean view from Barranco
Lima's downtown street
and colonial architecture
and colonial architecture
Curt, Cecil, Kathy and Giovanni in the main
plaza in front of the Lima central cathedral
Giovanni and Kathy
with Rainforest log drums
with Rainforest log drums
A DIARY OF OUR TRIP TO PERU
-October, 2003.
By: Giovanni Ciarlo
Giovanni Ciarlo and Kathleen Sartor of Huehuecoyotl Ecovillage in Mexico received a small grant in the summer of 2003 from private individuals and the Prajna Foundation of Santa Fe, New Mexico to travel to Peru for three weeks from September 17 to October 9, 2003. They were invited to attend an international event called “The Call of the Condor: Vision Council for Biorregional Action ” a gathering of a volunteer group of people representing various global environmental, spiritual and Ecovillage movements. They planned to visit the ceremonial center of Machu Pichu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas as well as making trips to Quechua-speaking indigenous villages in the area. During the trip they did extensive research into pre-Columbian and contemporary music and cultures of the Andes which they have brought back to share with schools, museums and libraries in Mexico and the United States. Giovanni is a member of the Ecovillage Network of the Americas, and represents Mesoamerica on its council. He and Kathy were called to attend a meeting of the network in Peru during this time. They were accompanied by their good friend and fellow artist, Curt Hanson, a fine landscape painter from the northwest corner of Connecticut.
It took quite a bit of fine-tuning to arrange transportation within our budget from our second home-base in Connecticut to Cuzco, Peru, where our adventures begun. We had hoped to leave with others from Mexico, but our timing was not right for that and decided it would be better to leave from NY. After a car rental ride to JFK airport and a stop-over in Dallas we arrived in Lima within reasonable time (ten hours of air flight), shortly before midnight on September 17. The airport in Lima is quite small by any standards. In fact we walked off the plane onto the tarmac to get to the terminal, since the use of the movable chutes that are so common in major airports in other parts of the world are not even known in Lima. It reminded me of those days up to the 60s when all air travel included a short walk from the airplane to the terminal. A wonderful feeling of déjà vu brought back the smells, scenes, innocence, and sensation of having traveled like this before.
There was a whole committee of greeters waiting for us from three different groups we had been in touch with; volunteers from the Call of the Condor, Ecovillage associate Veronica Viñas of the Pontificate Peruvian Catholoic University, and our friend Cecil Bastos, a Limeño tour-guide who visited with us back home on a previous occasion and was anxious to take us and show us "his city". Cecil had his brother taxi us to the “Hostal de los Girasoles”, an inexpensive family run hostel in the region of Barranco overlooking the Pacific ocean.
The place couldn't have been more appropriate for our first visit to Lima. Barranco is a bohemian neighborhood full of beautiful colonial architecture, private homes, art galleries, small cafes and a most picturesque plaza in front of the old church where artisans and lovers meet for the evening to stroll and sell crafts items that they make and display along the sidewalks. It is one of the most quaint and undiscovered arts communities in the world. We walked the streets looking for a “Peña” (a South American coffee-house) to listen to local music. I was particularly interested in local sounds and especially the black music of Peru. We walked around and checked out a few places, but were disappointed at not finding live Peruvian music, it being only Tuesday evening. We decided to go to bed early instead. The next day Cecil took us to see the city. One is amazed to find profound differences in Lima from other places on Earth. Being south of the Equator is disconcerting, and the local climate and customs can be, in subtle ways, as diverse as its three national languages: Spanish, Quechua and Aymara.
In many ways Lima is like any other big colonial city on the planet; polluted, crowded, and full of commercial distractions. Long ocean-front vistas grace the west side of the city, from the Callao on the northern end to the Costa Verde in the south. The plazas in the more affluent neighborhoods are clean and inviting, and what is most amazing is that even though it is often cloudy, it hardly ever rains in Lima. Some of the houses have roofs that only serve to keep out the air and dust of the dry desert-like environment. I was told that the last time people remember any substantial rain-fall was in 1972 (hey, that’s within my life time) when it poured so hard that parts of the city were washed away. The dry climate is ideal for the ancient costume of mummification attributed to the inhabitants of the area south of Lima in the Nasca region and practiced extensively in the highlands as late as the Inca empire, less than four hundred years ago. Lima has important archeological sites, called “huacas” and attributed to Peruvian ancient cultures. It also has some of the best museums in the world. At the “Museo del Oro” for example, one can see everything from 2 inch diameter gold ear plugs worn by the ruling class, to the preserved mummified remains of unnamed Inca nobles.
We drove all over the city in a very short time. Once we reached certain neighborhoods we walked on neat downtown cobblestone streets going to restaurants, galleries, cafes, museums, the central plaza and the National Cathedral, where Pizarro's body is entombed. They charge a lot to visit the sites in Peru, so I just turned around, snapped a photo of the tomb and left, the guards shouting after me that photos are not allowed if you don’t pay the entry fee. I played dumb and moved out of there. There are many cathedrals in Lima. Mostly imitating famous Spanish architecture and style, their colorful towers reminding us of renaissance churches of Europe. What impressed us the most however, was the display of living cultures of the Amazon at the Desamparados Train Station. Mrs. Toledo, the president's wife, had organized this exhibit at the old downtown railroad station, which has been retrofitted into a national cultural center. Here we saw a cross-section of indigenous tribes represented by their own people, displaying their life-style, fine arts, and unique crafts (including some of the most delicious and intoxicating liqueurs made from rainforest fruits and berries). One room was full of feather works. The most exquisite head-pieces, pendants, capes and magical arrangements made from the feathers of every conceivable bird in the Amazon rainforest of Peru; from hummingbirds to toucan. Another room was full of imaginative shamanic visionary paintings full of symbolism and magical elements. These were composed with sophisticated line art drawing and acrylic paints on a framed 20X40 sheet of paper with vivid colors, depicting scenes of this and other worlds, including daily life and rituals. The work was moving and intriguing, especially knowing that these are recent creations representing a very ancient culture, utilizing modern technique and materials. In yet another room were displayed items from everyday life in the rainforest environment; musical instruments including huge hollowed logs used as drums, ritual costumes and much more.
Another display had a replica of a hut with all the household needs, pottery, dolls, tools, weavings, sleeping quarters, animals and so many other samples of their co-existence with nature. It was as if stepping back into another place and time. Yet everything on display was of the living cultures of today. Afterwards we got a chance to meet and spend time drinking liqueurs with some of the people representing their tribes and villages who were present for the exhibit. After a couple of samples we proceeded to buy from them assorted gifts and craft items they had brought for sale from their villages in the forest. One more ride in the crowded, noisy and polluted streets of the city and we were ready for a change. We had lunch in the neighborhood of Miraflores. This is the wealthy section of the city and is full of inviting restaurants, boutiques and specialty stores. Fortunately we had no intention of contributing much to its economy and after a tasty lunch we made our way back to Barranco.
Click the following links for more on our trip to Peru:
Cuzco
Machu Pichu
Condor
Cachicata
Pisac
Sustainable Education In Lima