Cuzco: Heart of the Inca Empire
Cuzco History Heart of the ancient Inca empire, Cuzco is located in the heart of the Andes at about 11,000 feet. We’d recently been in Puno, and this was a bit lower. We were glad to have arrived by land, since it gave us the chance to adjust to the altitude. There are a number […]
Visiting the White City: Arequipa, Peru
Arequipa, the White City Arequipa is called the white city, as many of its buildings are built from a kind of white volcanic stone, sillar (ignimbrite). There are many churches and a convents, reflecting the strong Catholic tradition brought by the Spanish, who reestablished the city in 1540. The Aymara were the first to settle here. Some […]
Nazca Lines
The world famous Nazca Lines are said to have been created by the Nazca and maybe by the earlier Paracas people between 200 BC and 700 AD. No one knows exactly why they were drawn, but there are many theories. Maria Reiche, the German mathematician, and others proposed that they were an astronomical calendar. Others […]
Victoria Falls
Day 2. Rather than waste more time trying to get a status update on the lost luggage on a Sunday, we head to Victoria Falls. A 20,000 kwacha taxi ride got us to the front gates of this World Heritage Site. We visited the small visitor’s center, which displayed detailed information in a single room […]