Some pictures from Peru

M.T. Cranium

My daughter was lucky enough to travel to Peru recently and took these pictures, my descriptions are based on what she told me plus a bit of basic research. Peru is mostly south of the equator and her travels were restricted to the southern half of the country, so between 10 and 15 deg south latitude mostly. October there is spring although most of Peru is close enough to the equator that the seasons are more "dry" and "wet" than the four seasons we recognize in temperate climes. However, Peru's climate is also greatly affected by relatively cold waters offshore in the Humboldt Current, sea temperatures are in the low 20s which creates a persistent stable layer of low cloud and fog near the coast. Then again, much of Peru is a lot higher than sea level, with one medium-sized range of mountains near the coast, a high valley inland from that, and the High Andes to the east. Some of those peaks are over 6,000 metres and remain snow covered with some glaciers even around 10 deg south latitude. To the east of the Andes, that part of Peru is an extension of the Amazon rain forest with a tropical humid climate. Storms develop over there almost every day and some drift west into the mountains and through passes towards the valley, then most of them seem to dissipate before they get all the way to where most of the population are located, but they water farming areas and streams coming out of the mountains.

Here are some of the pictures then with a few added comments:

First picture, typical foggy scene near the capital Lima and along the coast just north of there.

Second picture, the highest peak in Peru, Huarascan (6700m), located east of the city of Yungay which was almost totally wiped out in May 1970 by a vast landslide in a strong earthquake (25 thousand people died there, the city has been partially rebuilt near the former location which is covered by the huge landslide debris).

Third picture, another view of the same range a bit further south from the city of Huaraz. These peaks are more like five thousand metres high.

Fourth picture, a typical sky shot from the central valley region where most days are dry but more cloudy than not, the cloud being remnants of the tropical moisture from east of the Andes.

Fifth picture, up in the mountains there are glacial lakes and views of glaciers and permanent snow -- these lakes are about 4500m above sea level, the daytime temperatures are about 10-15 C in comparison to the 25-30 C down in the valley (which is still quite high, about 3200m). My daughter said it was quite difficult to hike in this lake region due to the thin atmosphere (this is about the 600 mb level so you have 60% of the oxygen that you would expect).

Will post this and add a few more photos, have to edit a bit too.

M.T. Cranium

Okay, in this post, the first picture is a dust-enhanced sunset from the same general region (looking west across the lower coastal mountain range).

So far all of those shots (after the fog) were taken near 10 deg south, now we are moving closer to the southern part of Peru and the northern extension of Chile's Atacama desert region. The second picture shows some of the sand dunes that are a recreational park near Arequipa, the elevation here is about 400m above sea level and this is probably 100 kms inland.

Then the third picture is taken in Arequipa and shows nearby "El Misti" a dormant volcano that rises to about five thousand metres above the arid landscape. There are parts of northern Chile where it never rains (or hardly ever) -- around here it probably rains once or twice a year.

Fourth shot here, back up into the High Andes north of Arequipa to Cusco for a three-day trek to Macchu Picchu through another snow-covered section of the range, this time the hikers were mainly below 3500m which made the breathing part somewhat easier, but these peaks are almost as high as Huarascan and rise well above five thousand metres. Weather in this region, I was told, more showery and towards Macchu Picchu a bit on the humid side, the highest reaches of the equatorial climate zone coming into play through mountain passes. A modified jungle begins to appear in the river valleys and otherwise there is some local agriculture possible.

Fifth shot, the skies above Macchu Picchu, as they often appear, overcast and threatening rain.

highdef

Amazing sets of pics there! Thank you M.T. - Peru is a place I would love to visit at some stage when finances permit!

M.T. Cranium

Same here although my daughter got a good deal on the air fare and she says most things are quite inexpensive in Peru away from the upscale tourist venues, so it wasn't even as much as she had expected.