Sunday, April 1, 2012

City Escapes Nature Photography Newsletter - April 2012

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

April, 2012

 

 

 

 

The Peruvian Andes: Home of the Bygone Inca

 

Recently we had the opportunity to travel to South America to begin exploring our southern continental neighbor.  We began our journey in Peru.  Though we spent a day or two in the modern, coastal city of Lima, the majority of our time was spent in the Cusco region high in the cloud forests of the Andes.  Cusco was the center of the old Incan empire, and evidence of the early civilization is scattered throughout the region.  Many mountainsides are terraced, having been cut to enable farming along the steep slopes.  Ruins of stone walls, and indeed entire structures, are commonplace, many having been incorporated into the modern town.  An assortment of the 2000 varieties of potato cultivated since the time of the Inca are available throughout the city.  Cusco, though a modern, thriving town, is rightly proud of its heritage.

 

In the main square, the Plaza de Armas, tourists are swarmed by local tradesmen hawking everything from bracelets and dolls to musical instruments and alpaca scarves.  Many of these entrepreneurs are children, some as young as eight or nine years old.  They tend to be a persistent lot, and many, once they discover you are from America, will begin spouting facts about the US – in English.  They know that George Washington was our first president, and that Barack Obama is our current one.  They can tell you how many states there are, and that Washington, D.C. is the capital.  All of this and more they will pour out in a rapid monologue, trying to win your heart so that you will purchase something from them.  Each time this happened to us, I wondered if the children knew as much about their own country’s fascinating history as they did ours.

 

Other Cusqueñans have developed a different business model.  Women and their children dress in the colorful, traditional garb of the region and walk through town with a pair of llamas.  For a few Soles, they will let you take their photo.  Though this is strictly for the benefit of the tourists, I admit that I was nonetheless charmed the first time I saw the beautifully clad women and their quintessentially South American animals.  There is nothing quite like seeing a llama walk down the street to remind you that you are not in the States anymore.

 

The element that created the deepest impression on me was the stonework of the Inca walls.  Famous for its lack of mortar, the stonework varies greatly in its precision according to the importance of the structure.  Even at its worst, it is impressive: these walls are still standing centuries after they were built, despite earthquakes, severe storms, and invasion by the Spaniards.  At its best, Inca stonework is truly awe-inspiring.  Cuts are almost unbelievably precise, joints beveled and tight.  Few of the stones are square, either.  Most have individualized, multi-sided shapes that add to the overall stability of the structure (not to mention its visual interest).  Time and again, at site after site, I found myself mesmerized by the engineering marvels that are the Inca walls. 

 

Adding to the intellectual draw of the stonework and the civilization that created it is the fact that the quarries from which the Incas mined their rocks were often not near the sites where the structures were being built.  Huge slabs of rock, many twenty by eight by five feet, had to be transported several miles, sometimes down one mountain and up another.  Before each was transported, however, it was cut to the precise dimensions required for it to fit into its place in the wall.  Logs were laid parallel to one another to form a rolling platform of sorts.  The stones were laid upon the logs and pushed or pulled along.  As the logs rolled, the stones moved along their path.  Logs that had rolled completely free of the stones were carried to the front and laid down again.  Though the logs are long gone, the wide, cleared “roads” are still visible, and in some cases are still used.

 

Considered the pinnacle of Inca ruins, Machu Picchu boasts all of these elements: local people hawking their wares, children selling postcards, the incredible stonework, and even llamas.  Reintroduced to the ruins over a decade ago to act as natural lawnmowers, the llamas are completely accustomed to people and treat us as wildlife in a protected sanctuary often do: with complete indifference.  The Machu Picchu llamas could not care less that humans are nearby.  They continue to munch on leaves and grasses, muscle their way down trails, and seek shelter from the sun in the shade of the ruins.  They are completely at home there.  Indeed, upon our initial arrival at the ruins, we were treated to the sight of a llama standing at the edge of an outcropping, peering over the city as if surveying his domain. 

 

The ruins themselves are stunning, both because of their condition and because of their completeness.  Machu Picchu is quite large, housing an estimated thousand people in its day.  Large swaths of agricultural terraces lay outside the city walls, while an observatory, courtyard, and Sun Temple are among the many common areas housed inside.  Fortunately we had a wonderful guide.  He proved essential to our appreciation of the city itself, beyond its architecture, by greatly adding to our understanding of what life was like within its walls.

 

A magnificent bonus to Machu Picchu is the deeply beautiful area in which it sits.  The Andes here are sharp and verdant, wrapped in an ever-changing blanket of twirling, twisting clouds.  For lovers of both mountains and forests, this area is close to paradise.  Except, perhaps, for the powerful lightning strikes.  Just ask the Incas.  It is believed that they abandoned Machu Picchu after a lightning strike, attracted to the concentrated gold within, struck their most sacred temple, the Sun Temple -- and destroyed it from the inside out.

 

Next month: Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands

 

 

April’s Monthly Specials

 

This month’s on-sale images are “Ice Prancing – Polar Bear“ and “Canoe Reflections“, both as unframed, 8x12 prints.  For more information and to see the images, come to our Specials Page: http://www.cityescapesphotography.com/specials/

 

 

April’s Fun Facts

 

The Peruvian Andes are home to a delicate-looking species of camelid: vicuñas.  Never heard of a vicuña?  Neither had I.  But then I went to Peru -- and fell in love.

 

Vicuñas are smaller than the more familiar llamas and alpacas, standing 2.5 to 3 feet tall at the shoulder and weighing only about 100 pounds.  Known to locals as “walking gold,” vicuñas are among the most valuable animals in Peru: their fleece sells for anywhere between $1800 and $3000 per yard. 

 

What makes vicuña wool so valuable?  First, it is extremely fine, having a diameter less than half that of the finest sheep’s wool.  This makes it warmer, softer, and lighter than any other wool.  Second, vicuña wool is not easy to come by.  Vicuñas do not take well to domestication: they are shy, skittish animals who have proven to be capable escape artists.  Though a few live in captivity, the overwhelming majority remain wild.  Thus, in order to get the wool wild vicuñas must be captured – a much more difficult endeavor than shearing domesticated alpaca.  As well, each vicuña produces only about a pound of fleece per year, which means that a large number of the animals are required to harvest a decent amount of wool.  And by Peruvian law, each animal may only be shorn once every three years.

 

Vicuñas almost did not survive for me to discover them: they were hunted almost to extinction for their wool.  By the mid-1960s, it is estimated that there were only about 6,000 left.  Fortunately conservation groups and various governments banded together to save the critically imperiled animal.  Trade in their wool was forbidden, and strict laws were implemented – and enforced – banning the killing of a vicuña.  By 2006 the vicuña population had robustly rebounded, reaching an estimated population of more than 125,000, with more in Peru than any other country.  Trade sanctions were lifted and strict labeling systems were implemented to ensure the protection of the vicuña population.  Legal vicuña wool is certified by the government to have been harvested in a way that both prevents harm to the animals and ensures their return to the wild.  Poaching remains a problem, however, with estimates of poached wool exports reaching as high as 50,000 pounds annually.  Poachers have to work for their bounty, though, as the villages near the vicuñas tend to be quite protective of them.  While monies paid for vicuña wool do not go to any individual villager, they do go to fund village-wide initiatives such as improving education or health care.  As with any municipality protecting a revenue source, that makes the villages vigilant.

So if you want to be spoiled completely rotten, mortgage your house: a vicuña scarf will set you back about $1500, while a man’s coat can run as high as $20,000.  But wrapped in absolute luxury you will most certainly be.

 

 

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