…en Perú - Travel Culture History News

Huachipa is a little town in the hills outside Lima that boasts a rather large zoo - Not nearly as big as Parque de Las Leyendas in Lima, which i’ll check out soon, but it does have a miniature version of the Eden Project that is in the UK . They also have motorbike rickshaws, motortaxis, here, which you don’t see in the city.

More Photos below…

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Weather in Lima has been changable of late as the onset of winter really gets going.

During the winter months, which last from about now until November, the city if often covered in sea mist called la garúa. You may think a city in the center of one of the world’s driest desert coasts would make it totally devoid of moisture… but you’d be wrong. It’s this yearly fog that allows the desert ecosystem to survive. The plants suck it up, the animals eat the plants.

Back in the city though, it tends the make the bleakest parts look more grey and drab. It also holds down the pollution too - and Lima is not known for its clean air. Walking is not recommended by the locals!

It was not very foggy when I took these photos, but you get the idea. You can also see the Limeño tradition of jumping off cliffs. There’s a 50m+ drop over that edge, with a main road and a beach below, then open ocean.

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Afro-Peruvians contribute significantly to the culture of Peru, particularly in music.

Afro-Peruvians make up about 6% of the population and although settled throughout the country along with the spanish conquistadors, can be found mainly along the costal region.

Musica Negra/Musica Criolla
A fusion of West African and Spanish sounds, this music was played on any instruments that were available - which lead to the use of the simply constructed instrument, the Cajón.

El Cajón
Simply - a box. African slaves had no other means of obtaining musical instruments, such as drums, that formed the basis of their music. So instead of drums, they used old empty wooden boxes. These had resonance similar to drums.

If you’d like to find out more about black music from Peru visit the website of Peru Negra, a troupe that was formed to preserve the music and culture of Afro-Peruvians.

If you’d like to find out more about the Cajón, and integral part of Black Peruvian music visit this site about it.

To have a listen, visit www.CajonPeru.com !

Photos:
- © Peru Negro
- © Gilmar Lopez

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s support of leftist nationalist Ollanta Humala seems to have damaged his support.

Humala, the first round winner, is now trailing behind former President Alan Garcia. Most of this support for Garcia is from the third place and pro-business candidate Lourdes Flores. Her supporters favour Garcia as the lesser of two evils.

But comments from Hugo Chavez, who openly backs Humala, and led to a breakdown of relations between Peru and Venezuela, have caused a dip in his support. Some openly wonder if his closeness with Chavez could mean he could become a “soft-dictator” in much the same way as Chavez is seen. His previous attempts to overthrow the Government don’t really help.

With his popularity slipping, and his chances of winning fading, Humala has decided to speak out, and ask Chavez to avoid making any comments that could be percieved to support him, and to avoid hurling insults at his opponent, Garcia.

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In response to Peru’s recall of their ambassador in Caracas, Chavez has recalled his ambassador in Lima.

I guess this was to be expected, as he pulled Venezuela out of the Andean Trading block in response to Peru signing a free trade agreement with the US (despite his country earning all its income from trade with the US), and declaring publicly that he will break off all contact with Peru if his candidate, ultra-left populist Humala, does not win the upcoming second round of the presidential elections.

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Ollanta Humala, the ex-army officer who once attempted a military coup, will face former President and proven idiot Alan Garcia in Peru’s presidential run-off on 4 June, election.

Garcia and conservative candidate Lourdes Flores had been fighting for second place, and the chance to go to the second round for weeks now, which happens when no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote. There was less than a percentage point between them. Humala leads with 30.7%, followed by Garcia on 24.3% and Flores on 23.8%.

The Proven Idiot

Alan Garcia was president of Peru from 1985 to 1990, during which there was record breaking hyperinflation and mishandling of a bloody insurgency by Shining Path guerrillas. But he has promised not to repeat the same disasterous decisions. He plans to create jobs (a complete U-Turn then) and to divert more of the country’s mineral wealth to the poor by taxing mining firms’ profits.

The Nationalist with Amor por el Perú

So much love infact, he led a military rebellion against the government of Alberto Fujimori in 2000. He is a natural ally of Venezuela’s outspoken Hugo Chavez, and has also promised to redistribute the country’s mineral wealth, and opposes a free-trade agreement with the US.

Despite Humala’s first-round lead, analysts predict most of Lourdes Flores’ supporters would be likely to turn to Mr Garcia in a run-off. A poll published yesterday suggested Alan Garcia would win a run-off against Humala, with 54% against 46%.

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