The town of El Carmen, in the Chincha region of the department of Ica, is in the center of an area that is home to the majority of Peru’s African descendents. It is here in Ica that the majority of slave-owning haciendas were located and when the slaves were finally freed they set up small towns like this one. Their descendents continued to work at the haciendas until their decline and some still work the land to this day, but now its for their own benefit not anyone else’s.

The afro-Peruvian culture of the people of this region is a mix of African, Spanish and Andean indigenous influences, and this mix eventually formed the basis for the modern coastal Peruvian Creole culture.

Tags: african, black, chincha, criolla, el carmen, ica