…en Perú - Travel Culture History News

With a reckless disregard for their own well-being and a commendable regard for the well-being of others, Peru’s firefighters are nothing short of heroes. And it’s not just their physical health they put at risk, it’s their financial health too - Peru’s bomberos are all unpaid volunteers.

^{“Heroes” - Alexis Castro}

Putting their lives on the line to put out fires, clear up hazardous materials, aid in natural disasters, and also rushing through the streets to bring the sick to hospitals, they do so following a 150 year tradition. Many brave citizens apply to enter a rigorous training program, a difficult course they must pay for with their own money. There they’ll learn how to put out fires, provide first aid and use specialised equipment. If they complete the program they enter a probation period where they have to prove they are capable of dealing with real-life emergencies. All but the best are let go.

Obviously their jobs are not easy, but in Peru things are made much worse for them.

Difficulties

Blocking the roads are Peru’s combis - mini-buses operated by thoughtless people who care more about turning a profit than the emergency the bomberos are trying to reach. Ordinary drivers are often just as incapable of rational thought, often not moving for the emergency vehicle behind them should it inconvenience them even slightly.

As greed clouds the small business owner’s mind, disasters such as the Mesa Redonda fire occur. Fire regulations are ignored, fire exits locked and laws broken. Illicit or faulty electricity connections cause many of Lima’s fires. The stupid cut costs and the innocent pay with their lives.

Hand-me-downs

In the course of saving the lives of a population that seems to be lacking appreciation, the bomberos have to put up with more still. Budgets are low in a country where the rich avoid tax and the working class feel they just don’t need to pay it. Fire brigades survive mostly on charity, both from home and abroad.

Huge amounts of the out-of-date equipment used are the hand-me-downs given to Peru from first-world countries like the United States. Although up to standards and well maintained when delivered, they can soon deteriorate when little money is spent on them. Equipment from the 80s and 90s, or even earlier, sometimes doesn’t fully meet modern needs.

One fire chief stated that a lack of adequate equipment and what they do have being 20 years old are the main problems Peru’s Volunteer Fire Department has. “We have certain deficiencies,” Chief  Ferruzo states, “some of our units are using equipment from the 80’s.”

Progress

Hopes for the future though are improving. In 2006 things took a turn for the better for the brave bomberos. For the first time in the organisation’s history, the General Body of Voluntary Firemen in Peru, who oversee fire brigades on a national level, have been able to grant to their members life insurance and disability insurance.

Carlos Córdova, Chief Commander of Peru’s firefighters was visibly moved when he made the anouncement.

“Years of yearning are finally over. Today the alliance of solidarity and good will can harvest its fruits”.

The insurance policy issued by the Government-funded health service Essalud and covered by ‘Positiva Seguros y Reaseguros’ costs as much as $1000 a month per firefigher and will cover accidental death and total or partial permanent disability.

In 2008 the 48 million soles ($17m) Government contribution has been increased to 58 million soles ($20m) in an effort to improve equipment such as leaky hoses and protective clothing.

Brand new

No longer content with old donated rescue vehicles, earlier this year the region of Callao took delivery of six brand new firetrucks. At almost half a million dollars each, the ‘Contenders’ have a water capacity of 1,000 gallons and can carry an additional 100 gallons of fire-retardant foam. Callao now has some of the most modern equipment in the Americas.

A previous delivery of a number of new ambulances now makes the old port of Callao one of the best covered parts of the country.

While things slowly improve Peru’s bomberos carry on risking their lives as normal. Last year the volunteer firefighters had attended 120,000 emergencies throughout the country. In Lima, the bomberos had aided in a total of 81,967 emergencies from January to November of 2007. Out of these 81,967 cases, about 65 thousand had been medical emergencies while over five thousand had been fires.

Five thousand of the emergencies had been traffic accidents and 1,945 had been gas leak cases - yet more corners cut that these brave men and women much face.

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Quinoa, the grain of the Incas, has been cultivated in the Andean highlands of South America for over 7000 years, yet it is a relative newcomer on the international market. Pronounced “keen-wa”, quinoa comes from the Quechua language spoken by many indigenous people in South America.

It was one of the most sacred foods of the ancient Incas, a plant so nourishing, delicious and vital, they called it chesiya mama; the ‘mother grain’. Each year the Incan emperor so it is said would, using a golden spade plant the first quinoa seeds of the season. At the solstice, priests bearing golden vessels filled with quinoa made offerings to Inti; the sun.

With the European conquest, the cultivation of quinoa was suppressed possibly because it had a religious significance for the Incas, however, the Andean people continued to grow it in small amounts. In the late 1900’s interest in quinoa began in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Chile. That interest has now spread to North America, Europe, and Asia. There is some quinoa being cultivated in Colorado and Canada; but only a few varieties will grow and the climatic conditions are not advantageous.

A gluten-free product, it is suitable for anyone afflicted by wheat allergies, easily digestible, and a perfect base for vegetarian dishes. Quick cooking, it holds well, and blends nicely with a wide variety of ingredients. Because of its high nutritional profile quinoa is sold in health food stores; but gourmets are now recognizing it for its pleasing flavor and crunchy texture.

The plant is a broad-leafed, annual herb that grows wild. When mature, this tall plant is topped off with large plume-like seed heads that range in colour from vivid red, orange or yellow to black or white. Before being eaten, quinoa seeds must be processed to remove their bitter coating of saponin. After washing or dry polishing, the ready-to-cook seeds are white or beige in colour.

Quinoa whole grain Quinoa is not a true cereal grain, but rather the botanical fruit of an herbal plant. It is however treated as a grain in cooking. The grains are small yellow flattened spheres, approximately 1.5 to 2 mm in diameter. When cooked, the germ coils into a small “tail” that lends a pleasant crunch. The leaves of the plant can also be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach and Quinoa flour lends a delicate nutty flavor to quick breads.

Quinoa can be eaten as hot breakfast cereal; an infant cereal; a rice replacement; a nutritional thickener for soups, chilli and stew; in salads, casseroles and desserts; and more.

Quinoa’s spinach-like leaves and its seeds are highly nutritious. The leaves, which unfortunately seldom reach the ‘modern’ consumer, may be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach. They are high in Vitamin A. The seeds that are now readily available are rich in protein, high in fibre, and particularly rich in the amino acid Lysine.

The ‘seeds’ are also good sources of calcium, phosphorus and vitamins B and E. There are several varieties of quinoa available in shops, which range in colour from dark brown to near white. The latter varieties are most common and are considered superior. If storage beyond 3-4 weeks is required it should be stored in the refrigerator or even the freezer.

Once cooked, quinoa is delicious and extremely versatile; it may be used in the place of almost any other grain, including rice, to make everything from appetizers to desserts to pasta. You can even substitute it in your favourite recipe for rice pudding!

Quinoa salad How come it is only just becoming popular now? Why then, unlike the other Inca “wonder foods” maize and potatoes, is it so little known outside of South America? This question has never really been answered, but one theory is that the Spaniards who carried maize and potatoes back to Europe in the sixteenth century may have tasted quinoa that had not been properly processed and would have been bitter to the palate and therefore failed to realise its potential.

Fortunately though, the skilful farmers of the Andes continued to cultivate it and, thus, presented this ancient “supergrain” for the modern world.

Some Quinoa recipes:

- Quinoa Salad
- Quinoa, Cashew and Grape Salad
- Quinoa with mushrooms
- Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers
- Quinoa Chard Pilaf
- Quinoa Squash Pilaf
- Quinoa Vegetable Soup
- Mediterranean Quinoa
- Shrimp and Quinoa
- Quinoa Pudding

Original Article by Living in Peru.

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About 50km west of Chivay, Cruz de Condor is a lookout point over the Colca Canyon that is considered one of the best places to witness Condors in flight in their natural habitat.

The lookout, 1,200m above the canyon river, fills up with crowds each morning hoping that conditions are right for the condors to fly.

At such a height over the canyon, crowds at Cruz del Condor get to see the majestic birds swoop past at eye-level, for just metres out the birds are actually flying hundreds of metres high.

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The small town of Chivay is most people’s entry point into the Colca Canyon. It sits near the Colca Valley’s wider end, the mouth of the valley, and from here a small road travels a slow couple of kilometres to Cabanaconde via several other small villages.

Chivay is a quiet place when groups of tourists aren’t visiting. A very simple town, it has only been in recent decades that electricity has reached these parts. Living here are the Collagua people, one of the pre-Inca ethnic groups that inhabited Arequipa. More and more people are making their living through tourism, opening tourist shops, hostals and restaurants.

Nearby are the Calera hot springs, very clean and in very good condition to target foreign tourists. For those hiking in the area, it is a necessary stop.

Photos - Read the rest of this entry »

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Twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States, the Colca Canyon in Arequipa is the second deepest in Peru and the Americas, second only to the Cotahuasi Canyon just a short distance away.

It’s difficult to measure the exact depth. Do you measure the deepest point or the average depth, how do you choose the deepest point, do you measure from the peaks that line the canyon, peaks that tower not only over the canyon but also over all the surrounding area?

It is said though, by some measurements, that the deepest point is 3501m, a depth so huge in such a wide sloped canyon that the altitude and air pressure vary as you descend and so do the ecosystems.

Inhabited for millennia, pre-Inca farming terraces cover the terrain and are still farmed today by the Collagua and Cabana people who live in these parts. When the Spanish arrived, they built Spanish-style towns for the people to live in, part of their attempt to do away with their traditions and lifestyle.

But they couldn’t do away with everything. The canyon is named Colca after the holes that exist on the cliff faces, once used by the Incas and pre-Incas for storing food and burials of their elite.

Today visitors come to the canyon to hike, see condors and visit typical Andean villages.

Expanded from original article with more photos here.

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^{Photo: Ale Jr}

In the coming months ancient Inca architecture may not be all that draws your attention in Cusco’s historic plaza, as a pair of Golden Arches is raised over it.

This very same plaza was the centre of the Inca’s world for hundreds of years before the Spanish arrived and destroyed it. Could this be the end of the colonial plaza in the face of US destruction?

Buying into the city at a time of all-time highs in property values, McDonald’s, KFC and even Starbucks are planning to open their first locales in the city. No date has been set for their openings yet, but all are three locations are currently being refurbished.

Hopefully local officials have planned ahead and banned any obvious and distruptive signage. Officials and locals in this region are often easily blinded by dollars.

Considering the placement of these businesses, it is clear that locals aren’t the target consumer, it’s the tourists. I’m off the opinion that any tourist found in these establishments should be deported.

For a panarama of the Plaza de Armas, click here.

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The largest bird in the Americas is the Andean Condor, having a wingspan of sometimes more than 3 metres, or 10 feet, and weighing as much as 15kg.

Black in colour, the have a white band around the neck, and white feathers on the wings if they are adults. Their heads are featherless and are red or black, changing colour according to emotional state. They can live for up to 50 years.

Condors are scavengers the feast on the meat of dead animals, particularly large ones. In ancient times this would mean eating llamas and other camelids, but today they are more likely to find dead cows and sheep. They have large territories and can travel as far as 200km in search of food.

Too large to fly under their own power, Condors must use rising thermals in the air to glide to their destinations. This means if the air is not right, they don’t venture out.

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I previously confessed my love of the Wong supermarket chain, and explained its history here, but this article in a British newspaper goes further to explain just how wonderful the service can be compared to the simple supermarkets you find elsewhere in the world.

A visit to Wong should be recommended by all the guidebooks as a “must do” in Lima; you will certainly be fed, you will probably be entertained, says Alison Roberts.

“I read recently that one pound in every eight of UK retail sales is spent at Tesco. Started by Jack Cohen, in London’s East End in 1919, this one-man business has become the “king of supermarkets” in Britain.

But since moving to Peru I haven’t missed this icon of Britishness too much as my customer loyalty has moved with me, to another retail legend (in Lima at least) - Mr Wong.

Wong’s slogan “Donde comprar es un placer” (where shopping is a pleasure) is something I couldn’t honestly say about my shopping experiences in Tesco. A visit to Wong should be recommended by all the guidebooks as a “must do” in Lima; you will certainly be fed, you will probably be entertained and each branch is a landmark; just ask the taxi drivers.

Feeling peckish? Whatever the hour, whatever the day, whatever the aisle at Wong you will find smiling senoritas holding plates of cheese on sticks, pate on toast and salami.

Then there are the lovely ladies with trays of thimble-sized plastic cups, filled with creamy yoghurt, exotic fruit juices and soda in a variety of toxic-looking colours.

Not forgetting the freshly brewed coffee, the sausages sizzling on the grill and the wine-tasting area. I am often so absorbed in my nibbling that I leave the store without whatever it was I went in for; it isn’t unknown for this taste-testing to turn into my tea.

And I nearly always leave with a bottle of wine. Once you enter into the Aladdin’s cave that is the liquor store the sweet-talking sommeliers, who are well-trained in the art of persuasion, take you captive. “Gracias. Solo estoy mirando” (”Thanks. I’m just browsing”), I used to tell them, but to no avail. When the girls launch into their spiel about the month’s promotion I haven’t a clue what they say but I smile and nod, hypnotised by their enthusiasm. I don’t have the heart to interrupt (perhaps they know this!) so I invariably leave with a bottle, invariably pricier than the one I would have chosen.

The stores are designed with distinct areas, so the customers feel as if they really are shopping in a delicatessen, patisserie or wine shop.

Each morning at nine, when the store opens, a representative from all these areas, plus the checkout and management team, stand in two parallel lines, facing each other a customer width apart, in readiness to meet and greet us. I wouldn’t have believed this if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.

One day I made a point of getting to the store just as the doors were opening and sure enough I was ushered down a receiving line of welcoming Wong workers.

I have given up trying to pack my own bags, as after a bit of a wrestle with one of the packers in red tunics I always lose. Just to rub it in he also takes the bags to the car and loads them into the boot.

I have also swapped my Tesco Clubcard for a Wong Bonus Card and here “points make prizes”. A newly arrived expat can quickly build his or her glass, crockery and kitchenware collection with Wong.

For the men forced to help out with the Saturday shop the gold lycra-clad “Brahma girls”, are surely a carrot. They can be relied on to hover seductively by the fridges tempting men to slip their hand in and reach for their reward - a cold beer. Large cartoon animals keep the kids entertained, although mum might find a new sugary cereal has found its way into the trolley.

The most curious thing I have seen in my visits is that Peruvians think nothing of eating and drinking while they shop, and I don’t just mean the free samples. Items they’d presumably intended for home consumption never make it past the checkout. The first time I witnessed this I was alarmed at how many shoplifters there were in the store - and how brazen they were. I was also aghast that the staff either didn’t notice or, worse, were turning a blind eye.

One of Wong’s fundamental values is “el cliente es nuestra razon de ser” (”the customer is our reason for being”) but did this mean they could just help themselves? I was relieved to see that all the empty cola bottles and crisp packets did indeed pass through the scanner.

We have a friend who suffers badly from Wong withdrawal when he goes back to the UK. “Tesco just isn’t the same”, he laments, and on return to Peru Wong is his first stop.

Like a faithful friend it soothes the settling in and I suspect Limeños feel the same; if there isn’t one in the neighbourhood it doesn’t feel right.

Last year two events shook the Wong empire and its legions of loyal customers. First Erasmo Wong himself died, at the grand old age of 93. Then a Chilean corporation bought the company. When news of the takeover broke, some Peruvians vowed to shop elsewhere, declaring this act to be an attack on Peruvian pride (particularly since Chile is an old enemy; wounds from the War of the Pacific are still sore despite the fact that it was fought well over a hundred years ago).

I am optimistic, however, that they won’t keep up their boycott for long. When Coca Cola bought shares in Inca Kola, in the 1990s, this lurid yellow, bubblegum-tasting soft drink (another national institution) wasn’t knocked off the number one spot; in fact, it didn’t even wobble.

Peruvians can’t get enough of it, and Wong holds a similar place in their hearts. I can see why. It’s the superstar of supermarkets and I’ve fallen under its spell too.”

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By Survival

Peru’s government has dropped plans to open up uncontacted Indians’ reserves to oil exploration. The latest round of concessions, announced this week, do not include any of the uncontacted Indians’ reserves.

The move appears to be in response to a storm of criticism from Survival and Indian organisations in Peru. Survival had urged the Peruvian government not to permit exploration in such areas because it could lead to the tribes’ extinction.

The decision represents a U-turn for Perupetro, the state body responsible for negotiating exploration rights. Perupetro spokespeople had previously suggested the uncontacted Indians did not exist, and that exploration in their reserves would be permitted.

According to reports, a Perupetro spokesperson stated this week that none of the new areas include ‘reserves for uncontacted tribes in order to avoid confrontation with local communities and environmental organisations.’

However, part of one of the new concessions, although not a reserve, is inhabited by uncontacted Indians, and elsewhere in Peru oil and gas exploration remains a huge threat. French company Perenco has recently acquired the rights to work in the northern Peruvian Amazon where at least two uncontacted tribes live, and companies Repsol-YPF, Petrolifera and a consortium led by Pluspetrol all work in areas inhabited by the Indians.

Survival International’s director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘Perupetro’s decision is the right one – from both a legal and humanitarian point of view – and we hope this change of heart is permanent. However, there remain other areas inhabited by the Indians where exploration is still going on. These areas must be made off-limits too, and the companies should withdraw in accordance with international law.’

For further information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org

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What river has the highest volume of water in the world?
Answer - The Amazon, with 1/5th of the world’s river water, more than the next ten combined.

What is the longest river in the world?
Answer - The Nile… Amazon, at 7062km/4388m long - 391km/242m longer than the Nile.

In an expedition organised by the Geographical Society of Lima and led by Polish explorer Jacek Palkiewicz, the origin of the Amazon river is now confirmed to be in a remote location in Arequipa, starting at a creek by the name of Apacheta on the Nevado Quehuisha mountain.

It had previously been concluded from the 1990 expedition that the nearby Nevado Mismi was the source of the river. Confirmed by a Brazilian team and the US’s National Geographic in 2000, this still made it about 100km/60m longer than the Nile and officially the world’s longest river.

The new placement now unequivocally confines the Nile’s place as longest river to the dustiest of old history books.

From 5150m/16896ft above sea level, on the slopes of Quehuisha, water flows unbroken to the Atlantic ocean 7062km away.

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