Archive for August, 2008

Doris Gibson and Caretas

Doris Gibson and Caretas

Doris Gibson, who 58 years ago founded Peru’s leading news magazine, has died at the age of 98. Her strength of character and determination helped the magazine withstand military dictatorships and repressive governments, as Dan Collyns reports.

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El Hueco – The Hole

El Hueco – The Hole

There was supposed to have been a Government building here, a twin tower the same as the one that is found across the road, but the utter collapse of the Peruvian economy under the stewardship of Alan García put an end to construction before it even began, leaving a huge hole in the ground where the foundations were supposed to be.

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Dinosaurs in Peru

Dinosaurs in Peru

Though they disappeared millions of years ago, the vestiges of their existence are evident today in the form of fossils. These remains are the objects of study for palaeontologists who recognise, clean and classify them like pieces of a puzzle, giving us an idea of how the prehistoric would would have looked like.

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Intact Wari tomb at the Huaca Pucllana

Intact Wari tomb at the Huaca Pucllana

Built by the Lima Culture, the Huaca Pucllana eventually came under the control of the vast Huari (or Wari) Empire. Although various Wari artefacts have been discovered here, this is the first Wari-period tomb to be uncovered.

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Ruins of Maucallacta

Ruins of Maucallacta

Six hours from Arequipa, on the route to the Coropuna volcano, are the ruins of an ancient ceremonial centre eventually assimilated by the Inca Empire. Today, Polish and Peruvian archaeologists, with the help of locals, are restoring what is truly a lost treasure.

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Selling off the Amazon and its people

Selling off the Amazon and its people

It is a story repeated throughout modern human history – people living sustainable lifestyles on land rich in resources, who are not forced to work on extracting them for a pittance and are not contributing to the economy in the way the wealthy would like… have no value. They must change in the name of progress. They must move into shanty towns, work dangerous jobs until the resources are gone and they must spend the rest of their time consuming alcohol. This is the story of Brazil’s Amazonian progress, and it’s a “success story” that Peruvian President Alan Garcia wanted to repeat in Peru.

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Quechua

Quechua

It is often considered to be the language of the Incas, invented by them and spread across the Andes. The truth is that this family of languages is much older, far more diverse and far more interesting than you imagined.

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Destruction of Lima’s architectural heritage [Featured]

Destruction of Lima’s architectural heritage [Featured]

Lima grows ever higher. In districts like Miraflores, Chorrillos, Barranco and San Isidro are loosing more and more of of their traditional homes, the majority of which built in the early 1900s. They are forced to make way for grand towers and modern apartments that ignore the style of the surrounding area and simply don’t fit. Worse still many defy urban-planning rules implemented by local municipalities.

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Japanese hostage crisis and Operation Chavin de Huantar

Japanese hostage crisis and Operation Chavin de Huantar

In the evening of the 17th of December 1996, hundreds of senior diplomats, government ministers and other VIPs were attending a party at the official residence of Japan’s ambassador to Peru, Morihisha Aoki, in celebration of Emperor Akihito’s 63rd birthday.

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Did the Incas explore the Pacific?

Did the Incas explore the Pacific?

There has long been evidence, most of it barely investigated, that Andean peoples and Polynesian peoples have had contact various times in their pre-Columbian pasts. It has even been suggested that people arrived in South America from Polynesia – evidence of human activity in Chile from a time before humans were supposed to have crossed the Bearing Straits has been found.

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Damaris – Tusuy Kusun

Damaris – Tusuy Kusun

An excellent example of contemporary Andean music by Damaris.

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Lunahuaná

Lunahuaná

The town of Lunahuaná, in the Cañete river valley in the southern end of the Lima region near Ica, is the furthest of what are considered Lima’s weekend getaway spots. At about 2 and a half hours away, passing through the towns of Cañete and Nuevo Imperial, is the pretty little colonial town and adventure sports centre of the region.

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