Islas Palomino: Boat trip in Callao

Just off the coast of Callao, or more precisely, about 4km from the tip of La Punta, are two rocky uninhabited islands, which together with a few other rocky outcrops are called the Islas Palomino. The two major islands, one large and one small, are called San Lorenzo and El Frontón. Each have their own stories to tell.

June 2, 2009 | Lima City Guide, Nature

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Ruins of Pachacamac

The history of pre-Hispanic Lima is deeply entwined with Pachacamac. Worshipped across the central Andes since before the Inca conquest, the powerful creator god Pacha Kamaq is even revered today, almost 500 years after the Spanish conquest by Catholics in Lima. Today this powerful being has taken shape as the Cristo Morado and has been absorbed into Catholicism, and just as he is today, this ancient figure was also known as the Lord of the Earthquakes.

October 29, 2008 | Archaeology, Culture & History, Lima City Guide

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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.

August 12, 2008 | Lima City Guide

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Cordillera de la Viuda

The Cordillera of the Widow may get its name from its black colour, or from a complex story passed down from pre-Hispanic and pre-Inca beliefs involving the death of creator-God Pachacamac (Pacha Kamaq), wife of mother-earth Pachamama.

April 7, 2008 | Culture & History

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Cullhuay

At just under 4000 metres (13,000ft), Cullhuay is a tiny town in the Chillón Valley who’s population survives by agriculture and fishing.

Providing passers-through the opportunity to get something warm to drink, oh… a see a mummy discovered in an ancient burial site nearby, Cullhuay is otherwise as quiet (and as friendly) as an Andean town can get.

April 6, 2008 | Lima Region Guide

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Canta

The town of Canta sits upon a hill high up in the Chillón Valley of Lima. Sitting on another nearby hill is Obrajillo, and on another San Miguel. This peaceful and picturesque town, green throughout most of the year, is just two hours journey from Lima.

March 30, 2008 | Lima Region Guide

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Petroglyphs of Checta

The rock art at Checta may be as much as 5000 years old, some say more. Carved onto rocks above the Chillon valley in the department of Lima, the petroglyphs hold the yet uninterpreted secrets of some of the most ancient Peruvians.

March 28, 2008 | Archaeology, Lima Region Guide

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Caral – The “Oldest” Civilisation in the Americas

In ancient times, as the peoples of the Nile valley in Egypt and the peoples of the Indus valley in India came together to form cooperative societies, so too did the people of the Supe valley in Peru. In groups of family units of small scale farmers and fishers they began to form systems of government, religion and trade.

November 18, 2007 | Archaeology, Lima City Guide

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Matucana

Continuing my series, Explorando Lima, in which I demonstrate the immense diversity that Peru has to offer without even leaving the region of Lima, I visit the town of Matucana and its surroundings, 75km from Lima at 2378 metres above sea level.

October 10, 2007 | Lima Region Guide

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Cordillera de Huayhuash

As part of my series Explorando Lima, in which I try to demonstrate the vast diversity and astounding beauty of Peru – so much of it that you need not even leave the region of Lima to find it, I show you arguably the most spectacular and beautiful places on the face of the earth. A remote range of mountains visited only by the most experienced of high-altitude hikers. The Cordillera of Huayhuash.

September 28, 2007 | Ancash & Huaraz Guide

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Lomas de Lachay

Continuing my series, Explorando Lima, in which I demonstrate the immense diversity that Peru has to offer without even leaving the region of Lima, I visit the Reserva Nacional de Lachay – an oasis in the desert between Huacho and Chancay.

September 26, 2007 | Nature

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Santa Rosa de Chontay

Chontay was once and ancient resting stop or tambo on the way to Pachacamac from Juaja. The pre-Inca tambo building that existed was destroyed by the Spanish who built a church of the same proportions in its place in the 1630s. The bell is almost as old, from 1794. Some ruins can still be found, along with farming terraces which were once used to grow cereals and coca.

September 14, 2007 | Lima Region Guide

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