Travelogue #3 & #4 We were approaching the trip’s chronological midpoint, having departed Ecuador and arrived in northern Peru, our first visit to this part of the country. We were at the port of Salaverry near the city of Trujillo docked next to several massive bulk carriers. The vessel next to us was off-loading what we learned were Argentine soybeans when we arrived in port and was still hard at it when we left the next day. The process was fascinating to watch. Each of two derricks would lower a huge clamshell bucket deep into the ship’s hold and several minutes later emerge full of yellow beans. The buckets then moved to the side and opened into large dock-side funnel structures under which passed a progression of long open trucks. Each truck would receive a pile of beans and then advance a few feet to receive another pile, repeating this until the entire bed was full. Not what we came here to see, but we enjoyed the spectacle.

Argentinian soybeans being loaded onto 22-wheeled trucks We have visited Peru several times, but this was our first time in the dry north of the country and our first exposure to the Moche culture. This civilization flourished along the northern coast and valleys of ancient Peru from about 100 to 700 AD and is regarded as having had the most accomplished artists and metal workers of any Andean culture. Our eight-hour excursion stopped first at the Moche archaeological site, the urban housing, plazas, storehouses, and workshop buildings of which once covered an area of 300 hectares. Sadly, archeological preservation of this site began only about twenty years ago, and today it helps to have a good imagination to appreciate what was once quite magnificent. We walked around and through what is left of Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon), a multi-tiered pyramid that was constructed using over 140 million adobe bricks, each stamped with a maker's mark. It once stood over 50 meters in height but has today lost much of its original height and is partially covered with rude roof structures to protect what is left from the weather.

Some of the designs molded into this wall at Huaca de la Luna retain their original color.

This elaborate wall decorated a large chamber used for public ceremonies. Leaving Moche, and the Huaca de la Luna, we next bused to Trujillo a city of almost one million and the largest in the area. We stopped at the main square, which is surrounded by yellow, ochre, and blue colonial buildings and looked into the cathedral where Sunday mass was being celebrated. There was a festive air in the square with vendors, families, and lots of young kids. We were told that the statue on top of the square’s tall obelisk was infamous for having been castrated at the request of local nuns.

The main plaza of Trujillo We drove on to the nearby port town of for lunch at the curiously named “Big Ben” restaurant. The local seafood, including ceviche, was quite tasty. From the upstairs dining room we had a good view of the town’s shoreline and its famous caballitos de totora, the reed watercraft used by fishermen in Peru for the past 3000 years. The little one-man reed horses are straddled by fishermen as they ride the waves to transport their nets and fish. The boats are made from the totora reed, which is also used by the on . Weighing only about 35 pounds when dry, they double their weight after use in the water, requiring fisherman to have two or more boats for a day’s use. It has been suggested, not without controversy in the surfing world, that these tiny boats represent one of the first forms that sport. We watched a demonstration and were offered the chance to give them a try. (We demurred, not being dressed for the water.)

Fishermen dry their caballitos de totora and nets. Our last stop of the day was at the Citadel of Chan Chan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, dating from 900 AD which was the capital of the ancient Chimu Empire. Chan Chan is the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. In 1470 it was defeated and incorporated into the Inca Empire. In the Chimú tongue, Chan Chan means "Sun Sun"; it is located in a particularly arid section of the coastal desert of northern Peru. We walked through the extensive grounds including the Tschudi Palace, known for its elaborate friezes and decorations.

The ruins were in remarkable condition considering their age and the impacts of the weather. After tramping around Chan Chan for a couple of hours, we returned to the ship for the overnight run to Callao, the port of the capital, Lima. We have visited Lima several times and had hoped to see our old friend, José Antonio Mendez, but were unable to contact him. Except for a short excursion to the huge San Miguel shopping center just beyond Callao, we stayed on the boat. At San Miguel, we walked through the two-story mall and were particularly impressed by the large modern Wong’s grocery store.

Unsurprisingly, there was a large selection of potatoes at Wong’s grocery store. Back on the boat, we just lazed about, continued to over-eat, and finished this travelogue. Next stop tomorrow: General San Martin, Peru. We have almost completed the roughly 1,200 mile north-to-south traverse of the Peruvian coast. Several days ago, we hove to off the Islas Ballestas, a marine sanctuary of several small rocky guano-covered islands. We stopped only long enough for some of our more adventurous fellow passengers to get closer to shore by zodiac in hopes of seeing blue-footed boobies, Humboldt penguins, fur seals, and other marine creatures that are protected there. We stayed on board and enjoyed the abundant birdlife as our mother ship continued a few miles southward for a look at the Paracas Candelabra, an extraordinary prehistoric geoglyph carved on a mountainside just above the surf line. Also called the Candelabra of the Andes, this 595-foot-long image is incised two feet into the soil and can be seen from 12 miles at sea. Based on pottery found nearby, it has been radio carbon dated to 200 BC! The purpose of this amazing construction, and that of the Nazca Lines and other geoglyphs and petroglyphs found in southern Peru and northern Chile is unknown.

The mysterious Candelabra geoglyph on the Paracas Peninsula We docked at the nearby port of General San Martin and boarded a bus to explore the Paracas National Park, an extensive Natural Areas (ANP) that is dedicated to preserving Peru's coastal marine ecosystems. The area is mainly a featureless desert with annual rainfall of less than one inch. We visited a small museum with exhibits highlighting the park’s ecological mission and walked to the adjacent shoreline where a flock of could be seen in the distance. We also stopped at several other points along the desolate coast and inland areas of the 827,000-acre park, which are maintained in a pristine natural condition. We saw almost no other visitors. The aptly named Red Beach and Cathedral Rock formations were quite spectacular.

The Paracas National Park’s “Red Beach”

Cathedral Rock Our last stop of the day was at the Bodega 1615 Pisco Distillery, located near the town of Trujillo. The afternoon had become quite warm and soon we were sipping cool pisco sours and strolling in the shade of tall canopies of Albilla grapes. The distillery also grows Chakupe grapes and a third varietal known simply as “Italian”. Leaving the vineyards, we went inside to visit the production and bottling areas. All the wine produced by Bodega 1615 is distilled into Pisco. Unlike in conventional winemaking, distillation is begun after only about five days of fermentation. Annual production at Bodega 1615 is about 100,000 liters of the clear 40-proof liquor. Pisco is drunk straight or in cocktails, such as the iconic Pisco sour, which is considered to be the national drink and is also popular in Chile. The Peruvian pisco sour uses pisco as the base liquor and adds freshly squeezed lime juice, simple syrup, ice, egg white, and Angostura bitters. Chile uses a slightly different recipe, and both countries debate the origin and merits of their respective piscos. We drank samples of each of the distillery’s three piscos and were shown the recommended way to drink this strong liquor: smell the aroma in the glass, take a sip and hold it in your mouth, swallow and exhale.

Only a tall person could harvest these Albilla grapes, used to make pisco. Following a full day at sea, we made our next and last stop in Peru at Matarani, a new port built for the exporting raw minerals mined in this part of the country: mainly copper. The port appeared to be still under construction with various pieces of large equipment lying about the dock awaiting installation. We bussed to Mollendo, a nearby town of some 70,000 inhabitants with broad beaches that were largely deserted at this early point in the season. The town still attracts holidaymakers but is less attractive than in its hay day at the end of the 19th century, when important families built their summer homes here. We walked several miles around town of mostly single-story stucco buildings but with a few colorful old colonial- era wooden houses. Even in the oldest parts of town, including the downtown market area, streets were very clean, neat, and well-kept.

We walked the length of this long parkway in the newer part of Mollendo. We recognized no other tourists as we walked about town visiting several of its plazas and a small archeological museum. The collection included pre-Columbian pottery, fabrics, and several human skulls that had been intentionally elongated.

Colonial era wooden buildings in a once-classy Mollendo area When we reached the downtown area, the large hall that usually houses the market was closed for repairs, but vendors had setup shop in the surrounding street. Many of the vegetables and fruits on offer were familiar, but there were exotic things such as the large barrel-shaped melons that some sellers were using as stools. Perhaps the most unfamiliar vegetable was the jet-black ears of corn.

Several vendors in Mollendo’s market offered this striking black corn. In one section of the market there were tables covered with large unfamiliar cuts of red flesh; one seller emphatically assured us that his meat was perfect for “carne asada”. Stalls selling many sizes and varieties of fish outnumbered the other vendors, not surprising as Mollendo is located on the ocean. Although we gringo tourists hardly seemed to be likely customers, the friendly fish mongers seemed pleased to converse with us in Spanish and several offered us samples sliced from various species on their tables. The unrefrigerated fish looked very fresh.

This lady showed us that her Bonito were “muy bonito”. We returned to the boat happy but empty-handed. We will soon leave Peruvian waters and begin exploring the coast of northern Chile.