/countries/show/peru/1.rss en-us Are you ready to be impressed by 340,000 hectares of mountainous terrain in Huascaran National Park? For over six decades people have been travelling to Peru’s northern mountain range to enjoy mountaineering, trekking, mountain-biking and mountain adventures. The best time to enjoy this region of Peru is in July when the summer sun is bright, warming the terrain by day. While in transit, take time to acquaint yourself with some of the rare animals of the region, including the spectacled bear and Andean condor. Arriving in the Peruvian city of Huaraz, your first stop after securing a hotel in Huraz will be to speak with the local Peruvian Mountain Guide Association. One of many amazing trails you can choose to hike begins at Lake Llanganuco, an hour drive from Huaraz. If you plan on self-guiding any trails, the Peruvian Mountain Guide Association offers you the option of signing into their daily trail trekking logbook for all Huascaran National Park visitors, just in case you have any trouble along the trail. This is a failsafe program because, if you don’t sign out at the end of the day, the guides at the Peruvian Mountain Guide Association will send out a search party. An easy trek to acclimatize to this region of Huascaran National Park is the 7-hour daytrip to Laguna 69. Travel to Lake Llanganuco to meet the trailhead beginning at Cebollapampa. The trail is obvious as you follow the Yanapaccha valley across an amazing landscape stretching out in patches of green shrubs. Four hours into the trek you will come upon your luncheon location resting before five waterfalls at the end of a golden pasture. Peace, tranquility and silence lingers around you, as does small mountain mammals and the possibility of catching sight of a spectacled bear at the local drinking hole. You will be smiling as your guide explains stories of an ancient people and their lives in this valley. After lunch you continue climbing three more kilometres to the lake. Lake Llanganuco offers spectacular views of jagged rock cliffs and alpine meadows—the perfect location for more photos. Lucky for you, if you are not the sort to go hiking, there are a number of different activities you can enjoy within Huascaran National Park, such as whitewater rafting, horseback riding, mountain biking, rock climbing, mountaineering, and four-wheel driving. Outfitters such as Huascaràn Adventure Travel Agency will assist you in receiving quality information about the local activities in the area, or they’ll help arrange special tours to locations seldom seen, and you can rent equipment such as cooks, mules, muleteers, guides, porters and transportation. Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:07:03 +0000 http://www.thecircumference.org/experiences/huascaran-national-park http://www.thecircumference.org/experiences/huascaran-national-park Nazca is a small town located in the desert region of southern Peru. Many tourists travel to Peru each year to see these mysterious Nazca Lines: enormous ancient geoglyphs etched in the landscape. The Nazca Lines are essentially shallow ditches, with the top layer of reddish soil removed to reveal lighter ground just underneath. Nobody knows for certain why the Nazca people created the Lines in the first place, although many theories abound. It's estimated that the Nazca Lines were created sometime between 400 and 600 A.D. so it's quite remarkable that they're still preserved. Conditions in the Nazca desert are dry and windless, and there is very little rainfall. This has kept the Lines intact for centuries. In 1994, the Nazca Lines were declared a UNESCO Word Heritage Site. Because of their size, it’s best to take an aerial Nazca Lines tour. Planes seating four or five passengers can be chartered at the small airport nearby (Aerodromo Maria Reiche). It's easy to pick out the many different figures from nature once you hit the air on a Nazca Lines tour. There are hundreds of simple geometric designs, but most tourists are interested in seeing the depictions of animals and insects. Some of the most famous ones include the Nazca condor, hummingbird, spider, parrot, and monkey. The monkey, with its coiled tail, is perhaps the most recognizable of the Nazca Lines, and there are plenty of postcards with its image for sale in the giftshop. One figure stands out from the rest as somewhat of an anomaly. The "Astronaut," as he is called, appears to be a human wearing a dome-shaped headpiece, like an astronaut's helmet. This adds grist to the mill of theories purporting that the Nazca Lines were actually landing sites for extraterrestrials. A more likely explanation, however, is that the Astronaut represents a holy man who played a central role in Nazca ritual. More moderate theories suggest that the Nazca Lines were sacred pathways that the Nazca people followed as part of their rituals. It's been established that the Nazca people partook in rituals of water worship—not surprising given the challenging climate that they inhabited. The scarcity of water was no doubt a focal point in their lives. When flying over the geoglyphs on a Nazca Lines tour, and you overlook the huge expanse of land that they cover, it becomes strikingly apparent how much time and energy the ancient civilization put into their devotional practices. The construction of the Lines in Nazca, Peru would have taken months, if not years, of intense labour. They express a deep reverence for nature and an awe of its force. Experiencing the Nazca Lines temporarily transports you into that unfamiliar, ancient mindset which allows you to view the world as a mystery. Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:46:58 +0000 http://www.thecircumference.org/experiences/nazca-lines http://www.thecircumference.org/experiences/nazca-lines The ecological jewel of Peru, Manu Biosphere Park cradles the Amazon Basin giving travelers the choice between a boat ride down the Amazon River, a trek through the Rainforest, and plenty of local wildlife attractions. There are two areas to the Park, the first Manu National Park which is only accessible by biologists and or by special permit, the second is the Manu Reserve Zone which is accessible to tourists when accompanied by registered tour operator. Generally the Manu Park attracts only a couple thousand tourists a year, quite minimal in comparison to more central jungle tours which can draw upwards of 30,000 tourists a year. Cost of tours range in price from $550 - $2,200 Canadian depending on what type of comfort level you are seeking, and can be booked out of one of the ten registered operators in Cusco. Sights include over 800 bird species, 200 mammal species and 15,000 flora varieties. The Biosphere showcases the mesmerizing beauty of the Amazon Rainforest and is also home to the rare giant otter, giant armadillo, jaguars, and many uncultivated tribes. Fri, 23 May 2008 00:41:14 +0000 http://www.thecircumference.org/experiences/amazon-rainforest http://www.thecircumference.org/experiences/amazon-rainforest Embark on the journey back in time down the Inca trail to the city of Machu Picchu. Built around 1450 and abandoned 100 years later, Machu Picchu lay forgotten until 1911 when Hiram Bingham brought attention to this treasure and it was soon thereafter declared a world heritage site. It recently received a title change to be included as one of the New 7 Wonders of the world. The Machu Picchu ruins are 7970ft above sea level on a ridge in the Umbra Valley in Peru, meaning that altitude sickness can be problematic for some. The buildings are constructed in dry stone wall, and are created so flawlessly that in some places the stones are so well constructed that not even a knife can pass through the crevices. Current perspectives on history and prevalence of Machu Picchu indicate that it was a country resort for elite Incans, with no more then 700 people living their at one time. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 00:37:55 +0000 http://www.thecircumference.org/experiences/machu-picchu http://www.thecircumference.org/experiences/machu-picchu