THE MAGIC OF COLCA VALLEY- VIDEO

 

Enjoy our Colca Valley excursion with Giardino Tour  Operator - wacht the video.

Introducing " Colca Canyon"

The 100km-long Cañón del Colca is set among high volcanoes (6613m-high Coropuna and 6310m-high Ampato are the tallest) and ranges from 1000m to more than 3000m in depth. For years there was raging controversy over whether or not this was the world’s deepest canyon at 3191m, but recently it ranked a close second to neighboring Cañón del Cotahuasi, which is just over 150m deeper. Amazingly, both canyons are more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the USA.

Despite its depth, the Cañón del Colca is geologically young. The Río Colca has cut into beds of mainly volcanic rocks, which were deposited less than 100 million years ago along the line of a major fault in the earth’s crust. The climate is cool and dry on the plateau and slopes high above the Río Colca.

The canyon is home to the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus), a species that has seen worldwide effort to preserve it. The condors can be seen at close range as they fly past the canyon walls, and are the region's most popular attraction. 'Cruz del Condor' is a popular tourist stop to view the condors, an overlook where condors soar gracefully on thermals of warm air rising from the canyon. The condors are best seen in the early morning and late afternoon when they are hunting. At this point the canyon floor is 3,960 feet (1,200 m). Also Viscachas (burrowing rodents closely related to chinchillas) are also common around the canyon rim, darting furtively among the rocks. Cacti dot many slopes and, if they’re in flower, you may be lucky enough to see tiny nectar-eating birds braving the spines to feed. In the depths of the canyon it can be almost tropical, with palm trees, ferns and even orchids in some isolated areas.

The La Calera natural hot springs are located at Chivay, the biggest town in the Colca Canyon. Other hot springs, some developed for tourist use, are dotted throughout the valley and canyon.

Festivals throughout the year, including the Wititi festival in Chivay, December 8–11; the Wititi has been declared the dance most representative of the Arequipa region, and named as a "cultural heritage" of Peru. The Colca is also well known for two forms of crafts: goods knitted from 100% baby alpaca fiber (hats, gloves, etc.), and a unique form of embroidery that adorns skirts (polleras), hats, vests, and other items of daily wear and use.

The local people (especially the women) are known for their highly decorative traditional clothing. The women’s dresses and jackets are intricately embroidered, and their hats are distinctive. In the Chivay area at the east end of the canyon, the white hats are usually woven from straw and are embellished with lace, sequins and medallions. At the west end of the canyon, the hats are of cotton and are painstakingly embroidered. The women don’t particularly enjoy being photographed, so always ask permission. Those who pose for photographs expect a tip.

Activities include:

Hiking, short walks,  mountain biking, trekking, mountaineering, rafting, horseback riding, fishing, and sightseeing. In Arequipa  city you can book regulars 2 days -tour to this destination.

Fuente: Wikipedia - Lonelyplanet - Promperu.

Recipe “Chupe de Camarones” - Peruvian Shrimp Chowder

    2 lbs shrimp, with shells and heads

    4 cups water (more if necessary)

    2 tablespoons olive oil

    1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

    1 garlic clove, finely chopped

    1 tablespoon aji panca chili paste (can substitute tomato paste if necessary)

    1 teaspoon aji amarillo chili paste

    1 cup peas, either fresh or frozen

    1/4 cup long-grain white rice

    1 -2 ear of corn, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

    1 lb russet potato, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

    1 teaspoon salt (to taste)

    1/4-1/2 cup queso fresco, cut into 1/2-inch dice

    1 cup evaporated milk

    1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

    3 eggs

Directions:

1. NOTE: Aji panca, aji amarillo and queso fresco can be found at Hispanic markets.         You may be able to find the cheese at a well-stocked grocery store as well.
2. Remove heads and shells from shrimp, and refrigerate the shrimp. Put shells and heads in a medium saucepan, add water to cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. While shells are simmering, heat the olive oil in a large flameproof casserole over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Stir in the aji panca (or tomato paste) and aji amarillo pastes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring often, for 10 minutes, or until onion is softened.
4. Puree shrimp shells and cooking liquid. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl and reserve the liquid (solids can be discarded). Measure out the liquid and add enough water to make 4 cups.
5. Add shrimp broth to onion mixture and bring to a boil. Stir in peas, rice and corn chunks. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Add potatoes and salt. Continue cooking until potatoes and rice are just tender (approx 10 minutes more). Add shrimp and queso fresco. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is just cooked through, about 4 minutes (shrimp should be pink).
7. Stir in the evaporated milk and oregano. Continue cooking and stirring. When the soup begins boiling again, Crack the eggs into the soup, spacing them so they remain separate in the soup. If you prefer, you can beat the eggs together in a bowl before adding them to the soup instead).
8. When eggs are cooked, soup is finished.

"Mistura" 2012 - Espanol / English

Mistura 2012 congregará a más de 10.000 turistas extranjeros
La feria gastronómica, que se llevará a cabo del 7 al 16 de setiembre en el Campo de Marte, espera recibir un total de 600.000 visitantes.

Mistura 2012 recibirá alrededor de 10.000 visitantes extranjeros que llegarán para degustar los diversos platillos que se ofrecerán en esta famosa feria gastronómica, indicó Bernardo Roca Rey, presidente de la Sociedad Peruana de Gastronomía (Apega), organizadora del evento.

“También se espera una presencia significativa de estudiantes de gastronomía del extranjero, quienes serán los mejores divulgadores de la comida peruana porque van a contar en su país lo que pasa en Perú y nos convertirá en referente”, sostuvo en declaraciones reproducidas por la agencia Andina.

Esta nueva edición de Mistura se llevará a cabo del 7 al 16 de setiembre en el Campo de Marte y espera recibir un total de 600.000 visitantes. El 5 de junio se anunciará oficialmente la sede del evento y las características que tendrá la feria.

“Vamos a contar cómo va a ser Mistura 2012, mostraremos los planos, la parte arquitectónica, los colores, el lugar y los atractivos que hemos pensado para esta edición, que en este caso son los granos andinos”, manifestó Roca Rey.

Fuente: Elcomercio.pe 

Mistura 2012 will bring together more than 10,000  tourists

The food fair, which will take place from 7^th  to 16^th  September in “ Campo Marte – Lima” expects a total of 600,000 visitors.

Mistura 2012 will receive about 10,000 foreign visitors who come to taste the various dishes that will be offered at this popular food festival, said Bernardo Roca Rey, president of the Peruvian Society of Gastronomy (Apega), organizer of the event.

"We also expect a significant presence of foreign students, who will be the best advertising  of our  food because they will show and talk in their country about Peru’s cuisine", he said .

"We will tell how it will be Mistura 2012, the plans, the architecture, colors, location and attractions we have thought for this edition, which in this case are the “Andean grains," said Roca Rey

Grupo Pachamama! La esencia se encuentra en la biodiversidad.

El grupo Pachamama con su video "La Semilla" que  esta cuestionando un problema latente!
Digamos NO a los Transgénicos!

En las postrimerías de su mandato, el presidente Alan García ha decidido mantener una amenaza contra el país, al haber observado la ley que establece una moratoria de diez años al ingreso de transgénicos –u organismos vivos modificados (OVM)– al Perú. Esto es motivo de grave preocupación, pues sabemos que los transgénicos son una amenaza para la excepcional diversidad biológica que nos enriquece. El Perú es uno de los pocos territorios en las Américas donde el cultivo de transgénicos aún no es permitido. Ante el agresivo crecimiento mundial de este tipo de cultivos, y a diferencia de lo que ocurre en todos los países vecinos, nuestro país destaca más bien como refugio de biodiversidad.
¿POR QUÉ PREOCUPARNOS?
Es evidente que la tecnología transgénica puede producir beneficios. A través de ella se ha logrado desarrollar medicamentos estratégicos, cultivos con mayor resistencia a la sequía y al frío, más nutritivos, etc. El problema, sin embargo, es el poco control que se tiene una vez que los organismos son liberados en los ecosistemas. El material transgénico, una vez en el campo, tarde o temprano se transferirá a otras especies vecinas y a los cultivos, a través del polen llevado por el viento o por insectos, con consecuencias de todo tipo.
Dado que la mayor parte de las semillas transgénicas posee resistencia a herbicidas, uno de los impactos más documentados es la rápida aparición de malezas también resistentes, por transferencia genética y por adaptación. Exterminar estas malezas resistentes requiere cada vez más tóxicos, con aumento de costos para los productores y riesgos para la salud de los consumidores. Así, los beneficios iniciales de los transgénicos son anulados.
Otro impacto peligrosísimo es la contaminación transgénica de cultivos orgánicos, lo que lleva a perder la certificación orgánica. Para el Perú, donde la agricultura orgánica y de productos nativos exportables es una oportunidad comercial para la cual tenemos extraordinarias ventajas comparativas, esa contaminación inevitable ocurrirá si se permite el cultivo de transgénicos en nuestro territorio. Eso es una amenaza mortal.
¿NECESITAMOS ESOS ORGANISMOS?
Se dice que por su mayor productividad, esta tecnología es estratégica para la seguridad alimentaria mundial. Sin embargo, el 81% de la producción transgénica es destinada a forraje para animales. De los 148 millones de hectáreas cultivadas con OVM en el mundo, solo una fracción es destinada directamente a la alimentación de poblaciones humanas. De esta fracción, la mitad es soya, cuyo cultivo a gran escala está generando impactos gravísimos a hábitats críticos por su biodiversidad. Solo en el Brasil, desde 1995, la expansión de los campos de soya transgénica deforesta anualmente un promedio de 320.000 hectáreas de la Amazonía. Procesos similares de deforestación se vienen dando en Uruguay y Paraguay por el mismo motivo.
Los cultivos transgénicos dominantes son más apropiados para grandes extensiones de terreno y no para la pequeña agricultura prevalente en el Perú. Aquí la agricultura a gran escala solo es posible en la costa, donde el agua es un severo limitante, o implicaría deforestar nuestra Amazonía. En los Andes es mucho más apropiada la agroecología, que no solo potencia la tradición precolombina de aprovechar la diversidad de pisos ecológicos, sino que aumenta significativamente la productividad de la tierra, contribuye a mejorar la nutrición, reducir la pobreza y ofrece elementos de adaptación al cambio climático.
LA NECESARIA MORATORIA
La justificación del Poder Ejecutivo para observar la ley de moratoria que impedía por diez años el ingreso de transgénicos está llena de inexactitudes y genera temores infundados.
El Gobierno argumenta que la moratoria podría afectar el comercio con nuestros vecinos del Mercosur, de quienes importamos maíz y soya transgénicos para la producción de alimentos básicos como pollos, lácteos y aceites. También aduce que obstaculizaría la investigación en biotecnología y que impediría la importación de medicamentos obtenidos a través de ella, poniendo en riesgo a los pacientes que requieren de estos medicamentos. Nada más inexacto.
La moratoria solo impedía el ingreso de transgénicos “con fines de cultivo o crianza”, permitiéndose el ingreso a aquellos destinados para la investigación o para la producción de fármacos para los que no existen alternativas no transgénicas. Por eso, el comercio de transgénicos sin fines reproductivos no se vería afectado, la investigación en recintos controlados podría darse y los fármacos obtenidos con biotecnología podrían seguir siendo importados.
Dice la observación que bastarán cinco años para establecer los mecanismos necesarios para minimizar la introducción de genes nuevos a especies nativas y para controlar los riesgos de la introducción del cultivo de transgénicos en el territorio nacional. Pero se promete lo imposible. Dadas nuestras nefastas experiencias con la capacidad del Estado para controlar, supervisar y vigilar las industrias extractivas, cuyos impactos son mucho más visibles y predecibles que la contaminación a nivel genético, ni en cinco ni en diez años podremos controlar efectivamente los impactos de la introducción del cultivo de transgénicos sobre nuestra excepcional riqueza natural y agraria. Los productos transgénicos están desde hace años en nuestro país, comercializados sin identificación alguna que informe a los consumidores. La moratoria en ninguna forma afectaba este negocio. La observación del Poder Ejecutivo denota un claro interés en un modelo que solo beneficiará a los comercializadores de semillas, a los productores de pollos y –desde luego– al puñado de empresas multinacionales que producen semillas transgénicas.
(*) Directora del Centro para la Sostenibilidad Ambiental de la Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia

What is the "Inti Raymi"

According to Inca mythology, Inti was the Sun god, son of Viracocha, creator of civilization.
Original people were flood survivors who were saved and repopulated the Earth. Viracocha came to the Andes to restore civilization, culture and knowledge after the flood.

Before the colonial Spaniards arrive to Inka empire, each Winter Solstice was a important event for all natives. In Cuzco, residents celebrate to honor the Sun God, sacrifice an animal to ensure good crops and to pay homage to the Inca, as the first born Son of the Sun. 

The ceremonies took place at the winter solstice, when the sun is farthest from the earth. Fearing the lack of sun and ensuing famine, the ancient Incas gathered in Cuzco to honor the Sun God and plead for his return. Three days before the start of the celebrations the participants had to go through a purification period in which they had to fast and the only food allowed to eat was white maize and an herb called chucam. 

In 1572, Viceroy Toledo declared the Inti Raymi celebrations as pagan and contrary to the Catholic faith, so this like many other celebrations  went underground.

But today, it's the second largest festival in South America. Hundreds of thousands of people converge on Cuzco from other parts of the nation, South America and the world for a week long celebration marking the beginning of a new year, the Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun.

Every day has its events, from daytime expositions, street fairs, and people milling and dancing in the streets. In the evenings, live music from the best of Peruvian musical groups draws the crowds to the Plaza de Armas for free concerts. During the preceding year, in preparation for Inti Raymi, hundreds of actors are chosen to represent historical figures. Being selected to portray the Sapa Inca or his wife, Mama Occla, is a great honor.

The centerpiece of the festival is the all-day celebrations on June 24, the actual day of Inti Raymi. On this day, the ceremonial events begin with an invocation by the Sapa Inca in the Qorikancha, also spelled Koricancha. Here, the Sapa Inca calls on the blessings from the sun. Following the oration, Sapa Inca is carried on a golden throne, a replica of the original which weighed about 60 kilos, in a procession to the ancient fortress of Sacsayhuamán, in the hills above Cuzco. With the Sapa Inca come the high priests, garbed in ceremonial robes, then officials of the court, nobles and others, all elaborately costumed according to their rank, with silver and gold ornaments.

 At Sacsayhuamán , where huge crowds await the arrival of the procession, Sapa Inca climbs to the sacred altar where all can see him. Once all the celebrants are in place in the grand square of the fortress, there are speeches by Sapa Inca, the priests and representatives of the Suyos.

A white llama is sacrificed (Not real, only a representative act) and the high priest holds aloft the bloody heart in honor of Pachamama. This is done to ensure the fertility of the earth. The priests read the blood stains to see the future for the Inca.

As the sun begins to set, stacks of straw are set on fire and the celebrants dance around them to honor Tawantinsuty or the Empire of the Four Wind Directions. In ancient times, no fire was allowed that day until the evening fires.

The ceremony of Inti Raymi ends with a procession back to Cuzco. Sapa Inca and Mama Occla are carried on their thrones, the high priests and representatives of the Supas pronounce blessings on the people. Once again, a new year has begun.

Things to know:

Inti Raymi is an all-day event, with at least five hours spent at Sacsayhuamán. Entry to the fortress is free, and rental chairs are available from booths around the main square. There are also food and drink vendors. There are no guard rails on the ruins and every year people are injured in falls. If you want a reserved seat, they are available with tickets bought in advance. 

Lodgings are booked far in advance for the festival week. Hotels and restaurants do a booming business prices increase almost 50% .  While you are there, it may be difficult to get an unobstructed view of the Inca method of building using stones and no mortar, but buy a visitor ticket ( called BTC) which is valid for ten days and gets you into fourteen important sites in Cuzco (Sacred Valley and Cusco ruins). 

Buen Viaje!

Canta con Bareto; no derroches el agua! Sing with Bareto, do not waste water!

 

Tus duchazos duran más de 10 minutos, gastarás entre 200 a 300 litros de agua cada vez. Dúchate en 5, no necesitas más. Únete a Dancin' Ducha, una iniciativa divertida para cuidar el agua todos los días.
Bravo chicos... y  ahora compartan, con que song se toman la ducha...

If your  shower take longer than 10 minutes, will spend between 200 to 300 liters of water each time. Take a shower in 5 minutes, you do not need more. Join Dancin 'shower, a fun initiative to conserve water every day.

Bravo guys ... and now share with us  which is your favorite song for the shower...

Cuzco, Peru's often overlooked treasures

Many tourists on their way to Machu Picchu blow right through Cuzco, Peru. But Cuzco's historic streets and museums and its cuisine make it much more than a gateway.

By Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Cuzco, Peru — —

As many a Peruvian traveler can tell you, climbing Machu Picchu is easy, especially if you take one of those tourist buses that do most of the work. It's embracing Cuzco that can be hard.
Cuzco (often spelled Cusco) usually is the Peruvian city you fly into before catching the train through the Sacred Valley to those famous mountaintop ruins at Machu Picchu. But Cuzco is much more than a gateway.
In the 15th century, it was the capital of the Incan empire, a wealthy city whose stone buildings, which still form the skeleton of the city, were chiseled and placed with astounding precision. Then in 1533, with the Incas weakened by civil war, Spanish soldiers showed up with rifles and horses to grab the gold and silver and slay those who resisted. They built a colonial capital atop the Incan city, constructing Catholic churches over the most revered Incan temples. Spain ruled until Peru won independence in the 1820s.
Nowadays, the city's population is 300,000 to 400,000, a blend of Spanish and native Quechua bloodlines, and Cuzco's stone skeleton is enveloped in one of the most muscular tourist economies in all of South America. Catering to jet-setters and backpackers alike, the city hums with swishy restaurants, cheap hostels, upscale boutiques, tacky souvenir shops and hundreds of posh hotel rooms, yet you still see campesinos bearing sheaves of barley or peddling embroidery on street corners. When the Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice arrives each June, revelers take to the streets for the Inti Raymi festival, a scene that looks like Mardi Gras with llamas.
Cuzco is not for the faint of heart or lungs, nor for the traveler who wants everything easy, tidy and genteel. Not only does it stand between you and that beloved Incan mountaintop, but it also stands about 11,000 feet above sea level — about 3,000 feet taller than Machu Picchu — because of the tilt of the Sacred Valley.
"That causes a very interesting situation in your body," guide Enrique Medina reminded me soon after my arrival in May. "Take it easy, have a coca tea and drink a lot of water."
And while you're at it, tune out the fast-talking touts and peddlers who will otherwise mar your views of native Cuzco, colonial Cuzco and even crossroads Cuzco.
This was my third visit to Cuzco in 24 years. I came home with these lessons in mind.
The streets and the museums deserve equal time.
History is so alive in the city's streets, among the throngs at the San Pedro Market and at the sprawling Sacsayhuaman ruins, it might seem a shame to spend too many hours indoors. But especially when Cuzco gets cold, you can't ignore Qorikancha (also spelled Coricancha), the former Incan headquarters that was later converted into the Convento de Santo Domingo de Cuzco or the Monastery of Santa Catalina, whose 13 remaining nuns may be outnumbered by the mannequins on display.
The same goes for the elegant Museo de Arte Precolumbino, or MAP, and the larger but humbler Inka Museum. Also, authorities last year announced plans to display hundreds of Machu Picchu artifacts, collected by explorer Hiram Bingham, in the Casa Concha mansion on Santa Catalina Ancha Street, but the timetable remains unclear.
Eat your potatoes.
Nobody knows more than the chefs of Cuzco about potatoes, corn, alpaca or cui (a.k.a. cuy, a.k.a. guinea pig). On the courtyard of the Pacha Papa restaurant, you listen to a harpist while digging into an alpaca brochette.
At the MAP Café, the kitchen mixes traditional and molecular cuisine, which in my case resulted in too-sweet gazpacho followed by a tasty salmon main course. At Chicha, a pricey, busy upstairs restaurant opened in 2009 by Peruvian celebrity chef Gaston Acurio, great pork medallions await.
See Barrio San Blas, and think about sleeping there.
Stand in the Plaza de Armas. Turn toward the nearest hill and march past the cathedral and up the narrow, cobblestoned street. For a hearty breakfast or lunch in the company of backpackers from around the planet, pause at Jack's Café on Choquechaka Street.
Then continue, and in no time you'll be in San Blas, a hillside barrio that spills down to the plaza and where global visitors mingle with Cuzco's artistic types. Grab a snack at the tiny, orange-walled Café de Mama Oli (199 Plazoleta Nazarenas), and peek at the lobby of the Hotel Monasterio, where rates routinely run $400 and up a night. This old monastery, built in the 1590s, was converted 47 years ago into a lodging with two courtyards and museum-worthy art. (If you go in March, stay three nights and pay upfront, you can get rooms here for as little as $235.) Then have a look at the Amaru Hostal, a block away, with pleasant, modest rooms for about $50 a night. (I wish I'd slept there instead of at the Andina Classic Cuzco Plaza, where I paid about $140 for a tiny room.)
Beware the plaza, behold the cathedral.
In pictures, the Plaza de Armas looks great — a big sun-splashed rectangle with fountains and grass and strolling vendors and benches for weary travelers. Up close, it's just as pretty, but it can be a sort of battlefield. To cross it, you'll need to fend off the school-aged girls selling woven goods and massages, school-aged boys shining shoes and forcefully hawking little paintings that will never hang in the Hotel Monasterio. If you don't want to buy, avoid eye contact and get into that big, brooding building with the green doors, the cathedral.
Begun in the 1550s and completed in the 1660s, it includes a 25-foot-high "Last Supper" painting by Marcos Zapata behind the main altar. Look closely and you'll see Christ and his disciples sitting before plates of roasted vizcacha (comparable to chinchilla). You'll also see a chapel dedicated to Our Lord of the Earthquakes, not a surprise, given that major quakes struck the city in 1650 and 1950

 

Mexican magazine praises Peruvian cuisine

Lima, Feb. (ANDINA). Mexican magazine Bleu&Blanc praised on Saturday Peruvian cuisine, adding that the high quality of the product was able to conquer the most demanding palates and the world’s most exclusive restaurants as well.

According to the article “El imperio del sabor” (the empire of taste), journalist Vivian Bibliowicz also lauded the wide variety of Peruvian typical dishes, which most of them have influences from four continents since the middle of the 20th century.
“We only have to mention that there are over 2,500 types of soup,” said the journalist after noting that the quality of Peruvian cuisine is due to the suitable conditions for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables.
The article also highlighted the richness of Peruvian sea, where several species of fishes are caught for the preparation of Peru’s emblematic dishes such as cebiche.
Moreover, Bibliowicz also mentioned the “perfect sweetness and sourness” of Peruvian flagship drink pisco sour, which is perfect before having Peruvian food.
Fuente: Andina.com

El Perú entre los mejores destinos de turismo de lujo, según expertos

Nuestro país es atractivo para este tipo de viaje porque ofrece experiencias únicas en lugares remotos, así como servicio de alta calidad.

Nuestro país está entre los mejores destinos para los amantes del turismo de lujo, indicó Mariana Bruggia, coordinadora de Best of South América, alianza que agrupa a hoteles de Argentina, Chile y el Perú y que busca promover las estadías multidestino o visitas a varios países en un solo tour.
Bruggia sostuvo que el Perú ofrece a los visitantes experiencias únicas en lugares remotos, así como servicios de alta calidad. Además, manifestó que el buen servicio y la cocina distinguen a los hoteles peruanos que reciben a los amantes del turismo de lujo.
Finalmente, Bruggia dijo en declaraciones al diario “Gestión” que el turismo multidestino de lujo en América Latina “viene creciendo a una tasa de 25% en los últimos años”.
Fuente: elcomercio.pe