Moche Valley, Chan Chan and Huanchaco
Yet another wonderfully full day for those of us aboard the M/V National Geographic Endeavour. It all began with a beautiful sunrise at sea and a large school of common dolphins riding the bow in the soft morning light. We are clearly moving into warmer northern waters as indicated by common dolphins replacing the dusky dolphins of days past and blue-footed and brown boobies mixing with the Peruvian boobies that have been our companions for so many days on our northward journey along the west coast of South America.
Since we were spending a morning at sea, we were able to sleep in a bit and enjoy a sumptuous brunch at our leisure. Later in the morning, guest lecturer Guillermo Cock gave a very informative talk on “Ancient Peruvians,” informing us about the wide variety of pottery types found in the areas that will be visiting in the northern coast of Peru. Shortly after Guillermo finished, Bud gave us a briefing on our last stop in Peru, two days hence, so that we could choose which one of 4 options appealed to us and Tom enlightened us on “Columbian Exchange,” a very informative talk on plants that were introduced to the world from the Americas.
As the National Geographic Endeavour maneuvered alongside the dock in the tiny harbor of Salaverry, Peru, the hotel staff served pizza on the pool deck to tide us over on our afternoon excursion. After boarding luxury coaches, our first stop was at the famous Moche Valley sites of the Temples of the Sun and the Moon. Although the Temple of the Sun is two-thirds destroyed, it is still an impressive structure with over 50 million adobe bricks. We toured the Temple of the Moon, which was dedicated to human sacrifice as an appeasement to Al-Apaec, the god of the mountains and the source of the water that allowed these people to flourish in this exceedingly dry desert area for over 600 years. The excavation has revealed the intricately embossed and brightly painted walls of the 6 layers of this Temple, each layer built over the previous one after 100 years of use.
Our second stop of the afternoon was at the amazing Citadel of Chan-Chan, the stronghold and capital city of the Chimú people between 900 and 1470 AD. Chan-Chan covered an area of 21 square kilometers, was served by a very sophisticated canal system and held and estimated 50,000 people. We were able to see the maze of walls that made up one of the 9 palaces and learn about these people that were probably decimated by a powerful El Niño or a series of such events and were absorbed by the Inca Empire.
Our final stop was a surprise, and a wonderful surprise at that. Our buses headed to the beach at the picturesque resort town of Huanchaco where we were greeted by an Andean musical group, a feast of local delicacies, and a demonstration of the famous reed fishing boats. These boats are built by the individual fisherman out of bundles of bull rushes tied together in a classic high-bowed design that allows them to go through the surf. Each day after fishing, they stand the boats upright along the beach to dry. It was amazing to watch the fishermen go out through the surf and then ride the waves back into shore with such ease. All this back-dropped by the big orange ball of the setting sun dipping into the western sea. Yes, just another day in paradise!
Yet another wonderfully full day for those of us aboard the M/V National Geographic Endeavour. It all began with a beautiful sunrise at sea and a large school of common dolphins riding the bow in the soft morning light. We are clearly moving into warmer northern waters as indicated by common dolphins replacing the dusky dolphins of days past and blue-footed and brown boobies mixing with the Peruvian boobies that have been our companions for so many days on our northward journey along the west coast of South America.
Since we were spending a morning at sea, we were able to sleep in a bit and enjoy a sumptuous brunch at our leisure. Later in the morning, guest lecturer Guillermo Cock gave a very informative talk on “Ancient Peruvians,” informing us about the wide variety of pottery types found in the areas that will be visiting in the northern coast of Peru. Shortly after Guillermo finished, Bud gave us a briefing on our last stop in Peru, two days hence, so that we could choose which one of 4 options appealed to us and Tom enlightened us on “Columbian Exchange,” a very informative talk on plants that were introduced to the world from the Americas.
As the National Geographic Endeavour maneuvered alongside the dock in the tiny harbor of Salaverry, Peru, the hotel staff served pizza on the pool deck to tide us over on our afternoon excursion. After boarding luxury coaches, our first stop was at the famous Moche Valley sites of the Temples of the Sun and the Moon. Although the Temple of the Sun is two-thirds destroyed, it is still an impressive structure with over 50 million adobe bricks. We toured the Temple of the Moon, which was dedicated to human sacrifice as an appeasement to Al-Apaec, the god of the mountains and the source of the water that allowed these people to flourish in this exceedingly dry desert area for over 600 years. The excavation has revealed the intricately embossed and brightly painted walls of the 6 layers of this Temple, each layer built over the previous one after 100 years of use.
Our second stop of the afternoon was at the amazing Citadel of Chan-Chan, the stronghold and capital city of the Chimú people between 900 and 1470 AD. Chan-Chan covered an area of 21 square kilometers, was served by a very sophisticated canal system and held and estimated 50,000 people. We were able to see the maze of walls that made up one of the 9 palaces and learn about these people that were probably decimated by a powerful El Niño or a series of such events and were absorbed by the Inca Empire.
Our final stop was a surprise, and a wonderful surprise at that. Our buses headed to the beach at the picturesque resort town of Huanchaco where we were greeted by an Andean musical group, a feast of local delicacies, and a demonstration of the famous reed fishing boats. These boats are built by the individual fisherman out of bundles of bull rushes tied together in a classic high-bowed design that allows them to go through the surf. Each day after fishing, they stand the boats upright along the beach to dry. It was amazing to watch the fishermen go out through the surf and then ride the waves back into shore with such ease. All this back-dropped by the big orange ball of the setting sun dipping into the western sea. Yes, just another day in paradise!
