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THE PRIMAL PAST

Dear Readers,
Ten years ago, when it was discovered that the real antiquity of Caral was 4,600 years and it war realized the repercussions (a complete revision of the origins of the southamerican history), just a few people noticed it. Today, there is still a lot to be discovered about this civilization, and though the conservation and excavation works are not finished yet, we are sure this will be a wonder comparable with Machu Picchu.
But in this issue you will have also the pleasure to meet the Q'ero, a community close to Cusco that claim been the descendants of the Incas and keep their ancient customs awaiting a return.
Step on the desert where the Nazca traced their impressive drawings andunderstand that they were more that those lines that gives them their name; discover what is a mangrove swamp and realize of an unstoppable desire to visit them.
Here, the wonders are everywhere, and our mission is to share a piece of this wonders with you and go beyond your senses ,where the imagination has no limits. That place is Peru.
Regards,
José and Cynthia

CARAL: THE OLDEST CIVILIZATION IN AMERICA

Six earth-and-rock mounds rise out of the windswept desert of the Supe Valley near the coast of Peru. Dunelike and immense, they appear to be nature's handiwork, forlorn outposts in an arid region squeezed between the Pacific Ocean and the folds of the Andean Cordillera. But looks deceive. These are human-made pyramids, and compelling new evidence indicates they are the remains of a city that flourished nearly 5,000 years ago. it is the oldest urban center in the Americas and among the most ancient in all the world.
Research developed by Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady Solís of San Marcos University suggests that Caral, as the 150-acre complex of pyramids, plazas and residential buildings is known, was a thriving metropolis as Egypt's great pyramids were being built. The energetic archaeologist believes that Caral may also answer nagging questions about the long-mysterious origins of the Inca, the civilization that once stretched from modern-day Ecuador to central Chile and gave rise to such cities as Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Caral may even hold a key to the origins of civilizations everywhere. Though discovered in 1905, Caral first drew little attention, largely because archaeologists believed the complex structures were fairly recent. But the monumental scale of the pyramids had long tantalized Shady. "When I first arrived in the valley in 1994, I was overwhelmed," she says.
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THE Q'EROS: THE LAST DESCENDANTS OF THE INCAS

THE MYTH
The q'ero tell that in the distant past: "the earth became unproductive and the Apus decided to create other beings. They created Inkari and Qollari, a man and a woman full of wisdom. They gave to the first a bar of gold and the second a distaff as symbols of power and industriousness". They say that Inkari was ordered to found a great nation wherever the bar fell in an upright position. Thus was Cusco founded in a fertile valley. The oldest son of Inkari was giving the task of populating the Q'ero region, which means that the q'ero people today are his descendents. The relative insolation in which they live, inaccessible by vehicle, in a remote part of the province of Paucartambo in the department of Cusco has enabled them to preserve the life style and cultural traditions inherited from their ancestors.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
They control a vertical space consisting of three superimposed ecological floors. The highest is the puna, above 13120 ft. a.s.l., where they have their permanent homes. There they graze their flocks of alpaca and llama, symbols of their wealth and prestige. They also grow different kind of potatoes, based to use it to do ch'uño, a dehydrated potato.
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NASCA CULTURE

Between the beginnings of our era and the 700 a.C., in the arid deserts of the Ica region emerged a civilization: The Nasca Culture, which based were the valleys of the Chincha, Pisco and Nazca rivers. The birth of this culture is tied to Cahuachi, the ceremonial center located in the Valle Grande of Nasca.
CULTURAL INFLUENCE
It is certainly known Nasca men had a rich cultural interchange with the people of Paracas Necropolis, and finally they were defeated.
Certainty, the Nasca influence was extend from Cahuachi to the surroundings valleys, but the reasons of its downfall and transformation are not clear enough. Though, the theory of political repercussions because a violent El Niño phenomenon occurred between the VI and VII centuries is very likely.
On the other hand, the increase in the construction of the famous aqueducts which carried water to the grow ground, suggests the weather turn unfavorable. This also affected in the relation between the coast and the highlands, in this way the large cultural development of the Nasca culture was stop because the Huari`s growth during the 800 century of our era.
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ALOFT AMONG THE WOODS AND MANGROVES

Piura and Tumbes are privileged places for birdwatching, a healthy and friendly pastime that could give added value to Peru as a tourist destination.
Ornithologists and amateur birdwatchers consider the ecosystems of Piura and Tumbes, both cities located at the north of Peru, as especially interesting destinations. This bioregion includes the dry forest of southern Ecuador and north-western Peru. It is important because of the large number of endemic - that is, restricted in their distribution - species of birds. At present, it is estimated that the Tumbes region is home to around 800 different species of birds, of which 84 are endemic to this region. In the dry forests of Piura and Tumbes alone, some 450 different species of birds have been recorded, representing one quarter of all the known birds of Peru. With flora and fauna that are unique to the region, it is an excellent destination for lovers of nature.
The protected areas of the zone, such as The Tumbes Protected Area, Cerros de Amotape National Park and Coto de Caza El Angola provide excellence opportunities for exploring the denset parts of the dry forest and for birdwatching. It is a little-known fact that these three protected areas now represent the largest area of forest in the whole of the tumbes region and in addition, the Tumbes Protected Area is the most important protected area in the country, giving the number of threatened bird species recorded in it. And as if this were not sufficient, the Cerros de Amotape National Park and Coto de Caza El Angola are also among the four most important protected areas in Peru for threatened birds.
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