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THE VICEROYALTY OF PERU

Dear Readers,
Along these newsletters, we have informed you about the greatness ofthe Incas, the wonder of the nature of Peu, the magnificence ofthe pre-incan cultures, of the sweetness and warmth of peruvian people, the unparalleled flavor of the creole dishes. But we almost never center on a great part of our history: the Viceroyalty of Peru, that which once was the largest of the world and the most important of America, that once extended from Nicaragua to the Magallanes Narrow, from the Pacific Ocean to the heart of the brasilian forest. But to talk about it, first we must talk about its origins, about the conquest of the Tahuantinsuyo.
In this edition, travel with Francisco Pizarro to an almost dead empire and conquer it, go back to Cusco once more and discover those marvels that you never saw, learn about the culture that created the almighty god Wiracocha, fly with many birds over theTiticaca Lake and taste a delicious baked sole fillet. Remember: Peru is much more.
Regards,
José and Cynthia

THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF AN EMPIRE

During Hayna Capac inca government, the Spaniards painted by the Peruvians as: "strange bearded men which sail in floating wooden houses" arrived in the shores of Tawantinsuyo empire. It was 1527. During that time, this empire was the largest of America. Its extension was from Pasto in Colombia at the north, till Maule River in Chile by the south.
On October 15th 1532, the spaniard conqueror Francisco Pizarro, saw the city of Cajamarca, place where the Inca Atahualpa was resting after winning a bloody battle with his brother Huascar for the right to govern the empire. Cajamarca was a stone city with a valley at the end; it also had a trapezoidal square. The camp of the Inca was the most impressive matter for the spanish people. It was huge. A sense of inferiority come over the spaniards soldiers, they presage their dead in that city. Pizarro saw this, and immediately ordered to go straight to the center of the city; they arrived around five in the afternoon. It was deserted; Pizarro took the main square and set up the soldiers against a possible Inca attack. Then he set an ambush to force the Inca to come over that point. He sent Hernando de Soto and Hernando Pizarro to ask for an interview with him, in this appointment Atahualpa just said this words: "Get back all you have stolen until this moment".
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...AND BACK TO CUSCO

In Cuzco the mixture of cultural expressions that can be seen daily, the product of a history full of conflict and strife, is its most fascinating aspect for the traveller, who only discovers it by going back to the city again and again.
The most important Spanish churches are built on top of what were splendid palaces or places of Inca worship, as a way of imposing the power of the Conquistadors upon the culture they had encountered. The convents of Trappist nuns were built over what were originally acllahuasi, or retreats for virgins dedicated to the cult of the sun. Almost all the streets in the historic center of the city have Spanish structures erected upon the asymmetric stonework of the Incas, perfectly amalgamated with each other so that it is impossible to say which technology has survived the passage of time best.
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TIAHUANACO CULTURE

The Tiahuanaco culture was developed in the Andean plateau, in the Collao tableland, between 12,467 and 13,123 feet over sea level. Its expansion included part of Peru and Bolivia. Despite the dry and very cold weather, the presence of Titicaca Lake propitiates a benign climate in the area. This is why the towns settled down in the shores of this lake. Researches about its origin go back to 250 b.C. and its decadence around 1000 A.D.
GROWTH
Between 400 and 750 A.D. Tihuanaco culture achieved a growth from the shores of Titicaca lake to the lower area, from east to west of the plateau. It ruled as far as Moquegua, the actual north of Chile and the northwest of Argentina, besides some Amazon regions.
Tiahuanaco controlled a vast territory. Although, specialists point out this expansion was not making military force. Depending on the town, it was making by politic or economic techniques. The collapse of this culture was cause maybe by extreme climatic changes, which modify the lake levels considerably, which affected the agriculture.
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BIRDS OF PUNO

Of the many reasons visitors may have for going to Puno, an area of historic, cultural and commercial wealth, bird watching is one. For bird watchers that is more than sufficient.
The Andean plateau is a region without a great variety of species, but it plays an important role in Peru's impressive biological diversity. Because of its altitude over 13 000 feet above sea level and because it is the widest part of the Andes range it divides de birds of east and west of Peru, creating perhaps the most important feature in the rich bio-geographical structure of the country. And of course it offers vast landscapes that are home to a unique bird life that all birdwatchers would want to add to their lists.
It can be said that lake Titicaca is at the center of the plateau, it is an important source of water, a climate regulator and tourist attraction, the mythological origin of the Incas, the highest navigable lake in the world, and a vast aquatic habitat that is home to large numbers of ducks, coots, herons and other birds, both resident and migratory. Some would say that they are merely the typical waterfowl found all over the highlands, but it must be emphasized that here they are found together, in a midst of an impressive landscape, and there is one exception: the Titicaca Grebe. This flightless diving expert, it is found nowhere else but it Titicaca basin. As a complement to the waterfowl are birds that are characteristic of the great surrounding plains of ichu grass and some chains of hills where queñuals and bushes provide refuge for them. In addition a description is given here of a brief excursion to the east into the mountain forest, in search of a lower, more humid habitat and a greater variety of birds.
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