History engraved on stone. Forests covering mountains. Gorgeous skies in which the clouds collide over almost vertical granite cliffs, sometimes hiding and sometimes showing the spectacle of a natural environment that seems to have been made for the gods.

Few notice this, even when they are looking at photographs of the gray stone citadel which seems to have come from nowhere to dominate this wild landscape of peaks and deep valleys. Machu Picchu is -and always has been- a natural refuge. It is not chance that the impenetrable jungles contain great Andean bears moving like silent phantoms up the bamboo-clad slopes; not is it luck that the quetzals and cock of the rocks can be seen frequently among the mossy limbs of the ancient pisonayes. The crystal but always turbulent waters of the Vilcanota are the playground for ducks and colorful fuchsias like Christmas decorations attract dozens of humming birds with their strange beaks and plumage that seems to have been designed by modern artists.

In this privilege place of green and eternal moisture the humming birds reach the since of small dogs -the elusive pudu or sachacabra- and there are beetles the size of sparrows; the orchids have suggestive names -wakanki, "you will weep", or wiñay wayna, "always young", are just two examples - and the paucares make a noise like two swordsmen dueling. This is Machu Picchu, mysterious and hidden, reserved for those who dare to discover it behind the huge leaves of the begonias and tree ferns.

The cloud forest that surrounds the sanctuary is covered permanently by a clock of mist. A land where the steep hillsides are always green and where constant moisture is the main component of this intricate natural mechanism. The rivers dash eastward carrying sediment from mountains. This is a land of clear waterfalls and creatures as beautiful as they are elusive.

THE LAND OF MARVELS
The most impressive thing for those who visit the area around Machu Picchu is its exuberance and incredible profusion of life. Much of this is because to reach it one has to cross the Andes and on the austere Andean plateau survival appears to be almost a luxury. Once across the great barrier of the Andean massif, nature explodes into a riot of color and movement. A world of creeks where moisture dominates the life cycle and where the diversity of plants and animals is the highest anywhere in the world.

The climate is hot and very humid, varying with the altitude. As a rule, the lower areas tend to be hot, with the temperature declining as you climb towards the Andean highlands. Her the rainfall is higher than anywhere else in Peru (generally more than 70 inches), hence the numerous crystal-clear waterfalls. In some places, where the rain is almost continuous, 365 days of the year, precipitation reaches 275 inches, forming veritable semi-aquatic worlds on land.

The relief is mountainous and complex, with deep and narrow valleys containing impenetrable jungle and an infinity of rivers and creeks. In the upper reaches, between 8,200 and 12,500 feet a singular form of vegetation has developed, known as the dwarf forest. Here the trees are stunted (rarely exceeding 33 feet in height) with mosses, orchids and ericaceous species. Rather lower in zones generally enveloped in mist and drizzle are the cloud forests (4,260 to 8,200 feet above sea level) where epiphytes (masses, lichens, bromeliads, tallandsias), ferns of many types and bamboo abound. Finally, in the lower zones (1,950 to 4,260 feet), the hills are covered with tall trees and dense undergrowth which prevents light reaching the ground.

The vegetation of the high jungle is perhaps the most exuberant in the tropics, with large numbers of orchids (the most beautiful are, of course, found in this region), giant begonias and ferns the size of trees. It is also the home to some singular and little known species of woodland such as the cucarachero del Inca and various species of humming bird.

MACHU PICCHU EXPOSED
Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary is much more than a set of archaeological sites in the jungle. Its strategic location on the eastern watershed of the Andes mountains on both sides of the river Urubamba -which here runs north west- gives this singular protected area what could be considered one of the most extraordinary altitudinal transects in the country and in only twelve linear miles it protects ecosystems as varied as the eternal snow at nearly 20,000 feet and the torrid tropical jungle at little more than 5,500 feet above sea level.

The Sanctuary can be compared to large apple cut in half, with the river Urubamba flowing through the center and two great mountain ranges on either side of a deep valley covered by tropical vegetation. On each bank of the river, the limits of this natural area protect whole sections of one of the most important sub-basins in the region: the Cordillera del Urubamaba to the north and the Cordillera de Vilcabamba to the south. Including two of the most important peaks: Wekey Willka or Veronica (18,865 ft. a.s.l) and the magnificent Salkantay (20,574 feet), considered to be Apu or tutelary deity of the region. The Cusichaca and Aobamba valleys, to the east and west respectively, complete the boundaries of the Sanctuary.

Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary was recognized internationally by UNESCO in 1983, which classified it as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site.