A post based on The Big Picture blog at Boston.com.
Incomplete rail tracks in Lima. Various Peruvian governments since the early 1970s have attempted to implement a rapid train transit system in Lima. In the 1980s, construction progressed relatively quickly but was paralyzed when the country’s deep economic and social crisis led to an exhausted budget. The president presiding over construction during the 1980s? Current president Alan Garcia, who was relected in 2006 and has vowed to complete the project now. October 4, 2009.
Green space is precious in the coastal desert of Lima, particularly in the outskirts of the city where water is even more scarce. This photograph shows a sunflower garden in Carabayllo. The house’s owner told me she wished someone would take a photo of her garden, and I was lucky enough to have my camera with me. October 9, 2009.
A forest without rain. Lomas de Lachay is a national reserve in the middle of the Peruvian coastal desert. The hills of Lachay feature a unique mist-fed ecosystem whose only source of moisture is fog from the ocean. It does not rain. In general, the hills support severe drought conditions in summer and enjoy the moisture from heavy fog in the winter. A number of important flora and fauna species find a home here. October 11, 2009.
Where water, where green. I took this photograph in the village of Caballo in Carabayllo, on the northern outskirts of Lima. The stark the transition from green to brown is caused by extensive irrigation; the land on the right side of the road is irrigated from the the Chillón river, the land on the left is not. October 14, 2009.
La procesión del Señor de los Milagros, or “the parade of the Lord of the Miracles,” is a massive Catholic event that takes place each October here in Lima. Limeños, people from Lima, flock to the historic center of the city, where an ancient brotherhood carries a two-ton icon of Jesus through the city streets. Flocking to the streets go millions of Peruvians, many of whom wear purple clothing—the ceremony’s characteristic color—in the hope of obtaining a miracle from el Señor, securing strength in daily life, or receiving protection against sickness, accident, or natural disaster. October 18, 2009.
Candies displayed by a street vendor in Ica, Peru. October 25, 2009.
The Islas Ballestas. These small islands are often called the Galapagos Islands of Peru. Located off the shore of the Peruvian city of Paracas, they serve as an important sanctuary for marine fauna like the blue-footed booby, Humboldt Penguins, and two varieties of seals. In the mid-19th, the islands were mined heavily for bird guano, an outstanding natural fertilizer. October 25, 2009.
Me on the beach in Punta Negra in southern Lima. November 8, 2009.
A soccer field in the San Gabriel neighborhood of Carabayllo. Many of Socios En Salud’s community projects are centered in this community. November 13, 2009.
Poetry night in Miraflores. Each Friday evening beginning at 7:00 p.m., amateur poets and performers are given up to two minutes to share their work in front of a large, captive crowd. This tradition has been carried out for more than 10 years now. November 14, 2009.
Street futbol in the La Punta neighborhood in Callao. Callao, founded in 1537 and ensconced by the city of Lima, is the largest and most important port in Peru. Many Peruvians consider La Punta to be dangerous, especially at night. November 16, 2009.
Ceviche in La Grecia restaurant in Pisco. Ceviche is prepared by marinating extremely fresh white fish in lime juice for about 10 minutes, adding flavoring of spicy chili pepper called rocotto, and adding choclo (Peruvian corn), camote (sweet potato), and papa (potato). Garnish with lettuce. This simple and exquisite dish may have originated on the sunny coasts of Peru, but like power and influence, recipes also spread from Peru to the rest of South America during the more than four centuries of the viceroyalty. November 17, 2009.
Laguna de Llanganuco in Huaraz, Peru. The stunning turquoise water of Lake Chinancocha, the lower and most popular of the two Llanganuco Lakes, is caused by glacial silt deposits. The lake lies at over 12,600 feet of altitude. November 21, 2009.
Woman carrying bolsas, or bags, in Huaraz. November 22, 2009.
Panorama of Huaraz. This image is a combination of seven different photographs stitched together. I really love the Peruvian couple sitting on the left side of the image. That man is the taxi driver of the car you see, and he apparently took his girlfriend to see a beautiful view of the city. Huaraz, a slender city ensconced in a valley and bordered by two mountain ranges, also reminds me quite a bit of Quito, Ecuador. November 22, 2009.
Peruvian newsstands are themselves works of art. This one is a few minutes away from home in San Borja, Lima. My favorite paper is El Comercio, which is in the upper-right hand corner with the article on Chile. November 24, 2009.
Yes, the transportation of kids is difficult in any culture. November 26, 2009.
La Iglesia de la Soledad, severely damaged by fire in 2005. This church lies next to the famous Monasterio de San Francisco. Although the chapel is not officially open to the public, the brotherhood of the church often fundraises for restoration funds outside its main entrance, and the brothers give personal tours in return for small donations. It’s very haunting, but also beautiful, to see a church that’s seemingly so vulnerable. November 30, 2009.
A flower after rainfall in the jungle near La Merced. December 6, 2009.
The Velo de la Novia (the Girlfriend’s Veil) waterfall near La Merced. I took this photograph during the rainy season in the Peruvian rainforest, and the brown-colored water is caused by increased run-off from the jungle floor during this period. December 6, 2009.
A nun wades into the Río Perené at dusk in Pichanaqui. December 7, 2009.
A normal day in Tarmatambo, Peru. It looks like the cows have control of this beautiful Andean town. Plus, have you ever seen cows walking down a flight of stairs? December 8, 2009.
Elna Osso (left), International Project Coordinator for Partners in Health in Peru, and me (right) look in on a diagnostic TB test at the Lima Ciudad reference laboratory in Magdalena. Technicians at the site were trained by PIH to carry out a novel drug-susceptibility test for TB which dramatically reduced turnaround time for diagnosis of MDR-TB. Photo by David Snyder. December 17, 2009.
A man takes a mid-day siesta on his moto on the corner of San Borja Norte and Calle Rousseau in Lima. February 24, 2010.
The road from the ruins of Caral to the village of Caral, where the Supe River Valley transforms a desert into a swath of green. Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady popularized Caral in the mid-1990s when she revealed the magnitude of the site’s ruins: A city of pyramids in the Peruvian desert with an elaborate complex of temples, an amphitheater, and ancient houses. Before the mid-1990s, even local Peruvians were unaware of the site’s existence; they thought the pyramids—covered in millennia of sand—were merely sand dunes. Caral was inhabited between 2600 B.C. and 2000 B.C., making it the most ancient city in the Americas and possibly the entire world. February 27, 2010.
Justin and I share a laugh, a beer, and an Inca Cola in the Restaurante Regiones Peruanas on San Luis in San Borja. I’m eating anticuchos, which are beef heart skewers prepared on a griddle with potato. Anticuchos can be traced as far back as the 16th century. Until the rise of the Peruvian middle class in the 20th century, anticuchos were primarily considered a food of the poor; organ meats, like heart, were less expensive. Now, anticuchos are enjoyed by everyone and can be found in just about every corner of every neighborhood in Lima—from the very richest (like San Borja) to the very poorest. March 12, 2010.
Nora, Jen, and I in the midst of Pisco Sour perfection. Pisco Sours are a cocktail made from pisco (a grape brandy), limes, sugar syrup, egg whites, and bitters. I must concede that they are fantastic drinks; as a New York Times review majestically describes, a Pisco Sour is “like a climb in the Andes: drink it too fast and you’ll need oxygen.” March 12, 2010.
Chocotejas after the biomarket in El Parque Reducto in Miraflores. Chocotejas are a delicious chocolate treat with pecan and dulce de leche filling. March 13, 2010.
Paragliding in Miraflores. March 14, 2010.
A man rests on a Saturday morning in Canta, one the first mountain towns north of Lima. March 20, 2010.
Test tubes used to diagnose drug-resistant tuberculosis. Socios En Salud, in partnership with the U.S. CDC, helped implement the Griess Method (or nitrate reductase assay—NRA) in Peru. This technique exploits the ability of M. tuberculosis to reduce nitrate to nitrate in detecting growth 1-3 weeks before colonies become visible. March 25, 2010.
A month’s worth of antituberculosis drugs at the Hospital Sergio E. Bernales (known as Hospital Collique) in the Comas district of Peru. Complete cure for MDR-TB is possible, but it requires patients to endure 18-24 months of treatment with drugs that produce terrible side effects including loss of hearing, nausea, psychosis, and more. “We’ve been with patients who weep everytime they have to take these drugs they’re so toxic,” says John Donnelly, author of the wonderful WHO volume Airborne. March 25, 2010.
A corridor of the Monasterio de Santa Catalina in Arequipa, Peru. The Monastery is a cloistered convent built in 1580 and enlarged in the 17th century. The tradition of the time indicated that the second son or daughter of a family would enter religious service, and the convent accepted only women from high-class Spanish families. Each family paid large dowries at their daughter’s entrance to the convent. April 1, 2010.
Festive street celebrations during Semana Santa (Easter Week) in Arequipa, Peru. April 2, 2010.
A panorama of the Colca Canyon near Chivay, about 100 miles northwest of Arequipa. At points, the Colca Canyon is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. April 2, 2010.
A cactus near Coporaque, Peru. April 2, 2010.
Jeremy towers on peak of a large hill overlooking Inca ruins on the road from Chivay. April 2, 2010.
Nora, Jeremy, and Justin walk through a beautiful meadow near Chivay. April 2, 2010.
Glowing grain as the sun sets near Yanque, Peru. April 3, 2010.
Striking miners confront the Peruvian National Police on the Panamericana in Atico Peru. The informal mining sector in Peru supports more than 300,000 Peruvian families, comprises between 10%-20% of the country’s total mining production, but can have devastating environmental impacts. These strikers protest new laws which formalize informal activity in effort to reduce pollution and introduce taxes on earnings. April 5, 2010.
A woman shows a sign she has made to call the attention of a Peruvian Air Force colonel at the Arequipa airport. Notice the kiss she’s planted on the sign. Striking miners blocked the main artery from Lima to Arequipa—the Panamericana Sur—during Easter Weekend. The government responded by offering free flights on Air Force commercial jets; a puente aeria, it was called. April 6, 2010.
A line of eager passenger-refugees boards an Air Force commercial jet in Arequipa as the dormant volcano Misty watches. For nearly five days in early April, striking miners made land transportation in southern Peru nearly impossible. April 6, 2010.