Letter from South America

[lonelybrit]

Right, to set the scene I am going to horrify anyone with decent geographical knowledge on my FL, since I am going to attempt a summary of this not all that bad country, Peru.
Peru has, roughly, five main regions. Starting on the Eastern coast and going inland, westwards, they are:
- The Coast. Home of the capital, Lima. At this time of year it's winter, smoggy, humid, continually cloudy. Though you can have bright days. It's cold and damp. I'll be heading back there in a week to enjoy its clammy hospitality.

- The Sierra. The desert, in other words. The clouds can't come over the mountains to the East, so whilst we get drizzle, there's no real rain. This place is dry and flat and goes on forever. Home of the Nazca Lines for those of you interested in such things.

- The West side of the Andes. Cold as you go high up. Oxygen gets kinda thin on the ground, and the place is swarming with llamas and potatoes. Dry. Barren. We go this way for Cusco and Macchu Picchu. Home of the Incas. Quite spectacular when you see the mist rising off the ground in the morning and the terraces stretching all the way into the snowline.

- Top of the Andes. Very very bad on oxygen. Lots of snow and glaciers. Not many people live here at all. We drove to just above the snowline on our way to Quillabamba. Though cold and not really a place where you want to go running, it is really very beautiful and stunning.

- The East side of the Andes. The Cloud Forest. Green and lush. Say hello to all kinds of wonderful fruit and wildlife. The moisture comes rolling up from the Amazon every day, huge white clouds that float on up at tree height. So when you look across in the morning, it really does look like you're surrounding by a forest of clouds. This is the home of Quillabamba. Gorgeous place. On the whole very friendly people. Who seriously like to party when they get the chance. More on that when I write again.

- The Amazon Basin. The jungle. Sadly I don't think I'll be getting there, but this place is fantastic, humid and hot and sticky beyond words. Seething with mosquitoes, midges, butterflies, parrots, etc. Home to lots of tribes including the Shipibo and Macha-somethingIcan'tspell. When oil and gas companies go into here to try and find their new well locations, they have to have plans for if they meet tribes who haven't yet made Western contact. Dude.

Anyway, this is where I am. This is my country, I suppose. It's kinda cool. And the rum here is dirt cheap, as are the lemons and limes. So I think things are going alright so far.

*hugs* to all!