Peru 2001
Page Ten
| A large fishing industry surrounds the area of Paracas (B&W film -- nothing wrong with your monitor). | |
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The peninsula of Paracas, a wildlife sanctuary along the Peruvian coast. This area is particularly known for its bird and marine life. The birds nest on teh offshore islands in such numbers that their nitrogen-rich droppings (guano) collect in quantities large enough to be commercially exploited for fertilizer. This practice dates from at least Incan times. A number of indentured Chinese servants and slaves were brought here to mine guano for shipment to Europe and elsewhere. |
| Paracas. |  |
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Fishermen taking their catch to the local markets in Paracas, south of Lima. |
| In late July, the colorful
Fiestas Patrias explodes with wild dancing to seductive
Afro-Peruvian music at the penas in Chincha, in the
district of El Carmen. Chincha has a large black
population as a result of European slave traders well
over 400 years ago, and during this fiesta, many from
Chincha, the surrounding commumities, Lima, and beyond
come to dance all night to this music. A girl of about 20 from El Carmen asked if there were many black people in The United States, and was surprised to find out that they had been brought there for the same reasons as they had been! |
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| Peru 2001:
Page One
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