the oldest city in the Americas

Some of the ruins at Caral, a few hours north of Lima, date back to 3,000 BC, making this the second oldest civilisation in the world behind that of Mesopotamia.  Despite this, it is not one of the better-known sites of Peru.  Of course given its age it has suffered a lot of damage, but is still well worth a trip, with at least a dozen different pyramidal structures remaining as well as a couple of sunken circular structures rather like amphitheatres.  You are not allowed to clamber about on the ruins but just following the paths takes over an hour and there is the benefit of few other tourists.  It is also nice to get out of the cold and fog of Lima and into the sunshine...

I had nearly given up on a visit there, due to the price of the tours - the one offered by my hotel, for example, was US$350.  But at the last minute, searching again through the links thrown out by Google and the reports on Trip Advisor, I found a link to a Peruvian government website offering weekend one day tours for an all-in price (transport from and back to Lima, lunch, site entrance and guide) of S/100 - roughly US$30.  Yes it was a little more hassle than a regular tour as once I had filled in the forms I was told to go to a branch of the bank where the government has an account, pay the fee into the account, and then email the receipt number to the government rep.  But it worked, and the tour was excellent value.  For anyone reading this who wants to go, the website is http://www.zonacaral.gob.pe/viajes-educativos/

drinking frog juice

Many years ago I posted on my old blog louiseinsenegal about a visit to the Akodessewa fetish market in Lome.  Whilst gruesome, it was also quite fascinating to see all the animals and animal heads on display - mostly intended for medicinal use or as 'charms' to protect the purchaser or their property from some kind of evil.

So it was interesting last weekend to go somewhere fairly similar in a totally different part of the world - the witches' market in Lima, Peru.  Surprisingly few Peruvians even know it is there, but within the enormous Gamarra market is this section of stalls selling animals and animal heads, mostly intended for medicinal use or as 'charms' to protect the purchaser or their property from some kind of evil.  & there appears to be no link to the Afro-Peruvians, this is a market for the indigenous Peruvians.

Of course the particular animals on sale differ in some respects.  No cat or dog heads in the Lima market, and no dried chameleons.  Instead there are caiman and deer heads, and dried bloated toads.  But in the two I saw some related species - different kinds of monkey heads, and dried bats.  One big difference was the snakes.  In Togo, snakes are associated with some powerful voodoo spirits, so would never be deliberately killed, whilst the market in Lima was full of them: portions of snake skin; whole dried snakes; snake heads; and the soft, smooth bodies of freshly dead snakes.  This beautiful boa was in the process of being cut open with these scissors, so the the insides could be removed and discarded to enable the skin to be sold.

No-one seemed at all disturbed by my touching the bits of animals, or asking questions about their use, or even by my taking photos, even though it is illegal to sell, transport or profit from wildlife in Peru.  Indeed one man, who tried unsuccessfully to sell me a harpy eagle talon and a piece of snake skin, then gave me his business card, telling me he could ship such things to anywhere I wanted in the world, as he pays off a man working in the airport in Lima!


I had heard about the frog juice, or frog shakes, which are on sale here, as a traditional Andean cure for anaemia and respiratory diseases.  I soon spotted the fish tanks, cages and bowls with the frogs in - some of them apparently endangered Titicaca water frogs.  So I didn't want to buy a drink, to risk being responsible for the death of an endangered species.  But plenty of the locals were buying them.  I watched the vendor pick a frog out of the tank, whack its head against the counter-top to kill it, and in one rapid movement to skin it.  It then went into a pan of simmering liquid for a minute or two before being poured whole into the blender along with various powders and liquids, a spoonful of honey, and two small birds eggs - whole ones still in their shells.  The thick greenish-brown drink was then passed through a sieve before being served to customers.  As each customer got a whole jugful I got my chance to try it, offering a woman a very small sum of money for just one glassful of her purchase.  It tasted kind of earthy, but perfectly okay, and had no ill-effects on my digestive system.

Panama's second city

A parade was due to take place on Sunday in Colón, Panama's second city.  A parade to celebrate the African heritage of the people of that region.  I was interested in going but had no further details of the day.  I then made the mistake of asking a colleague.  Well, she is from Colón so I thought she might know.

She came back to me with a rough idea of the route and the information that it was to take place in the afternoon.  So, Colón being a very dangerous place, where one wouldn't want to hang around unnecessarily, I changed my plan of going there late morning and aimed to arrive in the early afternoon.  Second mistake - I asked at the information desk in the bus station how long it takes to get from Panama City to Colón.  An hour, she said.

I got a bus leaving Panama City at 12:50.  It arrived in Colón at 15:00 - not bad traffic, or anything, it just takes that long apparently.  Not that it mattered to be honest as I discovered that the parade was at lunchtime and had ended at 13:30.  Oh well.

I didn't really mind as I had long wanted to visit Colón.  When I first arrived here, the security rep at work told me it was a place I should never go because it is so dangerous - little did he know that this was like a red rag to a bull, and whilst I resisted the trip for three years, I always knew I'd find an excuse to go there one day.  So quickly forgetting about the parade, I wandered the streets of oh-so-dangerous Colón.  & I must say it was the most threatening-feeling place I have ever been.

Everything was dilapidated, broken down, dirty, and unkempt.  Apparently due to neglect, drug trafficking, and gangs - and the attitude of the people who live there, according to another colleague.  What really struck me was the appalling amount of rubbish around the place:

This was the inside of a church:

& this the view of one of many half-destroyed buildings:

I love places like this - they have so much atmosphere - and I was so glad I had finally got to see the place.  Although I must say I was very careful where and when I got my camera out.  Several times I saw a convoy of police driving around, some eight motorbikes, I think, each with two heavily armed officers on board.  They must have wondered what this middle-aged blonde woman, in an African outfit, was doing wandering around the streets!!  I didn't at any point feel any hostility from anyone there, but I wasn't going to hang around to talk to anyone either.

It means that within the space of just four days I saw what to me are the three different sides of Panama's human environment: the glass and steel skyscrapers of parts of the capital (where I live - and they're not as glamorous inside as they appear from the street); the traditional interior village where old traditions and introduced Catholicism mix; and the poverty and dirt of the neglected corner where the drugs slip through the country.  An interesting place, for sure!