South American Sampler - arctangent's Photos

While I work away on finishing editing my photos from a trip to South America this past May, I want to share a few representative images from each of the places we visited. (In Peru, Lima, the Sacred Valley including Ollantaytambo and Pisac, Machu Picchu, and Cusco. In Ecuador, Quito and the Galapagos Islands.)

Unlike most of my "new" galleries, this one will have the pictures in chronological order, the order in which I took them, rather than keeping the newest uploads at the top of the list. It will take a few days for me to complete this sampler. I hope you enjoy it.

Gallery pages: 1 2 3 4 >

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arctangent > Lima, Peru

The Miraflores district of Lima is full of verdant parks and churches, many in the colonial style of architecture even if they were built later. This picture illustrates both of these features.

arctangent > Miraflores District, Lima, Peru.

In all the areas of the district that we saw, USA franchise fast food joints abounded, as witnessed here at a street in the vicinity of Parque Kennedy and Parque Central. On the opposite side of the two Parques (conjoined) was a humongous McDonald's. Ugh!

arctangent > Modern high rise buildings are mixed in with the pre-20th century buildings throughout the business districts of Lima. This is a Marriott Hotel near the coast.

Miraflores, Lima, Peru

arctangent > An area of artisan markets is within easy walking distance of the Parques Kennedy and Central in Miraflores. Here is the entrance to one of the larger ones.

Crossing major thoroughfares in Lima can be an adventure. There are precious few traffic lights, stop signs, or pedestrian crosswalks! But drivers were pretty polite and accommodating, perhaps because we were so obviously touristas!

Miraflores, Lima, Peru.

arctangent > Peruvian Andes, between Cusco and Urubamba.

At an overlook where our van stopped to give us a photo opportunity. I believe the river is the Urubamba. Terraces covered the hillsides, and many of them still looked to be in use, even though they almost certainly dated to the time of the Incas or earlier. I'm afraid I don't know the name of the town.

arctangent > Peruvian Andes, somewhere east of Cusco.

This is a wider view of the same valley at the overlook on our way to the town of Urubamba (Yucay, really). It shows some of the snow capped high peaks that surround the valley of the Urubamba River.

arctangent > Peruvian Andes, between Cusco and Urubamba.

Flying over the Andes from Lima to Cusco earlier on this day, I could see numerous large lakes high up in the mountains. This one is somewhere between Cusco and Urubamba.

The foreground shows a typical small town along the highway, with adobe construction and tile roofs. Most of the trees you see are eucalyptus. They have pretty much displaced the native trees in this part of Peru. They were originally imported as fast growers to replace the native trees that had been cut down for firewood, construction, etc.

arctangent > Church at Sonesta Posada del Inca, Yucay, Peru.

This small church, or chapel, seemed to be a functioning church. I'm guessing that it dates to the time when this collection of buildings that now make up the hotel were used by a wealthy family or by an order of Catholic nuns. It faces west, and is seen here in the
light of mid-afternoon.

arctangent > At Sonesta Posada del Incas, Sacred Valley, Peru.

In the late afternoon, a dramatic display of cloud formation over the surrounding mountains added interest to the intrinsically beautiful views.

Lima, Peru

The Miraflores district of Lima is full of verdant parks and churches, many in the colonial style of architecture even if they were built later. This picture illustrates both of these features.