Peru, the Egypt of the Americas

Dear Family and Friends,

Today, I will explain some things to you about this part of Peru and why Chuck thought it was important for us to visit.

Have a seat boys and girls we are going to talk about things you never studied growing up in North America.  

The coast of Peru is very dry.  It does not rain except when an unusual event occurs in the weather cycle.  It can go decades without a single drop of rain.  Now what you may not know, I certainly didn't, is that this coastal region of Peru is the Egypt of South America.  

We all studied in geography how the Nile River flows through Egypt and forms a delta as it empties into the Mediterranean Sea.  Egypt is a sandy desert, receiving little to no rain, but the Nile River floods and makes the ground very fertile.  It is because of the Nile River that a great civilization emerged in this part of Egypt.

Below is a map showing the Nile river delta.

The coast of Peru, like Egypt is sandy desert.  Instead of having one mighty river form a delta at the coast, Peru has several rivers running from the Andes mountains to the Pacific Ocean.

In the map below you can see the deltas formed by rivers as a darker green.  It is in these areas that the earliest civilizations appeared.  They were located all along the northern Peruvian coast.

I have been doing research and now that I actually know the magnitude of this region, I have to share this with you.  I made light of the pyramids that were built out of adobe and are now eroding away.  Actually these people were far advanced and very similar to the Egyptians that we all learned about.  The cultures are very similar even though they were thousands of miles apart.

I have a couple of links to share.  One from the History Channel and another a paper written by the NIH National Library of Medicine.  

Is Peru the cradle of civilization in the Americas?

NIH compares early Egyptian and Peruvian cultures.

It seems that in Peru, the Incas are the most known culture.  Actually the Incas were the last culture before the Spanish arrived and conquered them.  They might be considered a modern culture compared to the cultures in the coastal Peru. They were a great culture no doubt, but they certainly were not ancient.  

As I have said before, this is a part of Peru very few North American tourists come to see.  North Americans come to Peru to see Machu Picchu, because they know of the Incan civilization. 

Even if North Americans wanted to come here to visit, they would find it difficult unless they spoke Spanish.  The accommodations are not up to North American standards. Chuck was able to find Wyndham properties for us to stay in.  

All the tours are done with a Spanish speaking guide in 12 passenger vans, usually full of people.  Unless your Spanish is top notch this would be very difficult to understand.  It is possible to hire a private car and guide who speaks (sort of) English.  This is what we did.

If you find this interesting, I highly encourage you to click on the two links above. They will open your eyes for sure.

At least now you have some cocktail party information to share that most folks do not know. 

Love,

Nancy