Peru

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After landing at Cusco Peru’s two-mile high airport, we are greeted by colorfully-dressed Incas who hand us cups of hot tea. “¡Bienvenidos a Cusco!” A delightful welcome to the former center of the Incan Empire. but the tea also serves an important purpose—the prevention of altitude sickness.

In the Peruvian Andes, coca tea helps cope with the altitude.The tea we are offered at the airport, and again in our hotel lobby, is mate de coca—brewed from leaves of the coca plant. Coca is best known to North Americans as the source of the drug cocaine, which is actually a highly processed derivative of the coca leaf. Because of its association with the drug, coca is banned in the U.S.

In the Andes, where it is legal, coca is an age-old tonic and a remedy for many ailments. It enhances mood, without dependency or toxicity; is a natural energizer, similar to coffee; is rich in vitamins and minerals; relieves dizziness, headaches and stomach problems; and aids in weight loss and child-birth.

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Have a thirst for a real native experience? While traveling in Peru, stop at a house displaying a red flag on a long pole. There you can join the locals in a glass of chicha, an ancient Andean drink made from fermented corn.

California Native founder, Lee Klein, chugging chicha with villagers in a Peruvian chicheriaThe strange-tasting drink, yellowish in color with a bubbly froth, is served warm for just a few coins, and is quite strong. It is not usually found in restaurants (a similar drink, chicha morada, made from blue corn, is sweet and sold everywhere like a soft-drink), but is sold by individuals, usually in the lower socioeconomic bracket, who have passed down the traditional recipes since pre-Inca times.

Recently, in the mountaintop city of Cerro Baul in southern Peru, archeologists from the University of Chicago unearthed remains of an ancient brewery dating back to the Wari Empire (AD 600-1000). It is believed that the brewery was used to produce massive amounts of chicha, which was used both for ritual purposes and festivities.

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Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu, ‘Lost City’ of the Incas

Suddenly we found ourselves standing in front of the ruins of two of the finest and most interesting structures in ancient America. Made of beautiful white granite, the walls contained blocks of Cyclopean size, higher than a man. The sight left me spellbound.

When Hiram Bingham went looking for the legendary Inca city of Vilcabamba, the last refuge of the Inca kings, he did not suspect that his journey would lead him to discover the most spectacular archeological site in the Americas—Machu Picchu.

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California Native's Ellen Klein relaxes in a hammock at a jungle resort.Some say the it was the ancient Greeks, some argue that it was indigenous Americans like the Mayans of the Yucatan or the Urarina of the Peruvian Amazon, and while there is some debate over the origins of the hammock and which civilization can claim the rights of ownership, no one can deny the functionality of design. Some of the earliest hammocks developed have been found in the Bahamas. These were made from bark stripped off the hamack tree–the likely origin for the name. Over the years, the bark used in construction was replaced by sisal fibers and today hammocks can be crafted from many materials such as canvas or nylon.

Sisal fiber was instrumental in the fabrication of hammocks giving weavers in the Yucatan an important role. From the mid 19th century all the way to World War I, sisal fiber was considered the major cash crop for this area. In fact, the town of Sisal is located just 53 miles north of the Yucatan’s capital city of Mérida and still contains an abundance of the plants from which the fiber is produced.

The popularity of hammocks spread due to their function in the Royal Navy. Here, hammocks benefited sleeping sailors because they rocked in synchronicity with the pitch and roll of the ship. These sleeping arrangements were preferred because hammocks take up less room than traditional bunk beds and protected sailors from falling out while asleep on rough seas.

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The Summer/Fall 2009 edition of The California Native Newsletter is now in the mail. The newsletter, published by The California Native since 1984, has more than 10,000 readers (not counting those who download from the web). If you are not already a subscriber to this free newsletter you can signup now.

This issues feature stories include:

Lee Klein prepares to fly over the Nazca Lines on The California Native Peru ToursREVISITING PERU’S NAZCA LINES

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California Native founder, Lee Klein, overlooking the Urubamba Valley from the Inca Trail
The Inca Trail! Wow! I love to hike, but until this year my experience had been limited to one or two day hikes. Now, we were going to spend four days in the Andes of Peru hiking the trail to Machu Picchu. Most travelers choose to take the three-hour scenic train ride from Cuzco, but we decided to hike the route taken by the ancient Incas—a trail considered to be one of the most scenic in the world. All the literature said that any “reasonably fit” person could do this, but since they also mentioned passes with elevations of up to 14,000 feet, I was a bit apprehensive.

The popular trail now known as The Inca Trail was most likely the “royal” road between Cuzco and Machu Picchu, used mostly by royalty and pilgrims to the sacred city. The trail was a road of its time—built for men on foot, and lightly packed llamas. It is paved with interlocking stones and traverses the mountains and passes with thousands of steps.

The California Native provided us with porters—native farmers who carry all the gear and food—leaving us to carry only a daypack. For the two of us there were six porters, a guide and a cook.

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