“The old orchid hunter lay back on his pillow, his body limp with the effort of talking so long. He coughed and a ripple of pain ran through the wasted length of him beneath the covers. Still his eyes burned unwaveringly bright with the memory of the places he had seen and the things he had done, bright with the unquenchable passion for the life he would never suffer or enjoy again.
An agreement signed Friday between Yale University and Peru’s National University of San Antonio Abad in Cusco will usher the return of thousands of artifacts to Cusco a century after Hiram Bingham removed them from Machu Picchu, the celebrated “lost city” of the Inca.
Starting in early 2011, Yale University will begin to return all 46,632 fragments and artifacts taken from Machu Picchu nearly a century ago by American explorer Hiram Bingham, President Alan García announced late Friday.
The pace is less frenetic and much less touristy than Cusco. You can pick and choose any number of destinations, from amazingly beautiful nature reserves to the most active — and arguably the most significant — treasure trove of active archaeological discovery occurring right now in Peru.
There's Tumbes National Mangrove Sanctuary, the Cerros de Amotape National Park and the Tumbes Reserved Zone, with protected wildlife; to quote our friends at PromPeru, near Piura are the Colan beach resort, the town of Catacaos known for its arts and crafts and gold and silver jewelry, and the town of Chulucanas, famous for its pottery.
