Carral

5/28/16

Today marks the end of our second week in Lima. Our activity today was to go to Carral the second oldest civilization in the world (and first in the Americas). Getting there was no easy task as it was a four hour drive North of Lima, which we started at 6am. One of the things I like most about Peru is the ever changing climate. It's fun to see where one will end up next whether that be in a desert, valley, port, jungle, or mountains. It seems that each place seamlessly changes into the next and the whole country has adapted to live in each type. We arrived at Carral in a parking lot about a kilometer away. We walked across a dried river bed and up onto a plateau where the collection of the old temples had been built. It was interesting how all of the location of the civilizations we have seen so far are built so high and with a view of the surrounding valley. This wasn't for nothing we were told by our guide, instead the placement was specially because high was more secure. It was also apparent that this was true because we were told other cultures chose to build their cities near the same location likely due to the strategical advantage and the proximity to water. The pyramids themselves were huge. They were very tall considering the time and the very wide. Even though some of it had been reconstructed, it was amazing how much was still in tact to the point where you could see the general format of the pyramids, and an amphitheater.