Visiting the Sacred Valley and seeing the colors of Peru!

As I mentioned in the first Peru blog post, those images were just the tip of the iceberg, with the best coming in upcoming posts. After a full day in the city of Lima (at sea level), we flew to the city of Cusco, landing at the airport which sits at 11,000 foot altitude. We could feel the difference in altitude almost immediately when getting off the plane. But the first thing we did, was get on a bus and head down 4,000 feet to our hotel. This was our base for the next 3 nights, and gave us a chance to get acclimated to the height. This made a huge difference for the rest of the trip. Many people on the photo tour were worried about the altitude and even brought altitude sickness pills, but none of those were needed.

Upon arrival at the Sacred Valley, our first stop was a viewing spot looking over the fertile land. 

We then drove out to visit the circular terraces of Moray, which was created by the Incas around the year 1500. It is thought that the circular patterns were a way for the Incas to test farming in different soils and temperatures, as the temperatures vary from one level to another. 

We walked around the entire area and I used this as a photography lesson for those who wanted to try something different. We saw this snow capped mountain in the background, so I focused on the nearby cactus to show the difference in temperature and terrain from the Moray to the mountain tops of the Andes.  

This is a wide shot showing the circular patterns and the snow-covered mountain top in the distance.

Our next stop was a visit to an area where locals were making the famous Peruvian rugs and clothing out of the Alpaca wool. 

They showed us how they boil natural plants to dye the wool.

Those natural dyes provide amazing colors.

Once the yarn was dried, the local women would start the process of creating the rugs and clothing.  

This women was selling the end products. I really loved the colors of her outfit and the surrounding colors of the products, not to mention the light coming in behind me. This photo really shows off the colors of this country.

In the afternoon, we headed to an amazing restaurant for lunch. Not only was the food amazing, but this restaurant has a large herd of llamas on the premises and are even let inside certain areas.

We all had a blast photographing these animals against these amazing backdrops.

Another classic Peruvian photo!

After lunch we made our way to the Salt Mines of Maras. In this location, there are more than 4,500 salt wells in varying terraces, each owned by local families in the region. All the salt is taken from the wells to the top of the mountain by hand. You can see the one lady hauling a bag of salt from her well.

You can also see many bags of salt in this photo. ready to be carried up to the top. These salt mines have been in existence for more than 1,000 years! And yes, I purchased some of the unique salt from here and use it every morning in my eggs. 

Our last stop in the Sacred Valley was a home which has feeders and viewing areas for the local hummingbirds. 

As you know, I spend a lot of time down in Costa Rica and have photographed many hummingbirds...

...but I REALLY wanted a photo of the Sword-billed hummingbird with it's long bill. It is the only bird that has a beak longer than its body. It was late in the day and we only saw a couple, but I managed to get this shot at ISO 6400 (using the Canon R6 Mark II and RF 100-500mm lens). I hope to get better photos on the next photo tour in 2025. And I hope that you can join me down there! You can find all the new photo tour info here.

Next blog post - Machu Picchu!

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