Rotary “travels” to Peru!

The Rotary Club of Little Falls met for their regular Wednesday evening meeting on September 24 at the Elks Lodge on Ann Street. They were treated to a presentation by Allen and Geri Kazmerski who shared highlights of their recent trip to the South American country of Peru.

Their tour initially took them to the capital city of Lima perched on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. They toured the main grand plazas and cathedrals to include the historic Basilica and Convent of San Francisco which took over a hundred years to build.

The Convent of San Francisco

The Convent houses Peru’s great art treasures and the catacombs (underground cemeteries) estimated to have housed up to 25,000 bodies. Also in Lima was the Museo Larco, which housed several archaeological collections totaling over 45,000 pieces.

Some of the artifacts dating back 3,000 years.

The next leg of the tour took them to 2nd highest mountain range in the world, The Andes Mountains. They flew into the city of Punos high in the Andes Mts. at an altitude of 12,500 feet. They were there to see Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable river in the world, and the home to the Uros people, who lived on floating islands made of reeds as they have done for hundreds of years.

Lake Titicaca and the floating islands of the Uros people.

A Uros woman on a boat made of reeds.

They then boarded the Vistadome Train that took them to the beautiful Urabamba River Valley, also known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas where the great spiritual temples were built. They disembarked at the small village that lies at the foothills of Machu Picchu.

The Vistadome Train ready to take visitors to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu was the ancient Incan people’s village of stone buildings built in the mid 1500s. When the Spanish conquistadors invaded Peru to plunder their gold and silver they also slaughtered the Incan people and destroyed their villages. All but one. Built at an altitude of 7500 ft the village was overlooked, and after being abandoned, was hidden by jungle overgrowth for hundreds of years.

Hiram Bingham’s 1911 photo shows the village overgrown by the jungle.

American Explorer Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu in 1911. When the growth was removed it revealed a village nearly intact as it was 400 years ago.

The climb to the summit of Machu Picchu.

Their first view of Machu Picchu.

Geri and Allen Kazmerski pose at the top of Machu Picchu.

The Rotary Club of Little Falls hosts many interesting speakers, enjoys fellowship together, raises funds in the community and completes worthwhile projects in the community.