The legend of the Humming Bird (Peruvian tale) - 01 It is said that many years ago, a terrible drought extended by the lands of Quechuas. The lichens and the moss reduced to dust, and early the bigger plants began to suffer by water shortage. The sky was completely clean, there wasn't either a little cloud, so the earth receives the sunshine without the comfort of a shadow patch. The rocks began to crack and the hot air push up the dust swirls here and there. If don't rains soon, all the plants and animals will die. In that starvation, only resisted tenaciously the qantu, a plant who needs a few of water to grow and bloom in the desert. But even she began to dry up. And it said that this plant, to feel that her life evaporated drop by drop,put all her energy in the last sapling who remains her.

Titicaca Lake and Puno - Peru (3) How about a view of Lake Titicaca ... sailing in the waters near the island Taquile? Here is a sample.

Titicaca Lake and Puno - Peru (2) The landscape of Altiplano at Puno and Titicaca Lake (the highest navigable lake of the world) is gorgeous. I want share this picture with you. Is a view of Esteves Island, from Puno City. Enjoy it.

Titicaca Lake and Puno - Peru The City of San Carlos de Puno, best known as Puno, is a peruvian city in the southwest. It's the urban center more important in the southern Andean region, it embraces the Esteves Island at northeast, Alto Puno Town at north and it extends to Jallihuaya Town, at south. Puno is a harbor located at west of Titicaca Lake, in the Bay of Puno (the old Paucarcolla Bay), on a relief lightly waved, closed by mountains. It is one of the highest Peruvian cities. There live 120 229 inhabitants. Its wether is dry, cold, and temperated due to the proximity with the lake. There rains between December and April, which give origin to the floods, with a temperature in a range of 1º C at 22º C. The Puneans are farmers, ranchers, fishers and artesans. Puno City and its neighborhoods are touristic attractions for the foreigners. It's known like the Peruvian Capital of the Folklore. Its traditional party more famous is the Candelaria, made for the Virgin of Candelaria, who is the espiritual Mother of many families in this place. The Candelaria Party is colourful, the guys dances honouring Saint Mary with a lot of enthusiasm. Their best known folk dances are the diablada, the saya, the caporales, the morenada and the sikuris.

Huacachina Lagoon Huacachina Lagoon is located 5 Km Ica city southwest (7 min if you go in a car). It's a gorgeous place. The frame which offer the dunes and the lagoon is very beautiful. It has a greeny water mirror. Huacachina is a name formed by "huacca" (Quechua word that means "cry") and "china" (Quechua word that means "woman"), then the whole name means "woman crying". The legend of this place tells about a woman who cried a lot for her love, and for that she became a mermaid, who in the full moon nights, sings a love song. Vegetation is composed by toñuz, bougainvillea, palm trees, eucalyptus and thorn trees. Really it's an oasis closed by palm trees and great dunes. At them we may practice sandboard as driving boogie cars or tubulars.

Classics music from Peru The academic music had had an important development in Peru, since Viceroyalty (Renascence, Baroque) with definite Spanish and Italian influences. After of Chilean - Peruvian War and also at the beginnings of XXth century, it becomes the Nationalism stream —called Indigenism— encouraged by the richness of melodic motives of Coastal and Andean music (whose pentaphonic system has contributed to many compositions), and which had been omnipresent in diverse works of many composers, them to once they have adapted to musical vanguard streams and the dodecaphonism from abroad. In the early 2000s, the composition's students from National Conservatory of Music from Peru, founded a group called "Peruvian Composition Circle" (in Spanish, Circomper). Nowadays this group meets the vast majority of young composers.

About Peruvian music (2) Towards the north we have the northern creole music. From La Libertad and Lambayeque regions comes the famous Northern Marinera; whom is played in bands, with drums and trumpets. This version, unlike the previous, is not for ballrooms, it is very colorful and happy, it origins festivals which are very attractive, that's when appears the Peruvian Paso horses Championship (you can see the picture of the first part of this note, already given). Further than the south of Piura, Lambayeque and Tumbes we find the cumanana (with Afroperuvian and Mulattan influences), the gypsy and emotional Piuran tondero and the triste which many times is mixed forming the "triste with tondero's fugue", a classical and proper expresion of the northerners. The regions of the South Andes like Huancavelica, Ayacucho, Apurimac, Cuzco and Puno are characterized by the huayno (so also in the North zone from Bolivian altiplano). From the Cuzco region comes the muliza and the Condor Pasa; from Arequipa comes the Arequipean yaravi, within which the best known are "Melgar" and "La Partida". The Central Andes regions like Pasco, Ancash and Junin are highlighted by its joyful huaylas. The tipics versions of this genre are "Pio Pio" and "Macho Huaylas". Within the Andean traditionalists parties, the best known is the Inti Raymi celebrated in Sacsayhuaman, outside Cuzco city, whom remembers ceremonies and rituals originated in the Inca Empire age, honoring Inti (Inca's God, which was the Sun). The Inti Raymi party is developed at June 24th each year.

About peruvian music (1) The peruvian music is a result of fusion through many centuries. There are many types of peruvian music: andean, creole and amazonic. They could classed in dances and music from peruvian coast, peruvian mountains and peruvian Amazonia. The traditional creole music from the coast is diverse because this region is where there was much mixing until today, known as creole music within which we find afroperuvian dances. From central coast, precisely Lima; we have music from alleys of ancient Lima, like the world famous peruvian waltz or vals criollo (found in other countries as Argentina, within tango fans). Also, Lima offers the zamacueca or Lima's marinera (mother of cueca and zamba); within which there are variants and extensions like the Jarana song and the resbalosa (so like their fugue). The south central coast (Cañete, Chincha, Ica y Nazca) offers the afroperuvian music cult. Their highlighted genres are the festejo and landó. Also there are the toro mata and panalivio.

Peru - The Name It is well known that, at least since 1523, ten years before Spanish conquest, the name Peru already was setted, as evidenced by documents concerning taxes payments by the gold obtained in the journey of Pascual de Andagoya: "who was to province of Peru, and Juan García de Montenegro, who was like seer (...) some gold which we said had obtained in this trip from Perú". Before set up the definitive form of the name, it had variants as Viru, Beru or Piru, such like we may find in many documents of that time. In that zone nowadays spoken tongues originated in Chocó. It is widely accepted that Andagoya never reached historical Peru region as stated above, but at most at colombian Chocó coast, no more at south of San Juan river. About this "Perú" already had news the spaniard captain Gaspar de Morales previously: "in the eastern of Gulf of San Miguel lives an indian chief named Biru, who had a lot of richness in gold and pearls". It's doubtful that Morales might have reached the lands of this "cacique". The Lord Biru had few caciques under his hand, whom Andagoya conquered and whose governor get friendship finally, taking news about existence of opulent kingdom far south. Since this time all lands no discovered, which were very far from Gulf of San Miguel was called Biru or Peru. Finally, when Pizarro embarked towards the south for the conquest of an unknown amerindian kingdom, the Inca Empire, already had named Peru. Thus, a small lordship from colombian jungle ended up giving name for one to the biggest dreams of richness for the Spanish Empire.