Alpaca, a natural product from the Andes

The culture in a country is more than the geography and the history; as we discussed in previous articles, food is also part of the culture; however, today I want to talk about the culture as the natural resources.

Some countries have unique natural resources that the communities employ to survive in their daily life. The "ALPACA", for instance, is a domestic animal that some of the Andean countries, such as Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile, employ to produce clothes. The Alpaca fiber is used for making men and women clothes exactly as other countries employ the cotton; however, the Alpaca fiber is still relatively unknown.

The alpaca fiber is stronger than the wool, however it is more lighter; and it is finner than the cashmere, and warmer than the sheep's wool. On the other hand, due to its characteristics (no prickly and no lanolin), Alpaca fiber is hypoallergenic.

Even more important, Alpaca is more environmentally friendly than traditional wools:

• Alpaca prefer to eat only plant leaves and not plant stems, therefore, the plants don't need composting that enrich pastures.
• Alpaca don't need to be laid down to reap their fiber, and its fiver grows every year, so it is a renewable resource.
• Alpaca fiber comes in 22 different natural color, so you don't need toxic dyes for processing the fiber and add colors.
• As Alpaca fiber does not contain lanolin, Alpaca fiber clothes don't require toxic chemicals to process the alpaca fiber and cleaning the clothes.

To find more information about alpacas, click here: http://www.alpacainfo.com/about/index.asp

Carla

The food, the culture

A great way to understand people through their culture is the food. The Peruvian cuisine is among the best cuisines in the world; according to The Economist "Peru can lay claim to one of the world's dozen or so great cuisines" (Jannuary 2004).

The incomparable "ceviche" makes people who taste for the first time in their life the Peruvian food, fall in love of this country. No matter where are you, you will find wonderful dishes made of unique and authentic Peruvian food, such as the Golden potato, the "quinoa", or the "lucuma". You can enjoy delicious fish based dishes in the coast, potatoes based dishes in the mountain, or vegetable and fruits based dishes in the rainforest.

If you haven't taste it, this is time for you to do it!. Find more about this unique food in the following link:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1924061,00.html

Carla

Mochica culture

The Mochica culture or the Moche civilization was located in the north of Peru, from 100AD to 800 AD approximately. This culture is especially important due to its majestic ceramics, irrigation system, its historic buildings, and other others.

The most important archeological discovery has been "El Señor de Sipan" (The lord of Sipan), which is a mummy found in Huaca Rajada with all the ornaments and vestments of the Moche Culture. However, there are other important archeological centers found from the Moche culture, such as "Huaca del Sol" and "Huaca de la luna".

In the walls of "Huaca de la luna" you can see a sequence of ritual events that were painted by the Andeans to manifest the combats and sacrifice ceremonies of the culture.

To find out more information about this amazing culture, click on the next link:

http://archaeology.about.com/od/mocheculture/qt/warrior_narrati.htm

Carla

Are you interested on living the andean culture?

Peru is one of the most amazing countries in the wold to feel the Andean passion. Whoever visits the "Comunidad Infierno" in Madre de Dios, "Comunidad Uros" in Puno, or "Comunidad Maras" in Cusco will feel the essence of the Andes through autoctoned activities reflected in the crafts, textil and fabrics of the communities.

In this blog you will be able to follow me through different Andean communities to feel their passion.

Thank you for following me!
Carla