Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [114]
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MEJÍA & RÍO TAMBO VALLEY
A short detour south of Mollendo, the beach resort of Mejía is also a summer beach hangout for arequipeños, but it’s usually deserted from late April to December. Colectivos frequently shuttle between Mejía and Mollendo (S2, 15 minutes).
About 6km southeast of Mejía along an unbroken line of beaches is the Santuario Nacional Lagunas de Mejía (054-83-5001; Carretera Mollendo, Km 32; admission S5; dawn-dusk), a 690-hectare sanctuary protecting coastal lagoons that are the largest permanent lakes in 1500km of desert coastline. They attract more than 200 species of coastal and migratory birds, best seen in the very early morning. The visitor center has maps of hiking trails leading through the dunes to miradors. From Mollendo, colectivos pass by the visitor center (S3, 30 minutes) frequently during the daytime. Ask the staff to help you flag down onward transportation, which peters out by the late afternoon.
The road continues along the Río Tambo Valley, which has been transformed by an important irrigation project into fertile rice paddies, sugarcane plantations and fields of potatoes and corn: a striking juxtaposition with the dusty backdrop of sand dunes and desert. The road rejoins the Carr Panamericana Sur at El Fiscal, the only stop in more than 100km of desert road. You can wait here for buses southbound to Moquegua and Tacna or northbound to Arequipa and Lima, but expect them to be standing-room only. Long-distance services to Lima may be completely full.
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MOQUEGUA
053 / pop 56,600 / elev 1420m
This parched, dusty inland town survives in the driest part of the Peruvian coastal desert, which merges into northern Chile’s Atacama Desert – the driest in the world. The Río Moquegua delivers enough moisture to the surrounding rural areas to grow avocados and grapes (the latter often used to make Pisco Biondi, one of the nation’s better brands), but as you walk away from the river it becomes hard to believe that any agriculture is possible here.
Moquegua means ‘quiet place’ in Quechua, and the region has long been culturally linked with the Andes. It has peaceful cobblestone streets, a shady central plaza with flower gardens, and some unusual buildings that are roofed with a type of wattle-and-daub mixture mixed from sugarcane thatch and clay, though few are left intact after recent earthquakes.
Orientation & Information
The main plaza is a long walk uphill from where the buses stop. After dark, don’t risk being in the dangerous market area; take taxis instead (S3). Cheap but slow internet cafes are near the Plaza de Armas.
BCP (Moquegua 861) Has a 24-hour Visa/MasterCard ATM.
Municipal tourist office (Casa de la Cultura, Calle Moquegua; 7am-4pm) Local government-run tourist office located next to BCP.
Serpost (Ayacucho 560; 8am-noon & 3-6:30pm Mon-Sat) On the Plaza de Armas.
Sights & Activities
PLAZA DE ARMAS & AROUND
The town’s small and shady plaza boasts a 19th-century wrought-iron fountain, thought by some to have been designed in a workshop run by Gustave Eiffel (of eponymous tower fame), and flower gardens that make it a welcome oasis away from the encroaching desert.
The foreign-funded Museo Contisuyo (46-1844; http://bruceowen.com/contisuyo/MuseoE.html; Tacna 294; adult/child S1.50/0.50; 8:30am-1pm & 2:30-5:30pm) is an excellent little repository of local archaeological artifacts,