Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [49]
* * *
Erosion has also led to decreased water quality, particularly in the Amazon basin, where silt-laden water is unable to support microorganisms at the base of the food chain. Other water-related problems include pollution from mining in the highlands and from industrial waste. Sewage contamination along the coast has led to many beaches around Lima and other coastal cities being declared unfit for swimming. Pollution and overfishing have led to the continued decline of the Humboldt penguin (its numbers have declined by more than a third since the 1980s). As well, the unpredictable climate condition of El Niño (see boxed text, Click here), which can wreak havoc on fragile ecosystems.
Continuing controversy surrounds the issue of coca cultivation, with efforts by the US Drug Enforcement Agency to eradicate this thousands-year-old crop, which is used to produce cocaine (see boxed text, Click here). Cocaleros (coca growers’ associations), such as the one led by indigenous activist and congressional representative Nancy Obregón, oppose the eradication of coca, not all of which ends up as cocaine. Some critics of the US-sponsored programs, such as President Evo Morales of Bolivia, have called for regulation of eradication. The problem remains far from resolved; according to one recent UN report, coca production in Peru grew by almost 5% in 2008. For more on coca and drug trafficking in Peru, see boxed text, Click here.
Some positive measures are being taken to help protect the country’s environment. For example, the Peruvian government and private interests within the tourism industry have come together to develop sustainable travel projects in the Amazon. In September, 2005, Peru became one of 17 Latin American countries, along with Spain, to sign the Amazon River Declaration, which calls for environmental safeguards to ensure biodiversity and for the development of tourism strategies that will fight rural poverty and spur regional development in sustainable ways.
* * *
A Neotropical Companion, by John Kricher, provides an introduction to the wildlife and ecosystems of the New World tropics, including coastal and highland regions.
* * *
In the southern Andes, Peru has started to act on a US$130 million master plan submitted to Unesco to preserve Machu Picchu, which has become a victim of its own success. It was declared one of the planet’s top 100 most endangered sites by the World Monuments Fund in 2009. There are limits on how many people may visit the site in one day (2500 maximum), but issues related to governance, deforestation and illegal access remain, with Unesco’s World Heritage Committee also evaluating the site annually to determine whether it has once again become endangered. In the meantime, the government is attempting to steer visitors away from the country’s well-trammeled Gringo Trail to its equally Edenic destinations in the north.
Return to beginning of chapter
Lima
* * *
HISTORY
ORIENTATION
INFORMATION
DANGERS & ANNOYANCES
SIGHTS
ACTIVITIES
COURSES
TOURS & GUIDES
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
SLEEPING
EATING
DRINKING
ENTERTAINMENT
SHOPPING
GETTING THERE & AWAY
GETTING AROUND
AROUND LIMA
PACHACAMAC
LURÍN
SOUTHERN BEACHES
CARRETERA CENTRAL
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
On its surface, Lima is no thing of beauty. A sprawling desert city clinging precariously to dusty cliffs, it spends much of the year marinated in a perpetual fog that turns the sky the color of Styrofoam. It is loud, chaotic, and gritty; much of its architecture is bulky and gray. Foreign travelers tend to scuttle through on their way to more pastoral destinations in the Andes.
This is unfortunate. Lima may not wear its treasures on its sleeve, but peel back the foggy layers and you’ll find pre-Columbian temples sitting silently amid condominium high-rises. Vestiges of colonial mansions