Geographically Peru is traditionally divided into three areas: coastal desert, which is where the majority of the larger cities including Chiclayo are located, highlands including the Andes Mountains, and jungle. Chiclayo is approximately 500 miles north of Lima and marks the southern boundary of the Sechura Dessert – one of the driest in the world.
Politically Peru is divided into regions, also referred to as departments, with Chiclayo being the capital of the Lambayeque region. There are two more levels of sub-division but we don’t need to get into that now. Culturally in my opinion there are really only two groups – Lima and the rest of Peru. Lima is a city the size of Chicago and to a large degree has been westernized. Limeños may disagree with this analysis but that’s only because they have not lived in a rural area where crowing chickens and braying burros announce the new day (I am being serenaded by a number of roosters as I type this).
My postings will normally be of the non-Lima culture and coastal desert area, though I have occasionally strayed into the highlands and visited Lima on several occasions. As of this writing I have not yet visited the jungle. Okay, enough background for now. The next posts will focus on life in my slice of Peru.
Tom
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Tom: Chiclayo is not far from the jungle. There are places with ruins like Kuelaps fortress. There are places with more nature things like Cascades, rivers, laKes, and caves. You can get good advice or buying a cheap guide like Lonely Planet or APA. I want to think you live in the city but your neighbor is growing a rooster. It can be a fighting one. Have you visited Saña?
ReplyDeleteMario