South American adventure
We just got back from an incredible trip to Bolivia and Peru. Here are a few of our favorite shots.
CW from top left : 30-foot high cactii on Isla del pescado in the Salar de Uyuni (the world's largest salt flats, in southern Bolivia) ; baby llamas in San Pablo de Lipez ; bust from pre-Inca site Tiahuanaco near Lake Titicaca ; the administrative capital of La Paz, Bolivia (the highest capital city in the world at 4 000 m, with Mt Illimani in background at 6 440 meters ; F + I at Laguna Colorado near the Bolivia/Argentina/Chile border (it was winter there), Tunupa volcano in Lipez region (southern Bolivia) ; Iglesia de la Compania in Cuzco (literally the navel of the Inca civilization, then colonial Spanish captial, now tourist central) ; "The death road" (descent by bike from 4 700 m to 1 200 m on the "world's most dangerous road") ; Inca glory Macchu Picchu, discovered in 1911 by American archaeologist Hiram Bingham, over 4 centuries after Spanish annihilation of the the Inca empire.
I will be home in New Jersey for the last two weeks in August and be very happy to see any member of the Simpson family !! XXOO
CW from top left : 30-foot high cactii on Isla del pescado in the Salar de Uyuni (the world's largest salt flats, in southern Bolivia) ; baby llamas in San Pablo de Lipez ; bust from pre-Inca site Tiahuanaco near Lake Titicaca ; the administrative capital of La Paz, Bolivia (the highest capital city in the world at 4 000 m, with Mt Illimani in background at 6 440 meters ; F + I at Laguna Colorado near the Bolivia/Argentina/Chile border (it was winter there), Tunupa volcano in Lipez region (southern Bolivia) ; Iglesia de la Compania in Cuzco (literally the navel of the Inca civilization, then colonial Spanish captial, now tourist central) ; "The death road" (descent by bike from 4 700 m to 1 200 m on the "world's most dangerous road") ; Inca glory Macchu Picchu, discovered in 1911 by American archaeologist Hiram Bingham, over 4 centuries after Spanish annihilation of the the Inca empire.I will be home in New Jersey for the last two weeks in August and be very happy to see any member of the Simpson family !! XXOO
posted by Jake at 8/10/2007 04:43:00 AM
3 Comments:
Jake,
Beautiful photos. Sounds like a great trip. How did you do the photo montage? I think you're a little too harsh on the poor Spaniards. They were just trying to bring "civilization" and much-needed Christianity to the new world heathen. The annihilation of several indigenous empires was just, as we say today, collateral damage.
Good day Uncle Charlie, Any chance you'll be in Jersey during the coming weeks? As for the photos, I assembled them in photoshop and saved as a jpeg to reduce their size all at once. As for the Spaniards conquest in the name of Christianity, what struck me was how they promoted the convergence of the Native American god, Mother earth or "Pachamama" with Mary the mother of Jesus. To this day the Native American Catholics of Bolivia are committed to their traditional beliefs as well as to Catholic doctrine, despite the fact that this amalgam constitutes a transgression of the 1st commandment. The current president, Evo Morales, of Native American origin, proposes to remove Catholicism as the country's official language.
Jake,
Very interesting. A similar thing happened in Brazil where the church had moderate success converting the natives but never succeeded with the African slaves brought in by the Portuguese. The Africans overlaid their belief systems on Christian and native traditions, resulting in syncretized hybrids known as Macumba, Quimbanda, Cantomble, etc. While outwardly following the Catholic faith, they secretly practiced their African spiritualism. They hijacked the first commandment and made a joke of the second as well. Traditional Catholic saints are physically combined with African and native deities. I remember in our neighborhood Macumba “temple” the idols had saints' heads on the bodies of a mermaid and a jaguar. They practiced voodoo and all feared becoming the victim of spells.
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