After visiting Belize and Guatemala last year to indulge in a bit of Mayan culture now it was the turn of the Incas with a couple of weeks in Peru. We experienced a variety of sites including the inevitable Machu Picchu, the fortified complex of Saksaywaman on the hilltop overlooking Cusco, the pre-Incan burial chullpas at Sillustani and the Uros Indians on the floating islands of Lake Titicaca.
Birding included a variety of Andean specialities including Andean Goose, Puna Teal, Andean Duck, White-tufted Grebe, Lake Titicaca Grebe, Chilean Flamingo, Puna Ibis, Andean Condor – in the gorgeous setting of Colca Canyon, Andean Flicker, Mountain Caracara, Aplomado Faclon, Andean Negrito etc…
Andean Condor
Mammals included Northern Viscacha Lagidium peruanum, Guinea Pig Cavia porcellus, Guanaco Lama guanicoe, Llama Lama glama, Vicuña Vicugna vicugna and Alpaca Vicugna pacos.
Unfortunately I had a bad bout of food poisoning – probably a dodgy trout – so there is not the usual diverse range of wildlife pics – still a few though 🙂
Bug adult
Bug nymph
Catula Crescent Dagon catula
Spiky Caterpillar
Corpse Of The Trip
Arctiid Moth Symphlebia fulminans
Treehopper a.k.a. Thorn Bug Alchisme sp.
At a local market in Arequipa there were a few seafood stalls.
Octopus
‘Punk’ Crab
Shellfish meat – possibly Chiton sp.
Local dish of Cuy – guinea pig
A wide photographic selection of birds, marine life, insects, mammals, orchids & wildflowers, fungi, tribal people, travel, ethnography, fossils, hominids, rocks & minerals etc. is available on my Alamy webpage