Huanchaco and Notes

Took a bus from Huaraz to Huanchaco on the Northern coast, just outside of Trujillo. Went with the Movil bus company, which differed from Cruz Del Sul in a number of ways. No meal, no drink, no movie, a single floor instead of a double decker, and according to many I spoke with more prone to robbery. Another notable difference in this ride was the snoring man directly across the aisle from me, who sounded as if he were gargling snot the entire night. Huanchaco is a strip of residences, restaurants, tiendas and surf shops stretched between the slender beach and a wall of eroding shale. Having decided to send a package of unnecessary clothes home, I spent the first few hours of the day on an exploration of my own assumptions. Walked to the post office with a plastic bag full of clothes expecting to buy a box there and send them off. The tiny office, a four by seven slit in an alley with an ethnic Chinese woman cheerfully talking in a constant flow to her customers, did not sell boxes. I was told to buy some at the Mercado so I strolled around searching for it, eventually asking a friendly man who called himself ‘Wayne.’ He and his Rotweiler accompanied me to the fruit and vegetable market, where I acquired a box from a dark skinned woman with worn hands for .50 soles. Wayne then offered to give me tape, paper, and pen to package and address the box, which I gladly accepted. He invited me to his restaurant, La Mococho, where we talked as I prepared the box. It turned out he was a marine biologist awaiting the opening of a study center in Huanchaco in January. The restaurant-as-pastime was never explained, though I assumed he was well off. He told me of his fiance in Florida, a consultant, administrative assistant for immigration, and teacher of math and science. When I told him I was also a teacher last year and explained my plans for the jungle he became enthused. We parted with him wishing me luck and I thanking him for the help he had given.
Back at the post office with the package ready, the Chinese woman informed me that I would now need a copy of my passport, which was then taped to the box. Finally, as the price was shown to be around 40 dollars, I decided to keep the things in my backpack after all. It was, however, a great opportunity to learn.
Walking down the beach with my unnecessary box, I watched classes of children kicking a soccer ball on the beach. Women with small carts selling the usual wares were stationed at regular intervals along the sidewalk. Near the hostel I found a place named Otra Casa, a restaurant/book exchange that served filafel and a daily vegan dish, as well as tasty burritos and offered networking services throughout Peru. It had been founded by a Dutch couple in 1997, and seemed like a center for travelers in Huanchaco. I ordered a burrito with beans, cucumber, tsatsiki, fried egg, and tomato, and sat down with a book called “Chachapoyas: The Lost Kingdom.” While flipping through the pages and becoming enamored with this little known civilization of the Northern Peruvian cloud forest, I began to realize how important it was for me to note the future sources I will need to conclude this adventure of mine. Over the next hours I noted the following things for future investigation:
Two beautiful types of Orchid, the Maxillaria and Epidenndrum
The lost chronicle of Blas Valera
Four intrepid explorers: Adolf Bandelier
Ernst Middendorf
Charles Wiener
Antonio Raimondi
Five Chroniclers:
Garcilaso de la Vega
Pedro de Cieza de Leon
Antonio de la Calancha
Felipe Waman Poma de Ayala
Cristobal de Albornoz
I also learned that Chachapoyans were organized into family groups, (Quechhua = Ayllus), which shared land and regarded origin places (Pacariscas) as the sacred abodes of their ancestors. These were lakes, rivers, mountains, caves, rocks, trees.
The chroniclers had all noted the white skin and beauty of the women of the Chachapoya.
The meaning of Chachapoya is unclear. Garcilaso said it meant ‘Place of strong men.’ Others argue that it is derived from the name of a local ethnic group, the Chachas, and the Quechua word Puyu, cloud. Still others claim it is a combination of two Quechua words, Sacha, tree, and Puyu, cloud, translating into cloud forest.
Wakas were objects or places revered by certain Ayllus, worshipped as ancestor god homes. The Inca used to steal Wakas from conquered tribes and hold them as revered hostages in Cusco, thereby gaining spirritual power over the peoples they assimilated into their empire.
Chachapoyan shamans transformed themselves into felines, as the Chavin of the Cordillera Blanca did.
The Chachapoya desiccated animals and then used them as carrying cases, attached to a stick and with a bone pin through the mouth.
Another point of interest unrelated to the Chachapoya: The organization known as Fairmail, which sells postcards made up of images captured by Peruvian teenager photographers. www.fairmail.info