Capture | Peru
All Articles

Capture | Peru

Through our Capture series, we have seen some incredible images from Tanzania and Costa Rica. Now we go to Peru with Brooke Warren, one of our photographer guides who worked in Peru last summer. While Machu Picchu tends to steal the show, there is much more to this incredibly diverse and beautiful country, and Brooke’s photographs are solid evidence of that claim. Brooke spent most of her time in the Sacred Valley and Lake Titicaca regions of Peru, and shared some of her images with us below.

 


 

 

“Atop a mountain 13,000 feet above sea level near Maracuay, Peru, Victor Ayma Qoyso, 71, gently strums his harp and sings a high pitched melody in Quechua that extends across the hills. He closes his eyes, remembering each string’s note. The harp came to the Andes of Peru during the Spanish colonization and has become part of the sound of the Andes.”

 

“Two girls from Perka dance in traditional garb. Women traditionally wear layers of wool skirts called polleras. Each village or region different style clothing, which is influenced by indigenous and Spanish colonial clothing.”

 

“Rosalio watches his old thatch roof burn in Maracuay, Peru. He was replacing the traditional thatch roof with a new plastic roof. Since there is no trash disposal service at the village, incineration is a common way to dispose of organic waste.”

 

“Rustic students and children from Maracuay bring chairs to the community soccer field for a field day. Children walk up to three miles to get the school.”

 

“A woman sifts quinoa grain in Perka on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Quinoa is a staple food in Peru, along with potatoes and corn.”

 

“Workers renovate a wall beneath the peak of Huayna Picchu or “young mountain.” One of the most fascinating parts of visiting the sacred city of Machu Picchu was seeing the constant upkeep of the historic site while a constant stream of visitors traipsed through.”

 

“ Rustic students give a “paddle five” after running a rapid on the Urubamba River. While we spent a lot of time improving the rural communities that we visit with service projects, we also explored Peru by mountain bike, foot, and raft.”

 

“An Andean condor flies over some perched friends in Colca Canyon. They are the largest flying birds in the world, with wingspans that can reach 10 feet.”


 

Brooke grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where she nourished her love for outdoor adventure while getting a degree in Visual Journalism from Western Washington University. She now works as a designer and photographer for High Country News, a magazine focusing on the American West. She spent last summer with Rustic in Peru exploring the Sacred Valley and the Lake Titicaca region and leading programs for our students.

 

About the Author

Scott Ingram

Scott is the Director of Admissions at Rustic Pathways. He has spent the last 15 years in the student travel and experiential education world. Before helping families find the perfect Rustic Pathways program, he led gap year programs that took students around the world and spent three years teaching English in Japan.