10 Things You Didn't Know About Peru

(credit: istockphoto)

Sure, you know its capital is Lima and the ancient Inca temples were made of gold, but there is much more to know about Peru than simple geographic facts and ancient legends. Peru is a land of many mysteries and hidden truths. Here are a few you may not have known.

(credit: istockphoto)

1. Pink Dolphins Are Real
   You thought it was only a pipe dream, but your first grader was telling you the truth. Once thought to be the stuff of legends, pink dolphins do exist, and can be found happily cavorting in the Amazon. Also known as the Amazon River Dolphin, these friendly, rosy-hued mammals are a fresh water variety which has recently been declassified as a vulnerable species, due not to an increase in population but rather, a lack of data about ecological threats and pollution.
2. Your Favorite Necklace May Have Started Its Life Here
   The Inca's mass cache of gold and its lure to their Spanish conquerors is well documented. Today's Peru still ranks among the world's top producers of silver, copper, lead and zinc. Nothing can compare to gold's shiny lure, but the government has cracked down on illegal gold mining significantly in an effort to protect the rainforest and other fragile geographic areas.
3. A Spud Is Not Just a Spud
   Peru and Chile have both long claimed to be the birthplace of the potato, but ask any Peruvian and they will tell you that Peruvian Incas were first to cultivate this humble tuber, around 10,000 years ago. Today, a trip to any market in Peru will uncover hundreds of varieties of this delicious staple, and local farmers produce 3,800 distinctly different types of the not-so-humble spud.
4. The Rainforest May Someday Cure the World
   Protecting the Peruvian rainforest does more than sustain this biologically diverse region's threatened species, it also supports the scientific discovery of cures for disease. Medicinals found in the rainforest are currently used to combat addiction, treat infection and reduce inflammation as well as cure other maladies. Along with the vast number of medications already in use, an astonishing abundance of potential pharmaceuticals and food pharmacy supplements are still waiting to be discovered here.
5. The Lost Tribes Still Exist
   You may be worried about cell service disruption while you're in the Andes, but isolated or uncontacted Indian tribes who have never seen a smartphone still exist by choice in remote and isolated areas of the Amazon. At least 15 distinct tribes, including the Nanti and Yora, have made the rainforest their home for uncounted generations. They are extremely vulnerable to loss of land by poachers, oil exploration, logging and Western disease. It is hard to predict how long their way of life will continue to grace this part of the planet.
6. The Incas Weren't Here First
   The Incan footprint can be seen all over Peru, but the Children of the Sun were not the first advanced civilization to live here. The Norte Chico, a pre-ceramic culture of the Pre-Columbian, Late Archaic Period, thrived in the area now known as Peru between the 30^th and 18^th Centuries BC. The Norte Chico's archeological legacy points to grand-scale architectural structures and a sophisticated use of textile technology. Unlike the agricultural Incas, the Norte Chico survived primarily on seafood and other maritime products.
7. E.T. Didn't Draw the Nazca Lines
   When Peru's Nazca Lines were first discovered in 1927, speculation abounded that extraterrestrials had constructed the fascinating, 37-mile-long configuration of perfectly straight lines and astonishingly large biomorphs and geoglyphs, as a type of landing pad for space ships. Science has largely disputed this claim, but a definitive explanation for the Nazca Lines origin and their use still remains elusive.
8. Machu Picchu is Earthquake Proof
   In a country as seismically unstable as Peru, Machu Picchu would have been destroyed long ago if it were not for the advanced building techniques used by the Incas. Despite being built directly on top of two fault lines, Machu Picchu has withstood the rigors of earthquakes and aftershocks because its stone buildings were constructed tightly with no mortar. The stones, cut with precision and wedged together in exquisitely tight fashion, are said to do a dance during earthquakes. They jiggle and bounce, but gracefully slip back into their exact, original position when the tremors end.
9. Lima's Churches Have An Enemy
   Peru's population is largely Roman Catholic and Lima, known as the City of Churches, boasts a house of worship on almost every corner in the center of the city. Many of these were built by early Catholic congregations in honor of patron saints and range from humble to grand, dating back as far as the 16^th Century Colonial period. In recent years, many of the churches have found themselves under attack by the double enemies of pollution and eroding weather conditions. One of Lima's most popular tourist attractions, the Baroque-style Church of San Francisco, was built a century later and has not succumbed to this environmental assault.
10. That Animal You Think is an Alpaca is Really a Llama
    Llamas and alpacas are closely related and look a lot alike, but those large, graceful and very furry, camel-like creatures you see strolling all over Machu Picchu are really llamas, not alpacas. Used for centuries as pack animals, llamas are about double the size of their gentle cousins, who typically live in Andean herds and are prized for their soft, beautiful fur.