Huanchaco Beach in Trujillo, Peru with reed boats called caballitos © D. M. DeKraker
Northwest Coast of Peru
The northwest coast of Peru has a beautiful coastline. Trujillo is on the Pan American Highway about 8 hours north of Lima. It is easier to fly from Lima, the capital of Peru. Chiclayo is another four hours north, with the massive pyramid El Brujo along the way. The area is home to a number of Peruvian pyramids. In Trujillo, we visited Huanchaco Beach for lunch with the view above.
Fisherman Using a Cabillito, a Reed Boat.
While eating lunch, we watched as a fisherman took one of the reed boats along the beach, grabbed a fishing net and launched the boat. These boats are called cabillitos, and have been used for thousands of years. Today, they are filled with Styrofoam. It was amazing how he managed to get out into the Pacific Ocean.
Trip Information
This trip was a pre-trip extension of an Overseas Adventure Travel trip to the Amazon Basin. We spent four days looking at pyramids and having other cultural experiences along the northern coast of Peru. We explored little known pre-incan cultures, visiting a large number of historical sites predating the Inca civilization.
Mummies, including the Lord of Sipan and the Lady of Cao have been found buried in pyramids in this area. A lot of gold artifacts were buried in these tombs with the mummies. While there are a lot of pyramids in this area, they don’t look like most other pyramids I have seen, because they are made of brick instead of rock. Also the Moche culture simply built new levels on top of the previous level after a hundred years or so. These were used mainly for ceremonial purposes. While not particularly impressive from the outside, they do have artifacts as well as burial sites inside.
Paso Horses
Peruvian Paso horses, are bred for their soft gait and gentle disposition, and their distinct characteristics including their special sideways gait. These horses, originally brought to the Trujillo area by Spaniards, have been isolated and specially bred for hundreds of years. Now, this breed is protected by the Peruvian government. They are valuable as riding horses. The horsemen put on a show with their horses. As part of the show, a woman dances with the horse and rider.
Ancient History of this Area
Below I have a history put together from a photo of the timeline found at the El Brujo Pyramid.
History of Human Habitation along the Pacific Coast of Peru
Along the west coast of Peru, north of Lima, where it is very dry, there is evidence of human habitation since 10,000 BC. Arrowheads were found in an area near Paijan, north of Trujillo. In an archaeological site called Huaca Prieta there is evidence of subterranean dwellings. Cloth weaved by these people dates from 2500 BC. The Cupisnique culture created pottery, the typical pot had a stirruped spout. The Moche civilization, from around 200 AD through 800 AD created terraced pyramids. Each level build on the previous level. They were followed by the Lambayeque civilization from 900 AD to 1200 AD that also built terraced pyramids. The Chimu, who followed them in 1200 AD, built large adobe settlements but no pyramids. In 1470 AD, the Incas came, but could not penetrate their high, thick walls, so the Incas made treaties with the Chimu. The Spaniards conquered the Incas around 1532.
In this area, civilizations were built in river valleys. The rivers flowed down from the Andes. There is little rain, so the rivers were essential to growing crops. They used extensive canals to irrigate their fields to grow corn, beans and other food crops as well as cotton. Occasional, El Nino, the weather phenomenon, caused rain to fall, causing floods.
Moche Pyramid of the Moon, one of many Peruvian pyramids
The Moche civilization dates from around 200 AD. They built ceremonial buildings one on top of the other for hundreds of years. This preserved the designs of previous years and created pyramids. The Pyramid of the moon is near Trujillo. Below is a photo of the friezes on the walls of the Pyramid of the Moon.
Chan Chan
Chan Chan, the largest adobe structure in the world, also near Trujillo, was built by the Chimu culture around the 10th to 14th century AD. Chimu came to power after the Moche. Chan Chan was a city with very large walls which housed a large number of people. They did not build pyramids. We only visited Tscudi Palace in Chan Chan. It is very large and had reservoirs inside it’s walls.
El Brujo Pyramid
Lady of Cao
El Brujo Pyramid is a large Moche pyramid between Trujillo and Chiclayo. Buried inside this pyramid was the heavily tattooed mummy named the Lady of Cao. She was found buried with many gold artifacts. She dates from around 300 AD. At the time of her death, she was thought to be in her twenties. The manner of her burial and the artifacts lead researchers to believe that she was a priestess or even the ruler. The pyramid walls contain many designs similar to the Pyramid of the Moon. There is a really top notch museum there, but no photos are allowed inside.
Chiclayo
We drove from Trujillo to Chiclayo visiting El Brujo along the way. In Chiclayo, we visited the Wizard’s market that has items for Healers and any who want traditional medicine. It is definitely worth seeing.
Tucume, Capital of the Lambayeque
There are 26 large pyramids here, in the valley of the wizards near Chiclayo. This area is under excavation and has a small museum containing artifacts. The pyramids look like eroded mud hills. Two on the left with awnings on top are under excavation.
While in the Chiclayo area, we visited the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sípan in Lambayeque, Peru to see artifacts from the tomb of the Lord of Sipan.
We then flew back to Lima to join the rest of the tour group to go to the Amazon Rainforest. Also check out my Macchu Picchu blog.
References
Overseas Adventure Travel Handbook
Related Sites
Lambayeque Valley Lord of Sipan
