Church bells were pealing as we left the Plaza at 6:30. We wanted an early start for Lake Huacopay, just beyond the ruins of Tipon. All along the way we say the devastation caused by the flooding of January and February. Fields were destroyed and homes washed away. The people are housed in tents and plywood shelters furnished by USAID and are somehow carrying on with their lives. It was fun birding around the lake even if we had already seen most of the species. I got some good photos and we added seven new birds including an elusive rail.
We were the only visitors to the pre-Inca site of Aquillaca. We don’t know much about it but it was covered by our ‘boleto touristica’ so we stopped and wandered around the 1,000 year-old walls and ruins of the Wari people. The stone work is much cruder than that of the Incas but it has withstood the test of time.
Tipon is the best preserved site we have visited so far. High up in the hills it is a model of the Incas’ ability to control water. Ken and Ruth Wright from the Explorers Club continue their work here every year. Ken has even been decorated by the president of Peru. But when I asked the staff if they knew our American friends, only Ruben remembered Ken, the engineer. Everyone seemed to know Ruth who wrote a book about Tipon.
