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THE COAST OF PERU
Peru is one of the twelve countries called mega divers. Together these countries hold about 60 % to 70 % of the world's species diversity. While the biodiversity of the Peruvian rain forest is well known, the knowledge about marine and aquatic habitats of Peru still is poor. Only so much is obvious that in these ecosystems still remains a lot to discover.
This is the coastal region of Peru, following the country's Pacific coastline from north to south and thus forming a long narrow region between the ocean and the mountain ranges of the Andes. Although some places are fertile, most of La Costa consists of dry and sometimes extremely arid desert regions. Always thought that the Sahara was the driest place on earth? Wrong! There are places in the south, near the Chilean border, which are even drier. In some places it doesn't rain for years. The landscapes can be veryspectacular though, with immense sand dunes and stone-deserts. A veryinteresting example of the sand desert can be found in Huacachina, a green oasis completely surrounded by sand dunes.
South of Lima along the coast, the hot and extraordinarily dry desert province of Ica -- one of the most arid places on earth -- contains one of Peru's most exotic, inscrutable sights: The Nasca Lines, huge pre-Columbian desert drawings, have raised many questions and given rise to wild theories about Peru's ancient past. The region forms part of the oldest geological strata in the country; fossils date back as far as the Tertiary or Quaternary eras. The Paracas and Nasca cultures that took root here (roughly 1300 B.C.-A.D. 700) were two of Peru's most advanced. Little was known about the two cultures until the 20th century, but they are acclaimed today for their exquisite textile weavings and ceramics, among the finest produced by pre-Columbian Peru
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Reserve of Ballestas Islands 2D |