September 4th, 2009
Our car was awaiting us in the morning for our trip northwards on the Pan American highway to Chiclayo. First stop along the way was the El Brujo Archeological Complex in the Chicama Valley, but to get there we passed through the town of Chiclin that developed when German and Italian immigrants settled on the northern coast and set up huge sugar cane plantations there. Yolanda told us that in 1969, the government reformed the agricultural sector, splitting the large commercial houses into smaller coops run by the workers, which are now being bought up by government companies.
Watching from the window of the vehicle, it is easy to see how hard work in a sugar cane field really is. We also pass small roadside stands where they are cooking a rich chicken soup called “caldo de gallina” in huge stock pots so field hands can start the day with a hearty meal. I’m sure they are going to need it…
Wow, we finally made it to El Brujo, and ohhh! our poor bodies. How they suffered during the trip. You see, we had to take a turnoff from the main highway and cut across country along a dirt track… lots of pot holes, lots of ruts, and lots of dust! The good news is they are building a real paved road to the site, so future tourists won’t go through such an ordeal to get there.
Driving up to this site, we see there are three small hills, pyramidal in shape, sacred sites, called Huaca Prieta, Huaca Cortada, and Huaca Cao, situated between the ocean and the cane fields. It is called El Brujo (Spanish for warlock or shaman) because it is the traditional place shaman adepts would congregate to celebrate their mystical rites.
Yolanda told us the most important part excavated has been Huaca Cao, where archeologists have discovered seven separate platforms whose walls are decorated in reliefs, some of which are the most important found concerning Mochican religious beliefs: sacrifices and battle scenes.
Of course, the reason we went there was to see the most important discovery yet: the mummy of the Señora de Cao, a high priestess and possibly the first female Mochican ruler. The Wiese Foundation is financing the project, and it has just opened a new site museum where on display is the mummy and some of the artifacts that were buried with her. What makes this find so unique is this was the first embalmed body discovered in northern Peru. They showed us a really interesting movie about how they removed all the wrappings and adornments from the mummy. Cool!
We left El Brujo for the city of Chiclayo. Over the bumpy track to the Pan American highway and then north again. We settled into our hotel but didn’t have time for much else. The adventure continued. This time to the city of Lambayeque to see the Brunning National Archeological Museum. The four main cultures that lived in this area: Chimu, Moche, Chavin, and Vicus definitely left plenty of traces behind because we saw tons of pottery, jewelry, scraps of cloth, and stone and wooden pieces.
It is also set up for you to walk through it as if it were a time line so you can see how settlements developed on the coast.
Later that afternoon, we meet up with Pamela and Maria, PromPeru and Domiruth’s representatives in Chiclayo, respectively. By the way, Domiruth is the travel agent in charge of our trip.
Wherever you go in Chiclayo, you see small mototaxis: three wheeled, small engine motorcycles with an enclosed compartment for 3 people in back. We were told there are so many because it had to due with the high price of gas during the Fujimori administration. People started buying and driving them to save money.
And we thought it was hard to cross the street in Trujillo, but it is nothing like Chiclayo, dodging both regular and mototaxis. What an adventure!
We ended a day full of activities by eating an exquisite dinner at the restaurant “Fiesta”. They say the food in Chiclayo is some of the best in Peru, and the fish we ate was phenomenal, so there’s no argument here!
