Another result of the excessive rains in the north of Peru is the increased risk of mosquito-borne diseases. As if dengue and chikungunya weren’t bad enough, zika has also found its way to Peru.

Zikario – the new nickname for the mosquito that transmits zika and other awful diseases  (sicario is the Spanish term for hitman or assasin)

Information from the CDC

childhood dream come true. land of fjords, home of Thor

Heyerdahl, Kon-Tiki legend who fired flames of adventure

followed currents across the Pacific

challenged Atlantic oil tankers for defiling the sea

burned his Tigris boat of reeds

in protest against war profiteers arming the mideast

(an unconventional pioneer in exploration, archaeology, environmental activism – his writing took me on my first trip to Peru, to Easter Island, to Bolivia, to Polynesia. He died in 2002, before we finally crossed paths in Tucume, but in Oslo, I have picked up his trail again – thought provoking and relevant)

Above: On April 3, 1978, after their five-month-4,200-mile-oceanic voyage, Thor Heyerdahl (center) and his 10-man crew burn their reed ship Tigris in protest of the wars raging in the Middle East. (Photo by Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo).

https://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai111_folder/111_articles/111_heyerdahl_tigris.html

As heavy rains and flooding wreaked havok along the desert coast of Peru in March and April, I kept thinking about what had happened to the Nasca culture in Peru during the sixth century, when natural disasters contributed to the demise of their society.

With almost 1,200,000 people afftected, many of whom lost their homes and farmlands, there was an initial surge of help, an oupouring of sympathy across the country and around the world. From the patio of the Presidential Palace to grocery stores and television stations – from churches to stadiums to hair salons, the rush to assist in the midst of so much disaster was earnest and widespread. The rains lightened, the worst of the emergency was handled, channels were established for getting resources to those in need, and the work of recovery has begun.

And it will be work.

What happens now must also anticipate what will happen tomorrow.

But enough for now. Have to pack for Chiclayo.

But for more about the recent flooding and why it makes me think of Nasca, you can read my essay in the Earth Island Journal.

Please have a look. tweet it. share it. think about it. comment…  Thanks – I’m curious what you think.

In Peru, Learning from the Nasca: 

Finding parallels between the demise of an ancient culture and contemporary environmental challenges