Return to Peru: Brief Humanitarian Trip

We had the opportunity to return to Peru with Beverly's sister and her husband during the first two weeks of December 2009. It was a wonderful opportunity to gain closure after our abrupt departure from our mission at the end of August.

This is a picture of the Tarma valley. It shows the dirt roads we took up the mountain to the Yanamarca ruins:


The Palcamayo valley as viewed 3000 feet above on the cliffs of Yanamarca:


Beverly and Scott pose on the cliff by 1000-year-old, pre-Inca ruins of Yanamarca:


We had the great blessing of seeing many of our dearest Peruvian friends. Our closest friends were the Durmand family shown here--Karola, Alex, Durman, and Cami:


Other dear friends bid us farewell at our Tarma hotel--Mayra Quinto, José Quinto, Sharon (granddaughter of José), Beverly, Martha (wife of José), Scott, Caroli Leyva, Sister Leyva (no relation to our former mission president), Sister Chuco, and Ángel Chuco:


After visiting our former missionary area of Tarma, we traveled to Tarapoto, in the high Peruvian jungle on the eastern slopes of the Andes. There we worked with the Rotary International Club of Tarapoto to inspect and initiate a water-conservation and reforestation project:


From Tarapoto, we flew to Iquitos in the low Peruvian jungle of the Amazon basin. This is a hut on the banks of the mighty Amazon River:


We stayed in a rustic lodge in the jungle:


We inspected three fish-farm projects sponsored by Rotary International and the Hope Alliance of Salt Lake City. This fish farm was located just outside the village of Yanayaco in the dense jungle:


Two other Hope Alliance fish farms were located near the jungle village of Las Palmas. This is a member of the village:


Four Las Palmas boys, ages 10-13, walked with Scott into the jungle to inspect the fish farms :


Hope Alliance also sponsors micro-credit loans in Iquitos. This woman received a loan to begin her sewing shop, where she sews shirts, dresses, and sports clothing:


Boathouses on a river that passes through Iquitos:


A houseboat in Belén, a suburb of Iquitos:


Houses on stilts along the river in Belén:


We loved our return to the Peru Lima East Mission and our visit to a new part of Peru, the jungle cities of Tarapoto and Iquitos. It was a magnificent trip.

Update: 8 Natural Regions of Peru

Peru has eight natural (or geographical) regions, and all eight regions are represented in the Peru Lima East Mission. Below you can see Scott's photos of each region, the first six photos were taken during our mission and the last two during a December 2009 return visit to Peru.

Chala region is the coastal area along the Pacific Ocean. It is subtropical dry and tropical savana. Lima (where we lived for 4 months) is in the Chala region:


Yungas region has an altitude of 1,600 to 5,000 feet above sea level. It includes the forest along the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains, with an extremely diverse climate, flora, and fauna. We traveled through this region during our trips from Lima to Tarma:


Quechua region, altitude 7,500 to 11,500 feet, includes big valleys divided by rivers. The second largest city in our mission, Huancayo, is in this region. Cusco and Machu Picchu (not in our mission) are also in this reagion. We lived in Tarma, which is also part of this region:



Suni region, 11,500 to 13,500 feet, is dry and cold. Cities in our mission in this region and that we have visited, include La Oroya (where we went most Saturdays while living in Tarma), Huancavelica, San Pedro de Cajas, and others. This picture shows the Suni region near the town of San Pedro de Cajas:


Puna region, 10,500 feet to 14,800 feet, includes the altiplanos or pampas (vast high plains), where puna grass grows. The two cities in our mission in the Puna region are Cerro de Pasco and Junín (where we went most Saturdays). This picture shows the Puna region, with wild vicuña, between San Pedro de Cajas and Junín.



Junca region includes the jagged, snow-covered mountains above 13,500 feet. This picture was taken near Ticlio, the mountain pass (at 15,800 feet) that we traveled through in going from Lima to Tarma:


Rupa region, 1,600 to 2,300 feet, is the high jungle areas on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains. The city of La Merced in our mission (and where we attended a Multi-zone Conference) is located in the Rupa region. This picture was taken after our mission when we visited Tarapoto:


Omagua region is the low (below 1300 feet) jungle. The town of Satipo in our mission is located in the Omagua region. We visited Iquitos, on the Amazon River, after our mission, and Scott took this picture when we visited the Amazon jungle.


The Peru Lima East Mission is an extremely geographically diverse mission, with probably the biggest elevation changes of any mission in the world.