Awanakancha

Feeding the baby llama.

I forgot to write anything about Awanakancha. It's a little, pretty touristy, "village" outside of city called Pisac. This was one of the first places that I visited, it was during my first or second week in Peru. Every week Projects Abroad organizes a social for all the volunteers in Peru, and going to Awanakancha was one of those socials.

Mom and baby alpacas.

So, there are a few things that Awanakancha is all about:

• Llamas, 
• Alpacas, 
• A few undomesticated cousins of the llama/alpaca family, 
• Potatos and corn, and 
• Weaving and weaved goods.

Beyond being about those aforementioned items, the place is also all about letting you feed, pet, and ride the llamas and alpacas! (I'm lying about the riding part) It was a lot of fun. I had no idea that these animals were so docile and friendly—I didn't think they were vicious of course, but it turns out they really want to be your friend... especially if you have the grass they like.

The potato and weaving parts of Awanakancha almost come as an afterthought. However, they were still pretty interesting to learn about. I'll have a separate post about potatoes tomorrow so for now I'll talk about weaving for a second and then leave you in peace.

The picture to the left is an example of how various peruvian natives weave using a special type of loom. I don't know much about that process other than it takes a long time and they use a llama bone during the process. The coloring process is pretty interesting. First they have to spin the alpaca fur/wool into string/yarn. Then, using various bugs, herbs, or other organic means, they give the string/yarn its different colors through boiling it with dyes. Red dye, for example, is made by crushing a certain insect.

It was interesting to learn about the weaving and potatoes of Peru, but the best part by far was hanging out with llamas and alpacas.