I was fortunate to spend this past weekend with the same Peruvian friend, Marcela, who joined me for adventures
in Cuzco and the Sacred Valley (also click here and here) in September of last year.

This getaway took our tired minds, too full to think straight anymore, to the nearby mountainous region of Cajamarca, less than 6 hours from Chiclayo by bus.

Marcela and I were only away for three days, but as the picturesque scenery and tranquility began as soon as we left the city, it felt as if we were gone for longer.

It is time to head to work…
This morning I’ll be a photographer for an event co-organized by Centro Esperanza and the Peruvian Institute for Human Rights called ‘Proyecto Ciudadano‘, or ‘Citizen Project’, at which teams from several Chiclayan secondary schools will present projects outlining problems in their community, and their suggestions for solutions and lines of action to be taken by government organizations.
Then I’ll head to the office to finish labels for doves and flowers that the ‘Artsenas por la Vida‘ (Artisans for Life) are shipping to Canada and in the mid-afternoon I’ll be flying with ‘La Cometa Lectora‘ literacy project, run out of a modest suitcase in whatever living room or community space locals will lend to us, with young readers in a shantytown to the north of Chiclayo.

Here are few shots I captured from a surprisingly clean bus window on the way to the city of Cajamarca…
 Corn, anyone?

Thanks for stopping by! I wish you could have seen these mountains in person–breathtaking!