Rainbow Mountain Peru, known as Vinicunca, is made up of 14 different colorful minerals. The formation of the rainbow appearance is due to marine, lake and river sediments that were transported by the water that once covered the area. The sediment minerals settled in layers of different colors some 65 million years ago.
Beside its incredible beauty, Rainbow Mountain holds a sacred significance within Inca lore, symbolizing the spiritual connection between humanity and the natural world. To the Incas, mountains were not merely geological formations but sacred places embodying natural forces. Rainbow Mountain is a testament to their spiritual connection with the Andean landscape.
Peru is made up of various landscapes...mountains, beaches, deserts and rain forests. The world's largest rain forest, the Amazon, covers nearly half of Peru. This huge jungle, which also covers half of Brazil, is home to plants and animals that don't live anywhere else on Earth. Off the coast, the Peru Current nourishes huge numbers of small fish, which, in turn, support large populations of bigger fish and seabirds. Peru's mountains support special types of grasses and plants that provide food for llamas, alpacas and vicunas.
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| Vicuna |
My first thought is: what's a vicuna? I adore alpacas. Before one of my surgeries, my boyfriend bought me a precious stuffed alpaca made of real alpaca fleece. It's luxuriously soft and one of my most cherished possessions. I was gifted a darling little textile alpaca from a dear friend. It, too, is cherished. I come to realize that llamas and alpacas are domesticated, while vicunas are wild. The vicuna is often called the "Gold of the Andes," because it has the softest natural fiber on the planet, even softer than baby alpaca wool and cashmere from the Kashmir goat.
Nature is man's teacher.
She unfolds her treasures to his search,
unseals his eye,
illumines his mind
and purifies his heart;
an influence breathes
from all the sights
and sounds
of Her existence.
~Alfred Billings Street~
