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Environment
Peru is located in the central western part of South America and has a surface area of 1,285,215.6 km2..The Pacific Ocean lies to the west, Ecuador to the North, Brazil to the East and Bolivia and Chile to the South. The Andes cross the country from north to south diving it into three strips: the coast occupies a strip which is approximately 3,000 km (1863 miles) long, with beautiful beaches and cliffs bathed by the Pacific Ocean.
At its widest point, it measures approximately 185 km in the North and 40km in the South, with altitudes ranging from 0 to 650 meters (2,132 feet) above sea level. These coastal regions, where the largest cities are located, consist of arid, desert lands, although the river estuaries create fertile valleys.
The sierra includes the whole Andean mountain range that crosses the country from North to South. Most of the rivers whose waters flow to the Pacific Ocean rise from this region, creating hydrographic basin, such as the Amazon River.
The relief of the land is very rugged, which give way to vast plains, called altiplanos or punas, and more than 12,000 pools and lakes, some of which are navigable, such as Lake Titicaca. The average altitude is 3,000m (9842 feet), although greater heights are reached in the snowcapped Andean mountains of the Cordillera Blanca, such as the Huascaran which stands 6,768 m tall (22,204 feet).
The forest starts on the eastern slopes of the Andes. The vegetation is typical of tropical rainforest and the flora and fauna is rich and varied. Its main feature is the mighty Amazon River, the longest in the world. Its source lies in the snowcapped mountains of the Andes, in the Tambo and Urubamba rivers of the sacred valley of the Incas, near Cuzco; downstream it forms the Ucayali and then the Amazon. Another important river is the Marañon which rises in the central Sierra and later crosses into Ecuador.
1.1 Wild Life
The wild life in Peru is of great variety. Its distribution depends on the conditions of the surroundings that go from an arid coast with almost no rain to an exuberant and hot jungle with high levels of rain.
The Coast:
Marinelife is mainly composed of fish anchovies, bass etc.; marine mammals such as dolphins, whales, etc; mollusks, guanera birds such as piquero, pelican, guanay, etc. The coast also offers other land fauna such as doves, sparrow and white heron, reptiles such as iguana, small lizard land mammals such as fox, muca and taruca among others.
The Andes:
In the Andes you can find birds such as hummingbirds, and mammals such as zorrillo (small fox) and also the taruca (Andean red deer).
On the rocky parts, where there is more vegetation you could see eyeglass bear and the pumas.
In the plains of the Andes you Hill find the domesticated auquenids like the llamas and the Alpacas, as well as the semi-domesticated ones: vicuña and guanaco. También es la tierra de los roedores como la chinchilla y la vizcacha. Finally the higher Andean plains are home for the Condor, sparrow hawk, and the hawk.
The Jungle:
In the jungla we find a great variety of birds where the tunqui o rooster of the rocks is the master. We also find river fauna such as the boquichico and the síbalo among others. It is also territory for the shushupe, a type of snake.
Is in the Amazon basin where the abundance of species is best seen, this is due to the different ecosystems that this region has. In its rivers we find the Paiche, the worlds biggest sweet water fish.
We can also find in this region, the otter, the anteater, the ronsoco, maquisapa and sachayaca, native and unique species of the Peruvian Jungle.
This portion of the jungle is the home for the guacamayos, parrots, toucans and woodpeckers. Here the reptiles acquire greater size and you can find as many on the surface as below waters. The most popular ones are the lizards, the yacumama, the anaconda and the electrical eel.
1.2 Flora
Costal Flora
During the months of May to August, the hills take advantage of the morning fog. The most famous hills are Atiquita in Arequipa (South) and Lachay in Lima.
During the beginning of the year, there is some light rain in the coast and a lot of sunshine. These conditions define the vegetation such as: manglares, chaparrales, ceibales, carob trees and sapotales, all of which become trees because of the strategy that they develop to capture water. The manglares develop in the estuaries in contact with sea water, while the carob trees grow deep roots that capture their food way below the surface.
Andes Flora
In the Andes the most representative bushes are called "tola" and for the grass "chilihuial" as well as the world acclaimed "ichu" a very strong type of grass with a great capacity to adapt to humidity. At 4000m (13123 feet) we find the highest bushes in Peru, the "quinuales" that grow on the rocks and serve as refugee for animals. Its wood is very appreciated by the natives. The cetaceous are abundant in the central Sierra; in the Northern Sierra because of the latitude and more rain other plants can survive, such as el pasayo, el molle, el ceibo, la cabuya, el mito, el guayacón, among others.
Jungle Flora
The eastern slopes of the Andes determine a continuous variation of vegetation: the low and high Jungle, each one with each own unique characteristics.
The high Jungle has a hot and humid weather with abundant rain and great vegetation represented by native trees such as: ishpingo, zapote and palm trees such as aguaje, la pala de aceite and some other water plants such as toro, urco, gramalote and elephant's ears.
The low Jungle and the Amazon basin present a variety of plants that have to support the hottest extreme conditions. In it we find representative varieties of trees such as the mahogany and the cedar. At the shades of the trees we find the climbing species such as ayahuasca and sebo vegetal and aquatic species such as Victoria regia and jatusisa.
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Visas are not required for tourists entering Peru, except very few rare cases.
You may legally stay in the country for 30 to 90 days.
If you need to extend your visit, you may apply for an extension at the
local immigration offices located in the main cities.
The official currency in Peru is el nuevo sol, the dollar and the Euro are openly accepted. These can be exchanged to nuevo sol at the local banks, hotels, currency exchange business and Peru's traditional informal street exchange services, which includes people exchanging the money on the street corners.
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In general, Peru has a temperate climate, without great stormy weather in winter or excessive heat in the summer, allowing tourism any time a year.
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