Our first tourist experience for 2011.

Yesterday was our first ‘tourist’ experience since arriving in Ayacucho and in some ways it was a little like going back over old ground. In 2008 we travelled most of this journey with our daughter, Elena, but we did not visit the archaeological site of Wari.
We departed Ayacucho around nine thirty with five other tourists, a local guide and I believe two young ‘apprentice’guides as well as our driver. All were great company and there were plenty of Spanish/English conversations flying around.

Wari is about twenty kilometres from Ayacucho and about another one hundred meters above sea level, 2,830m to be precise. We drove through some amazing countryside to get there.

The Wari civilization is a pre-Incan civilization that dates back to about 1500 years ago and this was very well explained by an eight panelled, illustrated timeline painted on the wall of the information center. This timeline began at 20,000 B.C. and progressed through the various ages till it depicted the Wari civilisation and then the Incan, 1350 A.D.



The center also displayed many interesting artefacts including pottery, stone irrigation channels, metal pins as well as some implements of war! There was quite a deal of Nazca influence in the ornate decorations. The city of Wari was the center of a civilization that covered much of the highlands and coast of modern Peru. The Wari culture began to deteriorate around 800 A.D. and archaeologists have determined that the city of Wari was abandoned by 900 A.D




After the tour of the center we wandered the extensive ruins and were shown the remnants of houses, temples, tombs, original walls and pathways. All very interesting.

All through the ruins the tuna cactus is growing and we had a very close look at the tuna fruit as it begins as a bright flower and then develops into a delicious fruit. For those who can still remember the days of jumping the fences and raiding the fruit trees, well forget it when it comes to tuna picking! If the vicious cactus needles don’t get you the minute spikes on the actual fruit will!

The actual harvesting is fun and done with care. You use two long sticks, one has a cutter on the end and the other half a plastic coke bottle to catch the harvested fruit!


We were shown another fascinating fact regarding the cochineal scale insect; it is a parasite, feeding on the moisture and nutrients of the cactus plant. It produces carminic acid as a deterrent to other predators. When the insect and its eggs are carefully gathered, and squashed, you obtain the crimson dye. You can see the white patches on the cactus leaves where the bug is living.

Some of the locals who, by the way, were none too keen to see us and bayed accordingly!