It has been a bit more than three weeks since we arrived in Peru. Much of the first week in Cusco was spent getting acclimated to the 11,200' elevation and trying to set up a photo/video shoot for our new business venture (still, video and audio will travel). During that first week, Jennifer showed me the city she loves, and I was immediately taken by the lovely architecture, the beautiful plaza and the energy of the Cusco. It is the rainy season, which means that, unlike Colorado, a rain shower occurs at any time, not just in the afternoon.

While searching for a non-profit to profile, we were fortunate to find Foundacion HoPe (http://www.stichtinghope.org/en/), which builds schools for Quechua communities high in the Andes. The foundation is everything you could hope to find in an NGO: they ask the village to contribute to every school building, usually in the form of labor, and eventually have them run the school. It's a good model for lending a hand, then getting out of the way and letting the people take control. They create opportunity, not dependents.

One of the founders, Walter Meekes, took us to several communities, usually at 12,000'. We visited a high school, a kindergarden and, on our last of three days driving through the high Andes on two track roads, a village celebrating the completion of a pre-school for their children. There is a video of gringos and a gringa dancing a traditional dance on my Facebook site.

In addition to those trips, we managed to visit some of the Inca sites around Pisac, Moray and Ollantaytambo. Last, but not least, we visited Machu Picchu. A truly magnificent and magical place.

Arriving around 6:30 in the morning, the entire site was shrouded in clouds, keeping the grandeur of the site and the surrounding mountains hidden. Slowly, the sun burned the clouds away and the ancient city and its superb location came into view. A stunning moment beyond words.

The trip has also included a lot of hotel visits for the 2011 Peru Photo Workshop. We are solidifying the details over the next few weeks. It should take place during 10 days in March 2011.

I hope you enjoy some of the images from the first three weeks in Peru. Click on the link below. I would love to hear any comments directly by email or through the Facebook fan page.

The next post will include: holiday images from Cusco, Lake Titicaca, La Paz, Bolivia and the Salar di Uyuni (the worlds largest salt flats). The posting will depend on internet connections on the road.

http://www.michaellewisfoto.com/lewis.peru