There is always a possibility of earthquakes in South America. Last week, a devastating quake destroyed parts of Columbia. On Friday, August 14, at 3 pm in Peru, there was a statewide Earthquake evacuation drill. Everyone in the country was heading for cover under a support beams and seismic safety zone circles when the alarm made phones nationwide sound like electric bug zappers.
As a matter of fact, an earthquake near Lima, Peru occurred two hours before I started pecking out this post (magnitude of 3.6, located 80 km south of the city). Barely a rumble. Guess Mother Earth has a little trapped gas. If only she had a roll of Rolaids.
Countless towns in South America have a memorial regarding their “big quake”. Some will have framed photos and news clippings of the disaster, most likely on a wall in an old bar. Over the past year, I’ve seen the Memorial 27 in Concepcion, Chile, the ruins in Castro, Chiloe, and a huge memorial in Yungay, Peru, honoring the lives lost.
In Lima, one earthquake memorial is in the shape of Paddington the Bear. A fictional earthquake killed his aunt and uncle, whereupon an orphan agency sent the lovable ursus to the land of rain slickers and marmalade. But in 1940, the quake that struck Lima was as real as they come.
OK. So you get it. Peru experiences frequent seismic activity due to its location in an active tectonic zone, turning roads into jigsaw puzzles. It’s one of the reasons why my goal this year was to update my will.
Yeah, that kinda will.
Living in the land of Quakes and Shakes, I decided to get my affairs in order, with something more official than what’s next to my microwave oven, marked in an envelope that reads, “Ginger’s Dead”.
It’s not that I have a lot of valuable possessions (other than my naked man dotted with meridian markings), but an updated will can give my sisters a piece of mind just in case the world around me literally crumbles. Plus, they’ll have my Facebook password, so you won’t receive a friendship request from me after I’m gone.
The price of a will isn’t cheap. I’m guessing the final cost will be more than airfare to Bangkok, which is how I’d rather spend the money. You have no idea how pathetic the Thai food scene is in Lima. But, the initial consultation for the Death Lawyer isn’t free. The no frills-will doesn’t even include a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order, which, isn’t honored in Peru, anyway.
Speaking of a DNR…Also near my microwave, there a clipping from a yellowing USA today newspaper, dating back in 1983. I was nabbed by a reporter who was taking a poll with Michigan State University students about on euthanasia. At first, I thought she said Youth in Asia. Blame it on a hangover from Max Bar. But consider my quote here my original DNR.
Roads aren’t resuscitated in Peru, either. Those on the way to hiking spots like Cantamarca are goners. Cantamarca is about about three hours outside of Lima, plus a new set of shock absorbers. When Mother Nature rearranges her butt cheeks, the roads end up looking like a jigsaw puzzle,.
Since I completed the paperwork for my will, I thought, why not give lady luck a try? I went hiking in Cantamarca.
Cantamarca means “Town of Great Vicuña Hunters,”. The skies are blue instead of the grey underbelly of the donkey (the dismal weather Lima experiences between May and November). The ride to this tiny town is more treacherous than the hike, due to mudslides and washed out chunks of the highway.
The circular structures in Cantamaraca (below) resemble funeral structure or chullpas.
The hike is stunning this time of the year, and prickly, too. Beware of the cacti!
Cantamarca was conquered by Inca Tupac in 1450, that’s even before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Less than one hundred years later, the Spanish move in, along with their little friend the smallpox. Soon, much of the indigenous customs were replaced with crosses, crypts, and confessional booths.
The hike in Cantamarca, starting an elevation of 3200 meters with a modest climb to 3,700 meters, can be done in a day. Take a few altitude pills on the car. If not, you may experience head spins or worse. There aren’t horses to carry you down this mountain!
The sun can cook you quicker than a microwave oven, so bring sun block and sun hat.
So now you know where to find my will in case well, today’s the day. Rest in Peace.
