Oct. 30, 2011 - Salaverry, Peru

We went on a shore excursion from the city of Salaverry to Trujillo where there were the famous archaeological complex of El Brujo. We drove for about 1 1/2 hours on the Pan-American Highway before reaching Trujillo and then on a rather rough road past sugar cane fields to the town of Brujo that is translated as "the Sorcerer". The National Institute of Trujillo and the National Institute of Culture began a joint dig there in 1990. They discovered the "Huaca Cao highlights" - pyramids that reach up to 150 feet. The pyramids were built by installing a layer every 100 years over the previous layers thus covering what was created before. Here we saw walls covered with friezes and colored reliefs depicting complex scenes, characters, and geometric shapes. We also saw the recently opened Senora Cao Museum that depicted the life of the Moche people who once lived in this area.
I had read about this place in the National Geographic Magazine and was so happy to actual see this very historic site of the Moche people.
Tonight we are headed to Lima and are scheduled for 2 days of interesting shore excursions.

Pyramid built by adding a new layer every 100 years.

Inside the excavations with a mural at the back.

Murals on the wall.

More wall murals.

A grave site in the pyramid.

Recently opened museum and entrance.

A local taxi.

Another pyramid not yet excavated.

The back and dining rooms of the Veendam.

The harbor of Trujillo