On June 12, 2004, Professors Johnson and Gunderson and 22 UWO students took off for Lima, Peru.  We spent the first week in Lima, having classes at the Universidad del Pacifico and going on field trips to places like the Peruvian Central Bank and the supply-chain management company Yobel.   We also visited MegaPlaza, the largest shopping mall in South America that was recently featured in an article in the Economist.

  Here's our classroom at Universidad del Pacifico; Professor Galarza lectures on some of the important Environmental issues in Peru like managing water, forest, and fish resources.

  We stayed in Miraflores where we had lots of nightlife.  Here's a shot of the very cool Larco Mar, 4 blocks from our hotel.  They have restaurants, bars, clubs, movie theatres, shopping, and really good ice cream.

We visited the US Embassy and US AID, and a private company that manages garbage collection for parts of Lima--this is no small job.

  The field trips included touring the dump in Pachacamac.  Can you tell it smells?  We were actually learning about formal and informal systems of waste management, which are huge businesses in Peru.

  We also visited the Casa Blanca Organic Farm that is fueled entirely by guinea pig manure.  No s***!  Could I make that up?  Even Ben is fascinated.  Peru is one of the leading exporters of asparagus and organic asparagus and is filing for recognization in Europe for its organic produce.

The first weekend, we headed down to Ica, Nazca, and Paracas.  Here's Joe, Beau, and Justin hanging out at our hotel.  Can you see the giant sand dunes behind it?

The first thing we did was go to Nazca to fly over the famous desert lines.

  Watching the take-offs at the Nazca "airport."

  Our brave first group of Justin, Carrie, Julie, Randy, and Megan.

  Time for lunch...more chicken anyone?  Dustin?  Melissa?

Then, we had to see the sand dunes closer up...and faster!

  Does Professor Gunderson look nervous?  Jeff doesn't.
  Group photo!  Check out the desert dunes!
   Time to learn to sandboard...It's harder than it looks.  Go Stephanie!  That was just Saturday!  On Sunday, it was off to the Paracas Marine Reserve (we saw 6 penguins!) and a beautiful Pisco winery near Ica.

  Here we are touring the winery in Ica and learning about the farming business in Peru.  We also did a drive-by of the Camisea Gas Plant that is going to revolutionize the way this farmer makes Pisco (brandy).  He currently relies on firewood to heat his boilers, but since the winery is basically located in a desert, this is not very cost effective.

  And a little dancing for Andrew, Joe, and Justin.  There was also a fantastic lunch of regional cuisine, horseback riding, and learning even more about Pisco.

But by Monday, it was back to more field trips and classes.  We went back to Villa El Salvador, a slum success story in Lima and learned about the different businesses operating there.  We also vistited a community kitchen and, you guessed it, more garbage dumps.

  Cozy in our field trip bus...
  Final exam day!  After that, it was off on a tour of Peru that started in Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

  Scott does a little shopping.

Here's Kelly, Chelsea, Beau, Megan, and Angie looking cool at Ollantaytambo.  I think that was supposed to be an Incan alter and not a couch...

  Professor Gunderson, Randy, Eric, Beau, and Jeff get a good view of Ollantaytambo up on Incan ledges.  Then it was off on the Inca Trail...two days, 9 kilometers, and countless fantastic views.

And this is the dry season?  No one let rain spoil their fun at the Sun Gate (ironic, huh?)

  Which was a good thing, since this was our next view.  WOW!  We spent the day at Machu Picchu and the night in Aguas Calientes, where Megan celebrated her birthday in style.  No photos of that!

  Randy shopping like a native near Puno.  This market has formal trading with money, but there is also a section purely devoted to bartering.  Did you know that the potato is from Peru and that they have over 100 different kinds?

  Riding the reed boats in Lake Titicaca.  Everyone wave to Augusto, the brave and indefatigable CEO of our tour company, Happy Tours.

  Swimming in Lake Titicaca?!?  Must be a guy thing.  Here we are at the Uros Islands in the lake.  For 500 years, people have lived on islands made of reeds in the lake--they specialize in fishing (and now tourism).  Check out the solar panel on the reed house--they have TV.

Last stop, the lovely colonial town of Arequipa with views of the volcano El Misti.  Final group photo!  You can count them, we still have 22.

All-in-all, we had a fantastic time, learned lots about Economic Development and business in Latin America, and got really good at calculating exchange rates!