Peru

Marcos sent me my second postcard from Peru as well. A beautiful waterfall, and the parrot in the front is so cute :) 

The Amazon River ( Spanish and Portuguese: Amazonas) in is the second longest river in the world and is by far the largest by water flow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined (not including Madeira and Rio Negro, which are tributaries of the Amazon). It accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world's total river flow. In fact, the river becomes biggest in the world even just entering Brazil, at only 1/5 of its final discharge into the Atlantic. The Amazon has over 1,100 tributaries, 17 of which are over 1,500 kilometres long! The Amazon Basin, the largest in the world, covers about 40% of South America! 

A region of northern Peru bordered by Ecuador on the north and west, Cajamarca Region on the west, La Libertad Region on the south, and Loreto Region and San Martín Region on the east is also called Amazonas. Its capital is the city of Chachapoyas.

Many many thanks go to Marcos for this wonderful postcard and stamps!

Peru

A brand-new country in my collection - Peru! Thanks to Marcos, I've got this great postcard of ladies cooking on a floating island of Uros  located in the lake Titicaca. Population of people who live on the Uros, a group of 44 or so artificial islands made of totora, a plant native to the place.These islands have become a major tourist attraction for Peru, drawing excursions from the lakeside city of Puno. Their original purpose was defensive, and they could be moved if a threat arose. Many of the islands contain watchtowers largely constructed of reeds. Such an interesting place to live... I've also watched a documentary about it on the TV, talking about how they take care of the island and rebuild it little by little. 

Edwin Vásquez Cam was an Olympic sport shooter from Peru. He won a gold medal in the Free Pistol event in the 1948 Summer Olympics, his country's only Olympic gold medal so far. In order to celebrate 60 years from his gold medal, Peru launched this stamp above. Thanks, Marcos!