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the Llama, whose two glowing eyes
are marked by Alpha and Beta
Centauri. This massive dark con-
stellation spans some 40° from tip
to tail and was thought to be a
shadow cast by a great llama drink-
ing from the cosmic river that is
the Milky Way. Upside down and
below the Llama is its nursing cria,
the Baby Llama.
Perched between the Llama and
the Southern Cross is Yutu the
Tinamou (a ground bird similar to
the partridge), which is also known
as the Coalsack. To the lower right
of Yutu sits Hanp’atu the Toad, so
named because its arrival in the
morning sky near the end of
October corresponds with an
increase in the croaking of toads,
which the Incas thought signaled
coming rain.
Beneath this incredibly dark
southern sky, accompanied by the
sounds of countless stray dogs
arguing in the distance, I felt a
sense of serenity wash over me as
I gazed upward. In fact, after our
impromptu star party, I recallreclining back on a bench to take
everything in when a friendly
hotel employee wandered up and
asked, “¿Tranquila, sí?” And it
truly was. There are only a hand-
ful of times in my entire life that I
remember being in such a relaxed
and peaceful place.Ancient Incan ruins
The next day, June 26, we packed
our bags and boarded a train to
the town of Aguas Calientes, unof-
ficially known as Machu Picchu
Pueblo. This small but bustling
village is located in a valley below
the famous Incan ruins of Machu
Picchu, which were built around
the 15th century.
After a quick lunch, we boarded
a bus that took us up the narrow
and winding road to Machu
Picchu. Upon arriving at the
entrance of the ruins, I was ini-
tially taken aback by the swarms of
visitors clamoring to both enter
and leave the site. Fortunately,
within just minutes of entering,
the scores of tourists thinned outas we explored the roughly 200
buildings spread over some
20 acres of concentrated ruins.
When examining the buildings up
close, you could see that many of
the huge stone blocks interlocked,
like simple puzzle pieces. Our tour
guide explained that this technique
helped prevent the buildings and
walls from collapsing during the
region’s many earthquakes.
Also within these ruins was a
particularly notable structure: the
famed Temple of the Sun. While
most of Machu Picchu’s buildings
have rectangular foundations, the
Temple of the Sun has a semicircu-
lar design that includes two small
trapezoidal windows. These are
precisely oriented so that sunlight
passes perfectly through one win-
dow during winter solstice and the
other during summer solstice.- Incan stonework, like that on display at Machu Picchu
and the fortress of Sacsayhuaman (pictured here), often has
interlocking joints that help prevent the walls from
collapsing during the many earthquakes that frequent the
region. JAKE PARKS - Local weavers assemble handmade clothing using dyed
alpaca, llama, and sheep’s wool in the small village of
Chinchero. JAKE PARKS - Machu Picchu’s Temple of the Sun (bottom left) has two
trapezoidal windows that each align with the Sun at first
light during either the summer or winter solstice. JAKE PARKS
5
I felt a sense of serenity wash over me
as I gazed upward.