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This 1500-megapixel photo of Machu Picchu, by photographer Scott Howard, provides such a deepness of detail that you could explore it for hours. You get to see the rocks’ lichen and even graffiti!

The image uses more than 400 single photos and took some 65 minutes to shoot completely (and more than 10 hours to render). The photos were taken at the end of the 4-day Inca Trail, upon arrival to Machu Picchu.

Online travel insurance company, WorldNomads.com, has launched a contest with a huge first prize: a 15-day adventurous holiday to Peru from anywhere in the world.

The contest is called “Where in the World is Sanchez?” and asks participants to send photographs or video of Sanchez doing things all over the world. By the way, Sanchez (the little orange guy that illustrates this post) is the company’s icon. An excerpt from WorldNomads.com contest webpage:

Sanchez, our most valuable employee (and company icon) has been slaving away 24/7 since World Nomads’ doors first opened in 2002. Finally it’s time for a holiday – we’re sending him on a world tour and we want YOU to find him!

We want you to send us photographs or video of Sanchez doing things all over the world.

Be the most creative and you could win an Intrepid trip to Peru which will be awarded to the best overall photograph or video!

You can find all the information on the contest in WorldNomads.com ’s “Where in the World is Sanchez?” page.

Scientists report that the Peru meteorite which is inside the crater it created when it hit the Earth has been hit by another meteorite.

Astronomer Dr. Povenmire Finootch says he is not surprised by this event. He told reporters that there is a phenomenon known as “training” wherein objects like meteors follow the exact path taken by previous meteors. Training occurs because the objects travelling along the same path share the exact point of origin.

No one was hurt when the new meteorite hit. A nearby taco vending stand sustained minor damage. The old meteorite was pushed further into its crater by the new meteorite.

As you might remember, a rare kind of meteorite did struck near Lake Titicaca, in the high plains of Peru, in September 2007. The event made it to the news some days later because it caused a mysterious illness among local residents, who complained of headaches and nausea. According to the experts, the illness was the result of the meteorite liberating arsenic fumes when after reaching an underground water supply.

Officials from Peru’s National Institute of Culture (INC) who inspected the discovery announced that the complex, which is 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) long and 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) wide, was likely either a religious center or a cemetery for nobility.

There is something undeniably mystical in the profound-blue waters of Lake Titicaca. According to the Incas, the Sun, Moon, and stars rose from the depths of the world’s highest navigable lake to originate the universe. Today, the mythical dimension grasps more earthly grounds: the intense colours of the lake, the pureness of the Andean highlands’ air, the man-made floating islands, and the colourful festivals that cheer-up Puno, the city at the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Enjoy!

Their high-energy show, a dazzling combo of celebratory dances and vibrant live music, bring to life the folkloric history of their ancestors (Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts).

The show starts at 8pm and tickets go from $15 to $48. More information on the Arsht Center website.

Complementing the live show by Perú Negro, there will be a free Afro-Peruvian Dance Workshop for ages 16 and up (Thursday 21st, 7-8 p.m., at Peacock Education Center, Knight Concert Hall, Arsht Center) and a Peruvian Cuisine Cooking Workshop (Friday 22nd, 7-10 p.m, at Johnson & Wales University).

Currently, 4 Peruvian wonders make it to the top77: Amazon River (7), Lake Titicaca (14), Colca Canyon (67), and Alpamayo Mountain Peak (70). Only the top 77 nominees will be considerated by a panel of experts for inclusion in the group of 21 finalist candidates. Personally, I’d also like to see the Manu National Park in there.

You can vote here, if you wish to.

INCA ruins, splendours from even-older cultures, Spanish colonial towns, pristine jungles and good food: Peru has much to offer the tourists who are flocking there in ever-greater numbers. But if it is not careful, its tourist industry risks becoming its own worst enemy.

The Amazon River is being proposed as one of the Natural Wonders of the World. The candidature of the World’s largest river in terms of water volume will be endorsed by Peru’s Loreto region, through its Department of Foreign Trade, Tourism and Handicrafts.

The Amazon river bathes the largest rainforest on Earth, the Amazon Rainforest, which accounts for more than half of the planet’s remaining tropical forests, and shelters more than 1/3 of all species in the world, including 1.300 species of birds, 10% of Earth’s mammals, and 15% of land-based plant species.

The discovery, reported by a U.S. archaeologist, was made in southern Peru in the region once inhabited by the ancient Nasca (often spelled “Nazca”) culture. The rare find adds to a slim body of evidence about New World mining practices, said Kevin J. Vaughn, an anthropologist at Purdue University who reported the find. The discovery sheds light specifically on how hematite was used by the Nasca, who flourished along the Pacific coast from about 100 B.C. to around A.D. 600. The culture is known for etching giant drawings in the Nasca desert [the Nazca Lines, ndr], as well as making textiles, designing irrigation systems, and creating colorful pottery adorned with images of plants, animals, and complex religious symbols. “Our hypothesis is that the Nasca people used the red-pigmented mineral primarily for ceramic paints,” Vaughn said.

More than 12,500ft above sea level, surrounded by Lake Titicaca, in the Altiplano of Peru, Suasi Island hotel doesn’t make much noise about being on what must be the highest island in the world, but then shouting’s not really its style. The country’s only entirely solar-powered hotel, Suasi Island is all about the peace: so remote, it is reached only after a 3½hour crossing from Puno town (or a bone-rearranging drive around the lake’s northern shores), this is a seriously mind-clearing refuge. Especially if you book yourself the hotel’s Andean Cottage, a two-bedroom stone and adobe lakeside shack with mighty views across the lake. I say shack, but this is no Scottish bothy: instead, it has its own pier, a butler, a wood-burning stove and enough colonial touches to thrill a conquistador.

Roads were blocked and the train service from Cusco to Machu Picchu was suspended, as had been previously announced by Peru Rail, the company managing the railway. Flights in and out of Cusco, though, continued to operate normally.

The proposed law, number 20167, will make it easier for private investors to be awarded concessions for building hotels near Cusco’s historic centre and in areas adjacent to archaeological sites. But Cusqueños –including the regional authority– fear that the law would just make it easier for foreign investors to grow rich from the old Inca Capital’s cultural heritage.

The controversy, though, is far from coming to an end. One of the leaders of the protest announced they will call for a new demonstration if the central government in Lima didn’t revoke the law.

According to Mexican newspaper El Universal, filming for next James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, will include scenes in Machu Picchu. Allegedly, filming will occur during the first half of March, while the film is expected for November 2008.

The report says that the production crew will consist of approximately 250 people, though it is not yet known if Daniel Craig will be present for filming.

The film poster, that illustrates this post, is available for download as a desktop wallpaper at the James Bond official site.

PromPeru, Peru’s Tourism Promotion Agency, has launched a nice advertising campaign in London. More than 300 taxis on the British capital will carry distinctive images of Peru, promoting the country as a choice vacation destination.

According to PromPerú, the UK is Peru’s second largest incoming tourist market in Europe. In 2006, more than 65,000 British visitors arrived to Peru (photo: PromoPerú).