Dear Far Horizons travelers,

When we said we were from the United States, the reply was always, “We love Americans” or “I have a brother in Chicago…do you live near him?” When we explained that we needed to find clothing for our group member, the people on the street helped us find the necessary items with excitement, warmth and laughter. They made us feel genuinely welcomed to their country.

We are often asked why we choose to go to countries like Iran, Syria, Jordan, Turkey at this time of world turmoil. Travel is an important means of breaking down cultural barriers and it is only when we are able to meet the average Iranian (or Syrian…or Jordanian…) on the street that we are able to gain a glimpse of the similarities between us rather than the differences.

Interested in your own unique experience in Iran? Our next trip to Iran departs in May 2007 and is led by Dr. Holly Pittman.

Far Horizons specializes in trips with not only an archaeological emphasis but also includes local cultural events. For example, Orthodox churches throughout Ethiopia celebrate Easter with an unrivalled intensity and passion, and in April you will experience the colorful celebrations. During our trip to Bhutan, you can join the raucous crowds of Bhutanese as villages come to life with vivid color, a cacophony of music, and cheerful dancing as valley dwelling farmers and townsfolk come together to exorcise evil spirits and rejoice in seasonal changes. Our trip to Easter Island includes the annual festival known as “Tapati.” This celebration reveals the Rapanui culture through exciting contests of strength and skill, grass skirted performers dancing to mesmerizing melodies of Polynesian music, and performances of Kai kai (cat’s cradle), the creation of string figures accompanied by the hypnotic chant used to hand down the island’s history from generation to generation.

Interested in viewing solar eclipses? We will have itineraries wrapped around several upcoming solar events - China’s Silk Road in July/August 2008, eastern China in July 2009, and Easter Island in July 2010. Contact Far Horizons for details.

We encourage you to frequently visit our award-winning website as trips change and new itineraries are constantly
being added. The best way to keep abreast of new offerings is to receive our short weekly email newsflashes. If you are not receiving them, please, join our Mailing List.

Happy traveling,

Mary Dell Lucas
Director

Recent Discoveries in Peru
By Dr. Bill Sapp

The cover of May 2002 National Geographic.

The preservation of prehistoric cultural material on the coast of Peru is nothing short of phenomenal. Many artifacts survive because of the dry climate that might otherwise be lost. The desert environment acts to preserve baskets and textiles particularly well. Often, the climate dries burials to the point that skin and hair are preserved. Although called mummies”, natural processes preserve these burials rather than deliberate mummification.

At Huacarones, outside of Lima, noted Peruvian archaeologist Willy Cock, excavated some 2,500 burials from an Inka period cemetery. One of the recovered bodies still had a feathered cap in place. The fellow wearing the cap appeared on the May 2002 cover of National Geographic. Far Horizons tour groups visit Willy in his lab, where we are able to get a close up look at the cap, as well as some of the other remarkable artifacts recovered from Huacarones.

More recently, archaeologists unearthed a high status Moche female at the pyramid of Huaca El Brujo, on the North Coast. Lead archaeologist Régulo Franco believes that she was a ruler of the Moche polity that controlled the Chicama Valley some 1600 years ago. In 2004, Sr. Franco allowed the Far Horizons tour group to go behind the scenes and view some newly discovered polychrome mud friezes at the top of the pyramid. The Moche burial was recovered from the same area a few months later. You can read more about the burial in the June 2006 issue of National Geographic. You can read more about some of the mud friezes at El Brujo in a July 2004 National Geographic article titled “Temple of Doom.”

Join Dr. Bill Sapp and visit El Brujo on our Inka and Their Ancestors trip to Peru June 22 - July 10, 2007.