A favorite way to experience a new place is to find a horse and a guide. Fortunately I found
Rancho Santana and Manuel near Pacora, 28 miles northeast of Chiclayo. This was my first opportunity to ride a
Peruvian Paso horse. It was a new experience. The gait is very smooth and comfortable, even at a moderate run. Manuel agreed to take me on a half-day ride to visit the nearby Santuario Histórico Bosque de Pomac (Pomac Forest Historic Sanctuary).
We rode along a dusty road that passes by corn fields, sugar cane, and adobe huts. Mango trees and papaya were seen near the homes.
The forest is a protected area of 15,000 acres, covered in dry algarrobo (carob) trees and containing huacas (adobe structures) dating from the middle Sicán period (900-1100 ad). Some have been covered with later Chimú burials.
This next huaca is 50 meters (164 feet) high. It must have been much larger originally. As with all huacas, it is built entirely of adobe bricks.
The huacas have been studied but not excavated. Manuel and I speculated on how much gold might be under this pile of dried mud. As with most huacas, rain and wind have carried away much of the original material. Up close the shapes of adobe bricks become apparent.
On the ride back to the ranch we see a well and equipment for making the adobe bricks. Little has changed in construction materials in the past two thousand years.
Heading back to the ranch, we run into a traffic jam on the trail. Some people are working on the irrigation supply, and we must wait 20 minutes until they finish covering the large flexible pipe carrying water just under the road. Ahead of us is a donkey cart with firewood. No one is in a hurry. My chestnut horse was the only impatient one on the road.
We rode along a dusty road that passes by corn fields, sugar cane, and adobe huts. Mango trees and papaya were seen near the homes.
The forest is a protected area of 15,000 acres, covered in dry algarrobo (carob) trees and containing huacas (adobe structures) dating from the middle Sicán period (900-1100 ad). Some have been covered with later Chimú burials. 
This next huaca is 50 meters (164 feet) high. It must have been much larger originally. As with all huacas, it is built entirely of adobe bricks.
The huacas have been studied but not excavated. Manuel and I speculated on how much gold might be under this pile of dried mud. As with most huacas, rain and wind have carried away much of the original material. Up close the shapes of adobe bricks become apparent.
On the ride back to the ranch we see a well and equipment for making the adobe bricks. Little has changed in construction materials in the past two thousand years.
Heading back to the ranch, we run into a traffic jam on the trail. Some people are working on the irrigation supply, and we must wait 20 minutes until they finish covering the large flexible pipe carrying water just under the road. Ahead of us is a donkey cart with firewood. No one is in a hurry. My chestnut horse was the only impatient one on the road.
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