Photo of the Day: Apu Veronica
- The beautiful Apu Veronica, considered a female mountain lord by indigenous people in the Peruvian Andes
She rises wide and conical over the Urubamba Valley, like a big-hipped mama towering over her children.
In the photo above, she’s bathed in luscious drifts of snow that resemble swirls of soft-serve ice cream. I suspect the photo was taken a while ago or immediately after a heavy snowfall because Veronica has lost much of her snowcap in the last fifteen to twenty years, as a result of global warming. She’s mainly brown now.
Veronica is my favorite mountain in the Andes.
—Barbara R. Drake
Barbara
I am an American writer who lived in Lima for seven years (2007-2014), where I covered Andean traditions, melting glaciers and daily life in the capital for Miami Herald, MSNBC and Huffington Post. I now live and work in northern Florida where I champion climate change advocacy and compassionate, affordable eldercare.
5 Comments
Alejandro
I love this mountain and her apu. It is not my favorite, which is Huaytapallana, but it’s up there. This is a lovely photo of Veronica, but as you mention, due to global warming, we may never see her the same way ever again. Thanks for another great post. (Enjoy your trip!)
Barb
Alejandro — Just checked out Huaytapallana at this link:
http://www.huaytapallana.com/
Your favorite apu is losing its ice cap, too, as the website’s front page describes. I will have to visit it (him?) before the ice disappears completely.
Just back from Ausangate — got a lot done there, met some amazingly resilient people, realized that I am a wimp when it comes to camping in sub-zero weather.
Veronica
What a surprise when I was visiting the Andes and learned about this gorgeous mountain.
Barb
And it has your name. I’d be honored to share the same name as this lovely mountain.
Jorge
Bonita fotografia, tengo publicada una similar o identica en http://www.rockclimbing.com, que interesante.