Recent Yanapana Activities
Working together for the Andean Condor in Peru
Waseem Nawaz, October 2013
Mountain Lodges and Frankfurt Zoological Society are working together near Salcantay to monitor the population of Andean Condors in the area and work towards promoting the conservation of the species in the region.
The Andean Condor has declined rapidly across much of its range during the last century primarily as a result of persecution and declines in food availability. In southern Peru these threats are exacerbated by the species use in Yawar Fiestas, the blood festival where a condor is captured and tied to the back of a bull. Whilst the aim is not to kill the condor, a number do die and others are injured and the capture of breeding birds results in failed breeding.
Women’s knitting group in Mollepata: new developments.
Waseem Nawaz, October 2013
In June, Yanapana hired Spanish designer Patricia Martinez to help a local women’s knitting group improve their designs and color combinations. At the moment, this group’s little shop is visited every other day by MLP tourists who are free to appreciate and buy their products. At the same time, MLP customers come into direct contact with people that live along the Salkantay trail. Most women in the area knit or weave or do both. Using a skill you have is a wonderful way of earning an income. These women are extremely resourceful: they knit, operate ice cream parlors, own horses and restaurants or little corner shops, amongst other things. They will go to great lengths to provide their families with a comfortable living.