Our last days in Peru have been very hectic. We were in four different towns/villages in one day and slept in dirty hostels, but Andrés got some valuable data. Thanks to the help of Kelluyo Tambo's manager, Alonso, we managed to get in contact with otherwise suspicious local people. And they have all the right to be so. In may 2011, a Canadian mining company got the rights to exploit the silver mine of Santa Ana in Huacullani, which lead to massive protests all around the Puno region, mainly because of environmental reasons and small benefits to the local communities. This event is commonly known as the 'aymarazo'. And still today this area is very suspicious of white people. Luckily, and thanks to Alonso's help, we did not encounter any problems, and the locals were very helpful, as they learnt about my thesis project and wanted to help in order to get a better commercial option for their qañawa, which is one of their main incomes.
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| Qañawa field affected by a dry spell early in the season. The plants are small and the yield will also be. |
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| Huacullani, the place where the 'aymarazo' protests started. Further up to the left, out of the picture, the mining activity is plundering the mountain of this valuable resource. |
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