Lomas de Lachay is a national park in a micro climate 105 kms north of Lima Peru. Located in the coastal desert, all of the vegetation exists by condensing water from the heavy fog. There is no rain. It is an island of green and moisture in the brown desert.
Date(s): September 14, 2008. Album by Gerry W. Photos by Gerry w. 1 - 52 of 52 Total. 95 Visits.
enlarge 120KB, 743x800 1 North from Lima on Panamericana to km 105.
enlarge 39KB, 800x600 2 This is just before the turn off to Lachay. You can see the desert on both sides. The highway is on the coast in this area.
enlarge 70KB, 800x600 3 At the turnoff to the park.
enlarge 99KB, 800x597 4 Turn East for about 6 kms.
We went Sept 14, 2008. In the middle of the wet, foggy season. Therefore, the green season.
enlarge 74KB, 800x432 5 Entry ticket.
enlarge 70KB, 800x632 6 We did the shorter blue trail. Took over 3 hours, but we stopped a lot for pics. The next time we will do the longer trail on the ridge.
enlarge 76KB, 800x600 7 Sparse vegetation near highway.
enlarge 43KB, 800x600 8 Increasing vegetation up from highway.
enlarge 134KB, 800x600 9 Getting better.
enlarge 61KB, 800x600 10 Just before the entry gate, about half way from the highway to the parking lot.
Note the heavy fog. On clear days, the desert around the park can be seen. We could not on this date.
enlarge 79KB, 800x600 11 Now close to a metre tall. The yellow flowers are nettles. They were blooming this weekend. This happens once per year and is known as the "flowering desert".
enlarge 46KB, 800x600 12 Lookin' at the world through a windshield.
enlarge 52KB, 800x600 13 Cactus in the mist.
The fog gave everything a ghostly feel. This would be a good place to shoot a horror movie.
enlarge 54KB, 800x533 14 Parking lot. The information building is just visible in the back.
enlarge 59KB, 800x533 15 A lot of dead gnarly trees
enlarge 106KB, 800x534 16 A map in the parking area.
enlarge 97KB, 800x533 17 There are guides to give info.
enlarge 63KB, 800x637 18 I don't know the names of the plants or flowers.
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enlarge 92KB, 800x793 20 The drops are not from rain, but from condensation.
enlarge 68KB, 800x729 21 A kind of lacy appearance. These flowers were all face down, so I had to pick one and put it on a leaf.
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enlarge 40KB, 800x533 23 More cactus in the mist.
enlarge 85KB, 800x533 24 This plant has some light greenish globes.
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enlarge 31KB, 800x533 27 Close up of nettles.
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enlarge 36KB, 800x399 29 We saw a few birds, no other animals that day.
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enlarge 69KB, 800x533 35 I don't know what these are called. They grow on bare rock.
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enlarge 89KB, 800x600 37 Me taking the previous 2 pics.
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enlarge 28KB, 800x534 43 My favourite pic of the day, I think. It was not raining, this shows how all the life here extracts moisture from the air.
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enlarge 26KB, 800x188 51 THis is about half way from the highway to the info building, The ticket stand is in the distance.
There were a few flying around, then one flapped down and stood by the road. I was walking to take some pics when a truck went by at about 100 mph and scared him off. So I never got close enough to get a really good pic.
