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Charles Wiegand

Roaming South America

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There are 495 blog posts for you to enjoy.

Lambayeque, Perú

March 13, 2024

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Lambayeque is located in the northwest coast of Perú and was founded in 1553 with the name of San Pedro de Lambayeque. Lambayeque has a population of about 61,000. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors this area had been populated by various indigenous groups. But then Francisco Pizarro arrived and set up a camp which eventually became an important mission which he entrusted to a compatriate, Juan de Barbarán, in 1536. The town slowly grew into an important stopover on the route to Lima. In 1619, there was an earthquake that devistated the town of Trujillo and most of the elite class moved to Lambayete. Then in 1720, the town of Saña was flooded and pretty much the entire population relocated to Lambayete. By the late 1900s, the area was famous for its sugar cane production.

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Sullana, Perú

March 11, 2024

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Sullana (pronounce the ll like a Y in English), is located in the northwest part of Perú was founded in July 1783. The entire metropolitan area of Sullana has about 200,000 people. Historianssay that this valley, the Chira Valley, used to be home to several indigenous groups as well as the Incas, that was until the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the early 1500s.

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Cali, Colombia

March 2, 2024

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Cali, or more correctly Santiago de Cali, is a city of more than two million people. By the land area of the city it is the secondbiggest city in Colombia, but by the population it is the third biggest. Cali was founded in July of 1536, that makes Cali 488 years old. The firstchurch built here, in 1538, is still standing and in use. Next to and attached to the church is the a house that is now used as an archeologicalmuseum. There are photos in the photo album.

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Clouds - A conversation with Gemini AI

March 1, 2024

I saw a meme on Threads about the weight of clouds. I've never seen anything about the weight of clouds before so this piqued my curiosity. I went to the Gemini AI and asked about this -

-Do scientists know the weight of clouds? If they do, how?

Yes, scientists have a good understanding of how much clouds weigh, though the exact weight can vary depending on several factors. Here's how theyestimate it:

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My upcoming second journey of South America

February 27, 2024

I am heading out for my second backpacking journey of South America on March 2. My plan is to spend a couple of months visiting many pueblos in Ecuador, then the same in Perú, then a month in Chile, a month in Argentina, and finally end in Paraguay. At this moment, I haven't made a final decision of where I will live. There are a couple of towns I like - Moyobamba (Northern Perú), Arequipa (Southern Perú), Formosa (Northeastern Argentina border with Paraguay), Encarnación (Southern Paraguay border with Argentina). Moyobamba is the smallest with a population of around 55,000; Arequipa has a pop. just under a million in the metropolitan area; Formosa is at about a half-million; Encarnació has about 100,000. Those numbers are very general as the websites with population data have numbers all over the map for all of those cities. Arequipa is definately bigger than my preference but I have visited that city two times and I really like it. The others are all in the size range that I prefer.

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Chip Wiegand

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Contact me:

chip at wiegand dot org

I used to teach English as a foreign language in Barranquilla, Colombia. Now I'm retired and traveling throughout South America.

I'm from Kennewick, Washington, USA. In my previous life, as I call it, I was an IT guy, systems administrator, computer tech, as well as a shipping/receiving guy and also worked as a merchandising guy in a RV/Camping store.

©2002 - 2026 Charles Wiegand