The Latin American honorees are, in alphabetical order, Argentina, Belize, Chile, and Suriname.

Argentina was praised for “a commitment…. towards zero net deforestation, including responsible land management plans and conservation efforts for more than a million hectares of the Atlantic Forest.”   Argentina is also a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas targets.

Belize was a leader in many categories, including top ranking for human rights, as well as outstanding commitment to ecological preservation. (The report did note that homosexuality remains a crime in Belize, but the law does not seem to be enforced).

Chile won praise for environmental commitment, as well as ranking high in civil liberties for it’s citizens.

Suriname made the list due to “its unspoiled rainforest biodiversity and sincere efforts towards ecotourism and environmental preservation.”

The Ethical Traveler is a project of Earth Island Institute.  The annual list seeks to honor nations which are serious about preserving their natural assets, promoting mindful travel, and building an economy in which local communities reap the benefits of tourist revenue.   This list is compiled based on environmental protection, social welfare, and human rights.

Fast forward to 2007, when 100 million votes were collected by internet, SMS and phone, as part of the “New 7 Wonders of the World” campaign, culminating in a list of seven monuments valued for their significance to the globe’s diverse cultural heritage. The goal: bring awareness and appreciation to these treasures, in hopes of conserving them.  Among the “winners” are the awe-inspiring sites of of Machu Picchu in Peru, and the pyramids of Chichenitza in Mexico.

The same non-profit group is behind the current “New 7 Wonders of Nature” campaign. The world is now being called upon to nominate and vote on the most treasured natural, rather than man-made, sites of the globe. Hundreds of places, from the Amazon Basin to K2 Mountain to the Red Sea, have been nominated, and the voting will continue through mid 2009. (Yes, YOU can vote! Check out: http://www.new7wonders.com )

Meanwhile, in Costa Rica, the newspaper La Nacion, perhaps as a kind of marketing ploy and hopefully at least out of curiosity, has already conducted a similar project of it’s own, collecting almost 30,000 votes to arrive at what it calls the “Seven Wonders of Costa Rica”. With so many stunning natural sites to choose from, it wasn’t difficult to come up with an impressive list:

* Isla del Coco, a Unesco World Heritage site known for clear waters and abundant marine life
* Arenal Volcano , providing amazement with an almost daily pyroclastic show, at close-enough range.
* Cerro Chirripo, a 3820 meter peak containing incredible biodiversity, and even a bit of snow.
* Rio Celeste, a clear-turned-bright-blue river containing waterfalls and hot springs, winding through the rainforest
* Tortuguero, a network of dense waterways, including the coastal nesting grounds of several sea turtle species.
* Poas Volcano, the largest active crater in the world with molten sulfur bubbling under huge crater lakes.
* Monteverde,  a cloud forest and wildlife refuge, housing hundreds of species, including the colorful Quetzal

Consider that many of these diverse, breathtakingly gorgeous, and often remote places are still located within a day’s drive of Costa Rica’s international airport, and of each other, albeit on a sometimes rough and windy road. No need to buy an around the world ticket or take the summer off to see all seven of these “wonders”. Technically, one could see all seven of them in seven days, but to really do them justice it would be better to (at least) double that.

Regardless of exactly who voted, or whether these are all really “wonders” or just wonderful places, the value of these sites is hard to question. Bringing attention to them can serve as a source of inspiration to learn a bit more, perhaps enough more to warrant exploring them in person. Hopefully if we can all manange to do so responsibly, we can hope to keep them around for a while, and let them disappear like the ones from the first list.

So you find yourself in Cuzco, Peru, and for whatever reason you are not going to traverse the famed Inca Trail, be it because you didn’t reserve your space far enough in advance or you simply don’t want to battle the throngs that are already on it. Rest assured, there are alternatives, and great ones at that.

Maukallacta is a relatively newer find that is located close enough to Cuzco that it makes for an ideal day trip. Travel to the base of the site is about two hours in automobile along a dirt road most of the way, though they are in the process of paving it. From the base it is roughly a 1-2 hour intermediate hike through the rich red and green Andean countryside.

Mario Canessa and Rudi Winsberg, owners of Andean Origins, make it their job to be experts on the road less traveled, and they were kind enough to show me this marvelous and virtually untouched gem of Quechua history. One of the beauties of this excursion is that you will, most likely, be the only people there besides the locals. There is a sort of caretaker that works near a makeshift entrance that will most likely ask you to sign the guest book. He will not, however, ask you for any sort of entrance fee. Maukallacta at this point is free to any who visit, and those, according to the caretaker, number about 2-5 a week (unlike the 500 daily spaces allotted for entrance to the Inca Trail).

A visit to Maukallacta involves two parts: exploring the ruins themselves and also exploring Puma Orqo (Puma Mount in the regional Quechua dialect) which served as a place of ritual and worship and houses various caves, altars, and pumas carved into the stone. And if you are as lucky as we were, you may even catch the locals who still reside in the area on break from working the cornfields drinking their homemade chicha (a fermented type of corn beer), which they undoubtedly will be more than generous in offering you some. We drank ours out of a bull’s horn and then washed it down with some Anis that they distill themselves.

From Puma Orqo the ruins of Maukallacta are about a one-mile walk. As Puma Orqo was considered a sacred place the dwellings were constructed across the way on a separate hill facing it, an act demonstrating the great importance this geographic formation held. The ruins were constructed in a mixture of the imperial or ashlar style (rocks ground and shaped to fit together with each other perfectly without mortar) and the regular style where rocks were placed together and the cracks were filled with mortar. Many of the ‘regular style’ walls were then covered with a layer of mud a few inches thick, though very little of this mud covering still remains.

Maukallacta was unearthed in recent years and excavation efforts are still in the works, though funding has been cut so an enormous portion of this site still remains mostly covered. You may even see where archeologists have closed off certain sections and covered their work with blue tarps to keep it protected from the elements, while other sections, completely open to exploration, contain some magnificent relics of ceramic works painted in the local style. These sections have been left in a natural state, but thatched roofs have been built to keep the rain out.

According to the caretaker it is thought that Maukallacta was home to some 5,000-10,000 inhabitants, which would qualify it as one of the largest sites of Quechua civilization found to date. As it was built on the side of a mountain, climbing up to a higher vantage point, sitting back and imagining how life was here when it was a thriving community can be quite entertaining. Where did the children play? Where, besides the areas already discovered, was work done? Besides ceramics, what other products were created here? Where were the sleeping quarters? There are endless questions for a community that itself came to an end. Possibly though, those that still live and work in the area are direct descendants of those children who once ran through the fields of Maukallacta.

So put on your hiking boots, pack a lunch (or if you happen to befriend the locals they will most likely invite you to join them for their almuerzo), prepare to save money, avoid the hordes, and go visit history being exhumed.

Additional Pictures:

Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4
Picture 5

Photos courtesy of Rudi Winsberg.