Have you ever imagined that there could be a mountain that has all the colors of the rainbow? Nature has given the Peruvian region of Cusco some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, including Vinicunca, also known as Winikunka.
This incredible mountain has multiple names, such as “Siete Colores”, “Cerro Colorado” or “Rainbow Mountain”. They all refer to the beautiful colors that appeared as a result of the combination of a wide variety of minerals over the years and years. of natural geological evolution.They were exposed by the erosion of sedimentary rocks, without any human intervention.
It is located within the Vilcanota mountain range, in the Pitumarca district, at 5,200 meters above sea level.
A newly discovered wonder
Until not long ago, the Vinicunca mountain was surrounded by ice, which prevented the movement of people. But since 2016, this place has received hundreds of visitors a day, which makes it, along with Machu Picchu, one of the most visited places in Cusco.
Quickly, it became one of the world’s tourist sensations. According to the Peruvian tourism authorities, in a little less than two years, after the melting of the ice and its popularity explosion fueled in large part by social media, Vinicunca went from receiving just a few dozen tourists a day to more than a thousand.
In August 2017, it was featured on Business Insider’s list of 100 Places to Visit Before You Die Recommended by Travel Experts. Members of the Pampachiri indigenous community, who reside in the Pitumarca district, have become guides and handicraft merchants for the avid tourists who visit the region every day.
Fauna, flora and minerals
While the region’s tourism boom is recent, the story of how these beautiful rocks came to be can be traced back millions of years of geological evolution.
Vinicunca’s rainbow appearance is due to a complex history of marine, lake and river sediments. These were transported by the water that previously covered the area and have been accumulating on the mountain for about 65 to 2 million years.
The colors are the result of various minerals interacting with each other:
Pink or fuchsia: a mixture of red clay, mud, and sand.
White: sandstone (quartz sand) and limestone.
Purple or lavender: mixture of clay and calcium carbonate, and silicates.
Red: argillites and clays.
Green: clays rich in a mixture of iron and magnesium, and copper oxide.
Brown, yellowish, mustard or gold: limonites, calcareous sandstones rich in minerals combined with sulfur.
But in addition to being a mineral spectacle, the Vinicunca region also has beautiful examples of the typical flora and fauna of the high Peruvian Andes. Camelids such as llamas, alpacas and vicuñas are common in the area. Local people also raise horses to offer as transportation to visitors.
As for the flora, due to the height of this region, the ichu or natural grass of the Andes abounds.
Is the melting due to climate change?
Many have expressed concern about the melting ice that used to hamper tourism in the region, and believe it could be a direct effect of climate change. However, experts are not so sure that this is the case.
Juan Carlos Gómez, from the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP), told BBC Mundo that the hill used to be partially covered with ice and that it received temporary snow until the early 1990s. Some experts do not entirely agree with classifying it as a glacier to the ice of the mountain.
At the moment, there is no direct evidence that climate change is the cause of the melting ice, but it can be said that the nearby region has suffered severe melting of glaciers in recent times.
Would you like to visit the mountain of seven colors?
Sources:
Ticket to Machu Picchu
Peru Rail
BBC World