Peru from Above

Contributor Daniel Molina spent 22 days traveling Peru with his fiancee and his DJI Mavic Pro Platinum drone.  His footage allowed him to create this spectacular aerial tour of the southern part of the country, which is home to most of the country's greates natural and cultural treasures.  His video includes aerial footage of Miraflores, Paracas, Huacachina, Nazca, Colca Canyon, Puno; Cusco, Salkantay Trek, Humantay Lake, Machu Picchu (from a distance), Rainbow Mountain, Huaypo Lake, and more.

Check out the epic bird's eye views of South America's Peru and Bolivia, two of the world's most beautiful countries.  The video by AirVuz contributor and pilot Chris Short, which was nominated for the Drone Video of the Week contest, features amazing DJI Mavic Pro aerial footage from both countries, including the Peruvian capital Lima (one of the continent's largest cities), the Inca mountain redoubt of Machu Picchu high in the Andes Mountains, portions of the Amazon Rainforest, and the Atacama Desert.  

If you are considering a trip to Peru, this reel by contributor Niels Ahmes may be enough to convince you.  The video beautifully captures the astounding diversity of this South American country.   The opening of the video features aerial views of Amazonian Peru, the vast eastern provinces which lie within the world's largest river basin.  Then it's on to the Andes Mountains, home to some of the world's highest peaks.  You'll also get some great views of the country's Pacific coastline, its bird sanctuaries, and some of its mammal wildlife.  

In this video - a nominee for 2023 FPV Drone Video of the Year - by top creator Jturner, you'll explore Peru by FPV drone. The video was filmed over the course of a two week trip though the South American country and features footage from the Andes Mountains and the Amazon Basin parts of the country. Locations featured include the Andes city of Cusco, the Ausangate mountain southeast of Cusco, "rainbow mounain" of Pallay Punchu, Manu National Park, the pass of Abra Malaga, the fortress of Waqrapukara near Cusco, the Maras salt mines, and more.  

Check out this amazing professional drone reel from Peru, compliments of contributor Kapu Drone.  The reel demonstrates an impressive range of subject matter, ranging from landscape and city views to some shots of a dune buggy rally, a corporate event, and a large outdoor concert.  It also will show you the physical diversity of this vast South American land, with some amazing footage of the capital city Lima, the desert which runs just inland from parts of its coast, and its stunning coastal rock formations.  

TravelsinSouthAmerica used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to record highlights from a three week trip to Peru in 2017.  The video will show you the extent to which there are really "two Perus".  The first part of the video features the northeastern part of the country, which is where the mighty Amazon River rises.  This is extremely flat country; in the area around Iquitos there is no observable elevation.  Move to the second half of the video, and you will see a very different Peru - the land of the mighty Andes Mountains.  

Working on a documentary about the native peoples of Peru, contributor Reuben Langdon put together this phenomenal collection of drone footage from the great South American nation.  The video will give you a sense of the breadth of this country, one of the most geo- and bio- diverse in the world.  You will see Andes Mountain valleys, glimpses of the vast Amazon Basin which covers parts of the country, bird's eye views of some of the marks of Peru's Pre-Columbian civilizations, and much more.   

Kapu Drones is one of the top drone piloting companies in Peru, one of the world's most beautiful countries.  It's not surprising then that their latest demo reel is truly something special.  It was shot across this enormous South American land, featuring its landscapes ranging from the Atacama Desert to the peaks of the Andes to the Amazon Basin rainforest that covers much of the eastern part of the country.  It also features some outstanding action and people sequences, as well as some epic aerial views of the metropolis of Lima. 

Check out this stunning video from a ten day trek through Peru, compliments of top contributor and drone pilot semberadventure   The video features footage of some of the most spectacular sites in this South American country, ranging from the ruins of Machu Picchu to the old Inca city of Cusco and the stunning Cordillera Vilcanota mountain range (part of the Andes system) southeast of Cusco.  Watch it and you will quickly understand why Peru is becoming a go-to destination for more adventurous travelers.  

Contributor Travelsinsouthamerica created this amazing drone video of the area of Iquitos, in the northeastern corner of Peru.  Iquitos is the capital city of the country's Maynas province, not far from the borders with neighboring Colombia and Brazil.  Iquitos is considered one of the prime gateways to the vast Amazon rainforest, which covers much of Peru east of the Andes Mountains in addition to a good deal of northern Brazil and several other countries in the northern part of South America.  

Check out this magnificent drone video from the Andes Mountains of Peru, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot Gabriel Ante.  It's called the Cumbemayo Stone Forest, and it's a series of distinctive-looking rock formations set at an altitude of about 11.5k ft. above sea level (around 3.5k m) near the city of Cajamarca in the northern part of the country.  The rock formations, some of which reach heights of up to 60 ft. (about 18 m), are called Los Frailones.  Some of them appear to resemble hands and other recognizable shapes.  

Peru's capital city Lima, located midway down its Pacific Coast, is a new city by Peruvian standards.  It was founded in 1535 by a Spanish Conquistador who had conquered the Inca Empire around Cusco, the older city to the south.  Now, Lima is home to a population of over 10 million, making it one of the top three cities in South America.  14Toothfilms used  a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create this memorable aerial view of the Peruvian city, whose population exceeds the next largest city by roughly ten times.   

Top contributor semberadventure took a 10 day driving and hiking journey through the South American country of Peru to experience the wildlife, landscapes, culture, and adventure of this Andean land.  He used a combination of a DJI Mavic Pro drone and GoPro cameras for ground shots to create this truly epic virtual tour of the famed Land of the Incas.   The Inca civilization arose in the 13th century and ruled much of western South America until it was conquered by the Spanish explorers late in the 16th century.  

Check out this stunning drone video from a climb to the top of Urus Mountain in Peru.  The mountain, which has a peak altitude of around 5.4k meters above sea level (around 17.8k ft.), is part of the great Cordillera Blanca range.  These "White Mountains" are also home to Huascarán, the tallest mountain in Peru.  The entire range is part of the Ancash region of the country, which is situated north of Lima and extends from the Pacific coast well into the interior of this South American country.   

A Peruvian tour operator put together this fantastic video of the area around the great Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.  Located high in the Andes Mountains in the south-central part of this gigantic South American country, Machu Picchu is considered one of the best-preserved ruins sites from the Pre-Columbian world which was upended by European conquests.  The complex was built in the 15th century overlooking what's called the Sacred Valley, in the eastern section of the Cordillera Occidental Andes sub-range.

In this magnificent video by Seven Cinematics, you will be taken into the heart of the Peruvian rainforest.  Iquitos is the primary city of northeastern Peru and essentially the capital of the Amazonian portion of the country.  Peru's ninth largest city by population, the city  sits on the great river, whose headwaters lie to the west and southwest of the city.  Among other things, it serves as one of the main gateways for travelers heading into the rainforest which covers a sizeable percentage of the country's surface area.  

This Drone Video of the Week Nominee by contributor and drone pilot JTurner shows off the beauty of Ausangate Mountain in Peru. Part of the Andes and about 100 km (around 60 miles) southeast of Cusco, it is home to alpaca and llama herding communities that are some of the last pastoralist societies in the world. The Ausangate Trek is the highest trek in Peru, reaching an altitude of about 4k meters (over 13k ft.) over its 70 km (45 mi.) length.  The trek can end with a journey to Machu Picchu - the ancient Incan citadel.

Unraveled Studios used a drone to capture the unbelievable beauty of Peru's Rainbow Mountain, a truly unique geological phenomenon.  Also known as Vinicunca, it's part of the Andes range in the south central part of the country.  The mountain is known not for its height (5.2k m or 17k ft) but rather for its stunning rainbow colors which derive from a unique sedimentary pattern.  Unrivaled Studios gives us a breathtaking aerial look at the mountain, which has only recently opened for tourism. 

Check out this drone video from the Plaza de Armas (main square) of the city of Arequipa in southern Peru, compliments of contributor Esteban Clua.  Although its population is less than a tenth of Lima's, it is Peru's second largest city by that measure.  It's situated in the region of the same name, which is the third province up from the country's southern border with Chile.  Founded by the Spanish in the midst of their conquest of the country, Arequipa is one of the most industrialized cities in the country.  

Considered one of the most magnificent geologic feats in the world, the Rainbow Mountains in the Peruvian Andes are a sight to see.  Recently opened for tourism, the mountains are known for being difficult to access, requiring a several day hike to reach the peak.  Contributor and drone pilot enoksen89 made things much easier with this excellent drone video.  The video also features footage of nearby Cusco, the magnificent Colca Canyon (one of the world's deepest), and the oasis village of Huacachina.

Top contributor Enrico Pescantini put together this short but amazing drone video from one of the most fascinating sites in South America: the man-made Uros Islands in Lake Titicaca.  Built by the native Uros people, these floating islands are made from totora, a reed which grows in abundance around the shallow parts of Titicaca.  Roughly 60 in number, the islands are clustered near the Peruvian town of Puno.  With a base elevation of 3.8k meters (around 12.5k ft.), the Andean lake is one of the largest freshwater bodies in South America.

The Mighty Amazon River becomes "mighty" in part due to the many tributaries that feed it as it courses through the vast area of rainforest known as the Amazon Basin in northern South America.  One of these is the Nanay River, in northeastern Peru.  The river runs about 315 km (around 200 mi.) before joining the Amazon at the city of Iquitos, the main city in the Peruvian Amazon region.   In this video by contributor Niels Ahmes, you'll get a bird's eye view of the Nanay as it joins the larger waterway.

Playa San Bartolo is a beach town located roughly in the middle of Peru's long Pacific Ocean (western) coastline.  The beach sits on a small bay near the south end of the province of Lima, about a 90 minute drive south of the capital on the 1S highway.  Playa San Bartolo has become a popular surfing spot, and was recently named as one of the top beaches in South America in a ranking published by the Travel Channel.  You can check it out from a bird's eye perspective in this drone video by contributor and pilot Josemulti.

At Punta San Juan in southern Peru, a nature preserve has been established to study rare birds in an increasingly endangered environment.  The preserve is home to 4,500 species of birds, some of them quite rare, including the Humboldt Penguin.  Top content creator and pilot Danielgarate77 used a drone to visually capture the diversity of the bird life in this park.  The reserve is located on Peru's Pacific coastline, roughly equidistant from Peru's two largest cities, Lima and Arequipa.  

Part of the Andes system, Peru's Ausangate is one of the highest mountains in the Western Hemisphere.  The might mountain stands nearly 6.4k meters above sea level (about 21k ft.), making it the highest peak in the Cordillera Vilcanota subrange.  Contributor Jturner took a DJI Mavic Pro drone on a 5 day hiking trek around this mountain, which sits in southern Peru.  Prepare to be astounded by the sights these hikers encountered: turquoise lakes, red mountains, golden pastures, alpaca, and llamas.

Located in southern Peru, Cusco was the seat of the Inca Empire from  the 13th century until the area was conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century.  Contributor Martigen traveled to Peru in early 2018 with a DJI Mavic Pro drone.  He created this amazing aerial video of this city which lies at an altitude of 3.4k m (11.2k) feet and which is the gateway to the great Incan royal estate and citadel of Macchu Picchu.  Like Macchu Picchu, Cusco has also been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage cultural site. 

Contributor Kapu Drone put together this beautiful drone video of an area in northern Peru.  It's an area around the town of Romero Circa in the Province of Santa Cruz, which is part of the Cajamarca Department.  The area here is east of the main slopes of the Andes, which run parallel to Peru's Pacific coast but narrow in the north.  It's known as the Peruvian Highlands, and it's a kind of transition landscape between the peaks of the Andes and the vsat Amazon Basin which opens up as one moves east.  

For drone's eye views of massive glaciers in the Andes, look no further than this epic aerial video by top contributor and pilot Jturner.  He took a five day trek on Ausangate in Peru, whose peak sits 6.4k meters above sea level (almost 21k ft.).  Using a DJI Mavic Pro drone, he was able to capture some incredible footage of the glaciers which cover this mountain near Cusco, one of the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere.  Ausangate is the highest peak in the masif known as the Cordillera Vilcanota.

Behold this drone video of Peru's Colca Canyon, one of the great natural wonders of South America.  The canyon was created by the river of the same name.  The great canyon is situated about a two hour drive northwest of Arequipa, Peru, Peru's second-largest city and the principal urban area in the southern part of the country.  The canyon has a depth of almost 3.3k meters (about 10.7k ft.), making it the deepest canyon in the world and about twice as deep as the USA's Grand Canyon.  It is one of Peru's most-visited tourist sites.  

Among the many archaeological sites of Peru is the Chavín de Huántar, a site associated with the pre-Inca Chavin natives.  The site was built no later than 1200 BC in the Ancash region of west-central Peru, over two millennia before the Inca civilization arose in the 13th century.  In this video, contributor Daniel Garate shows us drone footage he took with a hexicopter in connection with work for a 2015 documentary on Chavin culture.  The natural and human scenery in this aerial video is epic.  

Despite the fact that the great Amazon River is most closely associated with Brazil (the location of its mouth), a very large percentage of Peru is part of the Amazon Basin as well - more of the country than that which is part of the Andes Mountains system.  In this amazing drone video, content creator Danielgarate77 used a hexacopter drone to film a boat cruising one of the many Amazon tributaries in the Pacaya-Samiria preserve in northeastern Peru, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage natural site.  

Neils Ahmes created this beautiful drone video from Tarapoto, a city northern Peru.  It's situated northeast of the capital city Lima, on a plateau which sits between the Andes Mountains and the Amazon River Basin.  It's used as a departure point for trips into the Amazon rainforest which covers much of the northeastern part of the country.  It's the largest city in the San Martin region, which is the transition region between the two main topographies of the country - mountains and jungle.  

While Peru may be known more for the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, the Andes Mountains, and the Amazon Rainforest, it's also home to some great beaches on its western (Pacific Ocean) coastline.  Charca y Mar Beach is located up the coast from the capital city Lima.  It is, among other things, an ideal spot for paragliding - its beautiful sloping sand dunes provide a perfect launching point.  In this video, contributor Niels Ahmes used a drone to capture some of the epic flying action on the Peruvian coast.

 Check out this amazing drone video of one of the world's highest waterfalls, compliments of contributor Auquicu and his DJI Mavic Air drone.  It's called the Gocta Cataracts, and it's in the north-central part of Peru in its Amazonas Department (region).  Incredibly, the existence of the falls was known only to locals until 2002.  It has since been measured as having a height of 771 meters (a bit over 2.5k ft.), which would make it the world's third-highest, although there is some controversy on the methodology.

Contributor Itay sorin created this spectacular drone video from Huayhuash Cordillera (masif) of Peru.  A subrange of the Andes, the Huayhuash sit in the  country's Ancash, Lima and Huánuco regions.  The range has seven peaks over 6k meters above sea level (about 20k ft.).  Its highest peak is Mt. Yerupajá, the second tallest mountain in Peru, which has a peak elevation of over 6.6k meters above sea level (about 21.6k ft.).  The Huayhuash Circuit is considered one of the most demanding in South America.

If you've wondered why Peru is becoming one of the hottest destinations in South America, look no further than this magnificent drone video by top content creator and drone pilot Niels Ahmes.  He takes us over some of the most spectacular sights of the areas around Cusco, in the heart of the Peruvian Andes.  You will be treated to epic views of Andes Peaks, Inca ruins, llamas wandering through alpine valleys, and the spectacular Rainbow Mountain, one of the most exotic looking mountains in the world.  

Check out this amazing drone video of some famous ruins in Lima, Peru, compiments of contributor Auquicu.  Shot with a DJI Mavic Air drone, the video beautifully captures the Huaca Pucllana ruins in the Peruvian capital city, one of the largest urban areas in South America.  The centerpiece of the site is a tiered pyramid constructed of adobe and clay materials.  The structure was built by the Lima Culture, a pre-Incan society centered around modern-day Lima which existed in the first seven centuries AD.  

Check out this spectacular drone video of a canyon in a remote region of southern Peru, compliments of contributor 14tooth Films.  The Lost Canyon (El Cañon de los Perdidos) is located in a desert area in the department (state) of Ica, which lies about 2/3 of the way down the length of Peru, between the departments of Lima (to the north) and Arequipa (to the south).  Shot with a DJI Mavic Pro drone, the video beautifully captures the magnificent, other-worldly landscape in and around the canyon.

Content creator and pilot AB Expeditions created this amazing video promoting their trek to a spectacular lake high in the Andes Mountains of Peru.  Humantay Lake lies along the trek to Salcantay, one of the highest peaks in the Vilcabamba sub-range.  Accessing the lake requires a one day (round trip) hike from the city of Cusco.  As you'll see in the video, it's worth the effort: the lake is stunning as is the towering Salcantay, which has a peak elevation of nearly 6.3k meters (about 20.5k ft.).  

Ride along with AB Expeditions on a trek to some spectacular Inca ruins in the Andes of Peru.  The ruins of Choquequirao are sometimes referred to as the "little sister" of the more well known Incan citadel of Machu Picchu.  That's partly because they are much harder to access; reaching them requires a strenuous 4-5 day (round trip) hike from the gateway city of Cusco.  For adventure-minded travelers seeking to avoid crowds, the trip is a great alternative or can be combined with a hike to Machu Picchu as well.  

Top AirVuz contributor Niels Ahmes brings us this haunting drone video from the great city of Lima, Peru during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic in the Spring of 2020.  Like its neighbor Ecuador, Peru was fairly hard-hit by the deadly virus, with nearly 30,000 confirmed infections and nearly 800 deaths reported by the end of April; the giant capital city was the epicenter of the national outbreak.  In order to combat the spread of the disease, the country went under a national quarantine on March 16.  

Contributor trip pea created this beautiful video of a trek in a little-known coastal region of Peru.  It's located in the Paracas National Reserve, and it's on the Pacific Ocean coastline of the Ica Department (state), which lies about 2/3 of the way down the country's coastline.  The reserve was established to protect some of the rare flora and fauna that inhabit the area.  The area is also home to remains from the Paracas culture, a pre-Inca civilization that existed here over 2,000 years ago.  

The pre-Columbian Inca culture of Peru is famous for its technical prowess in certain areas.  One of them was bridge building.  In these mountainous lands, bridges were crucial to the ability of the Inca Empire to manage its vast landholdings.  One of their great innovations was deceptively simple - wire rope bridges that were hung extensively over canyons and gorges throughout the region.  Here's a drone video of a surviving bridge over the Urubamba River, compliments of contributor Azazel.  

Top contributor JustinPoore brings us this fantastic travel video from an oasis in the desert of southwestern Peru.  The video combines ground camera and drone footage of the area around Huacachina, which lies just a few km/mi from the provincial capital city of Ica.  It's in the province of Ica, one of the 25 of which this giant and fantastically diverse South American country is comprised.  It's situated about 2/3 of the way down the country's long Pacific Ocean coastline and just a bit inland (east).

The opening of Rainbow Mountain in Peru (known locally as Vinicunca) to tourism brought a near-immediate influx of travels to this marvel of nature in the Cusco region.  It's gotten crowded though and it's still very hard to access, but there is an alternative.  AB Expeditions created this fascinating drone video of another mountain called Palccoyo.  It's considerably closer to Cusco (the main city of south-central Peru), and its other-worldly multicolor appearance is similar to its more famous cousin.  

Contributor ChrisWilliams created this beautiful 4k drone video of a beautiful beach area on the Pacific Ocean coastline of Peru.  It's called San Bartolo, which is part of the eponymously named district in the southern part of the Lima Province.  The beach is located about a two hour drive south of the capital city, more or less halfway down the long Peruvian coastline, just south of the somewhat better-known (and more crowded) beach town of Punta Negra.  The video was shot with a DJI Mavic 2 Zoom.  

Prepare to be blown away by this stunning 4k drone video from a group of alpine lakes high in the Andes Mountains of Peru, compliments of contributor Gabriele Ante.  The Pichcacocha Lakes are a group of five freshwater lakes in Ambo, the southernmost of the eleven provinces which make up the Department of Huánuco in the north central part of this large South American country.  The lakes, which are connected by streams and waterfalls, are about a day's drive northeast of Peru's capital city, Lima.  

If you're looking for a reason to visit the South American country of Peru, this video by hectorespinosa may do the trick.  Mixing some ground footage in with spectacular aerials, it features the following locations: the archaeological site of Ollantaytambo, about 70 km (45 mi.) northwest of Cusco; the great Incan fortress of Machu Picchu; the desert oasis of Huacachina in the coastal Ica region; the coastal town of Paracas; and Aguas Calientes, a town in the Urubamba River Valley, near Cusco.   

The Dakar Rally is probably the world's most famous long-distance off-road race.  Featuring both two- and four-wheel races, it began as a race between Paris and Dakar in Senegal, West Africa (with some over-water transport) in 1978.  Beginning in 2009, due to security concerns on parts of the African leg of the course, it moved almost half a world away, to Peru in South America.  Top contributor freeway prod created this amazing drone video of the event, which kept its original name despite the venue change.  

Yanachaga–Chemillén National Park lies more or less right on the boundary between the Andean and Amazonian "halves" of Peru.  The park is situated in the Pasco Region, which lies more or less in the geographic center of the country.  In this drone video by Niels Ahmes, you'll get to see an epic ATV trek into the park from the launching point of Oxapampa.  The town lies on the eastern side of the Pasco region.  The terrain here is referred to as the Selva Alta, which translates roughly to "High Jungle". 

Niels Ahrens created this stunning drone video of Iquitos, the de-facto capital of the Amazon Basin region which covers most of eastern Peru.  It sits on the great waterway, the world's largest by water flow, just upstream from where it's joined by its Napo tributary.  For a large city of nearly 500,000 (one of Peru's ten largest), Iquitos is fantastically remote - surrounded by massive areas of rainforest, it has no road access.  It serves as the primary jumping-off point for journeys into the heart of the Amazonian jungle.  

Esteban Barrera brought a DJI Phantom 4 drone on a trip to the Huaraz province of west-central Peru.  The video features epic footage both of the provincial capital (also called Huaraz) as well as the Cordillera Blanca mountain range which covers much of the province.  Watch the video to see his drone take off from Vallunaraju, at an elevation of about 5.7k meters or around 18.6k ft.  The Cordillera Blanca is home to Huascarán, the highest mountain in Peru which is another thousand meters (around 3.3k ft.) taller.  

Check out this drone video of a little known archaeological site in Peru, compliments of contributor CUSCO DRONE.  It's called Pumamarka, and it's located in the Cusco region which covers the south-central part of the country.  The site contains the ruins of a fortress built by the Inca civilization which ruled over much of the Andes region in pre-Columbian times.  Overlooking the confluence of two mountain rivers, the fortress once guarded the entrance to the Sacred Valley. The site is accessible via a walking trail from the town of Pallata. 

Check out this stunning drone video from the Andes Mountains in Peru.  The video was filmed in the Huancaya District of Yauyos, the southeasternmost of the 11 provinces of the Lima region.  The district lies on the eastern side of the Cordillera Central, one of the country's main mountain ranges.  The "star" of the show is a multi-tier waterfall called Carhuayno Falls, a complex of cataracts which runs through one of the region's mountain valleys.  The falls lie just to the west of Route 120, more or less due east of Lima.  

In 2016, contributor and pilot Nomad Drone created this incredible aerial tour of the trek to Machu Picchu, the great Inca city high up the Andes Mountains in Peru.  With amazing aerial shots of the landscape as well as the local inhabitants, this drone video will astound you.  Built in the early 16th century in the Andes Mountains as a royal estate for the Inca King, Machu Picchu was abandoned prior to the completion of the Spanish conquest of Peru.  It is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage cultural site.  

Take in some incredible aerial views of Peru in this phenomenal drone video by contributor and pilot jvfilmmaker.  The video features footage from the southern mountain province of Cusco (Lake Huacarpay, Maras Salt Flats, Sacsayhuaman, Cusco City, Qoricancha, and the Mountain of Seven Colors aka Rainbow Mountain), the Miraflores district of Lima, the Festival of the Virgin Carmen in the Paucartambo province of the Cusco region, Tambopata National Reserve near Puerto Maldonado, and more.

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu spans around Peru and consists of three overlapping trails: Mollepata, Classic, and One Day trails. Also known as Camino Inca or Camino Inka, the hiking trail starts with Mollepata, the longest of the routes that is located in the Andes mountain range and includes both cloud forests and alpine tundra. The Peruvian government places a limit on the number of people who hike the trails per season to protect the land. AB Expeditions was one of the lucky travelers; this is their drone reel of the adventure. 

Maras is one of the towns of Peru's Sacred Valley, the core of the Inca civilization which ruled here during pre-Columbian times.  Located about 40 km (around 25 mi.) north of Cusco (the principal city of the Valley), Maras is known for its salt evaporation ponds.  About 5,000 of these ponds are arrayed along a canyon north of the town.  As part of another project in the area, AirVuz Official put together this drone video of the ponds, which have been used to produce salt since Inca times and possibly earlier.   

Peru's Rainbow Mountain is one of the emerging hot destinations in South America.  Variously known as Vinicunca and the Mountain of Seven Colors, it's located in the Cusco region in the south-central part of the country.  Getting close to the mountain by car involves about a three hour drive from Cusco to the trailhead, followed by a roughly six hour strenuous hike to the lookout point. It's well worth the effort though, as you'll likely agree after watching this stunning drone video by contributor Dann. 

A member of the AirVuz staff was in Peru doing some freelance work on a film project and created this video of Peru's Rainbow Mountain, one of the great natural treasures of this South American country.  Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca), which only recently opened for tourism, is part of the Andes Mountain range.  It's located a bit to the south and east of Cusco, the main gateway into the Peruvian Andes region.  The mountain's fantastic coloring derives from an unusual pattern of sediment deposition.