Living in Peru : your everyday companion

As we advance through this strange landscape we seem to go back in time. Our minds go back to a prehistoric age, enveloping us in a sense of mystery and the unknown.

It is a strange sensation. We walk among red hills speckled with the contrasting green of the bushes. In the distance, eucalyptus groves sway in a dance generated by the highland wind. The remains of the trunks lie everywhere.

We first learned of the existence of this unique place a few years ago. A brief report broadcast late at night informed us that it was located in northern Peru.

In a period now lost in time our region bore no resemblance to the landscape we see today. Dinosaurs ruled and great, luxuriant forests covered every inch of the territory.

Over millions of years great changes occurred. At some point, the dinosaurs and the enormous forests disappeared, giving way to new species of animals and plants. The causes of this extraordinary event have been lost to us and are wreathed in mystery.

Today, the vestiges of those forests, transformed into stone through the process of fossilization, seem to awaken from their long sleep to reveal to us a small part of that enigma which is the prehistory of our planet.

Although animal fossils are found all over the world, fossilized plant remains exist in very few countries, a fact that makes this remarkable location here in Peru even more noteworthy.

Prehistoric legacy

We prepare our backpacks and set off enthusiastically for the Sexi Paleontological Forest, that legacy of our prehistory. Four hours from the city of Chiclayo, we arrive at Santa Rosa de Sexi, a district of the province of Santa Cruz in the department of Cajamarca. We get there at about two in the afternoon, and the friendly inhabitants of the region welcome us with the same warmth shown to us by the all-embracing highland sun.

Sexi, as it is commonly known, is a quiet town of some four or five hundred inhabitants located 2450 metres above sea level. Its unusual name is derived from the Quechua word "Secce", which means "a marshy area", or "marsh flower", a reference to the swamp which once covered this area. Now totally dry, the region was once blanketed with reed beds that were home to many species of fauna.

Our impatience be-gan to mount and we headed for the mayor’s office. "From time to time a few gringo paleontologists visit us and say that they will make more exhaustive studies. They look for financing for their projects, because there is so much to investigate here", says Don Segundo, the local mayor.

We explain that we are very interested to see the site, and he introduces us to Bahuer, a young man who – radio in hand – guides us to the hillside where this paleontological treasure unfolds before us.

Loma Redonda and El Laurel, are the two places where most fossils have been found to date, what most local people call the "shaman stones". The two sites are just five minutes from Sexi. The wind gusts hard occasionally, as if it were a guardian of the place.

Petrified Surprises

The fossils are scattered across an area of approximately 200 hectares and probably belong to the Miocene age, which began 23 million years ago and ended about five million years ago, before the majestic Andes mountains existed and when this entire region was still covered with ancient tropical forest.
Engrossed, we study the great, dark trunk which Bahuer is sitting on. It looks like a fallen tree, and as we approach we can see the detailed markings of its bark. It really does look like wood, but when we touch it we realize that it is, in fact, stone.

At every step we come across fossils which seem to sprout from the earth. According to researchers at the Molina Agrarian University these petrified remains were once carob trees which grew some thirty or forty metres high. The evidence is all around us, and there must also be, one assumes, the fossilized remains of prehistoric animals in the area as well.

We are told by our guide that long ago a great volcanic eruption spilled huge quantities of ash and lava which laid waste the entire region.

The process of fossilization occurred gradually over a period of millions of years, slowly converting living beings into inorganic matter.

This site demands exhaustive research. Without a doubt, many more surprises await scientists here. The first signs of the approaching dusk tinge with red the clouds that now cram the sky. The wind begins to blow and a light rain is unleashed. Our jackets and the earth around us darken.

It is time to leave this prehistoric sanctuary. We leave Sexi. In the distance the mist rises and we have the strange sensation that the petrified forest around us is breathing again.