In the eye of the storm

On Tuesday I faced grave danger without even knowing it. I was climbing up to the Pastoruri glacier near Huaraz with a group of seven tourists and a guide. We had reached the altitude of 4.900 meters above sea level and were half an hour away from the glacier when all of a sudden a thunder storm came down upon us. The roaring wind blew gusts of hail and snow and tore on our quilted jackets. What really pulled us up short, though, was the first thunderbolt. It sounded so loud and in such unison with the flash of lightning that we knew we were in the eye of the storm. The guide said it was dangerous and that we should go back right away. First we considered speeding it up and trying to reach the glacier as quickly as possible, but the next shot of lightning convinced us we had better turn back. We hurried back to where the car had left us. The picture is of the camp site, taken when we were leaving for the glacier.




Back at the camp, we found everyone shaky and upset. While we were trotting up the mountain, lighting had struck the camp killing three people and hurting a fourth. The victims were locals who rented horses to tourists. Everyone around was in shock and scared to death and begged us to take them down from the mountain in the van. We loaded as many campesinos as we could and speeded down. On the way back I prayed the rosary for the first time in a very long time and it felt comforting. No-one said a word during the two-hour ride back to Huaraz. When the guide said thunder was dangerous, it never came to me that we were actually in mortal danger. We were so lucky to get back safe and sound - unlike the three poor men who lost their lives to the storm. Never underestimate the forces of nature.

Yesterday I googled the misfortune for some news or at least a brief mention. The Huaraz regional papers do not have web pages and no national paper covered the story. I am certain that if the casualties had been foreign tourists, the story would have been front-page news in Peru and might even have been covered by the European media. The whole tourist industry in Huaraz would have recieved a blow. However, since the three victims were poor campesinos and had Indian blood running through their veins, no-one really cares for their fate. After all, the poor die of this and that and the other thing. Often they lack identity cards and/or birth certificates, so in the eyes of the Peruvian state they never existed in the first place.