The Chincha area is home to an unusual ethnic mix. Communities like El Carmen are populated by Afro-Peruvians descended from slaves from modern day Senegal and Angola. The Ballumbrosio family hosted us for two days, performing traditional music and dance that reveal a unique blend of Spanish and African influences. Our first day began with a meal at the famous Mamaine's country restaurant. Next we spent several hours in the river valley above Chincha, taking in the quiet and hiking around on the hills that overlook the valley. As darkness fell we returned to the village of El Carmen and enjoyed a dinner prepared by members of the Ballumbrosia family. But the highlight of the day came afterward as we gathered near a fire built on the dirt road just outside the home of our host, Mirabel.

The show began with a single violinist, joined soon by five men who tapped out a rhythm with their feet while engaging in a call and response reminiscent of the songs slaves would sing to pass the time centuries ago. Next, the performers settled behind their drums and cajones, square-shaped wooden boxes once constructed from packing crates, and took up a complex rhythm. The men were soon joined by women who encircled the fire, moving their bodies to the beat of the drums. Our students later joined the celebration, copying the moves of the dancers and helping keep the beat on the cajones.

The next day we awoke to a breakfast of rolls, fish cakes and spicy pork. We said our goodbyes to the family and headed north to visit the Unanue Hacienda, a plantation where slaves from Africa and, later, China were put to work in the fields. The centerpiece of the hacienda is Unanue Castle, an architectural marvel constructed in 1843 in a Spanish-Moorish-inspired style that is difficult to describe. The castle was home to plantation owners for a century, then fell into disrepair after the land reforms of the late 1960's.

We began our tour in a large billiard room where the family would entertain guests. But the ugly side of life on the plantation soon revealed itself with a visit to the dungeon underneath the house, the room next to the slave quarters where whippings occurred and the plaza at the far end where slaves were auctioned off at prices based on their gender, age, height and condition of their teeth.

Slaves were liberated by the Peruvian government in 1854, several years before abolition in the United States. According to Professor Rafael Leon, who lectured on slavery the day before our visit to Chincha, the Peruvian government purchased the freedom for over 25,000 slaves that year, paying slave-owners up to 10 times the going price. Equal rights were guaranteed by the constitution in 1933, several decades before the U.S. Civil Rights Act. Racial discrimination still exists in Peru as it does elsewhere, but Professor Leon emphasized the dramatic progress that has occurred in the last several decades.