Peru announces its own Seven Wonders

The results are in... Who made the cut?

Last summer world voted on the New Seven Wonders of the World, and Peru’s Machu Picchu won one of the honours. Now, the results of a new contest were just announced. This time, Peru’s own wonders were the focus. According to an article on Living in Peru, the contest was held over eight months and involved tabulating more than 150 million votes.

The results? Here are the top three winners in the Seven Wonders of Peru Contest:

1. Los Baños del Inca (also known as the hot springs or Inca Baths in Cajamarca)
2. El Valle del Colca (or the Colca Canyon) in Arequipa
3. Los Frailones stone forest (the Stone Monks).

Rounding out the seven wonders are the Kuélap Fortress in the Amazonas, the Huayllay Stone Forest (in Pasco), Alto Mayo Valley (San Martin) and Gran Pajeten (also in San Martin).

No doubt Peru will once again be in the spotlight for the New 7 Wonders of Nature contest currently underway. The results won’t be announced until 2010, but the nomination process is already in full swing. See the contest website for more details.

Car accidents leading cause of death abroad

Many U.S. citizens don’t know it, but the U.S. Department of State is required by law to publish statistics on how its citizens die abroad from non-natural causes. Here’s how the numbers rounded out for June 2004 – July 2007:

• A total of 2312 U.S. citizens died from non-natural causes.
• Of that number, 747 people (roughly one third of the total) were killed in a vehicle accident. Car accidents are one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
• Homicide (435 cases) and drowning (303) round out the top three.
• On the regional level, more than half of the deaths occurred in the Americas, with Mexico leading the total for countries at 635.
• The least number of deaths occurred in Africa.

Should travelers worry? No - The statistics represent a very small percentage of people who lived and traveled abroad during this period. U.S. citizens made roughly 37 million international abroad by air in 2007 alone, according to ITA sources.

For more information, check out Death of U.S. Citizens Abroad and Statistical Summary from the U.S. Department of State website.