THE Traveler: Mackenzie Scott of Eden Prairie.
The scene: In the Peruvian town of Chinchero, an alpaca stared down the camera nonchalantly. Scott had stopped at a shop there to learn how the locals collect alpaca fiber, dye it and weave it into cloth. That's when she met the blue-eyed beauty with a surprising name: Chaska. "I was astonished at the name, knowing it from our Native American history in Minnesota," she wrote in an e-mail. "In the Quechua language, spoken in Peru, Chaska means 'dawn or bright star.' It was a sweet moment to reflect on how much we all have in common across the globe," Scott wrote. In the Dakota language, Chaska, meaning "junior," is traditionally given to the first born in a family.
Travel tip: "Chinchero is a little town outside of the busy (and quite touristy) Cusco. For anyone heading to Cusco and Machu Picchu, I highly recommend getting out into the countryside to meet some locals, see more of their lives, and visit the smaller yet still astonishing Inca ruins," Scott wrote.
The shot: Taken with Chaska's eyes, Scott crouched down to be at eye level for the shot. She used her Sony Alpha a6000 camera.
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