• Darth Vader, Alien among revelers at Holy Week celebrations in Peru

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A boy poses for a picture with people wearing costumes of famous sci-fi movie characters during the Canaan fair, which is part of the Holy Week events in Ayacucho, Peru, on March 28, 2013. Catholics around the world commemorate Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday before celebrating his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    An indigenous woman walks at the Canaan fair.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Living statues perform in front of a church as part of the Holy Week celebrations in Ayacucho.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A dog rides a carousel during the Canaan fair.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A boy rests during the Canaan fair.

    Read more about Semana Santa in Ayacucho at about.com and see more of Rodrigo Abd's work on PhotoBlog:

    Divided by class, Peruvians united in love of beach

    Actors gather at the shores of the Rimac River in Lima, Peru, to re-enact the baptism of Jesus Christ for Holy Week celebrations. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

  • Divided by class, Peruvians united in love of beach

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A man is silhouetted in a wading pool as he cleans it out in the ocean waters off Agua Dulce beach in Lima, Peru.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Beach goers wade on the shoreline of Agua Dulce beach, in Lima, Peru during summertime in the southern hemisphere.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Karina Alvarado and David Enriquez pose for a picture with their daughter at Agua Dulce beach. For five Peruvian soles or about two U.S. dollars beach goers can pose for a photo in front of backdrops of their choice that include forest landscapes, exotic beach scenes or atop horses.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Lifeguards attend to Belen Godinez on"Agua Dulce" beach after she was saved from drowning in the ocean in Lima, Peru.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A woman snacks on mango fruit as her grandson plays nearby on Agua Dulce beach in Lima, Peru.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Adela Cabrera, 19, poses for a picture on a horse at Agua Dulce beach in Lima, Peru. For five Peruvian soles or about two U.S. dollars beach goers can pose for a photo to record their day at the beach.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A man opens a can of peaches on Agua Dulce beach in Lima, Peru.

    While Lima's elite spend their summer weekends in gated beach enclaves south of the Peruvian capital, the working class jams by the thousands on a single municipal beach of grayish-brown sands and gentle waves.

    Until the mid-20th century, Lima's lower classes couldn't afford beach-going, said Juan Pacheco, a historian of the city. Road-building to the coast solved that, and the rich began to largely abandon Lima's beaches to the poorer set.

    Now, the only barrier to entry to Agua Dulce beach is two dollars, the price of bus fare to get there and home.

    On some weekends during the Southern Hemisphere summer, which runs from December until March, as many as 40,000 people a day visit the half-mile-long strip of beach. They arrive in groups of 20-30, hauling enormous pots of fragrant chicken and rice.
    – Associated Press

    Editor’s Note: The images for this blog post were shot from January to March, but made available to NBC News today.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A man walks along the shoreline next to a message in the sand that reads in Spanish "I love you Alfonzo,

    This story was originally published on Thu Mar 21, 2013 1:29 PM EDT

  • Peru invests in massive irrigation project to bring fresh water to its arid west coast

    All photos by Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters

    Workers put together a pipeline during the construction of the Olmos Irrigation Project in Peru's northwestern region of Lambayeque, March 15, 2013.

    A worker guides a section of pipe into place during construction of the Olmos Irrigation Project.

    Reuters reports

    Next year, the Olmos Irrigation Project will start pumping billions of gallons of water onto a nearby 170-square-mile patch of desert in the Olmos Valley near the Pacific coast. The $500 million project is the most ambitious yet in a handful of massive irrigation works that are turning large swaths of Peru’s historically parched coast into profitable agricultural fields. Odebrecht Construction drilled a 12-mile tunnel through the Andes to pull water from where it has always been abundant - the Amazon watershed to the east - to the arid west coast of Peru that is home to two-thirds of the population and 80 percent of economic activity but only 2 percent of its freshwater.

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    Section of pipe are stockpiled in Peru's northwestern region of Lambayeque.

  • Dakar Rally drivers race across Peru's dunes during stage four

    Victor R. Caivano / AP

    A helicopter flies over driver Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar and co-driver Lucas Cruz of Spain competing in the 4th stage of the 2013 Dakar Rally from Nazca to Arequipa, Peru, on Jan. 8. The race finishes in Santiago, Chile, on Jan. 20.

    Victor R. Caivano / AP

    KTM rider Stefan Svitko of Slovakia competes in the 4th stage of the 2013 Dakar Rally from Nazca to Arequipa, Peru, Jan. 8, 2013.

    Franck Fife / AFP - Getty Images

    Mini's driver Lonid Novitskiy of Russia competes during Stage 4 of Dakar between Nazca and Arequipa, Peru, on Jan. 8.

    Franck Fife / AFP - Getty Images

    Eduard Nikolaev, Sergey Savostin and Vladimir Rybakov of Russia race their Kamaz truck on a beach during the 2013 Dakar Rally on Jan. 8.

    Franck Fife / AFP - Getty Images

    U.S. Robby Gordon is pictured next to his Hummer in the sand during the Dakar Rally on Jan. 8.

     

  • Peru celebrates culture with bullfighting festival

    All images by Karel Navarro / AP

    A member of folkloric music group 'Los Brillantes de Matacancha' from Huanuco, Peru, performs during a show inside a bullring at the Yawar Toro center during a festival on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, Nov. 18.

    Bullfighter Brayan Quinonez performs during a festival in Peru, Nov. 18.

    Karel Navarro, AP — A festival was organized by Peru’s town of Huanuco to celebrate native customs in culinary art, dance and music.  People from Peru's Andean highlands, who have emigrated for decades to the capital in search for opportunities, organize fairs on various dates on the outskirts of Lima to honor various patron saints, celebrate anniversaries or to celebrate local customs.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Images made available to NBC News on Nov. 19

    See other images related to Peru on PhotoBlog

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    People watch a parade outside a bullfighting ring at the Yawar Toro center during a festival on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, Nov. 18.

    People watch a show inside a bullring at the Yawar Toro center during a festival on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, Nov. 18.

    Alejandro Evangelista, a musician from the Pomapata Musical Center, pours himself a beer after performing in a bullring at the Yawar Toro center during a festival on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, Nov. 18.

  • Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Sleeping with the fishes in Peru

    A fisherman takes a nap on his boat after deep sea fishing all night in El Callao, Peru, Nov. 3. Small-scale fishermen in this area work 24-hour shifts, catching mostly anchovy, mackerel and silverside.

  • Day of the Dead celebration in Peru

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Artists perform an indigenous dance called Huaylia at the Virgen de Lourdes cemetery where relatives converge to honor friends and family who have passed, marking the Day of the Dead holiday, in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. The holiday honors the deceased on Nov. 1, coinciding with All Saints Day and All Souls' Day on Nov. 2.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    People gather around the graves of their loved ones at the Virgen de Lourdes cemetery on Nov. 1, 2012.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A couple arrange a bouquet of flowers to place on a grave at the Virgen de Lourdes cemetery where relatives converge to honor friends and family who have passed.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Taxi driver Guillermo Lecaros converts his car into a makeshift flower shop during the Day of the Dead holiday and stations himself outside the Virgen de Lourdes cemetery, where relatives converge to honor friends and family who have passed.

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  • Peru honors 'The Lord of Miracles,' patron saint of Lima

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A woman burns incense during a procession honoring "The Lord of Miracles," the patron saint of Lima, in Lima, Peru, Oct. 18, 2012.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Under a rain of rose petals, people participate in a procession honoring "The Lord of Miracles," the patron saint of Lima, in Lima, Peru, Oct. 18.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Women participate in a procession honoring "The Lord of Miracles," the patron saint of Lima, in Lima, Peru, Oct. 18.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A police officer receives communion during a procession honoring "The Lord of Miracles," the patron saint of Lima, in Lima, Peru, Oct. 18.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    People participate in a procession honoring "The Lord of Miracles," the patron saint of Lima, in Lima, Peru, Oct. 18.

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  • Prisoners find relative freedom behind bars in Lima

    Mariana Bazo / Reuters

    An inmate and his bride kiss during a mass wedding ceremony for prisoners at the Lurigancho prison. Although Lurigancho prison is one of the most overcrowded, violent, and unruly jails in Latin America, its more than 8,500 prisoners live with so much freedom inside the walled perimeter that they have created their own city which mimics the urban society on the outside.

    All photos by Mariana Bazo / Reuters

    Prisoners take part in a theatre workshop in the Lurigancho prison in Lima.

    An overview of the Lurigancho prison in Lima.

    Inmates participate in an Independence Day parade dressed in uniforms and carrying mock rifles.

    An inmate gives a haircut inside the Lurigancho prison.

    A dog runs on the roof of a wing at the Lurigancho prison.

    Lurigancho Prison in Lima is where Joran van der Sloot was tried for killing a woman in Lima in 2010, five years after American teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba after spending time with him. 

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  • Afro-Peruvians honor heritage with religious fete

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Norma Vargas Portillo, right, and Milagros Gallardo walk hand in hand before performing a traditional Afro-Peruvian dance during festivities in honor of Santa Efigenia in La Quebrada, Peru, Sept. 23, 2012.

    Associated Press reports — Every year, Peruvians descended from African slaves come to La Quebrada to celebrate an adored black saint.

    The devotees join in a procession for Santa Efigenia, enthusiastically singing Afro-Peruvian songs interspersed with solemn Roman Catholic hymns as they walk the dusty streets of this Pacific coastal town 85 miles (138 kilometers) south of Lima.

    Standing next to the bier holding a statue of the only African saint venerated in Peru, a young boy recites verses about the arrival of slaves rom "Angola, Mozambique and Timbuktu" to work in the region's sugar cane fields.

    Girls in bright traditional dresses from a group called "La Carimba," for the brand burned by a hot iron on the skin of slaves, dance to a beat produced by the jawbone of a donkey on a wooden box.

    Cat races, a fireworks dance and a night of eating and drinking close out the celebration.

    A chapel was built in La Quebrada in the 18th century dedicated to Santa Efigenia, who was popular among the then Spanish colony's African slaves. Fervor for the saint faded over the years, until in 1994 efforts by black activists to honor the Afro-Peruvian culture led to a festival being held for Efigenia in La Quebrada.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: These images were made available to NBC News on Oct. 9

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A man dances "La Vaca Loca" or "The Crazy Cow" during festivities in honor of Santa Efigenia in La Quebrada, Peru, Sept. 23.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    Villagers gather in a bar in La Quebrada, Peru, Sept. 22.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    People carry the statue of Santa Efigenia during a procession in La Quebrada, Peru, Sept. 23.

    Rodrigo Abd / AP

    A woman watches the procession of Santa Efigenia in La Quebrada, Peru, Sept. 23.

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  • Dolled up inmates celebrate spring

    Martin Mejia / AP

    Female inmates wearing butterfly costumes attend an event that celebrates the first days of spring at a prison for women in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 24. The event is part of a program that aims to help prisoners reduce stress and build self confidence.

    Martin Mejia / AP

    Inmates watch their fellow female inmates perform at an event celebrating the first days of Spring at a prison for women in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 24.

    Martin Mejia / AP

    Inmates wear shoes they made from recycled materials during the fashion segment of an event celebrating the first days of spring at a prison for women in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 24.

    Martin Mejia / AP

    Inmates in costume dance as bodyguards stand by during an event celebrating the first days of spring at a prison for women in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 24.

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