La Florida, Peru - Polarsteps

Atico & La Florida, Peru: population: about 6,000. There are two parts to Atico—the village of Atico sits about 4 kilometers inland in a valley (supposedly has a population of less than 300) and the tiny town of La Florida (the official name, though it is commonly called Atico) sits beach-side. The population number is probably for both combined, but I haven't been able to confirm that. The name 'Atico' is pronounced with the emphasis on the 'i' in the second syllable - a-TI-co. The history of Atico, well, doesn't exist online. I found that it was founded in 1897. That's all I can find about it. Atico is a tiny agricultural village and La Florida sustains itself with fishing. While I was in Atico a man I spoke to took me up to the top of the church where I got photos of the new roof work being done and of the two church bells, both bronze, one of which, you can see in the photo album, is dated 1809 and the town name, Atico. So, my impressions: I met some of the nicest people yet here in these two tiny towns (three of whom speak English conversationally). La Florida is commonly called Atico, but the people who live in Atico proper do not like that and they make jokes about it. I enjoyed my visit to these tiny towns. I was in Atico for a while and talked with several people and they definitely had an attitude toward La Florida being called Atico. It was actually kind of funny. La Florida is a decent tiny town, there is one bank and cash machine but no supermarkets, and there are many hostels/hotels/restaurants—it's also a stop-over town for long-haul truck drivers.