Friday, January 2, 2009

Magic Whistles from Peru

Don't miss out on my New Year Giveaway!
Read this post, then leave me a comment a day for an entry.
Blog about the giveaway for an extra five entries!
Follow me for five extra entries!
Giveaway ends Tuesday, January 6th at midnight, U.S. central time.




Now on to the Magic Peruvian Whistles.


My little sister, The Bug, recently went to Peru/Bolivia with her husband,
and she brought back souvenirs for my boys.

These are special little bird whistles that they found while traveling by bus from Cuzco to Lake Titicaca in Peru. An old lady with no teeth was selling them alongside some ancient Incan ruins.

I want to visit Peru.
I love to plan trips everywhere.

Oops, did that slip out?

Anyway,

Donny chose the Eagle whistle.




And Remy chose the Toucan whistle.






When you first blow, it sounds like a regular whistle.

High pitch, annoying as heck.




And, then, my sister told them to fill the whistle with water.




And, wouldn't you know it, the noise changed.

Big time.




They no longer sounded anything like normal whistles,
but instead sounded just like birds.

All the noises in this video that sound like birds...are really coming from these whistles.

I kid you not.





Isn't that amazing?

Apparently these whistles date back to the days of the Incas.
They are now hand-formed in villages near Cuzco,
and then fired in traditional pits made out of stone, straw and wood.
After that, they are hand painted.



The Eagle.


The Toucan.



Those Incans were bloody brilliant!

I'm totally baffled by how they work.




And then, of course, my boys have to dump out the water when they're done.

And make the horrible high pitch whistle again.

Peruvian water whistles are way cool.


29 comments:

Twisted Fencepost said...

I want a magic bird whistle from Peru!
Those are adorable!

Twisted Fencepost said...

I want a magic bird whistle from Peru!
Those are adorable!

Keeper of the Skies Wife said...

Those are awesome!!

lynette355 said...

How wonderful. I would love to have one so I could talk to all the birds I feed around here. What a fantastic gift your sister brought. I bet she had a super trip.

Unknown said...

My kids got some for Christmas as well, only instead of going to Peru, we went to the mall, where they were playing outside of JCPenney. Not nearly as exotic.

koopermom said...

I remember having something like that once. But I think mine was plastic, and probably came out of a cereal box!

Denea said...

Does the water make a mess when its in the whistle?

My kitten loved the video. He wants to know where the birds are so he can "play" with them.

Sally-Ann said...

Love the whistles. That is a fun thing for boys to have! I wouldn't mind one myself.
When we went and picked our son up from Nova Scotia, we had to hand carry a native american flute that he had made back on the airplane.

Momo Fali said...

Those are so cool! I want one (with water, not without...please.)

KimmyJ said...

OMGoodness those are so cool!

Kori said...

DUDE those are awesome.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

What a cool new toy (although, I'm sure terribly annoying...but what kids toy isn't?)

Jenny and the Princess Peonies said...

Very cool.

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Those are so very cool! I wanna know how they work, too. And I will totally go with you to see Incan ruins. I like to plan trips that I can't afford, too :-)

the mama bird diaries said...

wow. those are super cool.

cheatymoon said...

Really Cool! :-) Happy New Year.

Anonymous said...

Those whistles are awesome! I totally want one!!

Jennifer said...

Geez, now I want one! Too cool!!

Crittle said...

Trés cool!

Anonymous said...

WOW! Those are just awesome. What a great toy - educational and fun too ;) .

Shannon said...

Those are cool! I've seen plastic ones before... but not awesome ones from Peru!

Jen said...

totally cool!

Unknown said...

Oh those are way cool!

Burfica said...

Those are amazing. Dammit I want me one now!!!!

Mama Dawg said...

Those are AMAZING!

I want one!

Marrdy said...

Those are cool whistles. Maybe you can send those boys and their whistles over to visit your sister!!

nicrogers said...

Those whistles are awesome! I want one for myself!

Britt said...

I hate whistles .. because my ears cannot take that high pitched noise.

But those? I totally dig those!

Unknown said...

those look awesome!!! and keepsakes for mom when the boys are done playing, too!