Machu Picchu, circa A.D. 1500

N G M . C O M APRIL 2011

Crimea: A Jewel in Two Crowns 62

The World’s Most Dangerous Volcano 82

The Acid Sea 100

Miracle Above Manhattan 122

Indomitable Snow Frogs 138

New Discoveries Reveal How They Forged a Mighty Empire

INCATTHHEE GGGGEEEENNNNIIIIUUUUSSSSS OOFF TTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEE

EXPEDITION WEEK STARTS SUNDAY, APRIL 3, AT 9 P.M. ET ON NAT GEO CHANNEL

Perched high in the Peruvian Andes, the royal retreat of Machu Picchu testifi es to the Inca’s masterful building skills with its precision-cut stones and perfectly placed cascades of terraces.

At Lake Titicaca, craft vendors wait for tourists on an island sacred to the Inca. Far left: The small bundle is how the Chachapoya people kept their dead. The conquering Inca were inspired to make a similar bundle for the larger mummy.

IncaLofty

Ambıtıonsof the

Rising from obscurity to the heights of power, a succession of Andean rulers subdued

kingdoms, sculpted mountains, and forged a mighty empire.

AT MUSEO LEYMEBAMBA, CHACHAPOYAS, PERU