Today is Saturday and yesterday was our last opportunity to soak up the amazing architecture, culture and history of the lovely city of Cusco. Daughter Gill knew I would love it there and she was absolutely right. (She usually is but don’t tell her I said that). Early in the morning I wandered over from our hotel down the narrow streets that were originally set out by the Incas generations ago and sat in the Plaza Major in Cusco on the stone steps where millions of footsteps over time have smoothed out the granite, sipping on my Starbucks tea. My only irritation was the frequent visits by sellers of everything from ice cream to alpaca scarves, to paintings. Seems like I stood out as a tourist. Damn blue eyes and pale skin.

Yes, for the first time in South America I broke down and visited a North American franchise. I’ve been really adventurous in trying the delicious local food and food preparations. This is the only Starbucks I have seen, and it was very discreetly tucked away in the courtyard in the corner of the square. Once inside I could have been in a Starbucks in any of the stores in North America. I was looking for a decent cup of tea but alas I’ve discovered it’s the taste of the leche (milk) that I’m not crazy about, not so much the tea. The only noticeable North American franchise in much of my travels here has been KFC who were also prominent in Africa. Not sure how they manage that. There was a MacDonald’s on the square as well, but it was equally as discreet, thankfully, and not busy at all.

The school children, somewhat older yesterday than the day before, were there again, with a military marching band, doing some sort of drill while their proud parents watched on. At one point, the whole square was standing almost at attention and singing what I think might have been the national anthem as the Peruvian flag was raised on the square along side the Cusco flag. It was pretty moving, whatever song it was. I lallygagged around, rather thrilled to have some downtime on my own before our 11 am departure from our hotel in Cusco. I wanted to savour a few more moments of the history and culture of this great city built by the Incas and literally built on by the Spanish before Peru’s independence in 1821.

The wall in the picture below is right around the corner from our hotel and is considered one of the best examples of Incan building techniques. No lasers for measuring and cutting back then.

I wandered back through the historic part of the city to our hotel just as it was time to grab our suitcases and head down our narrow little street on to a major thoroughfare to wait for our private bus that would take us to the airport. We cleared through the traffic, check in and security process in good time and the flight was on time.

We arrived into Lima just as rush hour was on. Oh.my.goodness. I don’t think I could drive here. The drivers are crazy, driving with equal pressure on the gas pedal and horn. Traffics signals, lights and lanes seem to be merely suggestions. And as pedestrians, you just have to go for it and hope for the best.

We arrived safely at our hotel, my least favourite one on the tour, in the Miraflores district of Lima, about 30 – 45 minutes from the airport. We last stayed over night in this hotel on our way through to Cusco and you may recall that we didn’t arrive until very late and then had to be up at some ungodly hour to catch our flight that was subsequently delayed 2 hours. This time the hotel didn’t seem as dour as the previous time, but it’s definitely tired and in need of a re-do. But the neighbourhood it is in, Miraflores, is spectacular. Our guide said it was one of the most affluent in Lima and you can tell. I am so sorry I didn’t have even one day there to wander. It’s alive with people walking and jogging, playing and eating on patios along the pedestrian walkway in the middle of the main avenue with lots of restaurants and shops, music and entertainment. The avenue makes it’s way down to the Pacific and the beaches there within a 20 minute walk or so. Next time.

Our last dinner together as a group was last night and our CEO, Katy, chose a fabulous restaurant with an outdoor patio right in the heart of the action for us to enjoy. Its specialty is ceviche and although we’d mostly been warned by our travel docs not to eat ceviche, many of us threw caution to the wind and ordered it last night. We also had the drink specialty, you got it, Pisco Sours. They were potent but (or possibly because) we really enjoyed them. Hopefully the alcohol killed any potential bugs. The Mom and daughter from Calgary, Janice and Erin, were travelling together to celebrate Janice’s birthday and Katy organized a Black Forest Birthday Cake for Janice which she shared with all of us. It was a lovely way to end the tour. Some of us had been together for the Ecuador and Peru tours (14 days) and others for just for the Peru portion (8 days).

On our walk back to the hotel last night we were able to enjoy the nightlife (if you can call 8:30 pm night life) including some dancing in nearby JFK Park (yes, The JFK)

Our senses were alive with the sounds, smells and sounds of Peruvians at play. Once back in the lobby of the hotel, it was hugs all around as we said goodbye to the group of people with whom we had enjoyed our shared experiences over the past couple of weeks. Like any trip when the itinerary is as packed as this one was, it seemed like we’d been together for months. It’s always an interesting study in human nature to be in a group travelling together. Like-minded people tend to migrate towards each other, but this group stayed pretty cohesive throughout our travels, looking out for each other and sharing knowledge, experience and the odd sip or taste of each other’s meal choices. I spent a lot of my time with Cara, from Salem, Oregon as we shared similar interests and somewhat the same west coast life experiences. But I enjoyed the company of many of our fellow travellers.

Peru was a wonderful experience, right up there near the top of my favourites list, although I think because of the diversity of our tour in Ecuador I would put it higher on the list. No maybe Machu Picchu trumped diversity. Hard to say. Of course, each had their strengths and special moments.

I’m currently on my flight from Lima to Quito after a hair raising taxi ride to the airport, which included the crunching of my driver’s rear right bumper by another taxi behind as he tried to sneak into another lane. My driver jumped out to check the damage but the other taxi was long gone. Check in, customs, security and boarding went without a hitch other than the usual 3 gate changes that seem to be a compulsory part of air travel in Peru.

Tonight I’ll meet up with the group for my next adventure, the Galapagos. I’m staying at a different hotel in Quito than previously, and this one is closer to the Old Town and Artisan market, so I may get out and about some this afternoon. Unfortunately I’ve picked up a cold, and Janice if you’re reading this, I’m not blaming you. With the rigorous schedule we’ve been keeping, along with the lack of sleep and dealing with altitude, it was almost inevitable that I would pick up a bug. I just hope it doesn’t play havoc with my ability to enjoy the snorkelling that is to come in this next phase of my trip.

My postings will be rather erratic in the next 10 days as we move in and out of wifi range. I’ll try and keep up my posts though so when we hit an area with wifi that I can fire them off.

With that, I’ve timed it rather nicely, our flight is in final descent so off I go to get ready for the next transfer from airport to hotel.

I’d like to thank whoever is praying to the sun gods for us because we’ve been so lucky with our weather. Today in Cusco was another great day for visiting this beautiful and interesting city. The culture and the history are so evident in the old section of the city where we are fortunate enough to be staying.

We had a free day today and our guide, Caty, graciously offered to do an orientation walk around the city she calls home. She obviously has a passion for the city and for the culture and history of “her people”.

Cusco is a city of approximately 500,000 built among the valleys and slopes of the nearby hills. It was the centre of the Incan empire until the Spanish conquered it in the 15th century. When the Spanish took over the city, they built on top of the existing Incan buildings and there is evidence of that throughout the historical part of the city. The Spanish made a point of building their churches on the sites of places that were important to the Incans.

We walked past one of these sites, right around the corner from our hotel, the Temple of the Sun, which became the Santa Dominigo Church. We would come back later in the day to visit it. We walked along many streets and saw the foundation layers were the very obvious expert work of the Inca, with colonial buildings on top. Scotiabank is actually in a nearby colonial building that demonstrated it well and they have various cultural displays throughout the building as well. We zigzagged through narrow streets and Caty pointed out where we could find things we might be interest in buying or seeing.

The below picture is an example of the colonialists building on top of the strong foundations built by the Incas.

Eventually we came to the Plaza de Armas, the main square of the city, where Caty ended her orientation walk. It was particularly chaotic today as there were school children there marching around the square to bands or drums. No one was sure what it was about but it certainly added some colour and the ice cream vendors were doing a great business. In the middle of the square is the 9th King of the Kingdom of Cusco who is reputed to be the best of all of the Kings and is credited with expanding the Empire. There is speculation that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for this King named Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui.

Cara and I did a little shopping and then sat in the square a spell to just soak up the ambiance and then headed for one of the recommended visits, the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin, also known as the Cusco Cathedral right on the main square. It was completed in 1654 and is made up of 3 churches inside and in the main church has an unusual silver alter as well as a room with some stunning silver on display. Of course we found it quite hilarious that there is a picture of the Last Supper that actually looks to show a guinea pig as the supper. Apparently there is an inscription in the cathedral that claims it not to be guinea pig but we don’t believe it. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the cathedral but I bought a couple of postcards and took pictures of them to show you when I can upload pics more easily.

Next it was on to lunch. All around the main square there are shops on the main level and restaurants on the second level, most with small balconies and we chose one of these at the end of the square looking across the square. We had rather tame dishes today, both kind of like stir fries. That rainbow flag has nothing to do with gay pride, but is the flag of Cusco, and the red and white one with an emblem in the middle (which you can’t see) is the flag of Peru.

We then made our way up the hill (hills are still heart-pounding and gasp inducing) to the Inca Museum. There is apparently a better one in Lima, but I won’t have time to visit it since I’m heading straight back up north for my last adventure in the Galapagos Sunday morning. It was really interesting with artifacts laid out nicely and some with English translations. Not knowing exactly what things were didn’t detract from our enjoyment of the items though. Pretty amazing to see the size and decoration of some of the vessels in particular.

We headed back in the direction of our hotel to stop at the Sun Temple. Many sections of it did not allow for photography either so not a lot to show. They seemed to be setting up for some sort of production with lights and sound systems etc. They have unearthed the Incan architecture and show various building techniques such as how they used various notches in the rocks to direct the water through an aqueduct system and how they secured doorways.

We made our way back to the hotel and I even had time for a short nap before we headed out at 5:30 for our only planned activity of the day at the Cusco Planetarium. I’m not a big star gazer, but it was an interesting presentation using a dome to show the various constellations in the northern and Southern Hemispheres and what we know about the heavens today and what the Incas knew about it in their time which was pretty remarkable. Then we went outside where they had two telescopes and some telescoping binoculars aimed at some things in the skies that you can’t see with the naked eye. It was great to get to see some of the rest of the city on the way to and from the planetarium.

Tomorrow we’re back to Lima and the tour ends with our farewell dinner tomorrow night. Then on Saturday I’m back up to Quito to head over to the Galapagos on Sunday. So the adventure just keeps on coming.

Sorry this is a long post because it covers a couple of stellar days. And it was written over a few days so hope the time references make sense. Also, the wifi here is not great so I can’t get pictures to upload using Word Press. So I’ll add them when I can, and post the pics to Facebook which loads OK.

So, first some back ground on Machu Picchu. I am writing this from memory and brief notes written on the fly so I apologize for any errors which are of course the tour guide’s… ….no, they’re mine alone.

In the early 1900s Hiram Bingham, a Yale University professor and archeologist was travelling in Peru looking for “the lost city of the Incas”, a secret mountain stronghold used during the 16th century rebellion against Spanish rule, but instead on July 24 1911 he discovered the Inca settlement which is known by the Quechua name Machu Picchu, or Old Mountain. He supposedly paid 1 soles for the rights to the site which today doesn’t even buy you the entrance to the public washroom on the World UNESCO Site.

Most of the site was covered in jungle and he went back in the following year with a group of his sponsors, including National Geographic. The pictures taken during that exploration were on the front cover of National Geographic in April 1913.

When it was built In the 14th century, life for the Inca people centred around Cusco which means Centre, but Machu Picchu was important as the entrance to the jungle to the east and as a spiritual place. It was continuously worked on for 100 years mostly likely by up to 20,000 people but it was meant to be home to only approx 500-1000 of the Cusco elite.

The site’s location was important, as the location on a mountain top and Urubamba River provided natural protection, a source of building materials (granite) and most importantly water. And spiritually it was a good spot because it was near the Sun and the moon and the earth, elements important to the Incan culture.

The best architectural and masonry skills were used for the most important structures of the city, such as the Temple of the Sun and priest’s quarters.

You can see from the pictures the workmanship of the round building, which was the Temple of the Sun. They didn’t use mortar and the granite pieces fit so tight that a piece of paper couldn’t be slipped between them. To make the pieces fit, they looked for natural fault lines in the rock and then drilled into the rock using natural iron tools, and then pounded wooden pegs into the holes and wet them. As the pegs expanded from the moisture the rock broke along the fault line.

The Incas, much like the Mayans on the Yucatan in Mexico were smart mathematicians and paid a great deal of attention to the cycles of the sun and the starts. there are examples of this throughout the site. The Temple of the Sun has one window that is perfectly aligned so that on the spring solstice the light comes through a V in the mountain ridges casting a light through that window. Likewise the fall solstice, and another V in the mountains. One of them is the famous Sun Gate on the Inca Trail which goes through the Sacred Valley between Cusco and Machu Picchu. I remember Gill telling me how moving it was to come throug h the Sun Gate to see the sun rise on Machu Picchu before tourist buses had started to arrive. Two of the people from our group did the last 11 km of the Inca Trail and had the experience of coming throught the Sun Gate, although not at sunrise. You may say, hey, 11 km, that’s not far, but at the altitude of the pass they had to go through it was tough slogging which took them approximately 7 hours. There was a “sun dial” of sorts in a prominent location of the city that showed not the hours or the day but rather the seasons which is how they structured their lives. Preparing the terraces, planting, harvesting and celebrating the harvest.

One of the areas that has required no restoration work at all is called the Royal Tomb, although they’re not sure if it was since a tomb since no mummies were found in the cave.

The construction of the walls was hierarchical in that the high ranking leaders and priests had very precisely placed stones, with no mortar,, and the “middle class” had rooms made with smaller mostly rectangular stones, that required mortar, and the the lower classs had walls made from irregular stones and mortar.

It was a simple life, with only three real rules of living: Don’t lie, Don’t be lazy and don’t steal.

So now more about my time at this magical place high in the cloud forest of Peru.

We spent the night before last at the same hotel in Urubamba but in the morning we packed up all but a small overnight bag and after breakfast left our other belongings in safe keeping at the hotel and headed by bus to Ollantaytambo. It is here that we caught the train to Aguas Calientes, the only way in or out. It was a lovely 1 hour and 40 minute ride in a very comfortable coach with a snack and coffee service part way through. The tracks followed the Urubamba river through the mountains and we caught glimpses of snow capped mountains and smaller Inca ruins along the route. We were all very chatty in anticipation of the primary reason we had all come to Peru, like 95 % of all tourists, Machu Picchu.

We dropped off our two hikers at mile 93 of the Inca Trail, along with what seemed like 100s of others. They got a rousing send off, looking a little overwhelmed and nervous. We then carried on to the train station in Aquas Calientas and were in to town by 9:30 am or so. We had an orientation walk around town while waiting for our hotel rooms to be ready. It’s an odd little town that has grown exponentially in the past 10 years, and really hasn’t been able to keep up the infrastructure. Ten years ago 3000 people visited MP a day in the high season. Now over 7000 a day in peak season of August, Sep and Oct make the winding bus trip up Machu Picchu Mountain. The train track runs right down the middle of town and the slope from the river is really steep with hotels and shopping areas a challenging walk uphill.

After checking in to the hotel, 6 of us opted to make an additional trip to go up to Machu Picchu that afternoon. The next day we would have an included guided tour of the lower section of more urban buildings but today, we could take our time and see which ever parts of the site we wanted without the restrictions of the group or the guide. All visitors must take a bus up to the site, and I was more than happy to leave the driving up this crazy road full of switch backs up the side of the mountain.

Our guide had suggested that since we would be visiting the lower portion of the site the next day that we hike up (“up” being the operative word) to the top section, where the iconic pictures of Machu Picchu are taken. So up we went. Although Machu Picchu is at a lower altitude than the Sacred Valley or Aquas Calentes, we still felt the altitude and had to stop to let our hearts and lungs settle down after every 15 -20 steps or so. And although the Incas were supposed to have been pretty short, you couldn’t tell by the height of some of the stairs that we had to manage.

But that first glimpse of the iconic view made it all worth while. And, yes, of course I teared up. It felt somewhat like I’d been photoshopped into a scene because of all the times I’d seen this view in pictures. There were various routes to take to get different views and we spent quite a lot of time getting shots of each other from various angles. We walked part way to the Inca Bridge, past a check point where we had to sign in so they could keep track of everyone. This section was mercifully flat. We had split up from the Mom and Daughter on our tour and found out later that Erin, the daughter, hiked up to the Sun Gate which is where the Inca Trail trekkers arrive into Machu Picchu. We tried heading in that direction, but knowing it was a 2 hour round trip and the first half up a really steep track, we opted not to go. Eddie, wanted to hike part way up at least, and so we sat on a rock by the side of the trail and soaked up the atmostphere and rested. In order to make our way out we had to go down a long stairway, (150 stairs or so) with no railing and a wall only part of the way down to keep a hold on. My poor knees toook a lot of abuse.

Done for the day we got a stamp for our passports and queued up for the wild bus ride down. I caught air a couple of times. We didn’t want to walk up to our hotel twice more in the evening so Cara and I decided to have dinner in one of the many restaurants looking over the town square on the second floor, where the people watching was great. We split a set menu and add a delicacy to our meal, the ubiquitous cuy, or guinea pig. It was delicious. It tasted and had the texture of dark turkey meat. Many of our group were appalled we’d either a) eaten a pet or b) eaten a rodent. But hey, when in Rome.

We had a group meeting at 6:30 to talk about logistics for today and after that I headed for my room, and by 8pm I had turned out my light for a well deserved rest. I was bagged.

This morning we were on our way to the bus station by 6:45 to try and beat some of the crowds and we did as we could see it getting busier and busier after we got to the site. The weather was glorious, even better than the today before. We visited the lower areas of the site for 2 hours with an excellent guide, José. It was incredibly interesting and great to now have some context into what we were seeing. We had some time left over to explore the site on our own, but by then it was so crowded and the sun was so hot that Cara and I decided we’d had enough, so we jumped on the bus and headed back into town. I’m so glad we made the decision to go in on the extra trip yesterday because first of all, our first impression was from the Guard House which is the iconic view and tear inducing. Secondly, it allowed us to break up our visit over two days which was less wear and tear on our bodies.

We all met for lunch at a great restaurant, right on the Main Street, with the trains coming and going. One VIP train that went by was obviously well appointed, with little lamps on each table and beautiful seats. We were told that the cost of a two way trip on it was $600 US vs the $140 US of our train, which was very comfortable. At lunch, in keeping with the “when in Rome” theme, I had Alpaca. It was really nicely prepared medium-rare and was really tender, with a red wine sauce. Have I mentioned that the main daily meal here is at lunch time? We frequently have had big lunch meals and then just soup or something else light for dinner.

The day was long having tramped all over Machu Picchu in the morning, then taken the bus down, jumped on the train, and then transferred to a bus for the 2 hour drive to Cusco. Thankfully we had a big bus for that portion and so we could spread out with each of us having our own seat.

I was afraid that I was going to be disappointed with Machu Picchu since I had such high expectations going in, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Now I know why we got that call from Gill all those years ago, and I didn’t even hike the Inca Trail with Machu Picchu as the reward along with the huge sense of accomplishment.

Sitting in the bar at our hotel drinking a Picso Sour (my new favourite), listening to live pan flutes, reviewing my pictures of the day and tearing up. Oh my goodness, what a day. What an amazing place, and I haven’t even gotten to Machu Picchu or Cusco. Can’t put into words why it’s so emotional. Perhaps because I’m re-living it with daughter, Gillian, who we forced into coming here with her class in high school. I’ll never forget the phone call we got from her, and of course the immediate reaction was “What’s wrong”. But no, she was calling to thank us for “making me come here”. She was obviously moved by the experience as well. Maybe some day she and Phil will send their offspring here as well. A writ of passage.

Today we packed a lot into the day, but hey when you’re this far, you have to do as much as you can. What seemed like a rather uninteresting activity actually was really interesting and a chance to interact with a community not often visited by tourists. It is part of the National Geographic Journeys portion of this trip. Our special guide, the professor, was with us again today and he told us we need to be the messengers that there are things bigger than us going on in the world and to tell our friends about the Parque de la Papa. So here goes.

This Potato Park is a joint venture of 6 communities high up from the Sacred Valley (4000 m I think) in the Andes aided by the G Adventures Foundation. There are 6000 or so indigenous inhabitants here, all working together to preserve over 700 species of potatos, and teach about their cultivation. Who knew, but there is a seed vault of potatoes in Norway that holds seed potatoes in case there is some sort of catastrophic event. Once a year they travel here to secure new seeds for storage in their bank. We also learned about the cultivation cycles, producing alpaca yarns, dying them and weaving them. The women there work hard for long hours while the men are working in the fields to sustain them. It’s a simple life but they seemed happy enough.

Next it was back further down into the valley to Pisac Ruins and our guides were smart to have us head up to the Potato Park first, because the dozens of our buses at the Ruins were mostly leaving as we got there so we had less other tourists to deal with. It seems incomprehensible that the Incas built this amazing place, with acres of terraces following the natural contours of the land. With the sweeping green vistas and surrounding Andes, it was quite an eye full. Across the gorge from the building site there was also one of the largest burial sites of the Incas – some 3000 or more sites- where the Incas were buried in the fetal position with their treasured possessions around them to be used in the afterlife.

Thankfully lunch was next on the itinerary, and again we had a unique experience thanks to G Foundation. We travelled just a short distance back in the direction of our hotel and turned off the main road for just a kilometer or so to arrive at the G Adventures Foundation supported Sacred Valley Karma Community Kitchen. The foundation has helped set up a modern commercial kitchen, garden and dining facilities where each of it’s tour groups are treated to a fabulous local meal. I have to say it was right up there with some of the best meals of the trip. In the Andes region of Peru there are over 3000 varieties of quinoa and so our main dish was quinoa. But we had delicious salad from their garden, a couple of appies that tasted great, although I have no idea what they were. And dessert was strawberry jello, made from real strawberries and a little piece of chocolate cake. This meal was one of the components of the necessary life sustenance that we were going to need for this afternoon’s adventure to visit the Ollantaytambo ruins. The other was a nap on the bus on the way to the ruins.

There was no getting away from uphill in order to see the Ollantaytambo ruins and only 9 or 10 of us managed to make it to the top and down safely. The others were safe, they just chose to bail at various points. These ruins were the site of the last battle between the Incas and the Spaniards, and because of the invasion by the Spaniards, Ollantaytambo was not completed. There are huge boulders ready to be installed all over the site.

We all took it really slow and were suddenly really interested in the bits of information that our guide was providing…. so that we could stop and catch our breath if nothing else. No really he provided so much information my brain is in overload. Incas were supposed to be rather short people so I can’t figure out why some of the steps were so high. One of the most interesting parts of the ruins for me was the amazing skill in building the Incas had. They didn’t use mortar and yet the huge boulders, which were cut and chiseled smooth in the quarry before being hauled up the side of the mountain, fit so tight that you couldn’t slide a piece of paper between them. You’ll note from some of the pictures that the architects of the time knew to use trapezoids instead of arches because of the risk of earthquakes and after all these years, they are still standing where many of the structures built by the Spanish after they conquered the Incas have been sent to the ground by various tremors. As our guide said, the Inca’s architecture and building can be summed up by three words: Simple, symmetrical, and solid.

Some factoids about Peru given to us by our guide, who is a professor at the University of Cusco, so I’m going to accept them unless proven otherwise:

• Peru’s Number 1 export is copper, but they also mine gold and silver (Peru claims to be the largest exporter of silver in the world)
• Peru’s second largest industry is tourism
• Peru’s third largest industry is farming for export with the number 1 agriculture export being asparagus and second is avocados
• Guinea Pigs which are eaten for celebratory dinners have recently been discovered to contain a huge amount of cancer-fighting antioxidants.
• Peru exports guinea pigs, primarily to China
• Sacred Valley grows wheat, corn, cauliflower, squash, tomatoes, apples, peaches, strawberries and avocados and lots more I didn’t get written down!
• Lois likes Pisco Sours
• 

One of the things our guide noted was that the Potato Park is one of the few areas that has remained relatively unchanged by the increase in tourism. He sadly notes that even the way houses are being built is slowly changing with the new ones being made from cement rather than brick. And the Urubamba River which flows through the Sacred Valley and ends up in the Amazon no longer supports any real fish habitat because of its pollution. We did our small bit with our guide buying drinking water in huge boxes (like boxed wine but bigger), and we just refill our water bottles from there instead of using the small water bottles.

Tomorrow we take the train up to Aquas Calientas for our assault on Machu Picchu the following day. Fingers crossed for good weather Wednesday.

So, yesterday afternoon, we were picked up at the hotel at 2:30 pm by our usual driver, Victor, and so we were at the airport by 3:15ish for our 6 something flight. It took us a long time to get through check in and after Cara checking in our whole group individually, (well I helped with 3 of us), they started from scratch at the airport and issued us new boarding passes and luggage tags. We already knew our flight was delayed by 30 minutes as it had shown up that was the case the previous night. However, in the course of 2 hours, the time and gate changed 4 times keeping us on our toes and shuffling back and forth from gate to gate. Finally we were in the air and on our way.

After an uneventful flight, (those are the best kind) we were picked up by the G Adventures driver in Lima for our “40 minute” transfer to the hotel, arriving an hour later, or at 11:30 pmish. Needless to say it was a long day. And the hotel was not one of the best. 3 Star would be pushing it. We knew our flight to Cusco this morning was going to be early, but we received a note upon check in from our Peru CEO, Caty, that we would be picked up at 5:00 am so my alarm was set for 4:30. Breakfast was toast and tea or coffee, and we were on our way at 5 am. We met our CEO and the rest of the adventurers with rather muted enthusiasm, only because of the sleep deprivation. Once at the airport we discovered our flight to Cusco had been cancelled and we were re-booked on one leaving at 10:30 putting us 2 hours behind on our itinerary for the day. So the early start for nothing.

But things went up hill from there. We were able to have a leisurely breakfast at the airport at a restaurant that is apparently owned by the chef of one of the best restaurants in Lima. Our check in and security check was pain free and leisurely and the flight was on time leaving.

So we arrived in Cusco and in no time were on our way to the first of three stops today. Right from the get go, the scenery was amazing. Coming through Cusco we saw glimpses of what we have to look forward to later in the week when we return for two nights. Stunning architecture and a vibrant city. The plan is to spend the first few days in the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, which are lower than Cusco, for the travellers who just joined us to get acclimated to the higher altitudes. We got as high as 4000 metres today but didn’t have to exert ourselves at that altitude.

As we were leaving Cusco the traffic was snarled near two cemeteries as people were celebrating Mother’s Day here by visiting the grave sites of their loved ones. People were in a festive mood, setting up with big umbrellas and picnic gear all around the cemetery. Not a bad practise I’d say.

Next we went through Poroy, which is a favourite place for people from Cusco to celebrate graduations and birthdays etc. And they almost always celebrate by serving Guinea Pig. I had yet to try it but will given the opportunity.

The area around Cusco and the Sacred Valley is still agricultural as it was when the Inca’s walked the land. The primary crops are potatoes, quinoa (all sorts of colours), wheat, and barley. The crops are 98% organic. Eucalyptus trees dot the countryside to help stop erosion. Hydro to all families and communities in the Cusco area is supplied from a hydro plant in Machu Picchu and it also supplies 37% of the power to all of Peru.

We passed a couple of lakes where speckled trout, whose ancestors were imported from Canada, are raised.

Our first stop was just off the main road and it was at the Moray Ruins. It looks like the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre with tiered seating, but archeologists believe it is an “Open Experimental Centre” built by the Incas in the mid-1400’s. Here all different climates in the region were replicated and various plant varieties were tested. It’s beautiful and pretty darn smart of the Incas. Most of the area has been restored (only 25 % of the area hasn’t been). The temperatures from top to bottom of the ruins apparently shift as much as 15 degrees. Thankfully our guide was really thoughtful and only had us do some walking down hill and directed our route so that the bus could pick us up and not have to walk back up hill again. We were all OK with that suggestion.

By the way, our CEO, Katy, has a degree in Tourism from the University of Cusco, and one of her professors was also with us today and guided us through the sites we visited.

The second stop was at a “Salt Mine”, Las Salineras Pre-Incan Salt Pans, only it’s not really a mine. The water comes into the area and over 1000 terraced ponds, still worked by the community are producing a very special kind of pink salt, found in only 4 other places in the world. (Virgin Islands, Italy, Australian and one more I can’t recall). And yes, there was the opportunity to grab some of the famous pink salt at stands throughout the complex.

We wandered around the site, and had a chance to give the incoming water a feel and a taste. I was surprised to find out that it was quite warm water and not surprisingly it was really salty. It’s something like 3.5 times more salty than the Dead Sea. Their pink salt is shipped to Chefs around the world because of it’s unique composition of minerals.

Next it was on to what was supposed to be lunch but which turned out to be an early dinner. It was a dinner cooked in a 1000 year old traditional way called Pachamanca, They served the largest plate of food you can imagine. The meat (in this case, chicken, beef and lamb) and vegetables are cooked in an oven created by hot stones covered in the earth. It was delicious, but way too much food. I felt guilty leaving so much, especially since it was so tasty.

We made our way back across Urubamba to our lodge for the next two nights (Yay) and it looks really nice, but it was dark when we arrived so we’ll check it out tomorrow. As we came through town we drove past a festival of townspeople celebrating. Katy said there was a very popular folk singer scheduled to sing there tonight. There was dancing and music and even bounces castles for the kids. Might have been fun to join in, but we were all so tired we just wanted to get to our beds.

I’m not sure what I was expecting here, but whatever the expectations I had were blown out of the water. The views are absolutely breathtaking.

Tomorrow will be spent exploring more of the Sacred Valley.

Today is transition day, from the Ecuador to the Peru portion of the current tour. Nine of the 16 of us on the Ecuador trip are carrying on to Peru and 7 new people will be joining us in Lima. Our flight from Quito to Lima wasn’t scheduled until evening so it was a bit of a wasted day, although I was glad to sit still for a bit to catch up from the busy itinerary over the past week. And from the look of things, the next week doesn’t look any less busy.

Our driver Victor came to pick us up at the hotel today, and it was like meeting an old friend. He got us to the airport in great time using small winding roads instead of the usual route demonstrating once again his amazing driving skills. The flight leaving Quito changed gates and even departure times 4 times within 2 hours, and so we were on our toes making sure to be at the right place at the right time. It will be a late night tonight and an early morning tomorrow as we fly on to Cusco on an “early flight”. We’ll find out when we arrive in Lima what time that will be.

So, thinking back over our Ecuador trip, I loved every bit of it, well except Chris at the Envirowhatever park. I’ve sprinkled some of my favourite pics of Ecuador throughout this posting.

Our journey by bus every day (well we had a couple of 2 day layovers) was a delight. The scenery is spectacular with more interesting and beautiful things to see around every corner. From the highlands to the cloud forests and down in to the jungle, the rains and mists create a green paradise. Plants that we think of as houseplants that are difficult to keep alive in our climate grow with wild abandon in Ecuador.

Maria Sol jokes that some of our walks are “Ecuador flat” which means they can still be very hilly because it seems no where in Ecuador is it flat. Of course, throughout we have been surrounded by the Andes and volcanoes with their rugged peaks which are most often shrouded in clouds. And yes, there were some black humour jokes about eating the youngest and most tender first.

The Ecuadorian people are delightful for the most part, well except for that one woman that almost ran us down last night while smoking a cigarette, talking with the phone under her chin and driving without her headlights. We saw many poor villages where the existence was possible only because of the hospitable climate but the kids played and the adults seemed happy for the most part. Whether it be staff at the hotels, or restaurants they seemed eager to please. Perhaps it’s because tourism is a relative new phenomenon for them and they’r not yet jaded and tired of being on display. We did see a little of that, but the people in the community we visited in the jungle seemed somewhat shy and reserved rather than disinterested as they first appeared. Our tour guide Maria Sol, and Hector, the guide I hired in Quito when I first arrived, each have a passion for their country and were proud and excited to show off their country and its people.

Experiencing the food has been fabulous, thanks in great part to Maria Sol. She went above and beyond the call of duty to introduce us to the typical Ecuadorian foods and find places to try them out. Potatoes and corn are a huge part of the diet, as is rice. Chicken and pork are the prominent proteins although the indigenous people eat larva as well. Flavours are generally gentle, and even the “hot sauce” is not as hot as one would expect. But the food is fresh and full of beautiful herbs grown in gardens wherever food is cooked. There are about a million varieties of fruit, some of which are alien to us, but we dutifully tried some of them. Even the things that are familiar to us such as watermelon, and pineapple tasted so much better. Fruit juice is a staple and market stands offered up whatever was currently available.

Putting 16 people in a small bus and keep them running 12 hours a day, depriving them of sleep, adding altitude and heat and humidity and cold and damp and tropical rain and the consequences could be disastrous, but the theme of this group throughout our 8 days together was “it takes a community ” or “village”. We watched out for each other, helped each other up and down the slippery slopes and uneven pavement, shouted out a warning to watch fingers on the power canoes, pointed out forgotten items, reminded each other to bring the necessary items (do we need our boots for this activity?), helped each other through the transfer process today, etc. When Maria Sol fell last night, she had many concerned “villagers” each with advice and literally a hand up and shoulder to lean on as we made our way to the restaurant. I’m sure every day I heard the phrase, “it takes a community” as someone was helped along the way. I will miss those that have left the group to return home or carry on to other adventures, but look forward to meeting new people.

Would I recommend Ecuador to people looking for an interesting place to visit? In a heart beat. It reminds me of what Costa Rica probably was like 20 years ago. Cheap and cheerful and full of diversity. The altitude that had me worried going into this trip is not a problem but you should have prepared to deal with the symptoms.

I am sad to have left Ecuador behind but look forward with anticipation to our adventures in Peru and then on to Galapagos. As always, thanks for coming along for the adventure.

Today is the last day of the Ecuador portion of our adventure.

We are headed back to Quito, but not without a final exciting stop at the Cotopaxi National Park to see the dramatic Cotopaxi Volcano. At least we’re hoping to see it as the top is usually veiled in clouds which often extend down into the valleys around the volcano.

We had another wonderful day traveling by bus with our fabulous driver Victor through the absolutely stunning countryside, and through interesting little towns. Many things looked familiar to us, but there are definitely some things we don’t see in North America. Like guinea pigs ready for the roasting. Hard to imagine our furry little friends that so many of us had as pets when we were kids being roasted for dinner. Yet, here at the side of the road in one town there was a whole rack of them at the ready. They are apparently more commonly eaten in Peru but they are eaten here as a delicacy and special occasion treat. I haven’t tried it yet, but imagine I’ll get to do so in Peru.

Pelileo is a small town along the way which is a little like our outlet malls. All up and down the main streets along the highway are stores selling blue jeans and other denim wear as well as other clothing. People for Quito often plan a stop in Pelileo on their way to or from a weekend vacation in Banos to pick up some bargains.

Before lunch we were at the entrance to Cotopaxi National Park and the weather was promising for a volcano sighting. Snow capped Cotopaxi Volcano is the second highest summit in Ecuador, at 19,347 ft, and is among the highest active volcanos in the world, last erupting violently in 1904. In 1970 there was a major lava flow when the material from the summit flowed at 35 – 40 km per hour. There was some rumbling in 2015, 2016 and 2017 which closed the park to climbing for a few months, but so far this year it’s been inactive. I have to say the evaluation route signs all over and the fact that there is an alarm system giving visitors approximately 1 hour to get out of the park were not at all comforting.

We stopped briefly at the park entrance to use the facilities, have some snacks or cocoa leave tea (which is supposed to help with altitude) and to pick up a park guide which is required for any group over 6 people. He gave us some information about the park and the volcano. Cotopaxi means Moon Neck since some of the sightings of the summit have occurred during full moons when it looked like the moon was sitting atop the volcano. Along the road up to the volcano and before the park boundaries begin, there is some planting and harvesting of pine trees imported from Canada and California. The park was established in 1975 and is 3392 hectares in size. There are hiking trails throughout the park, but the altitude is a challenge for almost everyone.

There are some animals living in the park such as White Tail Deer, skunks, weasels, wolves, pumas, Andean Lizards and the Andean Condor. There is also a herd of wild horses which we saw near the parking lot. After some quick stops for photo ops (including a group one) we parked and headed on a nature walk around a small, shallow lake, at a snails pace. We were at 13,000 feet and were definitely feeling the altitude. It was fine if you walked slowly, and thankfully the path was “Equador flat” which is Maria Sol’s term for a path that can have some inclines but is somewhat flat since most trails are ridiculously up and down. All along the way there were beautiful delicate little flowers like we’d find in alpine meadows.

When we got back into the bus after our walk, I experienced one of the other signs of altitude, tingling in my finger tips. It was as if the tips of all my fingers had been “asleep” and were just walking up – that pins and needles feel. Very odd. It only lasted 20 minutes or so and then back to normal.

On our way out we stopped at another park building to get a special stamp in our passports.

By this time we were starving and figured that a 1 km walk, even at a snail’s pace at 13,000 feet ought to be rewarded with a great lunch. We stopped at a restaurant that Maria Sol knew would be fast and tasty and had some chicken soup, by now a staple of our diet. This one came with half a chicken on the bone in it!

Then it was back through rush hour traffic to Quito to check in at our original hotel for our last night on the Ecuador portion of our tour. We had a couple of hours to chill out, and recover from our high-altitude adventure and then met in the lobby for our farewell dinner since only 9 of us will be carrying on to the Peru portion of the tour. On our way to the restaurant, Maria Sol went over on her ankle on a section of the sidewalk that was broken up and really sprained it badly. She hobbled on, not allowing much assistance to get us to the restaurant. She was really shaken up and I think somewhat in shock and we all wanted to just put her in a taxi and send her home but she insisted on continuing.

She took us to a really cool restaurant in an up and coming neighbourhood where the food was very modern and delicious. It reminded me a bit of Kits in Vancouver.

Maria Sol recovered nicely with a cup of hot chocolate but we sent her home in a cab and followed our other tour director, Google Maps, to find our way home with no further incident. And there was Maria Sol waiting to make sure we all got back OK. A consummate professional. We will miss her as we carry on with our adventure.

I’ll try and post some general comments about the Ecuador portion of our trip in the next couple of days as I’ll have some travel waiting time to kill.

In the 60s and 70s when the oil industry was opening up the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin jungle, Banos became a leaping off point and service centre. With the increased activity, the thermal hot springs were discovered and became an attraction for the locals and domestic tourism. With that increase in tourism came the development of the adrenaline sports activities in the region – thus the title adrenaline capital. And when the oil prices declined and Ecuador’s economy suffered, the government made huge investments in infrastructure to promote tourism. Banos became a natural stop on the tourist’s agenda.

On our way into Banos, Maria Sol outlined the various activities available for the day we had in Banos. In keeping with the adrenaline sports theme were things like white water rafting, paragliding, canyoneering, zip lining, a huge swing at the top of one of the foot hills, and bungee jumping. Other activities included horseback riding, hiking to vistas of the nearby volcano, and to the top of some of the foot hills, etc. And of course, there is the hot springs. These hot springs were not charming like the ones we visited right outside our door at our hotel in Papallacta. But rather these are big public pools of mostly locals and folks from Quito and the coast of Ecuador. In Maria Sol’s description the phrase “its so crowded you’ll feel other people’s arms and legs” which didn’t sound very appealing. Turned out that it wasn’t that crowded and a couple of our group went and said it was just OK.

Since I’ve participated in many of the adrenaline sports and really didn’t want to think about doing the rest, I opted for a very tame spa visit, and booked a back massage for the afternoon. Two of the other women of the group wanted to go as well so we booked at the same time to share a taxi.

Since this was a rare day when we didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to get on the bus I slept in a little, and had a leisurely breakfast. People were making plans as to what to do with this day, and I was surprised but delighted to hear that 3 of the most senior of our group, two sisters from Fort Worth and their friend from St Louis, Missouri, had decided to go zip lining on the 1 km superman zipline. I have new role models as these ladies are still living such a great life of challenges and adventures for their minds and bodies.

Again, we lucked out and had a lovely day for our various activities. I wandered over to the town square which we visited last night, and entered the cathedral since there was a rare window when there wasn’t a mass going on. It is the Church of Our Lady of Holy Water and it has huge paintings depicting miracles attributed to the Virgin Mary. I sat and enjoyed the coming and going of the locals in the square for a while and then headed over to pick up my laundry which we had dropped off the night before. At only $4.50 for a huge bag of clothes I felt a little guilty that someone had stayed up all night getting our things laundered for us for so little compensation.

There are vendors all over town making and selling cane sugar candies. I’ve managed to resist buying any but they did have a jar of them on the hotel desk counter and have to admit that I may have had a few.

Those interested in trying some local food stalls met up with Maria Sol in the lobby at 12. There were about 10 of us in the group and we went through the marketplace, not unlike a food court, where locals were eating their lunch. Most of the tourists ate in one of the many, many restaurants around town offering local food but also any kind of international cuisine. Maria Sol explained what each stall was selling and what to look for and what to avoid (i.e. salad is not great for our foreign tummies). Some of the group opted to head to a restaurant after this brief introduction but 6 of us braved the local food and really enjoyed it. I had rice, beef, and avocado slices, and it was really good. Others had the delicious smelling soups or ubiquitous chicken dinners. We were served by this delightful older woman who was so much fun although we could barely understand each other since she spoke no English and only one of our group could speak other than a few words of Spanish. She was so cute, when one of our group started coughing, she came over and patted her on the back making soothing sounds. On our way out we stopped and got a local dessert of pastry wrapped around fresh cheese, and deep fried. It was really tasty, of course because it was deep fried!

Then it was back to the hotel for some blog time at the pool before our massage at 3:30. The hotel pool was really lovely with a view of the high waterfall just outside the hotel entrance.

The three of us headed off in a cab for our massage with verbal and written instructions from Maria Sol and in just a few short minutes we arrived at a lovely spa and boutique hotel just on the outskirts of town that had a really lovely garden. Somehow we muddled through figuring out what we were meant to do, answered questions about our service and were led into the back rooms of the spa to prepare for our massage. They led us into a large room with 4 massage tables all set up and ready to go. So it appeared we were to have a group massage. So we went with the flow and agreed that we’d likely never see each other again after this trip and so what the heck. We all striped down and jumped up on our assigned table in a lovely serene environment with the now familiar rose displays all over, wonderful smells and zen music. Three masseuses arrived and we spent the next 60 minutes in silence and bliss. Although I’m used to therapeutic massages performed by a Registered Massage Therapist, this relaxation massage was lovely nonetheless, except for the ear massage part which I just found annoying. At the end they rubbed us with warm lava rocks and then left them on our back and limbs and left us for some time. I was beginning to wonder if they were going to come get us, when in fact they did to tell us the massage was complete. After dressing we were directed to a lounge area, with seating, and a mud mask was applied to our faces and let dry while we feasted on lovely local pineapple and some kind of tea. We managed to jump into a taxi for our return trip to the hotel just before the clouds burst forth with the usual afternoon rain.

Back at the hotel, it was definitely nap time before dinner after such a soothing afternoon. At the usual time of 6:30 we gathered in the lobby to head out for dinner. The restaurant was just steps from the hotel this time and offered local food but lots of Mexican and Asian food as well. It had a very relaxed atmosphere and they spoke some English so Maria Sol didn’t have to translate everything for us. I ended up having Pad Thai just for something different. It wasn’t what I normally expect from a Pad Thai, but it was tasty and really fresh just the same. I also opted for a chocolate fudge brownie for dessert. I hadn’t indulged yet, and with chocolate being such a part of Ecuador’s offering I thought I really ought to try it. All in the name of research of course. Their chocolate is very high in dark delicious cocoa and very low in sugar and so it wasn’t overly sweet, but it was delicious. While we were eating, a Peruvian band came in and played for the guests at the restaurant, in exchange for passing a hat, of course. They were very good and added to the festive atmosphere as music always does.

Another day of experiences under our belts.

Yesterday morning (actually Wednesday – I’m a little behind) we awoke to realize how lucky we were with the lovely weather the day before as it is pouring rain this morning for our departure from the jungle lodge back into relative civilization. This makes the whole boat transfer of people and luggage very challenging. So we tried waiting it out, but finally had to go in order to stay on schedule.

So we all donned our rain attire, put our back pack rain covers on, added an extra layer of disposable ponchos on over our life jackets and back packs and headed out. The rain had started to subside somewhat but continued the whole way from the lodge to the bus and in the process almost everything got soaked. Victor, our trusty driver, had to put on the air conditioning to get the moisture out of the air on the bus so he could see out of the windows. Luckily we had only one stop planned for today enroute to Banos, and the rain stopped before we arrived at that stop.

While enroute, Maria Sol talked a little more about the indigenous people. There are a couple of groups deep in the Amazon jungle who have not had a lot of communication with the outside world nor do they want it. One tribe has threatened to kill anyone coming on to their lands and not too long ago, some journalists were killed when they entered their territory uninvited and unwanted. For the most part though the 10 other indigenous groups have kept their way of life while integrating new realities into that life.

After a while we arrived at a small town where we would be having lunch and also visiting the Omaere Ethnobotanical Park. Ethnobotanism is the study of the relationship between cultures and the plants around them. It was a bit of a weird visit. The guide for our tour was a former Californian who married an Indigenous woman and together they started this amazing jungle forest full of special plants important for their medicinal and healing properties. He was a little hard to take, with his holier-than-thou attitude and I have to admit this was not my favourite activity. While I agreed with much that he said about the environment and waste, it was the way he said it that had my back up. And after condemning modern society for its use of everything other than natural materials, he hauled out his cell phone when it rang to let him know another group was at the gate. Guess he wasn’t aware as to what went in to it. OK, sorry, rant over.

It had stopped raining but was still really wet and the pathways in the jungle were lined with smooth stones. Can’t imagine who would think that was a good idea. So we slipped, and slided away up and down the pathways being told about all the great uses for the plants planted in this area. It is pretty amazing the work they have done, since it started out as a plot of land being used for agriculture just under 20 years ago, but now looks almost like a native jungle. It is also pretty amazing how the plants have historically been used by the indigenous peoples and how many present day medicines have come from the Amazon jungle environment.

This is one of the most interesting plants that was first pointed out to us at the jungle lodge and was thriving in this place as well. It’s called a “Walking Tree” because it sends out new roots in the direction of the sun and as the new roots form, the old ones die and the whole tree moves closer to the sun. These trees can “walk” up to 2 metres in their life time.

The orange sap coming out of this tree can be used to make dyes.

The vine growing on this trunk is the vanilla orchid from which we get vanilla.

After our walk through the Park we walked down the river walk just a short distance to a lovely patio of a restaurant for lunch. Our lunches have often been pre-ordered by Maria Sol so that we could be in and out quickly. At lots of places we would go with the local soup, either potato or chicken but at this one she recommended the shrimp and most of us ordered either grilled shrimp or shrimp in garlic and other herbs. It was absolutely fabulous. She hasn’t steered us wrong yet.

Then after the short walk back to the bus we headed on to the adrenaline capital of Ecuador, Banos. The drive was absolutely gorgeous. Banos is located in the foothills of a 13,000 foot high active volcano but it’s been quiet for some time. There have been some rumblings when the townspeople are required to evacuate but nothing has come of it. Unfortunately the townspeople’s property was not well protected during one evacuation and they came back to some ransacking so now even when there are concerns about potential eruptions they won’t leave their property.

We arrived at our hotel in the late afternoon, still in a bit of a drizzle. The hotel is ideally located across the street from the famous hot springs and there us a waterfall just outside the front door. Many of the buildings in town, including one of the walls of my room are made of volcanic rock.

After checking in, and a short rest, Maria Sol took us on an orientation walking tour of the town, including a stop for us to drop off any laundry for cleaning.

Like is so many of the towns we went through, there is a lovely town square with a Catholic Church on the square. In Ecuador, 95% of the population is Roman Catholic so you can imagine how many churches there are like the one in Banos. Beautiful.

Further on in our tour, Maria Sol took us to this shop where we saw a unique craftsman at work. He uses the seeds of one of the palm trees which hardens like rock and then using a lathe and other tools to form all sorts of ornaments like the ones he is holding the picture below. These pieces will be coming home with me.

We finished the walk at a really nice restaurant with typical local food. We have two nights here in Banos, and there is so much to do it’s a little overwhelming. More on all that with tomorrow’s post.

Tuesday was a full day here on the Arajuno River, and we spent a good chunk of it taking the power canoes up and down the river expertly piloted by the local indigenous community members. We were extremely lucky with the weather as we had some clouds in the morning, but brilliant sunshine in the afternoon and into the evening. As you can imagine, that made it feel somewhat like a wet sauna but made getting around easier. The feel of the air in the jungle is beautiful. The only other place I can think of that feels as great is the old growth forests of BC or the Redwood forests of California.

Never did I think I’d get up at 6 am to scramble into a wet boat, clamber through mud up the side of a river bank, and then stand for 15 minutes precariously perched on the side of a muddy slope with nothing but netting (to camouflage the humans) between me and a ravine just to see some damn parakeets. Haha, it was actually fun, and the parakeets were beautiful a fluorescent green colour with grey heads. The birds need to clean their innards every few days to wash out all the seeds they’ve ingested and they came to a cliff where some clay was exposed to eat it. It was fascinating to watch the flock of them gradually move towards the clay lick (Saladero). We waited in the boats by the river bank as they gathered in the trees across the river from the clay lick. A few birds at at time would fly to trees nearer and nearer. The guide knew when it was time for us to leave the boat and climb up the bank so that we didn’t have to stay on the slope too long waiting for them. We all got our spots along the ridge and within a few minutes the first few birds started to land on the clay and start the process. Then more and more joined them. Seems like such a silly thing to do when I read this, but it really was interesting.

Some guests showed up at breakfast to join us. A stick insect (on Maria Sol’s shoulder) and a leaf insect (on her phone). She was constantly showing up with something interesting to show us.

We barely had time to get back to the lodge for breakfast and it was time to head out for what turned out to be an incredibly interesting experience and one I suspect will be one of my favourites. We went 20 minutes or so down the river to the Kichwa village where many of the people working at the lodge live including our guide for all activities at the lodge.

The women of the Kichwa village are the farmers and our first stop was so that one of our guides young daughters could show us how they farm yuca and bananas and plantains. Yuca is a root vegetable that looks like a potato but comes from a tall and fast growing tall bush and it is a staple in their diet. The plants can be re-grown using stalks from the bush and they are ready to harvest in 4 – 6 months. The tool of choice is a machete and the young girl that is maybe 12 was very adept at using it like she meant it. To harvest, once the branches of the bush are cut and the pieces for re-planting are secured, the root is pulled up to harvest the various bulbs of root. A couple of our group got to try both the planting and the harvesting, with Aussie Jeff taking the lead, but Elizabeth from Gatineau swung a mean machete.

We moved to another area where there was a bunch of plantains ready to be harvested. It seems the whole top of the tree gets loped off but you have to cut only part way through the stock with one swipe of the machete so that the weight of the bunch doesn’t bring the whole thing crashing down and bruise the fruit. Nancy from Colorado did the honours and did a great job of getting a huge bunch of plantains down without bruising them. Plantains are in the banana family and have to be cooked to eat, but they are a staple of the diet here and are delicious sliced and just fried up.

Next it was back to the boats and down river just a bit farther to a level sand/rock bar at the side of the river for our guide to demonstrate one of the ways the Kichwa fish the river. This demonstration was using a net and throwing it into the river and then pulling it up, hopefully with fish caught in the net. They also will put a net completely across the river when the height of the river is right and catch everything going by or another method is to catch them using a line. This time I was one of the brave guinea pigs and I failed miserably. When the guide threw out the circular net, the weight of the rocks along the bottom of the net landed in a perfect circle in the water. The guide hung the net over one shoulder and showed me how to swing and turn to throw it. I couldn’t believe how heavy it was and how easy he made it look. My throw resulted in the net in a pile about 2 feet from me barely in the water. A couple of the guys tried it and they did a little better but not much. Clearly an acquired talent. There was one tiny little fish in the net at the end of our attempts which I’m sure I caught, but the guys seemed to want to claim it.

Then back to the boats and over to the village to learn more about their way of life. There are 135 or so people in this village, made up of of 20 families. (Our guide contributed 12 children to that number). We gathered at a community area, near a building that had been built communally by the whole village with the help of Volunteer organization. The families sometimes work together but they have their own land and make their own way. They elect a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer every 2 years, and there are also Committee Captains, like Sports and Chicha Captains.

Chicha is a drink which the Kichwa make using yuca. They drink it starting on day 1 but also let it ferment for up to 10 days when it’s very strong. We got to taste Day 1 which tasted like a green tea and Day 3 which was now milky looking and already had a kick to it. So when the families are gathering to work on a cooperative project the Chicha Chair is responsible for keeping track of how much Chicha each family brings and reprimanding them if they don’t bring enough and telling them how much they have to bring next time.

Each village has a Shaman who looks after the well-being of the community and one of our crew volunteered to have her energy restored with smoke and waves of a palm limb of some kind by the Shaman.

The women had prepared some of their food for us to taste and showing us their cooking methods. They use the broad leaves of one of the plants to wrap the food and put it right into the fire. It cooks the food in its own juice and kills off any germs. We tried fish, chicken, larva, potato patties, and fruit with chocolate dipping sauce. It was amazing.

I’m not sure about the Kichwa, but some of the Indigenous people still use blow guns to hunt and can hit targets 40-50 meters away using blow guns that are 6 feet long and really heavy. They also practise fishing using the poison curare where they throw it in the river which doesn’t kill, but stuns the fish so they can’t swim and they float to the surface and then they scramble to net them before the water flowing over the fish cleans away the toxin so they are able to fish again.

The community had set up a stand to sell their handicrafts, and of course I helped their economy purchasing a little dish made of clay and painted in three colours.

Then it was time to say goodbye and back up the river to the lodge for another great lunch before our afternoon activity, a visit to an animal rescue centre called AmaZOOnico. By after lunch the day had turned sunny and really warm and with the humidity just standing still had the sweat dripping off of us. So we really enjoyed the 30 min boat ride to and from the rescue centre. The rescue centre is doing amazing work, mostly with volunteers, in returning lots of injured animals to the wild after patching them up. But they also have a lot of animals that they can never release because they’ve become too used to humans or they can’t teach them the skills for them to manage in the wild. Lots of them are Amazon parrots, but there are toucans, snakes, small cats, etc. It was tough work walking through the centre because nothing is on the flat here. We were up and down steps for over an hour in the heat so we were glad to be back on the boat on our way back to the lodge for our evening.

Dinner was once again fantastic, and I opted not to go on the Night walk. I saw the pics people had of the things they saw from the walk the night before and decided I had tromped up and down hills, over tree limbs and through the mud enough for one day.

I’m sure today will end up being at the top of my list of favourite experiences of this trip with the diversity of nature and culture, and the sheer beauty of the area.