Now I am in Lima at my Hostel. I just got back from the parks that are in Miraflores. I spent most of the day just thinking back on my experience, and watching the ocean before I have to go back home.
I had a fantastic time. Taking the time to volunteer in another country was one of the best things I have ever done in my life. And definately one of the most rewarding. Getting to see out people live in another part of the world and seeing how they can be happy even when all the odds are against them has inspired me to take a deeper look into what is truely important in my own life. If I have learned anything from this experience it is that I want to do it again. I am not sure where or how but I definitely know that I want to make volunteering something that I don´t just do once or twice but something that I do through out my life in many different ways.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Day 30 - 33
So this entry will be all about my experience in the Jungle. I left the volunteer house on the 3rd of July at 8 AM for the last time. I stole one last glance at the door and security gate as I slipped into the back of the Taxi and spead off toward the airport. (That is a good as I can do making this look like an actually interesting story haha)
I arrived in Puerto Maldonado around 10 AM and was met there by the other two poeple on my tour and our guide. On the same tour I had there was a couple from San Fransico CA. They where really great. Also doing the same tour but with another guide where 4 men from England who where quite funny haha. Anyway we arrived at the Lodge office and got fitted for our rubber boots. I figured this was pointless and I would rather walk in the mud barefoot but then they told me that there could be bugs and frogs in the mud that are poisonous so I conceeded and put on the boots haha. However to my delight it was still quite fun and humorous to walk in the mud even with the boots. It had just rained their the day before so the trail to the lodge was pretty bad. at some places the mud got to about a 1 1/2 ft deep. After our walk which was about 2 km we got into some canoes and they rowed us across Lake Sandoval to our lodge. The Lake is a motor free zone so the entire trip we were in canoes. Which made things really nice, quiet, and peaceful. It also allowed us to get much closer to the wild life than you would normally be able to so that was night. All of our meals where included with the trip so we had breakfast lunch and dinner at the same times every day and the chefs prepared a wide variety of Peruvian dishes for us to try. The great thing about my group was that the couple I was with was vegetarian, and most of the meals had meat in them. Now the chef did make them their own dinners, but every once in a while he forgot so I got extra food haha. And I love extra food.
The lodge was very nice and very basic. We only had electricity at specific times during the day and hot water was powered by propane. I myself didn´t ever get any hot water, but that was ok. It was pretty warm in the rain forest so a cold shower wasn´t too bad.
Our first day was a pretty relaxing one. Well it was supposed to be. I played soccer (futbol) with the local staff and I hurt my ankle again haha. I am pretty sure everyone that knows me is roling their eyes and going Oh Chase... you never learn do you. Well NO I DON´T haha. After dinner we had a night walk through a trail that started near the Lodge. We saw a whole bunch on night life. Mostly insects, we did manage to spot a Black Caiman baby on the bank of the Lake. And we saw the two resident types of Trauanchula that live near the lodge. The Chicken Trauanchula, and the another one I can´t remember the name of haha. After the walk it was bed time.
Our second day started early, around 5 AM. We had breakfast and got out on the lake to see some of the local bird life, and 3 of 6 different types of monkeys that live around the lake. The Squirrel monkey, the red howler monkey, and another type that I can´t remember haha. We were also trying to catch a glimpse of the family of Giant Otters that make this lake so special. Sadly we weren´t lucky enough to spot them. Later that day we had a walk around the lodge in the medicinal garden, where our guide explained about some of the local plant life and how the locals use them for medical purposes. It was really interesting and I tryed to take a lot of pictures haha. Also we went on another jungle trail and our guide showed us some of the different trees that live there including the Brazilian knut tree. Which gets extremely large. That night we went back out on the lake to see some more birds and monkeys and to spot the Black Caiman. We rode around the edge of the lake and shinned our flash lights across the water trying to get a reflection from their eyes. We saw a few big ones that where about 3 meters but it was way to dark to take a picture haha.
Again we woke up around 5 AM and went back out on the lake for another crack at seeing the Giant Otters, after that we went on a nature walk to see some of the bird life. When we finished that we crossed the lake and had breakfast on the boats. We went for a jungle hike in the early afternoon, and that was where the fun happened haha. Our guides where showing us some of the vines that grow on the larger trees. and I might have been messing around and trying to be Tarzan haha, I have videos they are funny. Anyway I was standing there watching someone else when one of the guys from England said there was a big snake behind us. I turned around and was like wow that is a big snake. So I pulled out my camera and was trying to take a picture. I said to my self well this stinks I really wish I could see the head. Then I looked at the view finder on the camera. There it was! The head about 3 ft from my foot. And that was when the guide recognized the snake and was like. WOW this is an Anaconda. Suddenly I didn´t think where I was standing was the best spot haha. We all gave the snake a wide birth and started to take pictures. I shot a short video and that was when the snake decided to move on across the path toward the river. when it was almost by us. I asked the guide if I could touch it. He said I could but we couldn´t take any pictures because they shouldn´t let me haha. So sadly I have no pictures but that was one of the best experiences of my life. It was really intense to know I was petting a wild Anaconda, I was touching a snake that was about 12 ft long about 6 inches thick, and would have no problem deciding that it had had enough and try and hurt or kill me haha. It was awesome! After that we made our way back to the lodge where none of the other guides believed us until we showed them our pictures. Aparantly they are extremely rare in the Lake Sandoval area. In the evening we went out on the lake one last time to see the Otters but had no luck. One the way back we got caught in the rain which was another awesome experience. I was soaked in seconds and I had a ton of fun with the guides before going back inside to get in dry cloths for dinner and bed.
On the last day we woke up around 6 AM and made our way across the lake to the trail back to the lodge office in Puerto Maldonado. Again we got hit with heavy rain, which was awesome because it was already muddy, but it quickly became one big mud pit heehee. After the walk we were taken back to the airport, where I took off to Lima around 12 PM.
I arrived in Puerto Maldonado around 10 AM and was met there by the other two poeple on my tour and our guide. On the same tour I had there was a couple from San Fransico CA. They where really great. Also doing the same tour but with another guide where 4 men from England who where quite funny haha. Anyway we arrived at the Lodge office and got fitted for our rubber boots. I figured this was pointless and I would rather walk in the mud barefoot but then they told me that there could be bugs and frogs in the mud that are poisonous so I conceeded and put on the boots haha. However to my delight it was still quite fun and humorous to walk in the mud even with the boots. It had just rained their the day before so the trail to the lodge was pretty bad. at some places the mud got to about a 1 1/2 ft deep. After our walk which was about 2 km we got into some canoes and they rowed us across Lake Sandoval to our lodge. The Lake is a motor free zone so the entire trip we were in canoes. Which made things really nice, quiet, and peaceful. It also allowed us to get much closer to the wild life than you would normally be able to so that was night. All of our meals where included with the trip so we had breakfast lunch and dinner at the same times every day and the chefs prepared a wide variety of Peruvian dishes for us to try. The great thing about my group was that the couple I was with was vegetarian, and most of the meals had meat in them. Now the chef did make them their own dinners, but every once in a while he forgot so I got extra food haha. And I love extra food.
The lodge was very nice and very basic. We only had electricity at specific times during the day and hot water was powered by propane. I myself didn´t ever get any hot water, but that was ok. It was pretty warm in the rain forest so a cold shower wasn´t too bad.
Our first day was a pretty relaxing one. Well it was supposed to be. I played soccer (futbol) with the local staff and I hurt my ankle again haha. I am pretty sure everyone that knows me is roling their eyes and going Oh Chase... you never learn do you. Well NO I DON´T haha. After dinner we had a night walk through a trail that started near the Lodge. We saw a whole bunch on night life. Mostly insects, we did manage to spot a Black Caiman baby on the bank of the Lake. And we saw the two resident types of Trauanchula that live near the lodge. The Chicken Trauanchula, and the another one I can´t remember the name of haha. After the walk it was bed time.
Our second day started early, around 5 AM. We had breakfast and got out on the lake to see some of the local bird life, and 3 of 6 different types of monkeys that live around the lake. The Squirrel monkey, the red howler monkey, and another type that I can´t remember haha. We were also trying to catch a glimpse of the family of Giant Otters that make this lake so special. Sadly we weren´t lucky enough to spot them. Later that day we had a walk around the lodge in the medicinal garden, where our guide explained about some of the local plant life and how the locals use them for medical purposes. It was really interesting and I tryed to take a lot of pictures haha. Also we went on another jungle trail and our guide showed us some of the different trees that live there including the Brazilian knut tree. Which gets extremely large. That night we went back out on the lake to see some more birds and monkeys and to spot the Black Caiman. We rode around the edge of the lake and shinned our flash lights across the water trying to get a reflection from their eyes. We saw a few big ones that where about 3 meters but it was way to dark to take a picture haha.
Again we woke up around 5 AM and went back out on the lake for another crack at seeing the Giant Otters, after that we went on a nature walk to see some of the bird life. When we finished that we crossed the lake and had breakfast on the boats. We went for a jungle hike in the early afternoon, and that was where the fun happened haha. Our guides where showing us some of the vines that grow on the larger trees. and I might have been messing around and trying to be Tarzan haha, I have videos they are funny. Anyway I was standing there watching someone else when one of the guys from England said there was a big snake behind us. I turned around and was like wow that is a big snake. So I pulled out my camera and was trying to take a picture. I said to my self well this stinks I really wish I could see the head. Then I looked at the view finder on the camera. There it was! The head about 3 ft from my foot. And that was when the guide recognized the snake and was like. WOW this is an Anaconda. Suddenly I didn´t think where I was standing was the best spot haha. We all gave the snake a wide birth and started to take pictures. I shot a short video and that was when the snake decided to move on across the path toward the river. when it was almost by us. I asked the guide if I could touch it. He said I could but we couldn´t take any pictures because they shouldn´t let me haha. So sadly I have no pictures but that was one of the best experiences of my life. It was really intense to know I was petting a wild Anaconda, I was touching a snake that was about 12 ft long about 6 inches thick, and would have no problem deciding that it had had enough and try and hurt or kill me haha. It was awesome! After that we made our way back to the lodge where none of the other guides believed us until we showed them our pictures. Aparantly they are extremely rare in the Lake Sandoval area. In the evening we went out on the lake one last time to see the Otters but had no luck. One the way back we got caught in the rain which was another awesome experience. I was soaked in seconds and I had a ton of fun with the guides before going back inside to get in dry cloths for dinner and bed.
On the last day we woke up around 6 AM and made our way across the lake to the trail back to the lodge office in Puerto Maldonado. Again we got hit with heavy rain, which was awesome because it was already muddy, but it quickly became one big mud pit heehee. After the walk we were taken back to the airport, where I took off to Lima around 12 PM.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Day 28
Before you ask. Not much happened haha, Here in Cusco it has been one thing after another so the other volunteers and I haven't really got much done. But today was a pretty productive day.
It was my last day at the school, which was kind of sad but at the same time I think I am ready to come home. I worked out in the garden as usual and was trying to get everything taken care of before I leave. We harvested our tiny crop of Beetroot, which was interesting haha. They where planted about 6 months ago, and by someone who didn't fully know what they where doing so most of them where to close together. out of a crop of 30 or so we probably only got about 10 good ones haha. But hey live and learn, and get a volunteer who has some experience haha. So they did. But now I am leaving haha. Well after we took care of the beetroot plants and gave them to the kitchen we went back into the garden, and Juan, Ivan, and myself planted a bed of onions. I showed them how to plant using a grid system, and taught them about proper spacing and seed depth. Juan was very interested and I think he learned a lot, which is good. Because it will really help to have a local person who understands what to do. After that I did what I could for the compost pile and gave everything on last water. Then it was time to do one last computer class with Simon, then it was back to the volunteer house.
Due to some bad luck we lost Heather 2 days ago because of a death in the family, and last night we lost Jo to illness. She is currently in the clinic for 2 days. Don't worry she will be fine. It was just bad timing because that meant that we only had Liz, Ivan, Simon, and myself for House Visits. Ivan had to leave for a trip to Southern Peru for a few days, and Simon was busy working with the database for the volunteer office, so that meant only Liz and I were on house visits and that wasn't enough people to do our project so we had to scrap it today. So I spent the rest of the day working on my garden logs, and my volunteer progress paperwork, so I could turn it in so the next volunteers know what I have done and am working on. I finished that around 4 or so and I had some dinner, and I watched Madagasscar 2 which reminded me a lot of the Lion King but was still a funny movie. Well that is about it. Tomorrow I pack and clean my room and apartment, and I will go on one last house visit tomorrow night. Then early Friday morning I am off to the jungle for one last adventure before I come home.
It was my last day at the school, which was kind of sad but at the same time I think I am ready to come home. I worked out in the garden as usual and was trying to get everything taken care of before I leave. We harvested our tiny crop of Beetroot, which was interesting haha. They where planted about 6 months ago, and by someone who didn't fully know what they where doing so most of them where to close together. out of a crop of 30 or so we probably only got about 10 good ones haha. But hey live and learn, and get a volunteer who has some experience haha. So they did. But now I am leaving haha. Well after we took care of the beetroot plants and gave them to the kitchen we went back into the garden, and Juan, Ivan, and myself planted a bed of onions. I showed them how to plant using a grid system, and taught them about proper spacing and seed depth. Juan was very interested and I think he learned a lot, which is good. Because it will really help to have a local person who understands what to do. After that I did what I could for the compost pile and gave everything on last water. Then it was time to do one last computer class with Simon, then it was back to the volunteer house.
Due to some bad luck we lost Heather 2 days ago because of a death in the family, and last night we lost Jo to illness. She is currently in the clinic for 2 days. Don't worry she will be fine. It was just bad timing because that meant that we only had Liz, Ivan, Simon, and myself for House Visits. Ivan had to leave for a trip to Southern Peru for a few days, and Simon was busy working with the database for the volunteer office, so that meant only Liz and I were on house visits and that wasn't enough people to do our project so we had to scrap it today. So I spent the rest of the day working on my garden logs, and my volunteer progress paperwork, so I could turn it in so the next volunteers know what I have done and am working on. I finished that around 4 or so and I had some dinner, and I watched Madagasscar 2 which reminded me a lot of the Lion King but was still a funny movie. Well that is about it. Tomorrow I pack and clean my room and apartment, and I will go on one last house visit tomorrow night. Then early Friday morning I am off to the jungle for one last adventure before I come home.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Day 21-25
Well I am happy to announce my return from the Trek. I know that some of you are disappointed in me having survived. But you will be happy to know that I didn't make it out of there unscathed haha. Yes Chase has been maimed in his battle against the forces of nature. Mostly through his how stupidity and bad luck. On my last day of the trek I slipped on one of the steps and sprained my ankle. But as a true trekker, I continued on the trial for another 2 hours, and then hiked up the imfamous Waynu Piccu mountain as well haha. In hind sight this was probably not the best idea as i am now house ridden for the next 2 days but the victory and the view from the top were worth it haha. So that pretty much covers what I have been doing for today, I watch the entire 4th season of Weeds and I talked to a few people online and sorted out some paperwork and travel stuff for my trip to the jungle. But enough of the boring stuff I'm sure you all want to hear about the jungle.
Well as most of you know I had a surprise on Tuesday when I found out that I was leaving that night. Everything went smoothly and we arrived at our campsite around 9 or 9:30 PM. We went straight to sleep and woke up around 5:30 or 6 AM the next morning. We finished getting our gear ready and made our way to the first control point. There are a few of these control stations along the trail to monitor who is there. After passing the control station we walked for about 2 hours or so and came to our first set of ruins. These ruins are located at the bottom of a valley and are actually not part of the trek, but our guide said that we had time so he took use along a local farmers trail down to the ruins and we spent about 2 hours there. Then it was back to hiking . We were on the trail for another 2 hours or so until we got to a nice look out peak that we took a break for a little while before setting off again to get to camp. We arrived at camp around 3:30 PM and had lunch. At 5:30 PM was tea time and dinner was at 7 PM. After dinner most of us just went straight to sleep because we where all pretty tired. In the morning was a nice rooster wake up call around 6 AM followed by some coca tea and breakfast, we hit the trail around 8 AM. We hiked a little ways to our second control point and get our tickets and everything cleared to enter the Inca trail. Most people believe that the trail begins the first day but this isn't true the first day the trail that you follow is a newly created route for this trek. The actual Inca trail doesn't begin until the second day at the second check point which is at KM 88. From there we had a free day. Since their were no ruins or monuments on along the trail on the second day our guide told us that we could have a free day. We were allowed to walk and enjoy the trail at our own pace. There are 2 break points during the first part of the trail each about 2 hours apart. After that it's another 2 hours to get to the first mountain pass "Dead Womans Pass". Here you have a spectacular view of both sides of the mountain and you can see the Inca trail winding down both sides of the mountain. It is here that you switch from the Inca trail the another modern trail. the reason for this is because around the 1970s a land slide destroyed much of the trail along this stretch of the mountain range, and because of the expense of reconstruction the Peruvian government decided it would be more cost effective to make a different route that went into the valley instead of following the upper part of the mountain range around to the second pass. It was in this valley that we had our second camp. We arrived their around 3:30 PM again and from there it was pretty much the same as the previous night. Again the morning schedule was the same and we hit the trail around 8 AM for the 3rd day of the trek. This day we had 3 different sets of ruins all of which were very interesting. My favorite how ever was probably Sayaqmarkus. This city is located at the first part of the cloud forest and is situated on the outer most peak of the mountain crest. From the city you can see the entire valley and you are eye level with the clouds. For me I think the name should be the heavenly city, but that is just my opinion haha. these ruins are quite extensive and very well kept. The scene is something out of a fairy tail, with a constant mist that surround this ruins and gives them a sort of mystic and magical feel, truly one of the most beautiful sights I have every been to. after that it was a 2 hour hike down to lunch followed by a pretty long hike up to the 3rd pass. Here our guide took us off the main trail to an outlying peak that allowed for a early view of Macchu Piccu and Waynu Piccu Mountains. and just below the pass is another set of ruins that we got to spend some time in. After that it was another grueling 4 hours of treking to get down the final camp and final set of ruins called WinaWayna. Now here is where things get a little dicey haha. In the morning of the 4th day we started at 4 AM. We had breakfast, packed up camp, and made our way to the final control point. Here everyone that is one the trail lined for the controler to open the gates at 5:30 AM. When the gates opened it was a free for all run to get to the sun gate which is normally about 1 1/2 hours away, we did the run in about 45 minutes. It was here that I sprained my ankle haha, damn you stupid rock and crappy vision. haha. Once at the Sun Gate we stayed for about 5 minutes to take pictures and rest then we were off again on another run to get to Macchu Piccu, the reason for this is because there are only 400 people allowed to climb Wayna Piccu every day, and there are around 1,500 people that visit Macchu Piccu every day. For this reason getting a ticket to climb Wayna is very very difficult. out of all the people that were on the trek and were trying to get a ticket which was around 40 or 50 people. Only 8 of us got tickets. After Sara (the other volunteer I did the trek with) and I got our tickets we went on a tour of Macchu Piccu with our guide, then we went for our final hike up Wayna Piccu. This trail is about 1 hour up and 1 hour down and is very very step and difficult. Our guide told us that on average 4 people die a year climbing this mountain. After that we had very little time. We made our way to the bus station and took that down the the lower city. We had some lunch before boarding our train back to Ollantaytambo and from their we took taxi back to our house in Cusco. We arrived around 6:30 PM, showered and went to sleep.
All in all this trek was one of the best experiences of my life and I highly suggest it to anyone that goes to Peru. And if you don't want to go on the Inca trail their are also alternate routes that you can take to get to Macchu Piccu. All of which are supposed to be fantastic.
And for a finishing thought and fun fact. Macchu Piccu is Chetchuwa which is the language of the Incas, now their are two different dialects of this language, and based on where you lived in the time of the Incas you spoke of one of the two. Where Macchu Piccu is located the name for the mountain is actually in a different dialect. So the correct name of the mountain is Macchu Olko and Waynu Olko.
Well as most of you know I had a surprise on Tuesday when I found out that I was leaving that night. Everything went smoothly and we arrived at our campsite around 9 or 9:30 PM. We went straight to sleep and woke up around 5:30 or 6 AM the next morning. We finished getting our gear ready and made our way to the first control point. There are a few of these control stations along the trail to monitor who is there. After passing the control station we walked for about 2 hours or so and came to our first set of ruins. These ruins are located at the bottom of a valley and are actually not part of the trek, but our guide said that we had time so he took use along a local farmers trail down to the ruins and we spent about 2 hours there. Then it was back to hiking . We were on the trail for another 2 hours or so until we got to a nice look out peak that we took a break for a little while before setting off again to get to camp. We arrived at camp around 3:30 PM and had lunch. At 5:30 PM was tea time and dinner was at 7 PM. After dinner most of us just went straight to sleep because we where all pretty tired. In the morning was a nice rooster wake up call around 6 AM followed by some coca tea and breakfast, we hit the trail around 8 AM. We hiked a little ways to our second control point and get our tickets and everything cleared to enter the Inca trail. Most people believe that the trail begins the first day but this isn't true the first day the trail that you follow is a newly created route for this trek. The actual Inca trail doesn't begin until the second day at the second check point which is at KM 88. From there we had a free day. Since their were no ruins or monuments on along the trail on the second day our guide told us that we could have a free day. We were allowed to walk and enjoy the trail at our own pace. There are 2 break points during the first part of the trail each about 2 hours apart. After that it's another 2 hours to get to the first mountain pass "Dead Womans Pass". Here you have a spectacular view of both sides of the mountain and you can see the Inca trail winding down both sides of the mountain. It is here that you switch from the Inca trail the another modern trail. the reason for this is because around the 1970s a land slide destroyed much of the trail along this stretch of the mountain range, and because of the expense of reconstruction the Peruvian government decided it would be more cost effective to make a different route that went into the valley instead of following the upper part of the mountain range around to the second pass. It was in this valley that we had our second camp. We arrived their around 3:30 PM again and from there it was pretty much the same as the previous night. Again the morning schedule was the same and we hit the trail around 8 AM for the 3rd day of the trek. This day we had 3 different sets of ruins all of which were very interesting. My favorite how ever was probably Sayaqmarkus. This city is located at the first part of the cloud forest and is situated on the outer most peak of the mountain crest. From the city you can see the entire valley and you are eye level with the clouds. For me I think the name should be the heavenly city, but that is just my opinion haha. these ruins are quite extensive and very well kept. The scene is something out of a fairy tail, with a constant mist that surround this ruins and gives them a sort of mystic and magical feel, truly one of the most beautiful sights I have every been to. after that it was a 2 hour hike down to lunch followed by a pretty long hike up to the 3rd pass. Here our guide took us off the main trail to an outlying peak that allowed for a early view of Macchu Piccu and Waynu Piccu Mountains. and just below the pass is another set of ruins that we got to spend some time in. After that it was another grueling 4 hours of treking to get down the final camp and final set of ruins called WinaWayna. Now here is where things get a little dicey haha. In the morning of the 4th day we started at 4 AM. We had breakfast, packed up camp, and made our way to the final control point. Here everyone that is one the trail lined for the controler to open the gates at 5:30 AM. When the gates opened it was a free for all run to get to the sun gate which is normally about 1 1/2 hours away, we did the run in about 45 minutes. It was here that I sprained my ankle haha, damn you stupid rock and crappy vision. haha. Once at the Sun Gate we stayed for about 5 minutes to take pictures and rest then we were off again on another run to get to Macchu Piccu, the reason for this is because there are only 400 people allowed to climb Wayna Piccu every day, and there are around 1,500 people that visit Macchu Piccu every day. For this reason getting a ticket to climb Wayna is very very difficult. out of all the people that were on the trek and were trying to get a ticket which was around 40 or 50 people. Only 8 of us got tickets. After Sara (the other volunteer I did the trek with) and I got our tickets we went on a tour of Macchu Piccu with our guide, then we went for our final hike up Wayna Piccu. This trail is about 1 hour up and 1 hour down and is very very step and difficult. Our guide told us that on average 4 people die a year climbing this mountain. After that we had very little time. We made our way to the bus station and took that down the the lower city. We had some lunch before boarding our train back to Ollantaytambo and from their we took taxi back to our house in Cusco. We arrived around 6:30 PM, showered and went to sleep.
All in all this trek was one of the best experiences of my life and I highly suggest it to anyone that goes to Peru. And if you don't want to go on the Inca trail their are also alternate routes that you can take to get to Macchu Piccu. All of which are supposed to be fantastic.
And for a finishing thought and fun fact. Macchu Piccu is Chetchuwa which is the language of the Incas, now their are two different dialects of this language, and based on where you lived in the time of the Incas you spoke of one of the two. Where Macchu Piccu is located the name for the mountain is actually in a different dialect. So the correct name of the mountain is Macchu Olko and Waynu Olko.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Day 20
Ok this is gonna be short cause I don't have a ton of time. My 4 day trek has been moved up to tonight instead of tomorrow morning because of another strike happening in Cusco. Because of that I have been scrambling to get everything done in time.
Today we went to the school for a construction day. And we got a ton of stuff done. We had a small harvest in the garden of some lettuce and cabbage, and gave that to the kitchens to use in the kids lunches. Then we worked the beds and got them ready for planting. I did a little work with the compost pile, and we watered everything for the next 2 days because we won't be up there tomorrow. After that was the farwell for Sara, Lora, and myself. They included me because it is a big ceremony with the kids from the school and I will only be here for 4 more days after my trek. It was really sweet. the kids gave us flowers, and every kid in the school came around and hugged us haha. It was funny because one of the boys found my tattoo, so I had to hug most of the kids with one arm because the other one was be grabbed, pinched, and poked by the all the kids haha. I have had a wonderful time here and it is really sad to leave.
Today we went to the school for a construction day. And we got a ton of stuff done. We had a small harvest in the garden of some lettuce and cabbage, and gave that to the kitchens to use in the kids lunches. Then we worked the beds and got them ready for planting. I did a little work with the compost pile, and we watered everything for the next 2 days because we won't be up there tomorrow. After that was the farwell for Sara, Lora, and myself. They included me because it is a big ceremony with the kids from the school and I will only be here for 4 more days after my trek. It was really sweet. the kids gave us flowers, and every kid in the school came around and hugged us haha. It was funny because one of the boys found my tattoo, so I had to hug most of the kids with one arm because the other one was be grabbed, pinched, and poked by the all the kids haha. I have had a wonderful time here and it is really sad to leave.
Day 17-19
Sorry for the long absents my loyal follows. HAHA, that makes it sound like this blog is a cult. I like it. Anyway, for all that have been sending me messages on the the subject. Yes I had an amazing time on the river. I would definitely rank the Apurimac among the top rivers I have ever run. It is on its own scale, and I can't really compare it to any of the rivers in the US that I have been on so far. The closest one I would say was the Salmon river.
The Apurimac is about 4 hours North West of Cusco, It is one of the longest rivers in the world, beginning at a glacier as run off water, it passes through part of the jungle and meets with the Amazon river, and continues all the way to the Ocean. The name Apurimac is Chatuwa (native language of the Incas) "Apur" means Guardian or Protector and "imac" means Speaker or To Speak. So the translation is the guardian is speaking or the talking gaurdian. There are 3 runnable sections of the Apurimac, 2 are commercial sections. the one I did, and then another daily section that is a couple hundred kilometers lower. Both are considered class 4 and 5 on over all rapid level and difficulty. the other section is only runnable by private groups and is considered a class 5+ river trip.
My trip was fantastic. Our guides were very knowledgeable and have extensive experience with rivers all over the world. One of our saftey Kayakers is from Napal and has run rivers there, other parts of Europe, the middle east, Africa, all of South America, and Canada. And most of the other guides are about as experienced as well. The first thing to note about the Apurimac was that where we put in was 2000 km above see level. The days are a warm 85 and the nights are almost as warm. Probably around 75 degrees. I didn't even bring a jacket haha. we slept 3 to tent, and the tents are really just to keep the jungle flies off of you. They are nasty little buggers. The camp sites we had, where all beautiful sand beaches, that look similar the those on the middle fork salmon. But the stone and rock formations are comparative to none. On the river there are only 2 seasons, wet and dry. Our guides told me that you can't run the river at all during the wet season because the water level is about 3m higher, and even with a motor, the odds of you controlling your boat are minimal and best. Because of this the walls of the canyon have been rubbed smooth by the high water levels and have eroded the rock in very interesting ways.
Our first day was pretty easy with some class II's and III's and we even had a class IV in there. All of which where really fun. the second day was really intense. with Class III's and IV's and a few class V's. We also had to walk around 2 class V+ that are not run commercially. However, the guides did film them running the rapids so you can all see when I get home. we had lunch and a nice beach for 2 hours and got back on. we rafted for about 8 hours that day, so my shoulders where pretty shot haha. The third day was a blast as well. All class IV's and V's and then 2 more un-runnable rapids. They filmed those as well. I did a little cliff jumping, and my guide let me run a class III out of the raft, which was crazy. It was mostly just a big water rapid but the wave train was pretty intense. I spent most of my time under them haha. After that was take out and clean up followed by a 2 hour drive back to Cusco.
All in all for a commercial trip, it was fantastic. The food was amazing, every meal had 3 courses and was prepared from scratch. The campsites were beautiful, and there was plenty of space for everyone. Since there are only 3 companies that raft the Apurimac we didn't see another person the entire trip which made it that much better. The guides were great and I learned few new tricks for when I get home that I am gonna use on my boat. and they also went into detail about paddle boating, so I learned a ton about how to captain a paddle boat. The rapids where intense and there were tons of them haha. Our guides said they only name the big ones haha. The water was perfect, like glass, and you could see the rocks flowing beneath you, which made the rapids that much better. And Best of all the trip was cheap! I highly suggest it to any one who comes to Peru, and I really want to plan a private trip there in the next few years. So if you interested let me know.
The Apurimac is about 4 hours North West of Cusco, It is one of the longest rivers in the world, beginning at a glacier as run off water, it passes through part of the jungle and meets with the Amazon river, and continues all the way to the Ocean. The name Apurimac is Chatuwa (native language of the Incas) "Apur" means Guardian or Protector and "imac" means Speaker or To Speak. So the translation is the guardian is speaking or the talking gaurdian. There are 3 runnable sections of the Apurimac, 2 are commercial sections. the one I did, and then another daily section that is a couple hundred kilometers lower. Both are considered class 4 and 5 on over all rapid level and difficulty. the other section is only runnable by private groups and is considered a class 5+ river trip.
My trip was fantastic. Our guides were very knowledgeable and have extensive experience with rivers all over the world. One of our saftey Kayakers is from Napal and has run rivers there, other parts of Europe, the middle east, Africa, all of South America, and Canada. And most of the other guides are about as experienced as well. The first thing to note about the Apurimac was that where we put in was 2000 km above see level. The days are a warm 85 and the nights are almost as warm. Probably around 75 degrees. I didn't even bring a jacket haha. we slept 3 to tent, and the tents are really just to keep the jungle flies off of you. They are nasty little buggers. The camp sites we had, where all beautiful sand beaches, that look similar the those on the middle fork salmon. But the stone and rock formations are comparative to none. On the river there are only 2 seasons, wet and dry. Our guides told me that you can't run the river at all during the wet season because the water level is about 3m higher, and even with a motor, the odds of you controlling your boat are minimal and best. Because of this the walls of the canyon have been rubbed smooth by the high water levels and have eroded the rock in very interesting ways.
Our first day was pretty easy with some class II's and III's and we even had a class IV in there. All of which where really fun. the second day was really intense. with Class III's and IV's and a few class V's. We also had to walk around 2 class V+ that are not run commercially. However, the guides did film them running the rapids so you can all see when I get home. we had lunch and a nice beach for 2 hours and got back on. we rafted for about 8 hours that day, so my shoulders where pretty shot haha. The third day was a blast as well. All class IV's and V's and then 2 more un-runnable rapids. They filmed those as well. I did a little cliff jumping, and my guide let me run a class III out of the raft, which was crazy. It was mostly just a big water rapid but the wave train was pretty intense. I spent most of my time under them haha. After that was take out and clean up followed by a 2 hour drive back to Cusco.
All in all for a commercial trip, it was fantastic. The food was amazing, every meal had 3 courses and was prepared from scratch. The campsites were beautiful, and there was plenty of space for everyone. Since there are only 3 companies that raft the Apurimac we didn't see another person the entire trip which made it that much better. The guides were great and I learned few new tricks for when I get home that I am gonna use on my boat. and they also went into detail about paddle boating, so I learned a ton about how to captain a paddle boat. The rapids where intense and there were tons of them haha. Our guides said they only name the big ones haha. The water was perfect, like glass, and you could see the rocks flowing beneath you, which made the rapids that much better. And Best of all the trip was cheap! I highly suggest it to any one who comes to Peru, and I really want to plan a private trip there in the next few years. So if you interested let me know.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Day 16
Today was a very slow day, which is good because I head out for my 3 day rafting trip tomorrow. I will be heading down the Apurimac river. Which is about 4 hours outside of Cusco, I would love to give you the put in and take out areas but as this is a guided trip they aren't seeing it important to put in the itinerary. I guess they are assuming that no one will care anyway. But the trip should be awesome. Day 1 will be class II and III, Day 2 will be class III and IV, and Day 3 will be class IV and V and we will also be walking around some class VI's haha.
Anyway today we had our volunteer meeting in the morning, and that was followed by a cooking lesson with Santusa, I helped make the cake... I know "Irony" haha. After lunch was house visits. We dropped off and built a bed for one family that was fantastic. And then we continued our work on the chimney for the other family. We are almost finished, and one of the local kids tried to make off with my backpack. It was quite cute because it was as big as him. I took pictures before I "walked" him down and took it back, I also applauded his effort haha. Then it was back home for the night.
Anyway today we had our volunteer meeting in the morning, and that was followed by a cooking lesson with Santusa, I helped make the cake... I know "Irony" haha. After lunch was house visits. We dropped off and built a bed for one family that was fantastic. And then we continued our work on the chimney for the other family. We are almost finished, and one of the local kids tried to make off with my backpack. It was quite cute because it was as big as him. I took pictures before I "walked" him down and took it back, I also applauded his effort haha. Then it was back home for the night.
Day 15
Today was a special day for the school. In Cusco every year a competition is held for the schools of Cusco to show their pride in their heritage. Each school forms a dance team and they are dressed in native costumes and they perform a dance in the Plaza de Armas. Since the families of Pumamarca are so poor, and because they live so far away, the school has never been able to compete in this competition. This year Peru's Challenge paid for the costumes and transport for the dance team. And for the first time the kids got to show the rest of Cusco what they are made of. And they did absolutely fantastic. The children have been practicing for a couple months and where definitely one of the better teams that performed today. Since I don't really know how the scoring works, I'm not sure how they OFFICALLY did but all of us here at Peru's Challenge we very proud, and we definitely cheered the loudest haha. It was a very touching experience to see how happy the kids were, we also prepared lunches for all of them. And as a thank you to us the kids held still for a few minutes to let us take photos with them. They are so nice haha.
After the competition some of us spent a little extra time in Plaza de Armas and went to a local cafe, then came back home. Liz and I had a Spanish lesson today at 2:30 and I spent the rest of the day just sorting out the details of my other trips while I am here.
After the competition some of us spent a little extra time in Plaza de Armas and went to a local cafe, then came back home. Liz and I had a Spanish lesson today at 2:30 and I spent the rest of the day just sorting out the details of my other trips while I am here.
Day 12-14
Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I have been kind of busy. Well I guess I will start from the beginning and we will try and sift through this mass of information. If you need a break I suggest you take it haha. I will include an intermission for your convenience, for food gathering and bowel movements.
Sunday: Well this story actually begins on Friday haha. So as you all know I decided to walk to and from the school to get some exercise also to practice for my trek. Well What ended up happening is while I was walking everyone decided they wanted to go to the Peruvian circus on Saturday So they pooled money and then sent someone to buy the tickets before they sold out. Well needless to say I wasn't included in the plan. Well Saturday came around and I watched them all leave. In truth I wasn't bothered much I had a nice relaxing evening at home, and I figured that everything seems to happen for a reason so I was sure something would happen to make up for it. On Sunday, I decided to be productive. I still need to visit the local museums in Cusco and so I mapped out a plan and left the house to catch a ride into Plaza de Armas, well on the way I found out there is a church about a block from my house haha “Irony”. Anyway I decided to swing in for a few minutes, get a little spiritual time in, then leave. Well I guess word spread around the church that there was someone that didn't speak very good Spanish. On my way out I was almost to the gate when a woman stopped me and spoke to me in English, She was very nice, and wanted to ask me a bunch of questions about why I was there and where I was from... You know the usual, I'm glad to see that no matter where you are, Mormons are still very inviting and happy to quiz you on your entire history haha. Well come to find out her son actually goes to school at UVU in Orem, which is where I got my AS Degree, well when she found that out she just ate it up! haha, She was very excited, and told me they were having a barbaque that night and she wanted me to come and meet her son. Well, I was really hoping to go to town and check out some of the cites but something told me I just couldn't pass up a free meal with a Peruvian family, so I agreed to come for dinner. When we got to their house, I met their son Markus. We actually had a ton in come on, and found out that we knew a few of the same people. Markus is majoring in graphic design and is really interested in computers haha... I know I know... matter how far I travel the stupid machines seem to be following me haha. Anyway, after watching Markus and his father, spend about 20 minutes trying the BBQ going I asked if they had ever done it before, they admitted to being “Noobs” and weren't very good at starting fires haha. Well I offered to help but his father is a very nice man, and has true Peruvian hospitality. He said as his guest it would be wrong for me to have to work at all, and that I was just to enjoy myself. Well I did just that, because about 10 minutes later he decided to enlist the help of flammable liquids haha. Before I could warn him he dumped a munch into the flames, after him and his son put his hair out we had a pretty good BBQ haha.
The Aedo family were extremely nice, and I was touched by their hospitality to a complete stranger. They feed me more than I could eat, and gave me their contact information before leaving and told me that if I ever needed anything I was of course welcome to stay with them. If they read this thank you very much! Now I have saved the best part of this story for last haha, During dinner I happened to mention that my friends had gone to the circus the night before and that I was unable to attend. Well the family started to chuckle, and when I asked why, Markus's father informed me that he was the creator, and director of the show haha. So I may not have gotten to go to the show, but i did get to eat dinner with its creator and after hearing his story of why he moved back to Cusco and made this show, I am much happier with the dinner. Mr. Aedo is very passionate about his country and wants to share its amazing culture with the world!
INTERMISSION
Monday: Monday was the start of my trip to the Sacred Valley, our tour guide was fantastic and we actually did our tour in reverse to what most other tour companies do. The guide explained to us that this was because that means there will be less people at the ruins when we were there, so we would get a more personal experience. For the most part his plan worked quite well haha.
First on our tour visited Chinchero, which was a beautiful little village at th base of an extensive set of Inca agricultural ruins. Our guide showed us the different types of Inca construction, including royal stone construction, religious stone construction, and agricultural stone construction. Another interesting fact is that the word “Inca” actually means “king” so the world knows this people as the Incas but they were actually called something else. But most of this knowledge was lost when the Spanish Conquistadors came and decimated the Incan people. When the Spanish came, in the 1500s they smashed the temples and other buildings of the Inca empire down and on top of the ruins they built Spanish Churches (Catholic) and other buildings. There is an excellent example of this at Chinchero. at the top of the ruins is a Catholic church built on the foundation of the Incas Temple. Inside the church is filled with stunning artwork and immense golden alters. Also almost every inch of the ceiling and walls are decorated with murals. Sadly photos aren't allowed in the church but it is truly a stunning site to be hold. After visting the ruins we went back into town where some local women showed us the art of textile making. Using sheep and Alpaca wool. it was very interesting, and their dye techniques are nothing short of ingenious.
Onward to Ollantaytambo, One of the most renowned Inca ruins currently in existence. Ollantaytambo is special because it not only has a vast collection of ruins behind the town, but the town is a living museum. From the main square to thee left and back a ways people are still living in the original houses as the Incas, also the cities main buildings are housed in what used to be the royal palace of the Incas king. The ruins are primarily agricultural stone construction, but at the top is a wonderful collection of religious stone work, where their temple and sun dial used to be. Using the mountain ranges around the city the Incas built a sun dial to indicate the seasons. Also the stone used for this master piece had to come from the next mountain range over. The Incas cut the stone from the wall of the mountain and let it roll down to the base of the Urubamba river. Then the blocked off the river and forced it to bend around another path. Once the path was clear the moved their stones across the empty river bed, and when they were on the other side they unblocked the river and let it flow naturally again. The ingenuity of this ancient people is absolutely fascinating to me! It is a true shame that the Spanish came to this land. Another focal point of Ollantaytambo is a fountain that the Incas built on the edge of town. At first glance this simple fountain doesn't look like much, but as our guide showed us it is the a fantastic show of Inca intellectual power and mathematical prowess. The stone on this fountain was carved at with such procession that when a person runs their finger across the water, the physics of the water force it to bend and follow the stone down its face. When the person runs their finger across the water again its natural flow is restored. This works “EVERY” time.
ANOTHER INTERMISSION
Sorry that intermission was actually for me haha. had to hit up “el baƱo” haha.
After Ollantaytambo we had dinner and went to the hotel. Which was very nice. Actually to be honest it was too nice haha. My room alone had three beds, and all of them had down comforters. I felt extremely guilty staying there because for the last 2 weeks I have been working with families that often don't even have one bed. And if they do the entire family sleeps on it together.
Tuesday: In the morning we had an excellent breakfast and got a late start to the day. There was only one stop on our list for the day, Pisaq. Probably the most well know of Incan city ruins. It is by far one of the most extensive, its sheer size is overwhelming. Pisaq is also famous for its local market, which is a massive expanse of shops that tourists can go though and find pretty much anything they desire. Our tour was again different from most of the others. Most tours start at the front of the ruins and walk up to the top, then the turn around the head back down. Ours how ever used a loop. We climbed the terraces which was something like 500 steps. ( Incas were very athletic haha) When at the top we circled the ruins and followed the trail down to an old storage facility the Incas used for their harvest. Then we used the old Incan trails to follow the mountain back around behind the ruins and down the backside which is also covered in planting terraces, and down right into the the heart of Pisaq, the market! It was absolutely beautiful and we were the only ones on the trail. Being alone and knowing that each step you take has been taken already by and ancient culture that at its time was the pinnacle of human evolution is quite humbling.
After the market we made our way back to Cusco, where I took a much needed rest.
Sunday: Well this story actually begins on Friday haha. So as you all know I decided to walk to and from the school to get some exercise also to practice for my trek. Well What ended up happening is while I was walking everyone decided they wanted to go to the Peruvian circus on Saturday So they pooled money and then sent someone to buy the tickets before they sold out. Well needless to say I wasn't included in the plan. Well Saturday came around and I watched them all leave. In truth I wasn't bothered much I had a nice relaxing evening at home, and I figured that everything seems to happen for a reason so I was sure something would happen to make up for it. On Sunday, I decided to be productive. I still need to visit the local museums in Cusco and so I mapped out a plan and left the house to catch a ride into Plaza de Armas, well on the way I found out there is a church about a block from my house haha “Irony”. Anyway I decided to swing in for a few minutes, get a little spiritual time in, then leave. Well I guess word spread around the church that there was someone that didn't speak very good Spanish. On my way out I was almost to the gate when a woman stopped me and spoke to me in English, She was very nice, and wanted to ask me a bunch of questions about why I was there and where I was from... You know the usual, I'm glad to see that no matter where you are, Mormons are still very inviting and happy to quiz you on your entire history haha. Well come to find out her son actually goes to school at UVU in Orem, which is where I got my AS Degree, well when she found that out she just ate it up! haha, She was very excited, and told me they were having a barbaque that night and she wanted me to come and meet her son. Well, I was really hoping to go to town and check out some of the cites but something told me I just couldn't pass up a free meal with a Peruvian family, so I agreed to come for dinner. When we got to their house, I met their son Markus. We actually had a ton in come on, and found out that we knew a few of the same people. Markus is majoring in graphic design and is really interested in computers haha... I know I know... matter how far I travel the stupid machines seem to be following me haha. Anyway, after watching Markus and his father, spend about 20 minutes trying the BBQ going I asked if they had ever done it before, they admitted to being “Noobs” and weren't very good at starting fires haha. Well I offered to help but his father is a very nice man, and has true Peruvian hospitality. He said as his guest it would be wrong for me to have to work at all, and that I was just to enjoy myself. Well I did just that, because about 10 minutes later he decided to enlist the help of flammable liquids haha. Before I could warn him he dumped a munch into the flames, after him and his son put his hair out we had a pretty good BBQ haha.
The Aedo family were extremely nice, and I was touched by their hospitality to a complete stranger. They feed me more than I could eat, and gave me their contact information before leaving and told me that if I ever needed anything I was of course welcome to stay with them. If they read this thank you very much! Now I have saved the best part of this story for last haha, During dinner I happened to mention that my friends had gone to the circus the night before and that I was unable to attend. Well the family started to chuckle, and when I asked why, Markus's father informed me that he was the creator, and director of the show haha. So I may not have gotten to go to the show, but i did get to eat dinner with its creator and after hearing his story of why he moved back to Cusco and made this show, I am much happier with the dinner. Mr. Aedo is very passionate about his country and wants to share its amazing culture with the world!
INTERMISSION
Monday: Monday was the start of my trip to the Sacred Valley, our tour guide was fantastic and we actually did our tour in reverse to what most other tour companies do. The guide explained to us that this was because that means there will be less people at the ruins when we were there, so we would get a more personal experience. For the most part his plan worked quite well haha.
First on our tour visited Chinchero, which was a beautiful little village at th base of an extensive set of Inca agricultural ruins. Our guide showed us the different types of Inca construction, including royal stone construction, religious stone construction, and agricultural stone construction. Another interesting fact is that the word “Inca” actually means “king” so the world knows this people as the Incas but they were actually called something else. But most of this knowledge was lost when the Spanish Conquistadors came and decimated the Incan people. When the Spanish came, in the 1500s they smashed the temples and other buildings of the Inca empire down and on top of the ruins they built Spanish Churches (Catholic) and other buildings. There is an excellent example of this at Chinchero. at the top of the ruins is a Catholic church built on the foundation of the Incas Temple. Inside the church is filled with stunning artwork and immense golden alters. Also almost every inch of the ceiling and walls are decorated with murals. Sadly photos aren't allowed in the church but it is truly a stunning site to be hold. After visting the ruins we went back into town where some local women showed us the art of textile making. Using sheep and Alpaca wool. it was very interesting, and their dye techniques are nothing short of ingenious.
Onward to Ollantaytambo, One of the most renowned Inca ruins currently in existence. Ollantaytambo is special because it not only has a vast collection of ruins behind the town, but the town is a living museum. From the main square to thee left and back a ways people are still living in the original houses as the Incas, also the cities main buildings are housed in what used to be the royal palace of the Incas king. The ruins are primarily agricultural stone construction, but at the top is a wonderful collection of religious stone work, where their temple and sun dial used to be. Using the mountain ranges around the city the Incas built a sun dial to indicate the seasons. Also the stone used for this master piece had to come from the next mountain range over. The Incas cut the stone from the wall of the mountain and let it roll down to the base of the Urubamba river. Then the blocked off the river and forced it to bend around another path. Once the path was clear the moved their stones across the empty river bed, and when they were on the other side they unblocked the river and let it flow naturally again. The ingenuity of this ancient people is absolutely fascinating to me! It is a true shame that the Spanish came to this land. Another focal point of Ollantaytambo is a fountain that the Incas built on the edge of town. At first glance this simple fountain doesn't look like much, but as our guide showed us it is the a fantastic show of Inca intellectual power and mathematical prowess. The stone on this fountain was carved at with such procession that when a person runs their finger across the water, the physics of the water force it to bend and follow the stone down its face. When the person runs their finger across the water again its natural flow is restored. This works “EVERY” time.
ANOTHER INTERMISSION
Sorry that intermission was actually for me haha. had to hit up “el baƱo” haha.
After Ollantaytambo we had dinner and went to the hotel. Which was very nice. Actually to be honest it was too nice haha. My room alone had three beds, and all of them had down comforters. I felt extremely guilty staying there because for the last 2 weeks I have been working with families that often don't even have one bed. And if they do the entire family sleeps on it together.
Tuesday: In the morning we had an excellent breakfast and got a late start to the day. There was only one stop on our list for the day, Pisaq. Probably the most well know of Incan city ruins. It is by far one of the most extensive, its sheer size is overwhelming. Pisaq is also famous for its local market, which is a massive expanse of shops that tourists can go though and find pretty much anything they desire. Our tour was again different from most of the others. Most tours start at the front of the ruins and walk up to the top, then the turn around the head back down. Ours how ever used a loop. We climbed the terraces which was something like 500 steps. ( Incas were very athletic haha) When at the top we circled the ruins and followed the trail down to an old storage facility the Incas used for their harvest. Then we used the old Incan trails to follow the mountain back around behind the ruins and down the backside which is also covered in planting terraces, and down right into the the heart of Pisaq, the market! It was absolutely beautiful and we were the only ones on the trail. Being alone and knowing that each step you take has been taken already by and ancient culture that at its time was the pinnacle of human evolution is quite humbling.
After the market we made our way back to Cusco, where I took a much needed rest.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Important
Photos have been uploaded on facebook. Sorry but that is all ļ¼© ļ½ļ½ļ½ ļ½ļ½ ļ½ļ½ļ½ļ½ļ½ ļ½ļ½ļ½！
Day 11
Today was the horse riding tour of the surrounding area of Cusco. Our tour started at 9:30 this morning, when the guide picked us up from the volunteer house. We had about a 15 minuted drive to the base of one of the mountains on the outskirts of the city. Liz, Jo, and I all got on our horses and we made our way to the first set of ruins. Tambomachay, which was the remains of an Inca temple, after the Spanish invaded. Flowing out of the temple was a mysterious fountain that no one knows where the water is coming from. Archeologists have discovered evidence that the Incas were using the syphone technique to get water from one location to their fields it is believed that this temple is an example. After the temple we headed about a quarter mile over to Pukapukara. Which was an Inca ceremonial alter for sacrifices to their gods. Most of these ceremonies take place in June around the 21st – 24th. After the Alter it was back on the horses for a trek back towards town, We stopped short and checked out Q'enquo, which was another ceremonial alter. What was interesting about this site was its structure. The Incas believed in three levels to the world; heaven, physical world, and the underworld. This site has all of these represented in a pile of rocks that they have cut. Onward to lunch! Haha, it was pretty touristy but the food was very good. I myself got a Peruvian dish; spicy sausage, mashed sweet potatoes, and caramelized onions. It was quite good. Then we were of to the most extensive Inca ruins in the Cusco area, Saqsayhuaman. This was absolutely amazing! the structures were very extensive. I have photos, but you will have to wait until I can upload them. All in all it was a fantastic day, and now I am gonna kick back and rest.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Day 10
A very active day haha. I got an early start to the day. Lora, Kai, Sara, and myself all decided to walk up to the school this morning. It is about 1 1/2 hour walk to get there. But it was absolutely gorgeous! And it provides an opportunity to see the communities up close as you walk through them. And if there are kids out they love to run to you screaming "AMIGO AMIGO AMIGO" haha. It is also a very humbling experience too since most of the kids that go to the school have to make similar hikes every morning. It really shows their dedication to their studies. Today at school I had another computer class. This time it was with 6th graders. They were a bit of a challenge haha. They weren't very focused and someone has taught them how to play games, so I spent most of the class closing solitare haha. But there was one boy in the class who seems to be very knowledgeable. He was able to keep up with the lesson, and was writing his own extra documents, and attempting to connect to the internet, how little did he know that there is no internet but he did seem to comprehend the concepts. I have decided to talk to the director of the school about finding more of these kids that are showing promise in this skill and try and set up addition al classes for them. We got the composter started today, we don't have an actual roof yet, because materials are expensive and hard to come by, but we fashioned a plastic lid for now, and it seems to be working rather well. Some of the other volunteers were complaining that it smells haha. I told them that means it's working. I also managed to get bed 10 ready for planting and have got a plan set up to use old bottles to make starter pots for plants. I have also talked to one of the locals about teaching them to clone plants, they seem a little iffy about it but have agreed to let me do a practice run on some of their tomato plants to show them how it works, if the experiment is successful then I will teach them more. The water line has been finished in the garden now thanks to Juan, who is one of the local handy men. So now we have a hose in the garden, the only problem is that if someone in the school starts using the water then we don't get any until they are done haha.
Around 12pm I started helping with the PE classes, we played soccer, haha yeah didn't see that one coming did you. No.... in all seriousness we had them do drills, to practice coordination, and increase their stamina with some running drills, we also had them do stretches. For most of the class I was goaly for one team and the director of the school was the other. I only had to goals scored on me, and one of them was by a kid that I swear could give David Beckham a run for his money. He is only 10 and is just amazing! After school I decided to walk home. It was going to be a lonely adventure but then Jo decided she wanted to walk with me, but I think she regreted the decision about 30 minutes in haha. It is quite the strenuous hike. When I got home I had 4 minutes to spare before my Spanish lesson with Liz, I learned ton of new words and will have to try and use them otherwise I'm sure I'll forget haha. After that the day was pretty much done, I'm quite tired and think I'll put in a movie for a change, we have a black market copy of "Weeds" haha so maybe I'll try to get that to work. Good night everyone.
Around 12pm I started helping with the PE classes, we played soccer, haha yeah didn't see that one coming did you. No.... in all seriousness we had them do drills, to practice coordination, and increase their stamina with some running drills, we also had them do stretches. For most of the class I was goaly for one team and the director of the school was the other. I only had to goals scored on me, and one of them was by a kid that I swear could give David Beckham a run for his money. He is only 10 and is just amazing! After school I decided to walk home. It was going to be a lonely adventure but then Jo decided she wanted to walk with me, but I think she regreted the decision about 30 minutes in haha. It is quite the strenuous hike. When I got home I had 4 minutes to spare before my Spanish lesson with Liz, I learned ton of new words and will have to try and use them otherwise I'm sure I'll forget haha. After that the day was pretty much done, I'm quite tired and think I'll put in a movie for a change, we have a black market copy of "Weeds" haha so maybe I'll try to get that to work. Good night everyone.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Day 9
Today was a bit of an off day. Origionally we were supposed to be doing a horseback tour of some Inka ruins, but right now the indiginous people of Peru are on strike, concerning some policital issuse of ownership of land in the Amazon. So all of Cusco was on strike today. Also today was Corpus Christi. A catholic festival held in Peru to celebrate christ. It was incredible! Me and 3 of the other volunteers headed into ciudad centro for the celebration! There were thousands of people! and the streets were packed to the gills with locals and tourist alike. I tooks some pictures and I'll try and upload them soon. After the festival we had some lunch in a nice place on a side street just off the main square. I hailed my first cab today and got us home all by myself haha... I was very proud. Around 3pm we went back up to polemarcus -spelling- and got some supplies and tools and headed off on a 20 minute hike through the mountains to a small village called Quiawata. When we got there we started to build a chimney for a woman and her children. They were very kind, and the kids were extatic to see us! The family lives in a single room home made of mudbrick, in the corner is a adobe styled stove and an open fire. For their entire lives they have been inhaling the smoke of their cooking fires, and on the colder nights they light a fire to keep warm. Because of this the family is in very poor health. We haven't finished the chimney yet but we got a good start, around 6 we had to leave because the sun sets very early in the mountains and we wouldn't be able to find our way back. When we got home we had dinner and the day is pretty much finished.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Day 8
Another busy day here in Cusco. This morning I started back in the garden, I tilled bed 9 and 10 with a pick, shovel, and rake. It was pretty slow going for most of the morning becuase the ground hasn't ever been worked below 2 or 3 inches so I was breaking into packed clay and rock for most of the morning haha. After I got bed 9 done I went down and got a wheel barrow full of sand and brought it back up to the garden and worked the sand into the soil. I'm hoping to change the soil consistancy to something a little more hospitable for plants haha. I also manage to break one of my holding posts on our marking lines, and now I have to re rope off bed 10 haha, my bad. Juan was with me most of the day in the garden he is laying pipe so we can have a water outlet up near the the plants, we are currently running a house from the front of the school, which is about 50 yards away, and considering the water pressure to begin with it doesn't take a genius to figure out that this set up just isn't going to cut it haha. After the garden I had my computer class at 12pm. It was an over all success. I manage to get all of the kids to open my documents, create a new folder, open word, create a new document, save it in their new folder, close word, and reopen my documents, find thier file, and open it, then close everthing, and shut off their computer. As for the document they created. I taught them all the parts of the computer -mouse, keyboard, etc...- and then I taught them the same words in English. So I managed to get every kid to the end of the lesson, which isn't to bad considering my level of spanish, and their level of English. aka.... none existant haha. When class was over we went back down to town for lunch, then back up to the village for house visits. Today we gave this old woman a bed. We brought it in and put it together for her. It was so amazing! She has literally nothing. She has a one room mud-brick house, with a dirt floor, a few mesh bags, and a giant pile of plastic bottles. Other than that nothing. When we talked with her we found out that she doesn't know how old she is or when her birthday is, we are guessing she is around 70, she has a few children but all of them have moved to the city and don't really have anything to do with her. Her daughter has an alcohole problem and sometimes comes to her home and steals what little money she has. She has been walking the hour and half trek up the montain everyday with a pack full of ice cream to sell to the kids at the school. When we finished with the bed she was so greatful, she started crying and saying that god will bless us all, she hugged and kissed each one of us with tears in her eyes, before tonight she has been sleeping on a piece of cardboard she found, and a blanket that she made around 20 years ago that is falling apart. It was truly an eye opening experience to exactly how much we have. Tomorrow is my horse ridding tour so I'll let you know how it goes.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Day 7
Hola! como estas mis amigos! - I had my first Spanish lesson today.... I'm sure that is about all I got haha, and I'm not even sure that is write.-
Anyway today was a construction day up at the school, and I finally got into the swing of things. When we first arrived Lauren and I went over the history of the garden and greenhouse and we talked about what needed to be done, what needed fixing, and ideas to improve on what is already there. haha there is a lot that needs to be done, and I highly doubt I will be able to take care of all of it by the time I have to come home, but I did tell her that I would work out a plan and get it all set up so they can follow it after I left. For today though, I worked on fixing the compost pile. They had started one a few weeks ago, and it wasn't really done properly and wasn't being cared for. So I finished closing the structure off with mud-brick, and I put down some plastic in the bottom to help conserve moister. So I still need to make a roof for it, but I didn't have enough time to finish that, and we need to go by a little more wood and plastic. After that I fixed a fence along the back wall of the school's play ground. The wiring had come off of the posts so I just had to re-attach it. It is amazing how much harder the simpilest tasks are to do when you are at this altittude haha. And I was suprised at how heavy the mud bricks actually are.
After we finished doing construction at the school for the day we came back down to town, and had lunch. I went to the local market and I found Kraft Mac and Cheese haha, so of course I had to buy it haha. At around 4pm Liz and I had our first Spanish lesson, I would say that I probably learned more in those 2 hours than I did in my entire first year of JR High haha. Now to be fair that was probably mostly because I actually tried, and because my teacher only speaks very little English, so the entire lesson was in Spanish haha, which makes it a little more intense but way cool.
Around 6pm was dinner, and I started to plan my lesson for tomorrow. Today I found out that I am leading the computer class tomorrow, so I have been online researching computer terms in Spanish all night haha, I have finally got a lesson plan and I am pretty confident that I will be able to pull it off.
Well Buenos noches mis amigos. Asta Manjuana!
REMEMBER THIS IS A GRAMMER AND SPELLING FREE ZONE! SO ARIE CAN IT!
Anyway today was a construction day up at the school, and I finally got into the swing of things. When we first arrived Lauren and I went over the history of the garden and greenhouse and we talked about what needed to be done, what needed fixing, and ideas to improve on what is already there. haha there is a lot that needs to be done, and I highly doubt I will be able to take care of all of it by the time I have to come home, but I did tell her that I would work out a plan and get it all set up so they can follow it after I left. For today though, I worked on fixing the compost pile. They had started one a few weeks ago, and it wasn't really done properly and wasn't being cared for. So I finished closing the structure off with mud-brick, and I put down some plastic in the bottom to help conserve moister. So I still need to make a roof for it, but I didn't have enough time to finish that, and we need to go by a little more wood and plastic. After that I fixed a fence along the back wall of the school's play ground. The wiring had come off of the posts so I just had to re-attach it. It is amazing how much harder the simpilest tasks are to do when you are at this altittude haha. And I was suprised at how heavy the mud bricks actually are.
After we finished doing construction at the school for the day we came back down to town, and had lunch. I went to the local market and I found Kraft Mac and Cheese haha, so of course I had to buy it haha. At around 4pm Liz and I had our first Spanish lesson, I would say that I probably learned more in those 2 hours than I did in my entire first year of JR High haha. Now to be fair that was probably mostly because I actually tried, and because my teacher only speaks very little English, so the entire lesson was in Spanish haha, which makes it a little more intense but way cool.
Around 6pm was dinner, and I started to plan my lesson for tomorrow. Today I found out that I am leading the computer class tomorrow, so I have been online researching computer terms in Spanish all night haha, I have finally got a lesson plan and I am pretty confident that I will be able to pull it off.
Well Buenos noches mis amigos. Asta Manjuana!
REMEMBER THIS IS A GRAMMER AND SPELLING FREE ZONE! SO ARIE CAN IT!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Day 6
We went straight to work today.... haha well that is a lie, things don't really start here until around 9 or 10 in the morning. But at about 9:30 we got right to work. We started by going out to the school, and got a tour of the buildings and met the kids. When Peru's Challenge first came into the community 2 years ago there was only one teacher and 12 students, now there are 7 teachers, grades Kinder-6th and about 150 students. The school has a kitchen, and tool shed along with the classrooms, and more classrooms are being built now. There is also a soccer field and sports area, a drama and theatre stage, and a garden including a small greenhouse. Just last year a company called “guide” donated 8 computers to the school so now the kids have computer classes once a week. At around 11:30 it was time for the kids to wash up for lunch, all of us volunteers are trying to get the kids to learn how to use soap and clean the hands and face before eating, so all the kids get in a line to wash up and if they do what they are told then they get an extra piece of fruit. For most of the kids at the school lunch is the only meal they will get all day. It was so funny watching the kids clean up, a few of them started talking to me, and now they call me “Amigo Chase” haha. And one of the older boys thinks I look like Peter Parker from Spiderman haha. After lunch we had a volunteer meeting to set up the schedule for the following week. I am the new garden leader, so I will be working in the garden and teaching the kids how to grow fruits and veges. I am also the new leader of the computer classes. I'm a little nervous about this because my Spanish isn't so good. But Ivan is going to be in the class with me and he speaks it pretty well. He just doesn't know a lot about computers, so between the two of us I think we will be ok haha. Around 12:30 to 1 we went back down into the city where I went to the bank and took care of all the financial stuff for my stay here, and after that we went back up to the village “Pumamarcus” (I think, don't quote me yet I'll check the spelling tomorrow haha) and we did house visits. Tonight we visited this small two story house in the village that we just installed a toilet outside last week. Apparently the local government has been taking credit for our work over the last few months so we decided to paint all of the toilets light and dark blue which is Peru's Challenges logo colors haha. It was so funny the little girl that lives there kept trying to eat the paint, we spent half our time moving her out of the way and away from the apparently yummy looking paint haha. After house visits we went back into the main part of the city for our welcome dinner at a very nice restaurant called Tunuras. There was a fantastic show put on by a local band featuring local music and some classic Peruvian folk dances. There were quite interesting. And the food was superb. Well that is about it for today.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Day 5
So today was a rest day, so me and the other volunteers went to the local Sunday market. It was awesome! there were people all over the place, shouting and bartering prices and people were everywhere, pushing and shoving through the small isles haha. Every one is really nice though, and most of the natives were willing to work with me since I didn't know very much Spanish. I did a lot of pointing and gesturing haha, but I got my point across eventually. and everything is really cheap. We got about 15 kilos of food for about 30 dollars US.
After the fruit market we went to another market across town that sold everything from electronics to cloths, to hardware and building supplies, to black market DVDs haha. It was a very interesting and enlightening experience to see how the rest of the world lives.
After that we just came back to the house and cooked dinner with the food we just bought. Liz made a chicken stir-fry, and rice. It was fantastic. Tomorrow we are starting work. The community we work with is about 30 minutes away up on the side of the mountain. and speaking of mountains, it is amazing how much Cusco is like Utah during it's dry season, the city is surrounded by mountains and from a distance they look just like the Rocky's. the ground is just like if you were out in Canyonlands the air is fairly dry. During the day the weather is very nice, in the sun it gets to about 75 or 80 degrees, and at night it can fall to just about freezing. I thought I was coming to the jungle haha, nope just another desert.
After the fruit market we went to another market across town that sold everything from electronics to cloths, to hardware and building supplies, to black market DVDs haha. It was a very interesting and enlightening experience to see how the rest of the world lives.
After that we just came back to the house and cooked dinner with the food we just bought. Liz made a chicken stir-fry, and rice. It was fantastic. Tomorrow we are starting work. The community we work with is about 30 minutes away up on the side of the mountain. and speaking of mountains, it is amazing how much Cusco is like Utah during it's dry season, the city is surrounded by mountains and from a distance they look just like the Rocky's. the ground is just like if you were out in Canyonlands the air is fairly dry. During the day the weather is very nice, in the sun it gets to about 75 or 80 degrees, and at night it can fall to just about freezing. I thought I was coming to the jungle haha, nope just another desert.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Day 4
Well I flew into Cusco today, it was amazing to fly over the Andes Mountain range. Seeing the mountains shooting out of the clouds was awesome! When we landed it was about 80 degrees outside so it was way nice. I meet the other volunteers and the volunteer manager. Everyone is really cool and down to earth. and the house is pretty sweet. It is in a safe part of the city and it is quite large. And since there aren't very many volunteers here right now I actually get my own room which is nice. The house is broken into 3 apartments. the downstairs and then 2 seperate ones up stairs. In my apartment there is me, heather, Liz, and Jo. As of right now I am the only guy in the house but I guess Matt is on a trek in the Amazon right now and will be back on monday. Everyone is a bit older than me but its all good because I am fitting in really well. So far we have gotten lost in the city twice but not for very long, and it was cool becuase it was an adventure haha. The food is awesome here, I went to the shopping market today, and bought some food. I am gonna try to make some peruvian food haha. If I learn how to do it good I'll totally bring some recipes back and make it for everyone! Lauren who is the manager took us on a quick tour of the city and took us to the cities center, which is this amazing coblestone square with beautiful buildings! I will be going back to check out some of the museums that are there and I'll take some pictures then. So the plan for tomorrow is to get more familiar with the city, so we are gonna go back to the market and then we are gonna go for some walks and practice our spanish. I still suck by the way but that is all good haha. Other than that our day is just a free day to rest up and get familiar with the area. On monday is when the work begins, and when I have my orientation dinner I pretty excited for that as well. It is supposed to be the giant dinner that is all peruvian food. So needless to say I can't wait to get my hands on it haha.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Day 3
Sorry about missing a day but I didn't do much of anything haha, mostly slept. But anyway on ward to today. Well I had an easy morning nothing to fancy, I sat on the roof and enjoyed the view and a good book. At 2pm I went on a bus and walking tour of Lima, I saw some old Inca ruins that are located on the edge of the Miraflores district, I didn't get to go in so I think I will make that one of the places I check out when I come back in July. I also got to see some of the colonial buildings that are still standing, and we went to the cities center, where all the political and religious buildings are. including the Presidental office and the Catholic Cathacombs. Both were pretty cool, especially the catacombs, there we bones everywhere, just in piles haha. The only problem was that your not allowed to take pictures so sorry but no can do. So after that we got a little free time to roam around the square and check stuff out. Then we went back to the hostel in Miraflores. Well that is about it, sorry its not very exciting but I am pretty tired haha.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Day 1
Ok so day 1 got off to an awesome start haha then crashed inflames from there haha. I got the airport 2 hours early and my flight from Salt Lake to Dallas left right on time, but when we came into Dallas the airport was closed due to weather. So the plane circled for a while then we ran out of gas, so then we had to land at some AA production facility in Fortworth, refuel and wait for about an hour and a half, then fly back to Dallas. This meant that I missed my flight from Dallas to Miami. So then I had to take the shuttle to the other side of the airport and beg to get put on the next flight to Miami which was leaving right then, except then it was delayed so I wasn't sure if I would make my flight from Miami to Lima. When I got to Miami I had to run to my next gate because the pilot said that they were boarding. But when I got there (out of breath) the plane was down for maintenance haha. So then I chilled there for an hour. So now I am in Lima in my first hotel.
Highlights of the day!
The hilarious little boy in the seat in front of me from Salt Lake to Dallas that I played Pica-boo with for over an hour (not my choice). But still funny haha, he had a mohawk.
The very kind old lady I sat next to from Dallas to Miami, she gave me one of her home made oatmeal raisin cookies (enough said)
James and his mom, they are backpacking around South America and James is spending the summer in Cusco working in a hostel. They were really nice, and kept me company while we waited for the plane to get fixed for our flight to Lima. We had a race to get through customs, I won haha!
Highlights of the day!
The hilarious little boy in the seat in front of me from Salt Lake to Dallas that I played Pica-boo with for over an hour (not my choice). But still funny haha, he had a mohawk.
The very kind old lady I sat next to from Dallas to Miami, she gave me one of her home made oatmeal raisin cookies (enough said)
James and his mom, they are backpacking around South America and James is spending the summer in Cusco working in a hostel. They were really nice, and kept me company while we waited for the plane to get fixed for our flight to Lima. We had a race to get through customs, I won haha!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Night Before
So I lay here the night before, everyone keeps asking if I'm excited but to be honest I am mostly nervous haha. I really hate customs haha and I'm not really looking forward to spending all day on planes, but the upside is that I get a free dinner from Miami to Lima haha. I can't wait for that exquisite frozen fried chicken, and dehydrated potatoes! haha. I will be arriving in Peru on the 4th at 4:10 am haha, this is my happy face :(.... I've never been a morning person.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Volunteer Work
My next big event planned so far is to go to Peru in June. I'm going with a group called Peru's Challenge with is an non-profit org based out of Australia. I will be working in Cuzco with one of the projects to create Sustainable Agriculture with the local surrounding villiages. I will also be working with kids in after school programs to help educate the Youth with Agriculture.
I will also be doing some traveling while I'm there including two 4 day backpacking trips to Macchu Picchu and the Inca Ruins. As well as some day hiking trips of the surround jungle areas. And after my stay with the Peru's Challenge is over I will be flying back to Lima and will be staying at a hostile and seeing the sites in Lima and the surrounding area for a few days before I fly back home.
I will also be doing some traveling while I'm there including two 4 day backpacking trips to Macchu Picchu and the Inca Ruins. As well as some day hiking trips of the surround jungle areas. And after my stay with the Peru's Challenge is over I will be flying back to Lima and will be staying at a hostile and seeing the sites in Lima and the surrounding area for a few days before I fly back home.
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