Hands-On Explorer Trip Blog - National Geographic Kids

Hey, everyone! It's McKenna again, with one last blog about a memorable moment in Peru. I'd like to take you back to "The City in the Clouds" for a quick visit to a special spot nestled in a narrow notch on a mountaintop overlooking Machu Picchu.

After exploring and shooting pictures for hours in the marvelous ruins of "The Lost City of the Incas," and after eating a quick buffet lunch at the Machu Picchu restaurant, many members of the expedition, including myself, decided to take on the challenge of a 45 minute hike about a mile up the Inca Trail, a long, twisting, ancient stone path made and used by the Incas. Our destination? The Incan Sun Gate.

The length of the trail we traversed curves up the side of the mountain and overlooks the grand city of Machu Picchu. It was an amazing experience. We had to keep reminding ourselves that we were walking on the same stones the Incas used to trek. But, overall, the trek wasn't all that easy.

The stones of the trail are jagged and serrated, and one misstep at certain places could have caused us to tumble down the steep precipice of the soaring mountain. YIKES! At 8,000 plus feet in the sky, it was sometimes tough to get the oxygen we needed to climb without breathing pretty hard at times. And, being ever so high in the sky, we had to be on guard to avoid getting sunburned. We were told that, at that height, even if it doesn't feel like you are getting sun, if you aren't careful to wear sunscreen or cover up, you are likely to get sunburned--even on the tops of your hands!

Out of the numerous, beautiful hotels we resided at over the course of the expedition, although it is hard to choose a favorite, I think we all utterly enjoyed spending the night at the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, a private, mountainside reserve in Aguas Calientes, a small village that sits right alongside the train tracks and the Vilcanota River. (Up against gigantic towering mountains, it is almost as if Aguas Calientes is a tiny toy town!)

Nestled cozily at the foot of jungle-blanketed mountains, not only was it an absolutely stunning inn, complete with beautiful outdoor plazas and stone-covered walkways, profuse and teeming with a vibrant array of delicate, blossoming flowers and native Peruvian decorations, but the Inkaterra was also a great educator--one that taught us all a meaningful lesson.

The rooms made us feel like we were lodging in a small, quaint cottage - a bungalow, really. The doors were made of tall, dark timber, and ivory-colored walls surrounded them. To our surprise, there were no doorknobs or key-card slots on the doors. There was a huge iron keyhole, though. We were each given a large metal ring with a single, old-fashioned key hanging from it to unlock our timber doors so that we could step inside our rooms.

The ceilings of the rooms were ashen, with coffee-colored timber rods and beams stretching across from wall to wall, like in a little cabin (they called the rooms "casitas"). Blanketing the beds were soft white sheets and a brightly checkered throw. A welcoming, comfortable set of brown chairs and a short wooden table sat in the corner by two tall windows overlooking the exquisite scenery of the hotel. The bathrooms were small and modest, consisting of a short sink, toilet, and crammed--but luxurious--shower.

"Whoa!!!" I yelled when I lost traction in my wet, rubber boots. Splat!!! I was lying, facedown, in Amazonian mud. I can laugh now, but I sure wasn't laughing then. It was 8 a.m. We had just started our journey to spot giant river otters at Oxbow Lake.

I pulled myself upright. I was covered from head to toe in brown, sloppy mud. This was not the look I was going for. I was OK, but I couldn't say the same for my new camera. It was practically encased in the dirt. Perfect...

Thank goodness for Luis, our jungle guide. He took my equipment, wrapped it in a towel and put it in his backpack. We continued on our hike to the lake. Once on the boat, Luis wiped most of the grime off of my camera.

"You were lucky, Grace! The lens cap stayed on. Also, the body of the camera seems OK." The zoom control was a different story. It was a mess. I sat there looking at my suddenly-not-so-brand-new-looking Nikon camera. I was filthy and worried. I put the camera away. It began to rain--and we didn't see any giant river otters.

Hi, it's Becca again! One of my favorite moments of the trip was the school in Cusco. You get to talk to real kids from a country that a lot of people wish they could visit and see what they're learning. As soon as we got there, the kids, in awesome costumes, started dancing for us and playing in their marching band. The dancers formed lines that wove in and out of each other, twirling before us. This way and that way; it made me a bit dizzy to follow one dancer in the group (and the high altitude added to that too).

Hi, everyone! This is Becca, here to tell you all about the Explorers' Symposium '09 at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, on Thursday the 11th! I drove down from Pennsylvania and arrived at the symposium at 5 o'clock.



Before going into the hors d'oeuvres party, I walked around National Geographic's really cool sculpture garden with my dad. It had statues of lots of different bugs, my favorite being a group of leaf-cutter ants carrying the greenery on their backs. That reminded me a lot of the trip to Peru and how much I miss all of the fabulous people on it.