Tag archives for Andes
Posted by We pulled up to San Antonio, our refuge in the high country near Aconcagua, the western hemisphere’s highest summit and stood in awe of the magnificent Andes Mountains. We were ready to do some hiking.
We started our first morning with our new guide, the montana perro (mountain dog), the best guide on the mountain. We hiked up the river bed and down the snail trail. It was gorgeous. The sky was sapphire and the wind was blowing, it was a fantastic day for a hike. The vast mountains took our breath away. We saw so much wildlife, from stallions and cows to colorful birds and foxes.
We went back to a delectable dinner in the refuge after our big adventure with a really big appetite.
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Posted by So far this expedition has been unbelievable to say the absolute least. I’ve longed to travel to and explore Peru since I was five years old and National Geographic has given me the opportunity to fulfill that dream. This country is drop-dead gorgeous and amazing. It has been so breathtaking to explore Lima, Sacred Valley, Cusco, and now Machu Picchu.
There are no words to describe the feeling of walking on the same stones the Incas trekked nearly 600 years in the past. Now I see why the “Lost City of the Incas” was recently dubbed one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I still can’t believe we just saw this breathtaking “city in the clouds.”
This morning, after packing our bags, shooting group photos, and checking out of the Inkaterra Hotel, we all grabbed our seats on a bus, slipped on our motion sickness bands or took motion sickness medicine and anxiously peered out the windows as we zig-zagged on 14 switchbacks up the mountain.
Once we finally reached the peak of the mountain, we gathered at the gate of the path that leads to Machu Picchu and all sprayed on the thick layer of sunscreen and foul smelling bug spray.
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Allillanchu! That is Quechua for hello. Quechua is the native language of the Incas before the Spaniards arrived in 1532.
We had a nice breakfast at the Libertador Hotel. I had watermelon with sugar and prickly pear cactus root. It tasted like the white part of watermelon, but it was red and had tons of seeds. We have been trying many different foods that you don’t eat in America. For example, they served alpaca, llama, and guinea pig. (I didn’t try the guinea pig because they are pets in America.) Another thing that was quite interesting was that Lijah let me try a little calamari (or octopus). It tasted like fish and was purple with tentacles.
After breakfast we boarded the bus and we drove through the Andes making a few stops along the way. We took pictures and stopped at the marketplace in a small village. The market was filled with people in colorful costumes who were there for a weaving contest. I bought a woven camera strap and an alpaca breeder mask. The mask is part of a costume that people wear in the dance to get the season off to a good start. Most of the masks are white with a cross and a stripe on the forehead. But there are many different types of these masks. They have cool colors, horns, beards, and faces. If you look at one from far away they look like a ski mask or socks with many colors.
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Hi, this is Pete. Today, the fifth day of our journey, we took a hike to the ancient Incan ruins of Sacsayhuaman. The hike was much harder than most because of the lack of oxygen in the air. But the hike was worth it when we reached the top and saw the breathtaking structure. It was a myriad of boulders upon boulders. The largest ones were at the bottom to create a stronger support. The largest of the boulders were around 18 tall. It was a wonder that men could transport such mammoth rocks.
Even more impressive was the way in which these boulders were carved.
Each boulder was carved expertly to fit perfectly with adjacent
boulders. Every wall looked like a jigsaw puzzle, without any spaces
between pieces. It is amazing that such perfection could be created
over 600 years ago. We later learned that the area of Sacsayhuaman was
called Puma City and was made to look like a Puma. Every structure was
made to look like a specific part of the Puma.
The Incan civilization was so powerful and advanced that their history is almost addicting. I cannot wait to go to the Citadel of Machu Picchu to see more wonders of the Incan Empire.
Hi, it’s Elliot. Today we participated in the “Search of the Treasure” game, which took place high up in the Andes at an elevation of about 13,000 feet. We were divided into four groups for the game.
We were greeted by people wearing traditional and ceremonial clothes. Some people were wearing clothes representing the devil and a man was dressed as an Inca King. He chanted in Quechua, the traditional language, and then we started the first challenge, hair braiding. One girl in each group sat down, and with the help of a few locals, we braided as many braids as we could in five minutes. It was really hard to do and I could only do two braids out of our group’s 29. The whole time we were chanting to try and get more points.
Hi, my name is Becca! We have arrived at beautiful Cusco, nestled in the Andes mountains. On the flight from Lima, early in the morning, we passed over the mountains and munched on crackers, very excited to land. When we got there, we got on a bus and drove to a welcome party, complete with marshmallows, advice, and coca tea. I liked the coca tea a little, and it really helped with the altitude sickness. I took some photos of the nearby fountain and pretty flowers.
Afterwards, we got back on the bus and started driving up the mountains. We drove in a zig-zag line, so that the sudden change in altitude wouldn’t bother us much. Along the way, we saw small villages and waved to workers and kids going to school. They have to walk several miles each way to get to school every day! I could never do that. Our guides, Luis and Edgar, told us about the buildings in the villages: the straw and mud bricks that dry in the sun, the crosses in between miniature bull statues on the tops of the roofs, the formerly Spanish houses that have the coats of arms above the doors…. We learned a lot.
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