From Buenos Aires to the border of Brazil

My Buenos Aires friends from 4 years ago still looking great! From left, Leticia, Santiago, Pablo, and Valentina.

I hope this belated post will not disappoint! I have entered city life for the past few weeks and have had few moments to sit down and update. Here is a rundown of the month of June.
The market in the beautiful neighborhood of San Telmo near the city center attracts the multitudes every Sunday.

It was nice to return to a city I know and love. I had already done most of the tourist options when I lived in BsAs for years ago, so this time around I was free to follow the availability of my friends for a more intimate view of the city. Santiago, my host, worked for my first week before taking two weeks of vacation. By day I wandered the city on my own, visiting markets of all shapes and sizes and reacquainting myself with local cuisine. By night, I visited Santi in his restaurant for after hours red wine and filet mignon of the highest quality. He works in a restaurant that caters to tourists seeking  "The Argentine Experience", from which the establishment draws its name. Customers are greeted with cocktails, learn to make empanadas (ground beef or chicken enclosed in dough and baked til golden brown) and alfajors (a chilean/argentine dessert of dulce de leche sandwiched between cookies) and how to order a steak in spanish. The menu was well beyond my price range, but I enjoyed stepping into the kitchen after the tourists left to taste the delicious leftovers! Lots of late nights lead to few days of waking up before noon - a common occurence in a city where dinner isn't eaten until ten or eleven at night.

I also spent a lot of my days with Valentina, whom I met along with Santiago that first night out on the town four years ago. We made various excursions to China town, organic markets, and milongas (tango dance clubs), and even fit in a work of contemporary dance and a trip to the nearby delta town of Tigre (more on that later). 

World Cup winner Diego Maradona takes a moment to pose with a fan!Once Santiago was cleared for two weeks of vacation, the two of us and Leti, Santi's longtime girlfriend, drove south for 5 hours to arrive in Mar Del Plata. Santi's parents own a time share with a beach front condo building, where we stayed for a week. We walked the beach, enjoyed the first few world cup games from the comfort of our hotel room, tried some delicious seafood by the docks, and collaborated to create some delicious home cooked meals (Leti makes a great focaccia bread and Santi is always improvising!).

Mar del Plata: quiet beach town during the winter months, and principal vacation destination for porteños when summer arrives.

Santi's older brother Dani taking a moment to work on his latest tango masterpiece.

While in Mar Del Plata we also spent time with Santi's older brother Dani - a celebrated painter who specializes in the human figure, and a great lover of tango. He built his own house in the forest neighborhood of Mar Del Plata, and introduced us to a great pizza place with a ping pong table centerpiece. 

We returned to Buenos Aires refreshed, and I had time for a couple more adventures before I crossed the river. One day Valentina and I took a train from BsAs to nearby Tigre, a community largely composed of islands in the expansive river delta of the Rio de la Plata. We first passed through the big market near the docks, full of local artesanal works, and even found a boat selling fruit right from its deck!

After a bite to eat we hope aboard a ferry that would drop us off on one of the islands. With skill, the captains back up to docks along the route, and passengers jump ship at their preferred stop. Each boat can hold over 70 people, and our boat was near full capacity on our ride back to town on the last boat of the night. There are lots of opportunities for homesteading and simple living in the quiet delta, and I enjoyed an afternoon away from high rise apartments and the heavy chatter of city streets.

Meet the ferries of Tigre! Though a bit more expensive than your average bus, the inhabitants of the delta use these beautiful wooden vessels to get to and from the mainland.

Produce for sale from the deck of a Tigre transport vessel.

Unfortunately there came a point when I had to say goodbye to Buenos Aires and continue on my path to Brazil. I met lots of great people through evening outings with Santi, Leti, and Valentina, and enjoyed princely hospitality from Santi's parents, Mario and Laura. I set out midday on a Wednesday with Uruguay in my sights.

I chose a path that would take me first to the small town of Colonia, then to the capital of Montevideo, followed by the border town of Rivera.

Huge catamarans leave Buenos Aires three times a day for Colonia, the closest town by boat. Having decided to only spend the afternoon there, I dropped my pack in the baggage center of the bus terminal and went for a walkabout of Colonia's historical sector.

Uruguay's oldest town has changed hands many times between Portugal and Spain, it's location on the river being a strategic point for trade and defense in the age of colonialism. Therefore much of the architecture reflects uruguay's bipolar culture, as the historical district contains buildings reflecting the preference of various ruling parties. 

Colonia, Uruguay

I then spent two nights in Montevideo, with one day in between to see as much as I could of the city center. Unfortunately all the main museums I tried to see were closed, but a long walk along the coastal avenue at sunset made my day in the city totally worthwhile.

Montevideo at sunset.

The next morning I bussed six hours to the border town of Rivera, where crossing into Brazil is as simple as crossing the street. Rivera bumps right up against Santana do Livramento; on one side everyone speaks Spanish, and on the other side Portuguese. Though the two languages are structurally very similar, even after almost two weeks in Brazil I still have a hard time understanding the locals. 

This ends my update for now! For the sake of continuity I will catch you all up on my time in Brazil in a separate post in the next few days. Lots of activity means little time to sit down and write! Also please keep my friend Santiago in your prayers, I received word the other day that his father, Mario, passed away rather suddenly, having recently reached the age of 79. He reminded me a lot of my mother's father, and made me look forward to being back together with my loved ones at my sister's wedding this coming August. Life is precious and family comes first. Come back soon for an update on life in Rio de Janeiro!

Standing on the border of Uruguay and Brazil. No turning back!

Tupungato, Argentina: The Capital of Walnuts and Wine Grapes

Greetings from Argentina!  I crossed the border from Chile on Wednesday, May 15th, after a wonderful stay with the Acevedo - Galvez family in Los Andes, Chile.  By bus, the trip from Los Andes to Mendoza, Argentina is about 5 hours give-or-take - sometimes complications at the border crossing make the trip longer.  I lucked out with a sunny day, no snow over the pass, and a smooth crossing into Argentina.  In addition, I did not have to pay the US$160 fee to cross the border, since I paid the same fee over three years ago when I came to Argentina to study!

I arrived in Tupungato, Argentina that same night, and quickly felt the warm hospitality of Orlando Gottardini and his family, who have been living and working the land in Tupungato for three generations.  Tupungato is located right at the base of the Andes mountains, and with 300+ sunny days a year, the view is usually spectacular.  During the current winter season, day time temperatures rose to about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, while often night time temps dropped below freezing. Thankfully there was a nice wood stove and plenty of firewood to keep me warm!

Young walnut trees with the volcano Tupungato

Tupungato (popn. 15,000) is called "La Capital de la Nuez", or the Walnut capital, since the region produces more walnuts than any of its neighbors.  However, the main crops by volume are wine grapes, potatoes, and garlic.  The Gottardini farm has about 1,000 young walnut trees, which will become a beautiful orchard to leave to children and grandchildren for generations to come.  Besides walnuts, fruit trees around the house, and vegetables for the family, Orlando spends the bulk of his farming energy cultivating potatoes on various properties in the area, having grown tired of garlic after many years in the business.

Taken from a barrel lid,
a sign of the first hard freeze of the season

For my first few days in Tupungato, there were three volunteers that had been on the property for over a month, but they soon departed to continue their trips, and I was left in the farmhouse by myself.  I enjoyed my time as a hermit, with plenty of freedom to cook and clean to my liking, read, write and think without distraction, and experience the silence of a sunrise.  I was also a stand-in member of the Gottardini family, attending family dinners, playing soccer games with locals, and running errands with Orlando.

Tasks on the farm were varied and relaxed, since winter was just beginning and it was too late for harvest or crop maintenance.  I cut weeds with a machete, sprayed weeds with a home-made, organic herbicide, cleaned out irrigation canals (at left), chopped firewood, helped out with tractor maintenance, and learned how to prune fruit trees.  With a little more experience, pruning could turn into a great seasonal job in the future, with no possibility of mechanization, and preference given to young workers with the energy to go up and down ladders all day.  Even in the slow season I was able to learn a lot!

The Gran Reserva Line passes through lots of oak
before it is ready to bottle.

Since Tupungato is in prime wine country, I had to make a stop at a local winery to see the process and learn how to properly taste and identify a high quality wine.  My last Saturday I rode a bike out to Domaine Bousquet, a fully organic winery and the only one in the region where the owners work on site - the rest are owned from afar via Europe or the US.  I was impressed by the way they recycle everything that goes through the winery, and by the measures they take to ensure quality over quantity.  The three lines they produce (in order of increasing quality, Premio, Reserva, and Gran Reserva) are not readily available in Argentina, with 90% of the product directed towards exportation.  For the wine tasting session I had a Malbec Cabernet Rose (Premio), a Chardonnay (Reserva), a Malbec (Gran Reserva), and a Malbec of the late harvest which is a sweet dessert wine, and sold in a smaller bottle due to high demand and low availability.  It was all delicious!  Now I can feel like an aficionado as I hold my glass correctly, check for color and alcohol content, and fully intake the smells and flavors of a wine.  I've already found that this is best done only when actually drinking good wine - all other instances don't require such finesse :)

I will miss Tupungato a lot!  The crops and climate remind me of California, with plenty of sun even in the winter time.  I was received by a wonderful family, and learned a lot through many conversations with Orlando doing errands around the town.  I will definitely come back here when I am ready to tackle Patagonia one day, and I am sure the valley will be spectacular during summer time.  I will miss the clear night skies with the Milky Way spilled throughout the stars, the sunrise lighting up the Andes; the tranquility of the country, the orchard, and the freedom of living alone in the farmhouse; eating walnuts off the ground, and experimenting with fresh produce.

On Sunday June 1st I left Tupungato to try my luck hitch hiking from Mendoza to Buenos Aires.  By 3pm on Sunday I was fortunate to get a ride with Ramon Rojas, a Chilean from Santiago heading to Buenos Aires with a truck full of Coca Cola bottle caps.  Many Chileans speak a fast, rough, and mumbled version of Spanish, and though sustaining conversation was difficult at the beginning of the trip, by the end he offered me a place to stay at his home should I be in Santiago again.  I keep having marvelous luck with the people I meet along this journey!

Now I am in Buenos Aires staying at the home of my good friend Santiago Kaplan, whom I met on my second night in the capital three and a half years ago.  Since then, I showed him around Washintgon and Montana, and we met up with another friend on the east coast in Rhode Island in Maine.  Our friendship has taken us to some wonderful places, and I am glad to be back in the city where it all started.  I will be in the area for about three weeks before heading off to Brazil!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next update on reconnecting with friends and places in Buenos Aires!  I leave you with some more photos of Tupungato.  Until next time!

Grapes on the vine well after harvest season.  The leaves
fell off all the plants right before I left for Buenos Aires.

Orlando Gottardini standing in front of Tupungato Valley.
There is very little topographical diversity between the Andes
and the Atlantic ocean, making for flat plains perfect for
cultivating crops and raising cattle.

The mountain El Plata isn't so tall after all!  Only over 6,000m (20,000ft)!

Walnuts of all shapes, sizes and colors!  The highest quality are the lightest in color.  With more humidity, the pulp changes color to yellow, orange, and then brown.  For the sake of appearance, I separated the white pulps to give to friends.  The other colors tasted great as well!

Two weeks in Chile: Arica, San Pedro de Atacama, & Los Andes

Saludos from Chile!  Since my last post I have been bussing, hitch hiking, biking, and walking all over this beautiful country, and today I find myself with time to do some serious updating.

From Cusco, Peru, my original plan was to spend some time outside of Arequipa, Peru and check out the Colca Canyon - the second deepest in the world (after the nearby Cañon Cotahuasi) and a great place to spot Condors.  However, upon arriving at the Arequipa bus terminal, 10 hrs from Cusco, I felt an itch to keep moving south, so I found a young Chilean named Luis who was heading for Chile that same day, and we arrived in the coastal town of Arica before nightfall.  

        Just about the whole trip from Arequipa to Arica was staged through barren desert, and once getting off our last bus of the day it was a nice change to see the infinite expanse of the Pacific looming to the West.  I spent two nights and one full day in Arica, spending most of my time at the high point of the town, El Morro, as well as on the sandy beaches.  The sun was strong, but it was already noticeable that my southern path had taken me outside of the intense ecuatorial blasts I experienced in Ecuador and Peru.  

Next on my list after Arica was San Pedro de Atacama, another relatively expensive and touristy town, but worth the visit due to the incredible landscapes in the high desert at the feet of conical Andean volcanoes.  To get to San Pedro I got up early on Thursday May 1st to start hitch hiking the Panamericana highway outside Arica.  Naturally I picked a holiday, Day of the Worker, to try and travel, and I could tell that there weren't many long distance trucks coming my way.  Lucky for me, a pick up with four construction workers picked me up and they were headed to Calama, the big inland city on the way to San Pedro.  We were on the road for 8 hours, and I could tell right away that my ear for Chilean spanish needed a lot of improvement.  Chileans are notorious for lots of slang, talking fast, running words together and leaving out certain letters in pronunciation (sounds a bit like plenty of English speakers in the States!).  After arriving in Calama post-sunset I decided to take a bus into San Pedro to avoid having to stay the night in expensive Calama.

The town of San Pedro is full of tour companies ready to take to you to dozens of sites throughout the desert, but I opted for exploring what I could by renting a mountain bike and riding as far as I could for two days.  My first day I took a very flat, very straight road all the way to three salt lakes, named Laguna Cejar.  I am still baffled by the isolation of salt fields and lakes in the middle of the desert, and they offered a cool, blue contrast to the dry scrubland surroundings.  One lake was open for swimming, where the salt concentration leaves you floating with ease.  The other two lakes were left to the birds, and I was fortunate enough to catch two flamingos flying between feeding spots!

My second day in San Pedro I spent the morning looking for "The Devil's Ravine", and though I didn't quite find it, I did get to ride along the San Pedro river and see some unexpected greenery in the midst of the dry dry desert.  The afternoon however was the highlight of my stay.  I took the main highway out of town, and took not the first, but the second turn off for "The Valley of the Moon".  Turns out the back entrance was closed, but I took that to mean that either someone would be there to turn me away, or I would have the place to myself (the latter proved correct).  I scrambled through crunchy salt deposits and up golden sedimentary slopes and found a beautiful high point to observe the surrounding valley.  The picture of me standing next to the rugged landscape is close to the highway, but the two lower fotos, one with me kneeling and the other panoramic, show the diverse contours of the area that I got to see all for myself.

From San Pedro, I initially planned on hitch hiking the rest of the way to the greater Santiago area, a trip of 4 to 5 days.  But after a few unsuccessful hours on the highway, and thinking I might rather spend more time at my next destination, I opted for a 24hr bus trip to Santiago, and then Los Andes - an area of smaller towns an hour north of the capital.  My decision to stay longer in Los Andes was quickly justified by the warm welcome I received from the Acevedo - Galvez family upon my arrival.

My main reason for coming to Los Andes was to meet up and stay with the family of Christian Acevedo Galvez, the Chilean exchange student living with my aunt and uncle from Nevada City, CA, whom I had the pleasure to hang out and camp with while I was living with my Grandmother, Myrna Heppe, for the six months prior to this trip.  They have received exchange students in the past, and also miss having their 16 year-old in the house, so I fit right in to the big brother/cousin void that was felt in the house.  I have spent most days taking one of their bikes for a spin around the community.  Los Andes is located in the Aconcagua Valley, known for its agricultural productivity and export of table grapes, wine, nuts, and avocadoes.  There are vineyards as far as my two wheels can take me, and the landscape at the foot of the Andes reminds me of valleys in California bumping up against the coastal range and the Sierra Nevada.  Above is a panoramic vista of the valley, a tractor loaded up with grapes destined for red wine, the Virgin of Los Andes at sunset, and Felipe Acevedo Galvez (11) and myself at the high point of the city.

Los Andes is also within a one hour bus ride from Santiago, and two and a half hours from Valparaiso.  Yesterday I took the morning bus to Valpo, and checked out as many sites as I could before I caught the night bus back to Los Andes.  Valparaiso is known for its colors and bohemian attitude, both of which were on full display during my visit.  A student protest for free university education filled the square, artesan shops were on every street, and it seemed that every house was different both in structure and paint choice.  To close out the day I visited the house of the late Pablo Neruda, an important figure in 20th century Chilean politics and Nobel Prize - winning poet.  I haven't read a lot of his works, but plan to hunt down a book of poems in a used book store as soon as possible.

I leave you with some photos of beautiful Valparaiso!  Next week I will make for Tupungato, a small town south of Mendoza, Argentina, where I will spend at least two weeks on a family farm doing whatever tasks are available as the region heads into the winter season.  Thanks for reading, my next update will be likely be from Buenos Aires!

Staircases are the norm for
getting around, definitely not
handicap accessible.

For all the hills within Valparaiso,
"Acensores" are hundred - year
old rooms on rails that take
 people up and down the city slopes

A taste of the colors of Valpo, along with the big Lutheran church.

Me with Pablo Neruda!

Murals of all states of completion
cover the walls all over the city.

Salkantay Trek and Machu Picchu

Hello again from Cusco!  Today I took a day of rest after 5 days of great hiking, including walking to, from, and all around the amazing, not-so-ancient (1450 AD) city of Machu Picchu.

My wonderful trekking buddies looking fresh on the first day!

The Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu consisted of 5 days of walking, 3 nights camping, and 1 night in a hostel the night before going up to Machu Picchu.  Horses carried tents, sleeping pads, food, and 5kg of gear per person (I opted to carry all my gear on my own back), and two guides kept everyone together while providing some interpretive information along the way.

On day 1 (Tuesday 4/22) our group of 19 trekkers from USA, England, Canada, Spain, Holland, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Singapore, Brasil, and Peru arrived at the main square in Cusco at 5am to drive to our starting point in the small town of Mollepata.  I think we all tried to get some extra sleep to get ready for 8hrs of walking uphill.  We ascended 1000m (3300ft) the first day, and it was challenging, but everyone in the group seemed to adjust to the altitude (3900m or 12870ft above sea level) without any problems.  I enjoyed partaking in the local tradition of chewing on Coca leaves throughout the hike, which eases hunger and thirst, and helps with any symptoms related to altitude sickness.  Our first campsite was in the shadow of Salkantay (Wild Mountain in Kichwa), and its ´little´ brother, Umantay (Head Mountain), while the rivers coming from their respective glaciers lulled us to sleep.

Salkantay Pass, where the clouds parted just for us.

After a mediocre night's sleep due to cold temps and thin sleeping pads, we all rose early to hike 3hrs to Salkantay Pass.  As we approached Salkantay, the clouds continued to dissipate, with glaciers and craggy peaks stairing down at us throughout our ascent.  We rose to 4650m (15345ft), and after working hard to get to the top, the mountain air and our sweat quickly cooled us down, requiring us to whip out all our cold weather clothing.  Plenty of glorious photos were taken, and lucky for us, one of our guides led a traditional ceremony of offering and appreciation to the mountain, giving coca leaves, a traditional drink, and a song played on the Kenachu, a large Incan flute.  The rest of the day was a pleasant hike downhill, through rocky terrain (where I saw a Chinchilla!), and eventually dipping back down below the treeline for our second night of camping.

Walking along the Lluksamayu River for much of day 3.

Nothing like hot springs to rejuvenate tired legs!

Day 3 had us walking through rainforest along a beautiful river for most of the morning, with plenty of up and down to keep the hike interesting.  We hiked for 5hrs in the morning, and then took a short van ride to our camping site in the town of Santa Teresa.  Most of us then took another short ride to the nearby hotsprings, a lifesaver for those of us with achy muscles.

Day 4 came with a couple of morning options, either to walk for the first three hours, or to do a zipline tour and get driven to the town of Hidroelectrica to meet the walkers for lunch.  I opted for the zipline option!  Six cables, one over 1200ft long offered great views of the river below, and one line barely skimmed above the trees!  The zippers met up with the walkers for lunch, and we all continued the rest of the way on foot to Aguas Calientes, the hotel/restaurant town that serves as the launching point for Machu Picchu.  All our long walks on this trip made for great conversation with all of the trekkers.  I managed to land in a group of highly intelligent and globally aware world travellers that have inspired me to continue to search for that which makes me happy, and to never stop learning, questioning, and seeking out new experiences.

Saturday morning we woke up before the sun to arrive at the start of the trail to MP before 5am.  A slight drizzle brought out lots of ponchos, and every other person had a headlamp to help with the 1 mile walk that brought us up about 1200ft to the entry gates to the archeological site.  When we arrived inside around 630, the clouds covered everything in sight, giving us a slightly anticlimatic arrival to the cornerstone of our 5 day trip.  Our tour guide led us along the important sites that we could see right in front of us, and we waited patiently for the clouds to part.

After our tour I climbed nearby Huayna Picchu, the big mountain in all the classic MP photos, only to find everything still enveloped in fog and mist.  I waited about 3hrs for the sky to clear, and without any success I continued on the circuit trail that lead around to some caves on the back side of the mountain.  When I got back around to the path that led up to the top, the skies were clearing!  I climbed the mountain again, and even though the pictures only show half the city, I had a great view from the top.  There was another small mountain, Huchuy Picchu, between Huayna Picchu and MP, so naturally I climbed it as well to get a closer view of the city as the skies continued to clear.  By 1:00pm the whole place was visible, and I could walk the ruins with a view of the whole city.  What a great place for a city!  I was glad I chose a long route into the ruins, and walking most of the way made me feel like I 'deserved' the access a bit more than if I had taken a train or bus to get to the top.  Next up is Arequipa and Colca Canyon, and then I will drop down into Chile as far as Santiago.  Peace to all, and talk to you soon!

The best view of Machu Picchu that I managed on Wayna Picchu.

The Incan city in all its glory, with Wayna Picchu looming in the background.

Two weeks on the farm and a weekend in Cusco

Feliz dia de Pascua desde Cusco, Peru!  There is so much to do and see here that I had to pry myself away to make a blog update - time to catch up on the last two weeks!

Papaya on the table.

Papayas on the tree.

Sachahuares is a family farm run by a Belgian wife and a Peruvian husband (with three boys 11, 6, and 4 running around as well) located about 6hrs from Cusco at about 800meters above sea level and in a forest with wet/dry seasons, the latter beginning around May and June.  They regularly receive volunteers to help out, and I was joined by two Californians for my two weeks of service.  We helped out with chores and oddjobs whenever necessary, in addition to 3hrs of work in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and helping cook meals on a woodfire adobe stove. Sachahuares has a multitude of edible crops on their property, including papaya, coconut, banana, masasamba, avocado, lemon, orange, corn, pan de arbol, and others.  While most crops are only for personal consumption, they do have enough coffee, cacao, and mango to sell to local wholesale operations.  Lucky for me, I arrived in peak coffee and cacao harvest season!

Cafe (of the Arabica variety) grows as a small tree, and requires plenty of shade.  The fruits start out green, and depending on the variety, are harvestable when they are either red or yellow.  Once done harvesting for a day, we brought all the fruits together and ran them through the standard cafe peeling machine, separating the skins from the all important beans inside.  We then set the beans aside in a sack until the end of a week, when we had harvested enough to dry a large batch of cafe all at once.  When ready to dry, the cafe beans are laid out in the sun for about a week until they are nice and hard when you bite into them.  At that point they are ready to sell, or to be toasted, ground, and brought to the table for a deliciously strong morning drink.

Harvesting cafe.

Cafe fruit freshly harvested.

Toasting cafe the traditional way!  This was the stove we used to cook all our meals and boil water as well.

Peeling cafe with a special machine, the skins make great compost!

Though prices fluctuate, cafe and cacao generally go for about the same price at the wholesalers.  However, cacao beans are larger and come in pods with at least 15 seeds per pod, and so require less effort to harvest.  Therefore, new areas of crop plantings at Sachahuares generally include cacao trees - not just for harvest and profit, but also as a way to reforest slopes that have been stripped of trees from fire and ax.  Cacao pods grow on the trunk of the tree and on outlying branches, and are usually out of reach.  To bring down the pods, we used long poles from local timber with a hook attachment on the end.  We did our best to push the pods off their perch, but if they were located on smaller branches we often ended up taking part of the tree with the pod (oops!).  As the trees with plush with fruit, we had a large pile of pods after only a few days.  The next step was to cut open each pod with a machete, and pass it on to the next person to pull out the fleshy seeds.  The coating of ripe cacao seeds is sweet and delicious, and we sucked on plenty along the way.  The seeds then go into a sack for 4 to 6 days to ferment, and after that they are removed and set into the sun.  Cacao seeds are a bit more sensitive than cafe, and need to be dried fast and then delivered soon before they begin to mold and spoil.  Since cafe beans can keep for much longer, Sachahuares often holds onto dried cafe until a reasonable price comes on the market.

Cacao hooks used to pry pods off their perch.

Sam using the special pole to fetch some cacao pods.

Harvest from two volunteers working 5 hrs a day from just 3 days!  

Cutting and deseeded cacao pods.

Cacao (front left) and cafe left in the sun to dry.

The big pile of pods turned into to two smelly sacks of fermenting cacao seeds!

The main patio of Sachahuares on the day of the birthday party.

I really enjoyed staying with a family for two weeks, the energy is so distinct to that of a hostel, or tour group, or even the reserve in Ecuador.  The three boys oscillated between playing well together and completely terrorizing each other, but they always wanted to play cards or talk with us, making us feel constantly welcome.  At the end of last week there was a birthday party held for all three boys, and we got to help prepare the food (including killing and cooking a goose!), decorate, fetch the guests from the nearby town, and of course clean up.  We learned to cook some local dishes, such as "toreja de plátano", or a banana pancake with more banana than cake.  That came at the end of our stay, when the abundance of ripe bananas prompted us to not only eat our fill during the day, but also required us to take at least 10 bananas with us when we left - needless to say, I am now taking a break from bananas for awhile!  Sachahuares was a beautiful area to spend two weeks, and I learned a lot about cafe and cacao and farm life along the way.  I must say I am relieved that the rest of my trip is largely out of range of mosquitos and other little biters, and I am feeling at home again in the mountains here in Cusco.  

From left, Dimitri (28), Ilian (4), Sam (18), Sabine, Mirko (6), Kyram (11), Roberto, and yours truly.

Viernes Santo procession of La Virgen Dolorosa.

Viernes Santo in the streets of Cusco.

On Friday night, Sam and I arrived in Cusco looking for anything special that might be happening for Viernes Santo (Holy Friday).  Our taxi driver dropped us off where he thought there might be a procession, and everyone we asked seemed to think everything had finished for the night.  As we walked up the cobblestone stairs on the street to our hostel, I heard trumpets and drums from the direction in which we had come.  A procession!  Mother Mary made her way up the street for awhile, when she was eventually met by her dying Son laying in a glass box.  Then the two processions combined and took a turn up the street we had taken as a vantage point, filling the road with people and firmly trapping us with backpacks and all against the buildings.  We had no choice but to wait for the procession to begin moving again, and by that time we had hauled our backpacks around for long enough, and made our way to the hostel for the night.

Saturday was spent walking around the city, checking out the expansive and diverse San Pedro market, and wishing I had Mary Poppins' bag to stash lots of gifts without adding any more weight to my pack. We bought some food for the week, ate a cheap and delicious lunch, and checked out a chocolate museum to see if we could learn some history to go along with our practical knowledge of cacao. That night we met up with some local peruvians from our hostel, and we got a look at the city from a local's perspective, complete with "Chicha" (alcoholic drink made from fermented corn), street food, and a salsa bar.

The Cathedral in the main square on Easter morning.

Yesterday, Easter Sunday, Sam and I got up around 7 to catch one of the services at the Cathedral on the main square.  It was impressive not only in architecture but in attendance, with the multitude having memorized all the responses, creeds, and hymns throughout the service.  The priest told us that Easter is a day of festival, so we should go out and eat well!  Our plan for the rest of the day was to see four archeological sites nearby Cusco, and after making a breakfast sandwich of avocado, tomato, onion, cheese and spinach, Sam and I set out with two friends from the hostel to see what we could see for a day.

The ruins were distinct in their own ways.  Tambomachay was a place of communal living, agriculture, and rest; Pukapukara was a small fortress; Qenko was a center for spiritual rituals; and the last and most impressive Saqsaywaman was the main fortress protecting Cusco from invasion.  We went without a guide to all the site, and sometimes the interpretive signs are few and far between, so we have some independent research to do to appreciate the full significance of the sites, but Saqsaywaman had so much to see and admire that the actual use took a back seat to the architecture and layout of the ruin.  Some areas held tunnels that used to connect to a temple in the center of Cusco; a central circular arena could have been a market; the large field in the photo below held the annual ceremony of the Sun, and the walls you can see above the field are the zig-ziag walls of the fortress.  Each stone used in the wall fits so close to the other that no mortar is needed - the technique used to shape each stone still escapes me, and hopefully I will learn more about it once in Machu Picchu.

Ruins of Saqsaywaman just up the hill from Cusco.

Look at the size of the rocks the Incas used for building walls!
And the angles of the rocks when they come together!

To get back to our hostel yesterday evening we took a detour past the large statue of Christ that looms over the city.  The statue is white, shiny, and is lit up at night, and walking past was a nice way to close our Easter Sunday of walking around the city.  Today I get ready for my 5day trek into Machu Picchu that starts tomorrow, packing in food, water, and extra camera memory cards, and I may make it to some more ruins before the day is out as well.  I am excited to be out in the backcountry for a few days, and to hike up the mountain of Huayna Picchu that overlooks the famous ruins below.  I will be sure to give a full report upon my return, and before I head out for Arequipa and the Colca Canyon next week.  Thanks for tuning in!

Christ looks down on Cusco with arms spread wide.