Sandboarding and Machu Picchu...Peru is amazing!

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Well hola everyone! I hope this post finds you all in good spirits and most of you enjoying your summer. I know I am! Peru is one of the countries I’ve been looking forward to for a long time, which meant I could hardly sleep the night before we arrived. We knew we were going to be in the mountains a lot in this country, but first we decided to make a stop at the beach since we hadn’t been very warm in quite a while. Oh ocean, how I missed you! I could’ve just about ran into the water with my lips out to give it a KISS I was so happy! Cold weather isn’t exactly good for a little monkey like me, especially when I’m used to the jungle heat and humidity. After a little stop in a beach town called Mancora, we made our way along the coast to a small town called Huanchaco. It’s a sleepy sort of surf town where it seemed like nobody was in a hurry. It was just perfect for us to relax and hang out. Of course you know by hanging out I mean me by my tail from a palm tree on the beach.Hey, a monkey’s gotta do what a monkey’s gotta do right?

Next on the list was Lima, the capital of Peru. My favorite thing we did here was watch a light show at the local water park. They somehow were able to put up little shows of people dancing against the water fountain, while other fountains changed colors and sizes. Can you believe they had a Dunkin’ Donuts here? I almost fainted when I had a donut it was so good. Jessie and I also had to keep Nate under control so he didn’t eat the whole store. Actually, sometimes I think he really could! I’ll tell you what, if I ate more than just one donut (since I’m so small), I’d be jumping off of shoulders and trees like I was in a pinball machine! The other hard thing to resist sometimes is McDonald’s, and I just about had to have them tie my hands behind my back one day to resist a happy meal. We actually got a little surprise in Lima. You know how sometimes people go the park and feed the ducks or geese in the ponds? Well, in Lima they have a little area in a park that’s full of CATS! Lots of people bring their kids to feed them. There must have been at least 50 cats there! Let me tell you, Jessie was in heaven! Sometimes I think if we make it through this trip without her kidnapping a kitten it will be a miracle!

I have to say, one of my favorite places to go in Peru HAD to be Huacachina. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! It’s literally a tiny little town in the middle of desert, surrounded by sand dunes everywhere you looked. One minute you’re getting dropped off at a bus station, and 15 minutes later it seems like you landed in a giant sandbox! Just about everyone who comes here comes for one reason, and that’s for the sand boarding. I know a lot of you kids out there would LOVE to try this. You get to take a dune buggy ride up and down the sand dunes, just about screaming for your life at times. It was like being on a rollercoaster in the desert! I have to admit, there MAY have been a couple times where I jumped on Nate’s head with my hands over his eyes while screaming like…well like a monkey because I was so scared. Some of these sand dunes were absolutely huge! I don’t know how Nate, Jessie and the friends they made who were with us were able to board down them. Although one of the girls was too scared to go and decided to take the dune buggy down. Little did she know, the driver drove straight down the sand dune, which made her scream like she was in a horror movie! She honestly got louder and louder all the way down the dune until they came to a stop. Have you ever laughed so hard that your stomach hurts and you have tears in your eyes? Well if you have, imagine me doing that while falling on my butt into the sand. It was great!

We really wanted to head to Arequipa next, but that just wasn’t going to happen. There was a big protest in the streets from the miners wanted better working conditions, so we had to go to Cuzco instead. Cuzco is a very popular city and mostly for one big reason. This is city you go to if you want to visit the famous Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. I was so excited I could barely keep my tail from twitching, but it was going to be a couple days before we went. That turned out to be a good thing since you need some time to get used to the altitude here. You’re so high up in the mountains that just walking up a hill around the block can make you feel like you just ran from a jaguar! Plus, you can get bad headaches and not feel very good for a couple days. We decided to take it easy and try to get used to it before doing any major hiking.

The 3 of us chose a 4 day, 3 night trek to get there. On the first day, we got to take mountain bikes down the mountains, flying our turns and spraying through water in the road. I loved riding on Jessie’s handlebars with the wind on my face, but when that water sprayed up you better believe I was right up her helmet to make sure I stayed dry. When we first started riding, it was really cold outside. But, we went down so far in altitude after a few hours that we actually got hot instead. It’s amazing how much the weather can change depending how high up you are. I have to say, even though I had a great time just riding down, I sort of wished they had mini-bikes for little adventurous monkeys like me. Can’t you just picture me flying down the road making motorcycle noises as I pass Nate and Jessie to win a race? I sure can. Then again, sometimes it’s nice to let someone else do all the work, but that’s more for the hiking part instead since it’s much tougher. We didn’t know how well Nate’s foot was going to feel after finding out in Huanchaco that he broke his toe AND a bone in his foot, but he said he could do it. “I sure hope so Nate, because there is NO way we can switch spots and you ride on my shoulders! The only way THAT would happen is if we somehow find a magic lamp on the way and get granted a wish so I can become as big as you guys.”

We ended up having a couple of hiking days along some pretty scary roads. There were parts of the trail that were only about 2 feet wide and if you slipped…well, let’s just say it would be trouble for anyone, let alone a little monkey like me. Just to be safe, I strapped myself into the side of Nate’s backpack like a seatbelt! I think 2 of the highlights on the trek were the hot springs we went to and the train tracks we walked along. Boy did it feel nice to rest my feet from all that walking when we were at the hot springs. I guess I can’t complain too much. After all, I get to ride most of the time! While we were hiking we also had to make an offering to the mountain gods that the people here believe in. Our guide believed it would keep us all safe on our journey. I had my tail crossed that it would work after the scary part of the trail we were on! Of course the last day was the one I was the most excited for…Machu Picchu! I could hardly wait!

We got up at 4 AM to catch the bus up to the top instead of walking since it was raining and Nate’s foot was pretty sore. At first we thought we weren’t going to get to see much with all of the clouds in the way, but when they went away, it was amazing! I still can’t believe it when I look back at the pictures. Our guide took us around a little bit and did some explaining about Machu Picchu. Can you believe they made their own compass that was right on built out of rock? He also showed us where they did human sacrifices. The Incas believed that if a volcano erupted or they were having a drought, it was because the gods were angry and someone had to be sacrificed. They chose the best looking kids, usually under the age of 12, to have the “honor.” I know things were different back then, but I’m sure glad I wasn’t there! After all, a cute little monkey like me would be SURE to get picked! Haha, just kidding. Guess what, we even saw llamas up at the top…and a baby one too! I even got one to look at me when we were taking a picture of it. Our biggest task of the day was hiking up a mountain called Huayna Picchu. Wait until you see just how high we hiked up! It was definitely a hard hike, especially in the high altitude, but we did it and boy was it worth it!

When we came back down we had the whole day to do some exploring and take in the incredible views. Most of the day, we laid in the grass on the terraces while looking down on the amazing old city. When the day was done, we took the stairs down the mountain to get back to the town we had stayed in the night before. Later, we would find out that we climbed over 2,000 stairs that day! Let me tell you, it never felt so good just to sit down when we got on the train to go back to Cuzco. I was in desperate need of some rest! The only other really interesting thing we did in Peru was visit a museum in Arequipa, where they held Juanita, the ice princess. She was a little girl that was discovered by a man on accident while exploring the mountain. There had been an eruption and her body was freed from the snow, still completely covered in ice. You could still see her skin, her lips, even her eyebrows! They figured out she was only about 12 years old when she was sacrificed, which I thought was kind of sad, but remember, back then they were very honored to be chosen.

Sometimes I feel like I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming! I know I’m a lucky little monkey to be doing so much traveling, and I can’t wait to see what we do in Bolivia! See you soon!

Your friend,

Amelia

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