Let the Countdown begin...

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Hello All-

Well, the trip is in less than three weeks now. I finally got my itinerary for the few months I'm gone so I wanted to fill you all in on what you can expect to read about in the next few months.

Things are going to be very exciting right from the beginning. I won't know anything about my homestay family until we get introduced. I get a few days to relax and fight off altitude sickness but on my third day in country i'll be going to Machu Piccu! If you have never taken a look at a picture of this place I highly recommend it. It is unbelievable! I am not sure if we will be hiking up to the ruins or taking the train all the way up. I would love to hike the old Inca trail but in the 14,000 ft altitude, i'm not sure I would make it.

I have an intense schedule of seminars and language classes that starts a week after I get there. I am hoping that I will still get to have some free time to spend with my homestay family and to explore Cusco. Our weeks of classes get broken up by several excursions to various areas all over the country. Our first long excursion (8 days) will be to the Colca Canyon in the Southern Andes, the second deepest canyon in the world. There you are going to live with Quechua farmers and “alpaqueros” living between 12,000 and 14,000 feet. Yay Alpacas! On our way back to Cusco we will spend a day in the Lake Titikaka, sleeping at one of its floating islands owned by Aymara communities. Could it get any better?

Our second excursion will be to the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon, among the world’s largest tropical reserves. It boasts some of the greatest diversity of bird, mammal, and plant life on the planet. During this six-day excursion, we'll be trekking through the rainforest and navigating on the Marañón, a tributary of the Amazon River. We are also going to the city of Iquitos, considered the capital of the Peruvian Amazon. This used to be a major area during the rubber boom and then again when oil was found in the area. There are no roads that lead directly to the city so we will have to take the river or small paths cut through the rainforest. As far as I know we are sleeping in huts within the rainforest...no soft beds just reeds and floors.

We will be going to many other cities including Lima, the capital, and other rural areas. Although I am nervous about going and testing my Spanish, I know this is going to be fantastic.

Until next time-
Em

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Comments

[Heidi]

alpaqueros
This sounds so cool Emily!! Are you going to formally learn any Quechua while you're there?

[3mily]

Yeah, I know absolutly nothing about that language escept that it was spoken by the Inca. Naturally, it is completly different than Spanish...so it's gunna be tough. Wish me luck since I only have 5 weeks to learn it.