Peru- Week #1

I've been dreaming about visiting Peru for a decade.  John has been taking UVM students to the Andes on and off for almost 20 years.  I've heard about the adventures and all the people he has met in Huaraz.  I never managed to get there before the kids were born and I hesitated going before they could remember a trip there.  So I waited and listened to more stories.

This year I decided I needed to go and I knew the kids could get a lot out of an adventure such as this and John was thrilled to have an opportunity to return.  The plan was for him to teach his class for two weeks with UVM students and then the kids and I would join him.  When we told Hazey's godparents, Tom and Cara about our trip, they jumped on an opportunity to travel there, too.

Sadly, by late March, it was determined that enrollment for John's trip was not enough to run the class.  We thought about cancelling, as his paycheck for the class was the rationalization for going.  But, the kids and I were already so excited to go and it felt like the wheels were already set in motion.  So, even though it meant missing the last two days of school (because we had way more snow days than anticipated), we went with the plan.

 Our adventures started on June 17th.  On our drive to the Montreal airport we spotted a big old snapping turtle in the middle of the highway.  We decided we must save him-- but saving him became a bit of a saga which included lightening fast aggression and a turtle "injury".  Tom did manage to save the turtle, but he did get a bite or scratch which quickly led to his nickname becoming Mr. Snappy for the rest of the trip.

Hazen asked if we were taking the Jedi to Peru....... He really meant "red eye".  Yes, we took a red eye and the kids were awesome little travelers.  The three of us slept almost the entire way.  We were greeted  on Sunday morning at the Lima airport by John (who had arrived 4 days earlier).  We spent most of the day exploring Miraflores and the kids visited the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

Heading down to the ocean

 

On Monday, John arranged for us to meet his Airbnb hosts for a cooking class.  On our way to meet them, we got to see some sites:

The kids at the JFK "Cat Park"

Cal posing in front of the tallest sandwich ever!

First they took us on a tour of the market and introduced us to all the diverse fruit in Peru-- Sally, the cook brought knives and spoons so we could taste a variety of sweet delights.

Sally showing us guaba, or cotton candy fruit

Cally's Chicken Face

Corin, Sally's Kiwi partner, carrying the goods. 

Back at Sally and Corin's learning to make Ceviche and Causa

Eating chirimoya at our Bed and Breakfast in Lima

 On Tuesday morning we set out for Huaraz.  This involved an 8 hour bus ride which would wind us up over a 12,000 ft pass.  Fortunately, the bus was very luxurious and the kids were great passangers.

We spend Wednesday acquainting ourselves with the city which would be our home base for the next two and a half weeks.  We immediately bought the kids soccer balls-- this was Hazen's main form of communication.

We stayed at Galaxia Hotel.  It is more of a hostel than a hotel.  There were private bathrooms with hot water in each room, but no windows.  The good news is that there was a great roof with an amazing view:

We were introduced to Marco, Aldo, and Jean at Galaxia Expeditions.  John has been working with these three brothers since he started coming to Peru in 1999.  They run a guiding business and would become our point people for every outing during our visit.  They welcomed us with incredible warmth and generosity. It was like meeting some of John's extended family.

Galaxia headquarters-- a place we would spend a lot of time

Kids posing in front of Huascaran-- the second tallest peak in South America

The elevation definitely hit a few of us harder than others.  Headaches and loss of appetite were felt by all but Hazey and John. For our first "acclimatization hike", we took a crazy taxi ride up to a lake in the Sierra Negro (12,000 ft).  We had a lovely lunch and short hike before Tom and Cara took the kids back in the taxi and John and I rode mountain bikes back to Huaraz.  The hike was hard and there was quite a bit of whining and complaining......... Our original objective of a 10 day trek in the Huayhuash was becoming a little more unrealistic.

Meeting the locals

Pigs!

biking through villages

  

Meanwhile, back in town, the kids were adventurous about their cuisine.

Here is Hazey eating "trucha"-- head, tail and all. 

We found churros!

Day 3 in Huaraz was spent hiking with John's old friend Naresuan.  We got dropped off in one village and walked up a shady river to a beautiful lunch spot. The kids handled the elevation and terrain like champs!  We still had concerns about embarking upon a big long trek, but the kids were definitely getting excited about doing some adventure in the mountains.

Start of hike

views along the way

We spent night 3 and day 4 at Wilcahuain Ruins.  Marco and Aldo from Galaxia had invited us to spend the night at the ruins, watch a climbing competition, and see a traditional solstice celebration.

Cally standing in front of the ruins, tents are to the right and climbing structure is being build behind

watching the climbing competition

traditional solstice ceremony

alpenglow at behind the ruins

We spent day 5 in Huaraz getting ready for our four day trek in the Santa Cruz.  We decided to do a 31 mile trek that would take us over a 15,500 foot pass in the heart of the cordillera blanca (Andes Mountains).  Hazey got to play soccer, Cally rode an alpaca, and John & I went for an amazing mountain bike ride with Ernesto.

Every Sunday there is a parade through town. 

 

Riding into Huaraz

Hazey in his element

setting up the new tent on the roof of our hotel

Our first week in Peru was amazing.  We found our groove as a family, got acclimatized to the altitude, caught up on lost sleep, and started to feel a little more at home.   Most importantly, we were all feeling strong!