Inca Sun

It is in no way an exaggeration to say that today was one of the greatest days of the project thus far. We did not work at the school, but instead piled onto a bus at 7:30 in the morning and went on a three hour bus ride vaguely south to the town of Lunahauna nestled amidst towering mountains – real mountains made of rock, NOT sand. In fact, the entire valley was relatively sand-free. The greatest part about it all wasn’t the green grass, the clear water, or the beautiful mountains though, it was that for the first time in two weeks we could see the Sun. The sky was a gorgeous blue speckled with puffy white clouds, and we adored it. The Sun alone made the entire adventure more than worth it. But as we disembarked from the bus, it just got better and better. We made our way down to the river that wound its way through the valley and began our white-water rafting adventure. The entre group, along with a few Peruvian guides, got into four rafts and headed down the river. It was my first white water adventure and it was absolutely amazing. The rapids were fairly easy, and so it was a good introduction to the activity, and it is certainly one I hope to do again. There were a few mishaps though. Mikey fell out of the raft entirely and skipped across a few rocks, and all of our rafts got stuck quite a few times. After rafting, we all dried off on an escarpment that offered a stunning view of a small part of the valley, and ate some of the best chicken we’ve ever had. We can certainly say it’s some of the best because after eating pollo just about everyday, we are practically experts. Then came another big activity – the zip line. I’ll be honest, I was adamant in my decision to not go zip lining, but I was convinced to give it a try, and I sure am glad I did it. It wasn’t at all terrifying like I thought it would be. It was just a quick zip from one mountain to the next, nothing to worry about. After we had all gone on the zip line, it was time to call it a day, so we got onto the lovely coach bus we rented (I still prefer public transit, but it was nice to actually have room to move) and started the trek home. Along the way Davison ate so much Bembo’s (think Peruvian Burger King) and engaged in thrilling conversation about Battlestar Galactica, though only Dylan had any idea what he was talking about. And thus concludes one of our most eventful days yet, and I know it will only get sunnier from here.