Llama Trek - The Adventure
She pulls out her laptop to update her journal for the first time since leaving Lima the previous day. It is difficult to get a good signal from the satellite with which it is uplinked except at certain times of the day, so she has to take advantage of these times. She looks up from the keyboard, smiling at Doc, who sits opposite her across the campfire, preparing their evening meal. He returns her smile with his usual lopsided grin
It's hard to believe that we are really here, but here we are..... travelling up the Andes on llamas, heading toward the fabled citadel of Machu Picchu.....
We flew from Lima yesterday in a small charter plane, arriving a few hours later in the city of Cuzco. The plane ride was interesting - Doc spent a lot of time talking to the pilot, and asking him questions about the instruments and the plane and whether he had ever flown any drug dealers to their rendezvous points..... Antonio - the pilot - laughed at all of this, and by the time we arrived, they were fast friends - and Doc had another new hat..... chuckles
We rented three llamas in Cuzco from a friendly local couple... his name is Manolito and hers is Estrellita, and he told us that he is a direct descendant of the ancient Incans and can trace his lineage to Atahualpa himself. Doc was so impressed by this statement that he asked him for his autograph...
The llamas are gentle creatures, docile and easy to ride...Mine is called Poco se Zambulló, which means little dove, while Doc's is Pequeña Tortuga, or little turtle, for some inexplicable reason. We have these soft leather saddles, not as formal or rigid as the English style, and they rest upon colourful handwoven blankets which are draped over the llamas sides. The third llama carries our camping equipment for the journey - sleeping bags and such, and this laptop...
The terrain through which we travel is a rocky one, but also green, and a carpet of tough green grass lies at our feet. We are surrounded by stunted trees, which almost seem like dwarfs, as we gently sway on the llamas' backs up the rugged mountainside. I find that the llamas are more comfortable and agreeable than the camels that I was given to ride in Egypt - and less likely to be flatulent. chuckles
We rode all day, stopping only as the sun showed signs of going down above us. Along the way we ran across a nest of birds eggs, which we carefully gathered, and Doc noticed some herbs, which he harvested. As I write, he is in the process of cooking an omelet....
I think that Mark Twain said it best - "I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them."
Well, having travelled with Doc for a couple of days now, and seen him interacting with the local inhabitants - everyone we meet are quite taken with his honest and open demeanour, and almost childlike personality - in fact, they refer to him as niño del hombre, or the manchild - I can definitely say that I like him... chuckles Hell, you can even say that I love him....
I better wind this up, I think, before I get cut off and don't get a chance to enter this...
She glances across the campfire, gets caught up in the beautifully warm glances that Doc is sending her way, his lovely smile.... and she finds herself smiling back, getting lost in his eyes, thinking that this must have been pretty much the way it was when the two of them lived here before... She ends her entry, and carefully stows her laptop away once more
It's hard to believe that we are really here, but here we are..... travelling up the Andes on llamas, heading toward the fabled citadel of Machu Picchu.....
We flew from Lima yesterday in a small charter plane, arriving a few hours later in the city of Cuzco. The plane ride was interesting - Doc spent a lot of time talking to the pilot, and asking him questions about the instruments and the plane and whether he had ever flown any drug dealers to their rendezvous points..... Antonio - the pilot - laughed at all of this, and by the time we arrived, they were fast friends - and Doc had another new hat..... chuckles
We rented three llamas in Cuzco from a friendly local couple... his name is Manolito and hers is Estrellita, and he told us that he is a direct descendant of the ancient Incans and can trace his lineage to Atahualpa himself. Doc was so impressed by this statement that he asked him for his autograph...
The llamas are gentle creatures, docile and easy to ride...Mine is called Poco se Zambulló, which means little dove, while Doc's is Pequeña Tortuga, or little turtle, for some inexplicable reason. We have these soft leather saddles, not as formal or rigid as the English style, and they rest upon colourful handwoven blankets which are draped over the llamas sides. The third llama carries our camping equipment for the journey - sleeping bags and such, and this laptop...
The terrain through which we travel is a rocky one, but also green, and a carpet of tough green grass lies at our feet. We are surrounded by stunted trees, which almost seem like dwarfs, as we gently sway on the llamas' backs up the rugged mountainside. I find that the llamas are more comfortable and agreeable than the camels that I was given to ride in Egypt - and less likely to be flatulent. chuckles
We rode all day, stopping only as the sun showed signs of going down above us. Along the way we ran across a nest of birds eggs, which we carefully gathered, and Doc noticed some herbs, which he harvested. As I write, he is in the process of cooking an omelet....
I think that Mark Twain said it best - "I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them."
Well, having travelled with Doc for a couple of days now, and seen him interacting with the local inhabitants - everyone we meet are quite taken with his honest and open demeanour, and almost childlike personality - in fact, they refer to him as niño del hombre, or the manchild - I can definitely say that I like him... chuckles Hell, you can even say that I love him....
I better wind this up, I think, before I get cut off and don't get a chance to enter this...
She glances across the campfire, gets caught up in the beautifully warm glances that Doc is sending her way, his lovely smile.... and she finds herself smiling back, getting lost in his eyes, thinking that this must have been pretty much the way it was when the two of them lived here before... She ends her entry, and carefully stows her laptop away once more