Travels and back to the kids (Preston)

Hey everyone!

So, we are back from our travels. After a few bumps in the road, we ended up seeing everything we wanted to see. Macchu Picchu was amazing. It’s kind of unfortunate that the pictures we took will never do it justice. We went the back way via bike and foot which was a great way to do it. The physical aspect of it really added to the experience. The Rojas family was amazing. They were incredibly hospitable.

Iquitos was also amazing. We stayed with some friends of the Rojas family, the Babilonia family. They showed us around all the sights of Iquitos. We saw the amazon, a few really cool zoos and got to visit a native tribe. It was a lot of fun.

Even though we had so much fun traveling, it felt really good to come home to the aldea. I was surprised how much I missed the kids while I was gone. Kelsey, Lacey and Britney whipped things in to shape while we are gone. They are doing a great job rounding all the kids up with specific activities. The 50 dollar budget is also a big help because we can cook with the kids and a lot of other activities that we couldn’t really do before, so thanks to everyone who has helped make that possible.

It was Ruben’s birthday two days ago. He’s a great kid. When he is a little older, I’m sure he will fill leadership positions here in the aldea. The younger boys really look up to him. He was just moved to casa 5 with the older boys while we were out on vacation. He seems to be doing just fine there. Hopefully he will be able to dodge a lot of the problems that are common with the teenagers here.

Thanks for all of your support. I’m really glad I didn’t let this opportunity slip by.

Preston

the little bug expedition - day eight (pam)

I love saying Ollantaytambo. Besides the town’s cool name, it has some really cool Incan ruins. To enjoy them, though, you really have to climb hundreds of ancient steps. Sadly, we didn’t have time to spend at Ollantaytambo on this trip. We had a train to catch about 9:00 am – and it was on time! Amazing! It took a couple of hours to arrive at Aguas Calientes, the colloquial name for the Machu Picchu pueblo at the base of the mountains that house the ancient ruins. Wayne didn’t feel he could do much hiking around Machu Picchu, so he and Cameron found somewhere to hang out at Aguas Calientes. The rest of us boarded the bus that took us to the ruins. This was my third trip to Machu Picchu, so I broke away from the group to take photos at my slow pace. It was too bad that the sun didn’t peak from behind the clouds, because Machu Picchu always looks better under illumination. It was a VERY hot day, even so. And I mean hot! I almost got eaten by huge red ants that found me resting on a ledge. I didn’t rest after that until I got on the bus that took me back to Aguas Calientes.

Wayne and Cameron were easier to find than I thought. Actually Wayne found me walking through the small plaza. He had a window seat at an internet café that didn’t have any internet. No electricity either! The entire town hadn’t had electricity for almost twenty-four hours. Not an uncommon occurrence in South America. At least the trains were running – and running on time. Thank goodness!

But the return train ride was going to be longer; almost twice as long as the one we took this morning. Instead of returning to Ollantaytambo (and Urubamba), we were headed to Cusco. So imagine a train seat that makes you sit straight up with hardly any leg room. Imagine your butt gone numb. Imagine people sleeping on the floor because it is a lot more comfortable. If you can imagine being on a buck-board, you can imagine the jarring ride. And then there was the time the train stopped in the dark and backed up the length of the train. I think the engineer took the wrong track. Either that or he had to back up to get the momentum the train needed to get over the mountains. Then there was the time the train came to a screeching halt.. It appeared that we had run over something. The engineers were under the train with their spotlights for a while. That was enough excitement for one day, believe me.

machu picchu! (natalie)

i´ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but we had a great day! last time i was here it was a beautiful, clear day with brilliant blue skies. this time it was misty and overcast and just as beautiful, but in a more mystical way. i hope the photos convey...