Machu Picchu

Imagine a trip to Peru when hiking into Machu Picchu was secondary. For us, we first travelled north for seven hours on a public bus into the mountains to a remote community where we stayed with a local family for four days while we built a stove for family. The new stove would provide a healthier environment for the mother and children as well as a warm room in winter not blacken with soot. During the day we worked on the stove and in the evenings, as long as the power worked, we played a dice game in Spanish and English with our host family, what fun! To show their appreciation, the family with the new stove gave us some potatoes and guinea pigs for our dinner. When we finished, we asked if we could write our names in the cement and the mother said “Yes, big”. We all stood in the sun while she eloquently thanked us and said she wanted our names big because she wanted to hold us in her heart while she cooked. It was so touching. There were many tears of happiness. We had no emotions left for Machu Picchu.

Submitted by:
Heather C., Burlington

Backpacking Through Peru

Last August, while backpacking through Peru, my adult son and I had the pleasure of hiking the Inca Trail to the mystical Machu Picchu. It was everything we had dreamed of and although it was a challenging and physically demanding adventure, it left us both with a deeper appreciation of other cultures and civilizations. I couldn't help but remember how not too long ago, we did similar nature hikes closer to home. As a little boy my son and I would spend hours wading through a stream at a local conservation area, in hopes of catching an elusive crayfish. Now some twenty years later we were captivated by the magnitude of the Andes Mountains and the Alpacas that roamed freely. Our journey ended deep in the Amazon basin where boat excursions along the Tambopato River introduced us to families of cuddly Capibara, the haunting chorus of howler monkeys and the intimidating stares of the Cayman gators. Upon our return we realized that this trip only solidified our travel partnership and convinced us that we should attempt to make these amazing explorations an annual father and son tradition.

Submitted by:
Tony D., Burlington