#Ft. Alternate Lynn outfit

[peachykoii]

🌅🌳✨

Room for Two

“Maybe my heart has room for two because it feels so safe with you”

041223

[bike42]

Tuesday April 2, 2019

Wayra Lodge to Colpa Lodge

The sound of rain overnight on our thatch roof was a little perplexing, but in the am we remembered we had a little skylight. The intimacy of this smaller lodge was really neat. I brushed my teeth and pulled on a sweatshirt and stumbled out to the common area for coffee. After a bit, we went back for breakfast. Identical to the last lodge: eggs to order, meats and cheeses, bread for toasting, fresh fruit and yogurts.

I poked my head outside to check on the weather. Heavy overcast / mist, but not cold. Always tricky to dress for! We're headed down to the "high jungle," which can be buggy ... So I wasn't sure about shorts.

We set out as scheduled at 8am. As we were all getting ready, the mist turned to rain - better to know that starting out! Gary had outfitted himself in plastic bags, dubbed the EZOP Rain Kilt.

We began the day hiking downhill above the Salkantay River, with the scenery becoming increasingly verdant as we descended. We passed a little settlement, where tourists can have a picnic. There was a hut with many animals in the yard, chickens and pigs. An old man was standing there watching us, and Dalmiro stopped to chat with him. Later he told us more about these families. The old man is probably 85, and is getting on towards the end of his life. One day he'll take to his bed and about a week later he'll be dead. It's not sad in this culture, it's just the circle of life. The children walk 3 hours each way, each day, to attend school. After about 30 minutes, we met a woman walking back up the hill with a large pack. Probably a 2 hour walk to town for supplies, but generally they live self-contained.

The day grew warmer with light rain on and off. For me, the almost all down hill was monotonous and I craved a little more variety. The trail was rocky, and muddy in spots. By the end of the trek, my feet just hurt!

The scenery was amazing, even with the low clouds. Plants and flowers were so beautiful - possibly more so because of the overcast day. We saw many varieties of orchids, such intricate little beauties!

Tonight we're at the Colpa Lodge, located on a 1000 foot promontory above the confluence of three fast-flowing rivers.

We arrived about 12:30p, and they greeted us with hot towels again, and a black corn drink that was too sweet for me. They had us gather by an outside fire pit where they'd had a fire all morning, hot enough to heat a dome of rocks. They shoveled out the ashes, then added foil wrapped meat (lamb, chicken, and pork), several varieties of potatoes and beans. Then they covered the whole thing with thick cloth, dirt, and wet cardboard. We checked into our rooms and cleaned up, and 90 minutes later we had a wonderful feast for lunch!

Once again, it was delightful to have the place to ourselves, with very attentive staff. This lodge was decorated with Peruvian consumes, masks and music instruments. There was a great common room with big windows where we could relax as we were snug and cozy - just watching the rain outside. There is another awesome hot tub here, but no one ventured out in the rain again. A woman from a different craft collective came to display her wares, a limited selection but she probably carried it up here on her back! Tam bought a scarf, but I didn't find anything I needed.

We had a round of cribbage, taking the time to teach Gary and Lynn the basics of the game. I won one hand, but Gary/Jeff beat me twice, once just avoiding a skunk, so the standings for this trip is now JT=7, SER=1.

We had great WiFi, so I was able to respond to some work emails and get yesterday's' epic day posted on the blog. We sat around "air dropping" photos which was fun, and also a bit confusing because before too long, people were sending my photos back to me!

Dalmiro is a guide of many talents. Before guiding, he was a bartender, so he gave us a short course on this history of "Pisco" and led Gary through making a round of "Pisco Sours" via the "shaker" and another lady made a round using a blender. There is a video of Gary, but there won't be enough bandwidth to post it here, so the photos will have to make do. It's kind of an alternative to a margarita and maybe I'll get a bottle in Duty Free in Lima just for fun, but I think I'll stick to red wine as my drink of choice!

After that, we talked about the day for tomorrow, and had another three course dinner. This time it was set up buffet style so we could do our own portion control. Sleeping here is hard enough without a full belly. After dinner I had several cups of mint tea, and we possibly bored the other Jeff with about an hours worth of stories from out bike adventure.

No nap and lots of fresh air should make for good sleep tonight.

Hike: 6.5 miles, 4 hours, elevation gain = 394 ft, elevation at lodge = 9414'