Samaipata

Last weekend, we took a three hour drive to a town called Samaipata, which in Quechua means ¨rest in the highlands.¨ It was so amazing and very relaxing. Seven of us and went and rented a house at a place called La Vispera. Our house overlooked the Inn´s grounds, which was quite beautiful from the hammock that we snoozed in. The other cool part about La Vispera was the dining. For every meal of the day, you could enjoy a fresh cooked meal with all of the vegetables picked right from the garden in front of the restaurant. They were sure to warn us that because of how fresh everything is, you have to allow at least an hour to prepare. Needless to say, we only had two meals there or else we would never have had time to see anything else in the area! But what we did have was delicious!

We also visited some local ruins in the area, which were quite interesting, though of course no match to Machu Picchu! But the windy trip up into mountains was worth it. The views were a bit hazy because of all of the burning that goes on at this time of year. Though it is often illegal, people here clear the land, much of it rainforest, to prepare for farming. Our guide at the ruins told us that the views become much better once the rainy season starts (January) because the rainfall clears the smoke out of the sky.

While we certainly did not have any rainfall, we did get some swimming in before heading back to Santa Cruz. We visited Las Cuevas to float in the river and get pounded by some serious waterfalls. It felt so good in the middle of the hot day. Overall though, the temperature was perfect up in the foothills. Back in Santa Cruz and at the clinic, the temps are pretty hot, but we are adjusting to the heat I think. Unfortunately, we can´t go to the waterfalls every weekend, but we have heard about a place called Aqualand here in Santa Cruz that might be fun as it continues to heat up!

More to come soon...