Peru Adventures 2010

I’d like to share some reflections from my Peruvian adventures. Traveling to South America is about a 10-12 hour flight from my location here near the Rocky Mountains. Most of the photos are chronological. I learned a lot from this odyssey. I learned that WE ALL have family ‘everywhere’ and that people generally speaking are humble and peaceable.  It was a pleasure to create this blog page I hope you enjoy it!

First we flew into Lima and from there took an additional 2 hr flight to Cusco.  Once in Cusco, we traveled  to the the small town of Pisac in the Sacred Valley.

Pictured here is a man walking up a hilly street in Cusco.  My impression of most Peruvians was that they are  kind,  open and happy.

Drivers in small cars, motorcycles or buses take people through the streets and mountainous regions, sometimes the rains and flooding wash away the existing roads and make for hazardous plights or exciting adventures… depending on your views!

Pisac is adorable. A small quaint town with old world charms of little shops. It holds a bi-weekly outdoor market with locals coming from all around including from the nearby mountain villages.

Situated in the Sacred Valley this area has an ancient history and many stories to tell.  It is said that the some of the Inca’s fled to the high mountain regions to escape the invasion of the Spanish and have lived by the old ways. Shaman still work with ancient spirits here.

There are small farms and villages all along the valley. It is a simple way of life and the pace is calm and tranquil.

The cows graze lazily and the water runs strongly. The Sacred Valley is a vibrant, green, life force.

Here is a sweet farm that looks like it has a good diversity of different items growing. I liked hiking along the mountain side and seeing people working here, the activity in the town, hearing the kids playing and watching the abundant waters running through it all.

We stayed at this quaint adobe home. The walls are about 16″ thick. The construction seemed very strong and sturdy. The tile roofs look like they will last forever.  No real need for heat or air with the comfortable climate in this area.

Roman plays his flute while Brian and Chenay chill and read.  Fresh air and plenty of sunlight.

This home sat on a few acres, here is a view looking out across the corn growing there. I picked some one day and we ate it with dinner. Huge, I mean HUGE kernels on the corn there. Freakishly delicious too…

The view outside the bedroom window. Nice to awake each morning a watch the birds playing on this flowery rock formation! Lots of spiders and ants around the house too.

We could see at the tops of these mountains the some of the Sacred Ruins.  We set out to hike to them one day but the rain came and washed away the  bridge to access it. We continued to hike that day on a different course and I soon realized how big and high the Peruvian mountains real are.  How they got such  huge stones to the tops on these sites is beyond me. The Inca’s had ancient technology as we saw in some of the sites we did get to see. The Inca’s had incredible insight into astronomy, astrology and natural cycles of life and often purposefully incorporated these ideas into their temples.

Its hard to get tired of these views of the mountains and ginormous cloud formations…. Spectacular!

This is a eucalyptus tree. The eucalyptus tree was brought to South America decades ago and is not native to Peru. They use a lot of water and have decimated the original tree lines with their take over in many areas. As you can see this tree was cut down but soon this baby sprouted and continues to grow. …Burning doesn’t do it either.

In Peru its traditional to chew Coca leaves.  They are sold at most of the markets. They also make a really wonderful tea!

This journey was a major purification for me. I’m thankful.  The Sacred plants and medicines are no joke. Only those who are called and choose to synergize with them will experience their healing, insights and benefit. Love and blessings to all beings!

The influence of Christianity and western modernity is readily apparent.  The littering of plastics, other conveniences, TV, internet and the allure of fame and fortune has lead many astray and away from solid roots and tribal ways that served our ancestors for 1000′s of years.

We opted for a horseback ride through the mountains as a way to visit some Sacred ruins.

After a while we ended up on top of the world.

On top of the World is a good place for a hug.

Brain with a nice glow in his eyes.

The view was amazing all the way around. That’s Cusco off in the distance.

Lush landscapes, fertile ‘Pacha Mama’ ground.

More views…

Back on the horses and back to Cusco. I didn’t get any shots of the ruins we saw but they were so beautiful. Some of the meticulous stone work I really appreciated and as we made our way through the rambling hills in the rocks, I felt a sense of  vibration of so many ancestors and the sacred spaces of their many ceremonies past.

Back through the streets of Cusco.  It is a fairly large city with windy roads through an urban frenzy.

Unity living life to the fullest. Next stop the Jungle.

We next visited Iquitos. This is the view from where we stayed. That is the Amazon River.

Iquitos is the largest inaccessible city in the world. Its remoteness and size show. Vultures fly around and land in the streets.

There are very few cars here but mostly motorcycles and buggies are used for transportation. They are street markets here too and we had some very delicious grilled fish there.

Iquitos at night, you can see from these power line clusters how electrical codes are  non-existent.

After a 2 hour boat ride on the Amazon we arrived at our retreat. In the middle of the property is this grand tree.  The vibrancy of the jungle is amazing. We swam in the rivers and did some minor hiking and boating, had meditations and movement exercises and played with animals there.

All the structures are raised and hand made with local materials including palm-like leaf roofs. We were taken care of by a wonderful man named Julio, his family and a couple of other locals.  At night the insects and animals were quite loud making the most amazing nature symphony.

A group shot of the host family, shamans and patients.  I remember this photos like it was yesterday! We have family all over the world.

This animal is called a Capybara, they called her Christina, she would swim with us and wander around the property eating. She was amazingly friendly and sweet. You have to watch out though because she likes to chew things ~ very orally fixated!

This home is where Julio and his family live.

The dock area and few of the boats used. A true Amazonian lodge.

One of the many pets aside from the parrots, dogs, chickens and Capybara was this adorable baby monkey! I guess they are sold in the open market. At different times, including the middle of the night, we could hear monkeys calling and screeching.

Local shaman Don Roman watches over an Ayahausca brew and we learn how to make this power plant medicine fresh from scratch. It tastes very good when its fresh and one has a chance to sing intentions into before ingestion.

"Sacred Lapuna"

After making our own brew we boated, then hiked and created a ceremony at this huge old Lapuna tree. We had the most glorious ceremony here.  These trees have great knowledge. As we left and started hiking out an nice rain completed our cleansing for the journey ~ pure magic.

So after we left the Jungle and flew back to Lima. We had a nice 24hr layover and decided to visit the suburban artist community of Barranca and stayed at this quaint inn, the lovely, “La Quinta Dd Allison”. There were lots of street artist and hip vibe in this area.

We wandered the streets and realized we could easily walk to the ocean a just a little ways below.

People are friendly here and the ocean view was magnificent. It seemed like a blessed bonus after the Jungle and travel. There were some delicious restaurants and plenty of bar life. We didn’t visit it but I saw a place called “The Ayahausca Bar”.

Ocean beach play was short but reviving, but alas ~  it was time to return to the states…It was an unbelievable trip. It changed my life forever and I recommend that anyone who wants to know more to contact me. Peru is a magical and abundant country filled with mystery, simplicity and wisdom. I am so very thankful to have gone and to have learned so much about myself and our beautiful world in the process. We are all blessed to have such a perfect Earthen paradise to roam and this trip helped me re-dedicate myself to helping to keep it clean and sustainable for future generations to enjoy.

Peace.