Coca tea in the tent this time! When we opened the flap we could see the remnants of the sunrise behind the mountain, a lovely clear day. After breakfast our duffels left us, this time destined for a car, and we left, scarring along the side of the valley.
At the base of the valley was a glacial river, and the sides were very steep indeed, due to landslides and erosion. The track we followed was suitably for cars and therefore very easy going. This meant that along the way we could look at the waterfalls and native plants, which included types of fern and a lot of fuchsias.
After descending a long way, we crossed the river (via a rather dubious but pretty bridge) and climbed a little way up the opposite side to a snack stop. This really was the worst place to snack as there were two horrible dogs sniffing around, as well as a much cuter buy equally hungry donkey. A shame as there have been so many lovely points to stop!
Thankfully, the path that carried on from here was much more interesting. It narrowed into a single track, and although still on the side of the mountain, each side was full of fascinating flora and fauna. We were shown corn plants, "superglue", butterflies and avocados. At our next stop we also saw passion fruit growing, and got to taste some, which was delicious, and perfect for the warm, humid conditions. The bugs also liked the conditions, so we made sure to spray ourselves well.
After this, we carried on through the highland jungle, taking in everything around us. This included, at one wooden hut, some honey made with passion fruit, and some hydromiel - a mead-like drink made from the honey. Beyond this, the trail continued down the valley with the same luscious planting, right down to river level, where a bus was waiting to take us on.
First stop on the bus was to our lunch stop. This seemed very popular with many groups, as well as with the mosquitos. I was in my "not feeling like food" phase, but managed some of the tasty ceviche trout appetiser, as well as some guacamole and "nachos" (filo pastry - still good with dip though). After lunch we said goodbye to those on the four day trip (we were on the full five day excursion) and got back on the bus.
The bus took us on to Santa Teresa, where some hot springs were waiting for us. These were four pools of varying temperature - much larger than I expected! To the extent where I could swim widths across the coolest one, which was a fantastic way to relax the muscles after a long hike - in particular, my quads, which were a little stiff from yesterday's six hour downhill...
A couple of hours later, and finally clean (yay) we caught our transport back to our campsite at Lucmabamba. We hadn't seen this yet, so we were introduced to our tents, and then it was happy hour. Today's filo pastries were filled with guacamole rather than cheese - a nice surprise for some (not me) and there was still plenty of popcorn. Dinner itself was more rice, meat and potato, with the addition of tofu for variety.
After dinner, we said our goodnights, and just as we were heading to our (warm) tents, it started to rain! Big, loud raindrops pounded onto the tin roof, adding to the jungle-like atmosphere as we left the dining area and went to bed.
At the base of the valley was a glacial river, and the sides were very steep indeed, due to landslides and erosion. The track we followed was suitably for cars and therefore very easy going. This meant that along the way we could look at the waterfalls and native plants, which included types of fern and a lot of fuchsias.
After descending a long way, we crossed the river (via a rather dubious but pretty bridge) and climbed a little way up the opposite side to a snack stop. This really was the worst place to snack as there were two horrible dogs sniffing around, as well as a much cuter buy equally hungry donkey. A shame as there have been so many lovely points to stop!
Thankfully, the path that carried on from here was much more interesting. It narrowed into a single track, and although still on the side of the mountain, each side was full of fascinating flora and fauna. We were shown corn plants, "superglue", butterflies and avocados. At our next stop we also saw passion fruit growing, and got to taste some, which was delicious, and perfect for the warm, humid conditions. The bugs also liked the conditions, so we made sure to spray ourselves well.
After this, we carried on through the highland jungle, taking in everything around us. This included, at one wooden hut, some honey made with passion fruit, and some hydromiel - a mead-like drink made from the honey. Beyond this, the trail continued down the valley with the same luscious planting, right down to river level, where a bus was waiting to take us on.
First stop on the bus was to our lunch stop. This seemed very popular with many groups, as well as with the mosquitos. I was in my "not feeling like food" phase, but managed some of the tasty ceviche trout appetiser, as well as some guacamole and "nachos" (filo pastry - still good with dip though). After lunch we said goodbye to those on the four day trip (we were on the full five day excursion) and got back on the bus.
The bus took us on to Santa Teresa, where some hot springs were waiting for us. These were four pools of varying temperature - much larger than I expected! To the extent where I could swim widths across the coolest one, which was a fantastic way to relax the muscles after a long hike - in particular, my quads, which were a little stiff from yesterday's six hour downhill...
A couple of hours later, and finally clean (yay) we caught our transport back to our campsite at Lucmabamba. We hadn't seen this yet, so we were introduced to our tents, and then it was happy hour. Today's filo pastries were filled with guacamole rather than cheese - a nice surprise for some (not me) and there was still plenty of popcorn. Dinner itself was more rice, meat and potato, with the addition of tofu for variety.
After dinner, we said our goodnights, and just as we were heading to our (warm) tents, it started to rain! Big, loud raindrops pounded onto the tin roof, adding to the jungle-like atmosphere as we left the dining area and went to bed.
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