South America Day 56: Santa Cruz Trek Day 1

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I got up at 5:40 in hopes of bringing my stuff down and having a cup of tea before the driver got there at 6. He rang the bell at 5:50 and I scrambled to get out without breakfast. By the time I was out the door, he was gone. I had to have the hotel call him back, then he showed up instantly. The van picked up more people until we had 10 for the trek. We rode on in sleepy hungry silence until the van stopped for breakfast a couple of hours later.

The van headed into the mountains past a beautiful turquoise lake that would be worth its own trip. None of us expected such a long, bumpy, and gorgeous ride. It took us over a mountain pass at 4767m. The drive could have been a great several day trek in itself.

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We arrived at a small village where the crew were waiting. We had lunch consisting of avocado sandwiches (mostly dry bread rolls) and imitation oreos while the crew packed the mules. We finally set off down into the valley at 1 o’clock.

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Naptime. Copyright 2015 CC-BY-SA

The relatively short but tiring day took us through a small village and fields of sheep, cows, and donkeys. After walking some hills, we passed a marsh where an off-duty and unusually healthy looking dog was having a great time chasing some birds. Finally a small lake, a stream, and our campsite.

The crew set up camp. The campsite had toilets (“servicios higiénicos”) in the form of two stone walls with two holes in between, side by side. There were two 3-person tents and a 2-person tent for the 10 of us. Fortunately someone brought their own. We were all peeved because we were told there would be 2 people per tent.

Soon came tea time. It was a nice break but we were all eager for the dinner which came a couple hours later. Dinner was much like a cheap Peruvian lunch: soup, rice, and fried chicken – very satisfying.

Almost at (not our) camp
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The guide then told us the plan for the next day. We had the option of taking an unmarked trail which started out steeper for better views along the way. It was supposed to be approximately the same amount of time as the standard trail, though a bit more difficult. We were all up for it. We went to sleep to get some rest for the pre 5AM wake up time.

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Day 1 2 3 4

Costs

The trek cost S/320.

Cost today: $110.00

Cumulative cost: $5,085.62