Huancayo, Peru: Excursion into the Rainforest

Fortunately everyone seemed to recuperate quickly from the flu. We were all back to work on Monday where we continued with the garden. We have spent a lot of time shoveling and wheel-barrowing dirt, in order to level the land. The boys have been helping Mr, Alejandro mix and pour cement. We are all happy to see the garden starting to take shape (and look like the blue prints). In fact, it seems like we are over half way now.

We are looking forward to putting our mosaic pictures into the walkway of the garden. Everyone is going to work in pairs and will be making their own design. The time has been flying by already, most of us are pretty exhausted at the end of the workday. We like to come home and catch up on some reading, also card games are quite popular at our house particularly rummy. We booked a rainforest excursion on the weekend and 8 of us went. It was an amazing experience.

The day began bright and early at 6am where we hopped onto a bus and headed out of Huancayo. Along the way our tour guide filled us in on the different histories of different towns we passed through. We stopped to see viewpoints, churches, and waterfalls, until finally we got to the main attraction. We got out of the van and started a half an hour hike to the waterfall we came to see. It seemed like we would never get there until finally we could hear the rush of the water, we turned that last corner and there it was! We quickly got into our swimgear and heading out into the water. The closer we got the windier it got which caused the spray to pelt against our skin. The current was moving quickly as well so by the time we all made it to the bottom of the falls we were laughing pretty hard. At first the water felt freezing but soon we became used to it. We stayed about twenty minutes screaming, laughing, and snapping pictures. We then began the hike back down to the van.

We moved slower on the way down in order to take in the beautiful lush rainforest. Once we got back to the van we came across a man who had numerous snakes available to be held (and photographed). A few of us summoned up the courage to hold the grey boa, of course we took a picture for proof. We then headed to a restaurant for lunch where we were fortunate enough to sample some traditional jungle food such as wild boar, deer, and various fish.

Next we went to a native community where we got dressed up in traditional clothing right down to have our faces painted. We danced around a bonfire with the members of the community and did a little shopping as well. Our final stop was at a coffee factory where we could sample some jams and coffee liqueurs, again we did more shopping.

Finally we got onto the bus to start the long drive back home. We rolled into Huancayo at about midnight and barely made it to our beds before crashing for the night. Today was a leisurely day spent shopping at the Sunday market we have come to love and lounging in the sun. Our group is eager to start this next week of work as we are all really hoping to complete the garden.

Lauren Hoffman
DWC Student Team Leader
Huancayo, Peru May 2010