Hi everyone
It was tough to post on the blog last night from our ‘cute’ Hostal in Ollantaytambo so I sent this quick message to parents.

“We are all having the most incredible experience ( I am sure some of you have heard with a message or a call….or from the blog).
We have been pretty flat out. Yesterday was a flight to cusco and a bus (eventually) to Ollantaytambo where we are surrounded by Incan ruins and incredible culture. We had an incredible banquet last night which included typical Andean food….like Guinea pig and alpaca and of course quinoa many potatoes and corn ….it was absolutely incredible …some embraced it more than others (some would have preferred Maccas) but it is all part of the learning experience!
It’s now 5:21am Wake up is 6:30am
Today we are going to see one of the SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD – Machu Picchu
“Where else would you be?””

Extended news

Everyone did amazingly well as a travel team – we had one group of 10 on the 9:45am flight and another of 18 on the 10:10am flight and we all arrived in Cusco and headed off in the sprinter buses to Pisac in the sacred valley.  We saw the ruins from the top of the hill but did not get the chance to visit as we were behind time for the Project in Ollantaytambo.  We stopped briefly in the market for some special Andean Paria cheese and Avacado and cheese sandwiches and some juices of Papaya, Pina, Naranja, Carrot and Apple.  It was an interesting experience in the market for everyone…there are probably 28 different stories to tell.  From there we drove to Ollantaytambo and divided into two groups; One went to leave the bags in the hostal and then walk to Casa Kuska – a special after school project run by Aima Molinari (Photo below).  The other group joined Aima’s wife Joaquin Randall at the Inca Bridge (see photos) across the Urubamba river to work with a local community ‘pruning’ the native trees that had previously been planted in a project.  It was excellent and everyone work extremely hard …plus it was hard work getting up the very steep hillside (ask Ms. Mascas!!).  What a speech from Lilly Hooper at the end of the project.

After that we walked up through the Incan terraces  to meet the other group in the Ollantaytambo plaza…and walked up to the Hostal with incredible views of the Ollantaytambo ruins on both sides of the mountain.  What a place!

After settling in to the Hostal we did some Journal time and some awesome reflections led by the group leaders, Jayla, Emilio, Oscar and Jack.  Then we went to the very stylish CHUNCHO restaurant for our banquet…it was a feast and an incredible culinary experience (as described above).  Look at the photos in detail!!  After 40 mins enjoying the Ollantaytambo plaza we headed back to the Hostal (some with ‘special’ assistance)…and hit the sack after another incredible (and exhausting) day!!

Can’t wait for MACHU PICCHU!!!!!!!!!