On to the next one (Peru)

Hello everyone!

Last time we wrote we had just left the farm and made the 14hr trip to Cuenca. That was last weekend but it already feels like a long time ago. We had a busy week and spent lots of time on buses (but managed to see some pretty cool places too!).

We spent two days in Cuenca. The first day we spent getting used to civilization again by walking around the beautiful colonial city and indulging in some excellent food.

Shaina polishing off her delish breakfast omlette

A typical street view in the old part of town

On day two in Cuenca we headed to the nearby Cajas National Park (elevation 3900 masl). It was very cold and wet but a very cool place to see. We went on a beautiful 4 hour trek through mountains, around lakes, and through a cool forest.

Marsh at a lookout at the beginning of the hike

Shaina in the woods

After returning from the national park tired and wet, we went for an amazing dinner at a Spanish tapas restaurant in town. The next morning we said farewell to Cuenca and we were back on the road to Vilcabamba (a small village in the mountains of southern Ecuador). The trip was another 8-9 hours on the bus but we loved Vilcabamba the moment we arrived. We had made a reservation at a hostel based on the recommendation of a friend we met at the farm and it was amazing! It was resort living at backpacking prices! The place had awesome views, great food, a swimming pool and spa!

View from the hostel's dining area - town of Vilcabamba in the distance (2km)

We had two days in live in luxury in Vilcabamba. On day 1, we went for a 4 hour trek to a nearby waterfall. The first half of the trek was along a river to the waterfall, while the second half was along a mountain ridge overlooking the valley of Vilcabamba. It was a great day!

Us at the waterfall

The valley of Vilcabamba on the way back

Day 2 in Vilcabamba, we relaxed (with 75 minute massages for $18!) in preparation for our farewell to Ecuador and for our legendary journey that was to begin that evening. Starting in Vilcabamba we took a 1.5 hr bus to Loja. In Loja we met up with a friend from the farm for dinner and then got on an overnight bus from Loja across the Peruvian border to Piura (9hrs). In Piura we quickly grabbed some food and Peruvian money (Soles) and jumped on the bus again heading south to Chuclayo (3hrs). In Chuclayo we at a quick lunch and had an hour to kill with some errands before taking yet another bus to Trujillo (4.5 hrs). We arrived in Trujillo at 7:30pm exhausted after nearly 24 hours of busing ....but we are crazy and tried to jump on the 9pm overnight bus to Huaraz....but it was sold out. So we were stuck in Trujillo for a day and had to take the night bus the following day. To kill the day in Trujillo we visited the nearby Chan Chan ruins (the captial of a pre-Incan society). They were nice but we're hoping to be more impressed by Machu Picchu :)

Shaina at the Chan Chan Ruins

Last night we took the night bus from Trujillo to Huaraz where we are now. Huaraz is a city of 90,000 people close to the Cordillera Blanca (the highest mountain range in Peru). We will be here for the next 4 days in order to do a 4-day trek through these stunning mountains (with a guide). It should be a good practice run for Machu Picchu. After the trek, we head to Lima where we will recover in Luxury at the Marriot Hotel for two nights (thank you Schulich A-Team!) before flying to Cuzco on Oct 2 for our Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu adventure with our friend Barry!

Hope everyone at home is good!

Love Marsh & Shaina

on the road again

hola chicos!

Well, we've graduated from farm school! Our last week was good - the boss was away so everyone slacked off a bit hahaha. Shaina had a fun and challenging time as a teacher (not looking like my next career path!). For our last day, we got to go horse back riding to the only virgin forest in the community, and saw some howler monkeys. It was Marsh's first time on a horse! it was a great way to end our stay at the farm. We stopped to talk to the lady who makes all the ceramic plates and bowls for the farm and compared techniques. It was sad to leave the farm and say bye to everyone but we're excited to be back on the road!

Shaina with Taz (AKA Hector) - the newest addition to the farm

A culebrero - the Finca Rio Muchacho bird - it grooms its tail feathers to look like this

Shaina a little nervous getting on her horse

Marsh riding like a pro through the river

Marsh saying bye to the farm boys (and Hector)

Yesterday (Saturday) we had a long travel day. We left the farm at 7:30am and went through Bahia to Guayaquil to Cuenca in 14 hours!

We'll be in Cuenca for a couple days and then heading south to Vilcabamba before crossing the border into Peru. We'll post something before crossing.

Ciao!

M&S

Life on the Farm - Week 3

Hola amigos!

We had a great week 3 at the farm! Last weekend, before going back to the farm, we went paragliding! Paragliding is when you take off from a cliff or mountain and fly around catching lifts of wind coming off the cliffs in order to stay in the air. We each did a tandem flight with a guide. It feels just like flying! You catch the same lifts as the birds flying with you. Very cool! We were each in the air for 15-20 minutes. We took off from a cliff just behind Canoa and landed right on the beach. This weekend in Canoa there is a paragliding competition! Each paraglider has a GPS and has to pass certain points during the flight and the person who does it the fastest wins. There is also a long distance race today. There were more than 40 kites in the sky!

Marsh geared up and getting ready to take off paragliding

Marsh in flight

Shaina landing on the beach

At the farm this week, ‘Profesora Shaina’ (AKA Senorita Shena, Shaila, Jaina, Jena, Yana, etc.) was busy at the school. There are four classrooms at the school: one for the preschool and grade 1s; one for the grade 2s; one for the grade 3 and 4s; and one for the grade 5,6,7s. Mondays and Fridays I teach the older classes for an hour each and Wednesdays I teach the younger kids for an hour. It was really fun! It’s challenging at times to keep their attention for longer than 5 min J and we usually play a game towards the end of the class. The older kids know a bit of English, especially the kids who live at the farm with us, but the younger ones don’t know any. They started learning numbers (1-12) and colours and we are working up to fruits and animals, days of the week, months, and bigger numbers. I taught the older kids some simple verbs as well. They are adorable and fairly well behaved. We played red light - green light (with the addition of yellow, pink and blue lights) and charades and read stories. One of the new interns is also helping out. Next week the regular teacher of the oldest kids is away, so I might be there full time (school is from 8:30am – 12:00pm only).

Teaching the younger kids at the Rio Muchacho school

Marsh’s mornings were busy in the garden and around the farm. He was in charge of the tree nursery, a very important job, as well as feeding and cleaning the ‘cuys’ (guinea pigs). Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, Marsh was running an intensive English play time at the farm for the older school kids. Unfortunately not many of the kids showed up, as transportation is a big issue for them. So next week, Marsh will probably come to the school to run the program there, instead of at the farm.

For our cultural afternoon this week, we went back to the giant strangle fig tree to climb it and then cooled off with a swim in the river.

Other farm news, the other pregnant pig had her piglets this week – only 4 babies. The first pig had 16, so they gave some of hers to the second one, to even out the milk and hopefully more will survive. So far about 4 or 5 have died but the rest seem to be doing well. They also let another female out to breed – so in 2 months and 21 days there will be more piglets! There is also a newborn colt!

The new baby colt

There are now about 12 of us at the farm – volunteers and interns, so chores and dishes are shared among more of us, which is nice. We can’t believe that this week will be our last week at the farm! It went so fast and we will be sad to leave. They are starting some great community projects through the school kids, which would be great to be a part of. Hopefully we can stay in contact with them and see how things work out.

Shaina grinding corn into cornmeal on the bicycle grinder

Our plan going forward is to head from the farm to Cuenca (another colonial city in the southern Ecuadorian Andes) for a few days and then move on to Peru working south to Cusco by October 5 for our Machu Picchu trek.

Ciao!

xoxo M&S

Life on the Farm - Week 2

Hello everyone!

We now have two weeks at the farm under our belt and consider ourselves wiley veterans! We are now experts at scooping animal poop into buckets!

Marsh shoveling cow poop!

Shaina shoveling pig poop!

Marsh carrying the grass to feed the cows and horses

But seriously, we have settled into the routine of the farm and we are generally enjoying the work. Aside from our daily chores (poop scooping & feeding the animals) and garden work (weeding, planting, watering, hoeing, etc) this week we helped out with various construction projects on the farm. We helped build bamboo furniture, repair one of the farm’s fences, and Marsh helped with some cementing work while Shaina helped replace the roof over the pig pens!

Most of the people at the farm (volunteers and people taking a course in permaculture) finished their stay on Friday, so next week at the farm will be a lot quieter. We will be two of only three volunteers still on the farm so our workload will be going up! In addition to the farm work we are getting involved at the local school starting this week. Shaina will be teaching English for 2 hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, while Marsh will be doing afternoon activities with the kids (phys ed and the like) on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons!

Other notables from the farm last week were:

1) One of the pigs had babies! She started giving birth Saturday morning just before we left for this weekend. There were 3 piglets when we left but there will likely be as many as 16 when we return! A second mom was due any minute as well.

2) We saw a huge spider just outside our room! (luckily it didn't venture inside!)

3) We got to eat some of the chickens for dinner one night (population control never tasted so good!).

This weekend we enjoyed our time off. Shaina went on a candy/chocolate/milk shake binge and Marsh got a haircut in town and it cost a whopping $2.50.

Today (Sunday) we will relax on the beach, do some lesson planning, and maybe some surfing before heading back to the farm for week #3 of 4.

Hope everyone at home is doing well and we will check in again next weekend!

Having fun and dreaming of Burlington Ribfest,

Love Marsh & Shaina