Spirits

Today we have another hour of descent into the canyon. I'm scared! We get to relax a bit in an oasis, the descent then followed by a 3 hour uphill back to the top. Double scared. And rightfully so, the hour descent was trecherous on my knees. I had to tie socks around my knees for support. Our guide Carlos carried my pack for a bit of it too. How embarrasing! I felt like the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz before he gets greased up. Downhill's no good for me, especially not after five hours straight down the day prior! Carlos mentioned that maybe he & I should start out a half hour ahead of the group to get a head start. The horror! I am old!

On the journey, we passed through the small town of Malata, population 60. They have a church as well as a clinic with 3 nurses who service all 4 towns in the mountains, in total about 600 people. We visited a museum showcasing the way of life in the mountains througout the years. Señora Doris showed us stuffed deer, foxes, varieties of eggs and corn, weavings, early Incan weaponry. We also ate pacay, a fruit that looks like a cucumber but is more the consistency and sweetness of a banana, and drank chicha, a spirit made of fermented corn (similar to what I had in Colombia but cleaner...maybe the mountain water...).

Once at the oasis, we swam in a pool, Eden and lunched before the ascent back to the top. At the start of the hike, we were almost running up the mountain but then the group split. The 5 of us were rejoined with a group of 7 with whom we had started the trip, 4 Americans and 3 Brits. Two girls opted to take donkeys up rather than hike it. I threw my pack on another donkey as did 2 others. Uphill is fine and dandy for me, Flash Gordon. As it turned out, I ended up second to the top, the first girl. Go 'head, sista. The hike proved an awesome personal test and also gave me a few hours of solitude with nature. Nothing like looking down at where you've been, seeing what you've accomplished. I kept singing to keep my spirits up. At certain points I was on all fours climbing up the mountain, a great test of motivation, determination and strength. I made it to the top in just under 2 hours and was surprised to be second. It felt great to test myself and succeed. Good stuff.