Cuzco

Greg and I got back from our South American trip yesterday, and it was incredible. I love South America. The people are warm, the weather is beautiful, the land is colorful, and the food is delicious. I'm going to divide the details of the trip in 3 posts - Cuzco, Machu Picchu, and Easter Island, because there is too much to put all in one.

It was a long trip to get to Cuzco - we left on Friday afternoon and arrived midday Saturday. We stayed at a place called The Garden House, which was a great hotel in the city. It is run by 2 sisters who are both very warm and made us feel at home there. One of them spoke excellent english so communication wasn't a problem. They gave us a cell phone with their number programmed into it to use in case of an emergency, or just to call a cab. Our room was very big - it had a main room to sleep in and a sitting room. And the hotel was in a fenced off area in the city with gardens all around it, so when we looked out the window we had a nice view of the greenery.

Cuzco is at a very high altitude in the Andes mountains - it is at 11,200 feet, so it took a bit of time to acclimate. The owner of the hotel had oxygen should we need it, however the local medicine is coca. Coca is a very important plant around there and has been for hundreds of years. It can act as an antibiotic and helps the body absorb oxygen, helping with the altitude. When we arrived there was a tea station set up in our room with some coca tea to help us acclimate.

Greg was fine adjusting to the altitude, but it took me a few days. My first night I had a lot of trouble sleeping, but every day it got better. The coca tea definitely helped - it got rid of my headaches within a few sips. The Andes' people consider coca to be a sacred plant to them because of all of its benefits. It helps them with the altitude and it can act as an antibiotic as well, keeping the mouth clean. We stayed in Cuzco for 5 days, but I wish we were there for more because of that adjustment period.

Our first full day we went on a tour of the Sacred Valley. Our tour guide spoke only spanish, so it was a chance for both of us to practice our spanish. Surprisingly, I was able to understand most of it. What I didn't understand Greg was able to clarify for me. However, I still don't have the past tense entirely figured out so I did make a fool of myself on a few occasions.

Outside of Cuzco was mostly farmland. It was very beautiful, and a big contrast to the layout of the city. The Andes mountains were in the landscape, and the views were vast. We stopped by a market in Chinchero where they sold sweaters, scarves, backpacks, and handicrafts. I bought an alpaca brown sweater. Most of the things sold were handmade, like the weaving.

After that we stopped by a weaving town, Awana Kancha, to see how they made the yarn with which they did their weaving. Weaving is very popular around there, and some of the best weaving in the world is found in this area. They make it from scratch too, starting with the alpacas.

This is where they turn it into string and dye it. They had a spinning device they used to make it fine enough to weave with, and then they used natural dyes to color it.

This pot is cooking the color they use to dye the yarn. They use llama manure to start the fire to cook with, and then add the dye to the pot.

Here, each yarn is sitting in a bowl of what was used to dye it with. They used things like grains, corn, and leaves.

And here in between the dye bowls and yarn are the spinning devices they used to make the yarn fine.

We stopped by a weaving store with all handmade woven pieces. To give you an idea of just how intricate their woven pieces can be, I snapped this picture. It is entirely hand woven.

Incredible, right? I can't even comprehend the skill that went into making that. Here are some looms in progress.

I didn't buy any weaving, just the alpaca sweater. Greg bought a beautiful baby alpaca sweater also.

Because alpaca and weaving and wool are very popular around the area, so is knitting. I was able to find some baby alpaca yarns to knit with, at great prices too.

We saw some of the ruins from the ancient Incan empire in Ollantaytambo, but my photos didn't do them justice. Even though the cities are in ruins, you can tell that the Incas were brilliant architects. They worked with very heavy stones to build their cities, and in most cases they cut the stones to fit together perfectly. I have more pictures of that from Machu Picchu. They used the larger stones at the base of the city, and at the higher points they used smaller stones and mud to keep them in place.

Notice how perfectly cut this stone is that we're sitting on - every angle on it is 90 degrees.

One thing I never did adjust to in regards to the altitude was climbing stairs. And exploring these ruins involved climbing many stairs. Normally I am all about climbing stairs. At Dreamworks I made it a point to climb the 4 flights of stairs every day, and I usually choose it over an escalator when I have the choice. But here I was getting short of breath after less than a flight. It was a great feeling being able to climb stairs again when we reached the Lima airport. 

We passed this statue on our drive, its design is in traditional Incan style.

Almost all of the land around the Sacred Valley is cultivated for crops. They grew some grains that we don't have, a lot of quinoa, and a few different types of corn. There was one corn in particular that was really good - it was called Choclo. It's grown without chemicals and has a starchy taste. Here Greg's holding a cob of it. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the kernels are a lot bigger than our conventional yellow corn. It was served with a locally made cheese instead of butter. I didn't have the cheese, but Greg said it was good.

They also served a popcorn version of this corn, which was also delicious. It was a bit chewier than our normal popcorn, and sweeter.

Here's an overhead view of the crops on the land.

At the end of the tour, we stopped by a wildlife rehabilitation center. Its mission was the same as the one I've been working at, but they handle much bigger animals, and most of them come from the amazon.

These wildcats were taken from a disco down in Lima. The owners of the disco had them on display and people could pay to pet them. They were declawed so unfortunately they can't be released again. Most animals they get they are able to release in a few months.

These are vicunas, they are related to the llama. They produce the softest, rarest, and most expensive wool in the world. And they are very aggressive creatures, so it is hard to sheer them. 

At the end of our visit to the sanctuary I got to pet a stray kitten that came running up to us. There were many stray cats and dogs we saw around Cuzco and the Sacred Valley, but this was the only kitten. I bent down to pet it and it jumped right into my lap and started purring. 

Our last full day in Cuzco we explored the Plaza de Armas, which is a big touristy area with a lot of shopping and activity. We stopped by a chocolate museum while we were there, where we tried chocolate tea. It was made by steeping the cocoa bean husks. I thought it was delicious - it didn't taste like chocolate milk or hot chocolate, it wasn't that thick, but still had the distinctive dark chocolate taste.

Chocolate is becoming a more prominent crop down in Peru. Many of the coca farmers don't like the fact that their sacred crop is being used in the illegal production of cocaine, so they are switching over to producing cocoa instead.

We were in the Plaza de Armas on June 19th, and they were preparing for a big celebration on June 24th. The sun plays a very prominent role in the Incan culture and worship, and June 24th is right around their winter solstice. It is called the Inca Sun Festival. To celebrate, the students all put on a dance with music and costumes around the square. They were practicing when we were there.

The Plaza de Armas felt very safe the entire time we were there. There were many tourists, even late into the night and many of the shops stayed open after dark. The shopping was great too - there were some beautiful alpaca stores where they sold sweaters, shawls, scarves, and yarn. I would have loved to stay a few more days to see some more of the markets. 

The host of the hotel we were staying at was talking to us about how most people who live in Cuzco can't find it in them to leave. The city is not without its share of problems. There is corruption in the government, and there is a lot of development happening around the area without a city planner, so many of the buildings look disjointed, and quite a few are left unfinished when the owner runs out of money. You cannot drink the water either. However, there is a strong sense of community among the residents and something very romantic about the area. I think it has to do with the mountains. Like the ocean, the mountains are very calming to look at. Despite the city's size, it is dwarved by having them in the landscape.

New Apartment

Here are some pictures of the new apartment.

This is what you see when you first walk in. The kitchen in on the left, and straight ahead is the dining and living areas. The door on the right is the first bathroom.

 

Here are some more photos of the kitchen.

 

This is what you see looking out over the bar.

 

Alex and Cleo love this window.

 

And this is the dining and living room area.

 

As you can see, that strip of wall could use some more of Grandma's paintings.

This is from the upstairs

 

Kelley this will be your room - it still has nothing in it except for the lamp.

 

And here's the patio

 

You can still see some traces of the ivy that was climbing up the sides of the fence. Today I finally got around the planting the Aloe Vera, and hopefully by the time you guys come there will be some veggies growing there also.

I took some videos of Alex and Cleo exploring the patio.

 

 

 

 

Volunteering

Hey guys! Here are some pictures from the places I've been volunteering at. I can take you guys to either one when you visit in June, this is just to give you an idea of what they're like. The plant nursery is at Half Moon Bay state beach, which is right on the Pacific. It's a bit of a drive but both the drive and the beach are very scenic.

The nursery is behind that fence. We grow plants native to California from seeds, and when they're big enough they are planted along the coast. This is important for the land because these plants contribute to the ecosystem in a way that foreign plants don't. It's very nice working with plants, and I'm learning a bunch about the different types of species around here.

I also managed to take some pictures at the humane society. Baby squirrel season is almost over, but when it was in full swing we had a bunch of baby squirrels in incubators that we would bottle feed. All of the baby animals we receive are orphaned, usually because something happened to the mother like being attacked by a predator. We raise them until they are big enough to survive on their own, and then release in the location they were found. The babies were the cutest little things, but some of them were tough to feed because they were so picky with the milk. It had to be warmed to the perfect temperature otherwise they wouldn't take it, and most of them ate better when they were wrapped in a cocoon of blanket. Here are some tiny squirrels in an incubator.

Now most of them are bigger and in wire cages. We put them in wire cages so they can climb around. At this point we don't hold them when feeding them because we don't want them to get used to humans caring for them, so instead we hold the bottles through the cages for them to eat out of. We also try to wean them off the bottle at this stage so they eat more nuts and food they would find in their natural environment.

You can see their tales are just starting to get bushy. Once they get too big for the wire cages, we put them in outdoor aviaries, which are much bigger, and then when we're confident they'll survive on their own we release them.

Now we're in baby bird season. I don't have any pictures of the baby birds we have currently, but they are adorable. We have some baby hummingbirds, baby starlings, and another tiny one that we can't even identify yet it's so small. They get fed around the clock, tiny bits at time to prevent infection. They start out in the incubators, then when they're big enough we put them in baskets with netting on top, and after that we have big aviaries outside for them before they're released. I have a picture of a hummingbird in one of those baskets. It isn't a baby anymore, but still isn't fully grown. This little guy we got when he was a tiny baby, he had to be fed nectar out of a small syringe at first. Now he is self feeding, and looks for nectar in the flowers we give him. It's interesting how they instinctively know that nectar is found in flowers, even though they had it fed to them out of a syringe their whole life.

Here are some pictures from the bigger aviaries. This one has a lot of pigeons in it. Most of them are older, so they must have been brought in with injuries instead of having been raised by us.

This is one of the biggest aviaries, and is kept for the large birds. There is a raven in it, and we sometimes get hawks and owls too.

I find it a very rewarding experience working with animals. I'm sure you guys remember how I used to volunteer at the cat shelter back in New York, and then at Farm Sanctuary down in Los Angeles, but this is much more of a hands-on experience. It's not just feeding animals and cleaning their cages (or aviaries), it's raising them, bringing sick ones back to health, and making sure that they're happy.

The French Laundry

Greg took me to The French Laundry for my birthday :D The French Laundry is a 3 Michelin star restaurant in Yountville (which is in the Napa Valley), that has won numerous awards. You guys know how much I appreciate good food, and it was a spectacular experience. And yes, I was a total dork taking pictures of all of the food (I couldn't resist).

Check out what they printed on the top of our menus:

It was a fixed course menu with 9 courses. The chef prepared vegan and fish options for me, while Greg had their meat selection. The restaurant maintains a garden where they get most of their vegetables, so it was all very fresh.

I started with 2 small bites - the one in the spoon was avocado, and the other one was potato. The avocado was especially delicious, it had a lingering aftertaste.

This was a caviar and oyster dish Greg had.

And this was a carrot soup for me. The carrots all came from their garden, and it had ground up peanut and banana in it. I could have eaten much more of this.

The next dish I forgot to take a picture of, but it had salsify in it, which is a root that has so much iron in it you have to peel it underwater and cook it in a vacuum because it oxidizes almost immediately when it is in contact with the air. It was delicious, and I had no idea what I was eating because it didn't taste like anything I've had before.

An assortment of their vegetables on top of a marmalade.

A squash dish with black truffle on top.

A salad with roasted cauliflower, raisins, cashews, and heart of palm. The cashews was soft, like they had been cooked.

Greg's dish - chicken breast, chicken thigh, and potato.

Sea bass with avocado, cara cara oranges, and nuts.

This was a special meat dish for Greg. The beef came from a farm that only provides for the French Laundry. It came with a turnip, broccolini from their garden, and rice.

Hearts of palm and cara cara oranges.

Greg's dish had hazelnuts, cheesecake, cherries, and black winter truffle .

And then we had the palette clearing courses for desert. I had a grapefruit sorbet on top of pistachios:

Greg had a grapefruit float.

My desert was incredible. Since the deserts on the menu included cream and/or eggs, it had to be made special for me. It had a chocolate cake made with whole wheat flour, bananas, soy ice cream, and those little orange squares were tiny explosions of orange that went with the chocolate. I had a huge smile on my face when I finished this.

Greg's desert had chocolate ice cream on top of a peanut naugatine, with popcorn cream on top (yes that's right, popcorn cream).

Then there was chocolates. These were made in house and were similar to Elbow chocolates. My vegan chocolates were very rich.

Greg had an assortment.

And then there were more deserts, most of which Greg was left to eat.

Here is Greg outside after the meal, all suited up.

We drove around Yountville for a bit after the meal to take in the green and wineries. Mom, I remember you said Stags Leap was your favorite wine, so I thought you would appreciate this: