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South America
  • Lara Chadwick
Jan – Apr 2020

South America

This is the website where I will be posting updates on my trip to South America!! Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 15, 2020
  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    Comuna 13
    Medellin cityComuna 13Comuna 13Comuna 13Me and my dad in a stairway in comuna 13The beautiful graffiti in the playground of comuna 131Graffiti angel wings in comuna 13Some coloured houses in comuna 13"Orion never again"

    Medellin

    January 16, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We visited Medellin today, specifically Comuna 13, which is an area of Medellin where people live. There are small winding roads and there are lots of people. In the past, Medellin was one of the most dangerous cities in the world, with a man called Pablo Escobar who was a cocaine drug lord and monopolised the cocaine trade with America in the 80s and 90s. He was the wealthiest criminal in history—dying with a net worth of 30 Billion USD which is 59 Billion USD in today’s money. Back them, Pablo used to hire kids as young as 6 years old to work for him, most ended up dying. The average life expectancy was about 18 years old due to all the shootings between the gangs that lived in Comuna 13. Most people would have friends that they will never see again because they were shot or mysteriously “disappeared”.

    We visited a museum which was about the crime of the city and Pablo Escobar. There was a room with lots if pictures of families together and then the pictures went black and white, and the person still in colour was victimised by gangs or Escobar. This made me realise that anyone can be affected , no matter how “normal” or “innocent” you may seem.

    There is a small playground in Comuna 13 and whoever built it wanted people to not forget their inner child, because children’s fights last a very short time, and they wanted the fighting to stop between the gangs.

    Over the years, this city of Medellin has had a huge transformation from the most violent city in the world to being a city of hiphop! The 4 stages of hiphop are : Music, Graffiti, Break Dancing and Rap!! Despite all terrible things this town has witnessed, they still manage to be happy and move on and not dwell in the past, no matter how hard that can be. Art and music have definitely hada big impact on how the city has transformed.
    One of our guides was a hip-hop artist and we got the chance to watch a break dance by his group. We also got the chance to do graffiti!!    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    Pablo Escobar
    The pencil building!Some street artSome street artCompleted side of chess-board building1A horse for bull-fightingA picture by BoteroIncompleted side of chess-board building1My "beautiful" portrait!!

    Medellin

    January 17, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today we visited the Medellin downtown. We saw sculptures by Fernando Botero. He is the most famous artist in Colombia and is 86 years old!! He even drew a picture of Pablo Escobar dead on a rooftop! He makes his drawings have bigger proportions than normal for example he makes them have huge heads. These are referred to as Gordos ( fat man ) and Gordas ( fat lady ).

    Next we visited the downtown marketplace. It was extremely busy, and crazy and it felt like you could buy just about anything, although I thought “ha I bet they don’t have saddles” and we turned the corner and we saw a saddle shop!! Aha!! I held my backpack in front of me because it was known as being one of the most dangerous parts of Medellin. There was also black markets hidden everywhere around us where you could buy drugs and prostitutes.

    There was also some very interesting architecture in Medellin and one building looks like a pencil stack!! I’ll put some photos of lots of different architecture.

    A guy claiming to be an artist came to draw my picture and it was so bad I thought he was a con- artist ahahaha!!    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler

    Travel to One Love, Santa Marta

    January 18, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today we woke up at 5am!! Thats 11am UK time! It was so tiring but we packed up and went to the airport and took a 1 hr flight to Santa Marta.

    As we left Medellin I reflected on what an interesting introduction to Colombia it was! On one hand, it was so transformed, friendly, welcoming, and tourist friendly, and on the other hand, it felt like the problems where not that far away, maybe hidden under the surface. The people seem so optimistic and I hope that they continue to transform the city!

    We landed right by the sea!! We then drove about 2 hrs to our Hotel/reserve location. There are so many equine animals, horses, donkeys, mules, some of them were being ridden but some were being used for carrying things up the hill. When we arrived at the reserve we were greeted by the owners 11 dogs!

    Despite being in the middle of the jungle, this reserve is so modern and luxurious. The jungle is so inaccessible that we had to change cars part way through because only a special 4 wheel drive could get through!! This jungle is the 2nd most biodiverse place on the planet!!    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    Fatima isn't allowed in the kitchen...

    One Love, Santa Marta

    January 19, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    Today was a very relaxing day! My parents went for yoga in the morning and they said it was the best yoga session they have ever had! Then my dad and I went to a river beach and you had to wade through water to get there, only knee high. When we got to the river beach my dad went swimming in the river whilst I threw rocks at him because he is my dad and thats what you are supposed to do to dads.

    In the evening we had dinner and there were 2 dogs there and one kept staring at us wanting food and the other one kept wanting strokes and cuddles and it was so cute!! We then went to go sit by a fire and look at the stars, there are so many but we couldn’t take photos because our cameras aren’t good enough😢.    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    1😂😆
    Me with the guides!Kogi children2All of us in the tubesA little lizzard ❤️❤️

    One Love, Santa Marta

    January 21, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today (yesterday) the main thing we did was tubing down the river. To get to the top we hiked up a mountain for 2 hrs, it was meant to be 1 1/2 hours but my mum was very slow 😆.

    The guides, Ronaldo and Christian told us about all the different traditions of the Kogi Tribe ( Ronaldo is half Kogi ) Ronaldo showed us his Poporo, which my dad called a “memory stick” and they use it like a diary and they put their thoughts and memories. Nobody is allowed to touch it except them and the Shaman (like a guru/ spiritual leader). Only men are allowed poporos, which is given to them when they are about 15 years old. When they get the Poporo, they have to stay in a dark cave for 3 days and nights without food or water. The men chew Coca leaves (which is what cocaine is made from) because they believe it connects them to nature. Our guide told us that if a man commits a crime, the Shaman can touch his poporo and see a replay of the man’s thoughts and actions, almost like a video. The hike up to the river was so hot I almost fainted😂!!

    When we reached the river, we got in our tubes and went down and the guides pointed out all the different animals and tribes. It felt relaxing and it was so fun, especially the rapids!! The water was so colddd!!    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler

    travel to Casa Galavanta

    January 21, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Today we left the One Love reserve (Santa Marta) and traveled to Casa Galavanta (Santa Marta). The road up the mountain was very windy and very very bumpy but when we got to the top it was so beautiful!! Casa Galavanta is a 4 bedroom house at the very top of the mountain and is often above the cloudline! Its positioned to be able to see the entire Santa Marta town. When we arrived the clouds make it feel like we were wrapped in cotton wool, but near sunset the clouds melted away and we could see the sunset and the valley behind. Now it is evening the big town of Santa Marta is twinkling like fairy lights, just like Medellin did when I arrived.

    There is a very cute puppy called America because they found her in a car park called America and she is so friendly and loves cuddles!! Our host is a nice man called Daniel and my dad, Daniel, America and I went on a long walk through the mountains! In their grounds they grow and make Coffee! They grow the bean, dry it, unwrap the outer layer and grind it into coffee! So cool!! ☕️ When we got back, my mum, my dad, daniel and I played Banana grams and some card games.    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    11

    Casa Galavanta

    January 22, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    This morning we took an early walk in the jungle!! I felt like an explorer in the dense jungle, and I wish I had a machete in my hand to clear the path. It was very steep in the mountain but it was all worthwhile when we saw the view! Our guide Daniel told us about the history of the area, how the Spanish invaded, and how some indigenous tribes survived by going higher up the mountain. I felt very sad when I heard about how much violence there was towards the indigenous people...because the Spanish wanted to steal their land and gold. We saw some beautiful butterflies and birds. My mum asked Daniel why we didn’t run across more animals. And Daniel said we did run across many poisonous animals but he didn’t want to scare us!!

    In the evening my mum had a cooking lesson with the chef, and she made some Colombian and Peruvian food for dinner. I really enjoyed the mango ceviche.    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    13The time lapse of the sunset!

    Tayrona National Park

    January 24, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today we hung out on a small beach and there was nobody else there! My dad and I dug a huge hole and put water in it and my mum said it was an “exfoliating foot bath”. Then my dad and I wandered over to the next beach over and we met a very cute dog who followed us all the way back to the hotel where we went for a swim in the pool and then came to the sunset bar, which is where we are now. It is so beautiful and we are waiting for the sunset to start. My mum is time-lapsing the sunset so I’ll put it with the pictures.Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    3
    11

    Tayrona National park

    January 25, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We climbed up a waterfall!!!

    The day began with a horse ride through an avatar jungle! My horse was so lovely and called Lucero which means Bright Star in Spanish. The trail was winding and following a dried up stream as there hadn’t been any water in 3 months! The trees were unbelievably large and hung down just like in the movie Avatar!

    We climbed up 3 different waterfall zones then went for a swim in the very top waterfall.

    Today is our last day in this region of Colombia. Its very diverse as we have been in beaches, forest and rainforests. Its a very noisy region too. Every morning we get woken up by all kinds if animals, birds, lizards, howler monkeys, frogs and goodness knows what else.

    Im happy to see that there is alot of respect for the indigenous tribes. (Kogi, Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kankuamo). The indigenous people of this community believe it is their duty to keep the planet in balance. They believe this region (Serria Nevada de Santa Marta) is the heart of the world. What happens here happens everywhere. They call themselves the Elder Brothers, because they look after the earth, and the rest of modern society (Younger Brothers) who are destroying the planet with their wilfulness. Even though it is Elder Brother’s job to restore the balance, they still love Younger Brothers because we are family.    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    1Strike a pose! Colombia's top model1Fossil fuel-free power! Move over Tesla Model 3, this is Donkey model 11

    Mompox

    January 27, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    En route to Mompox, we stopped at Aracataca, the birthplace of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He was Colombia’s most famous author. He won a Nobel prize for literature, specifically for popularising the use of magical realism in his writing. He was my mum’s favourite author, he also wrote ‘100 years of solitude’.

    Magical realism is when there is a novel that is very realistic but with a magical element to it, like Holes (Louis Sacher), with the curses.

    Mompox is a town almost ‘Frozen in time’ (not really) as it hasn’t changed since the 1900s, except the supermarkets and restaurants. It is a UNESCO - world heritage site.

    Today when we were walking around the town of Mompox, we visited some Filigree workshops! Filigree is silver with lots of intricate designs. While we were walking through the town centre we saw an iguana! It was 1 metre long!!    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    3Me and my mum outside a church!
    6What we made from filigree!

    Mompox

    January 29, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Omg Mompox is so hot 🥵! It was 37°C yesterday and we did a filigree workshop outdoors! If that didn’t give me heatstroke I don’t know what will! The filigree workshop was 2 hours long and we made part of a flower! It was so cool! Mompox is famous for having lots of handmade filigree items as it used to be the town that minted the coins. So the goldsmiths with silverwork skills are still here. In the workshop I learnt that the silversmiths take a lot of pride in their work. When my mum asked if a particularly complex piece was made by machine, they were rather offended.

     I didn’t understand that such intricate pieces could be made my hand, but in the workshop they showed us how silver is beat to be paper thin, then twirled and hammered to make beautiful shapes. Silver dust is then sprinkled and then heated and melted to hold the whole piece together.

    As I leave Mompox, I reflect on what a historical little town that was. And how all the people were so happy and unusually friendly...    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    The door to Sir Francis Drake's house
    Old carCute road1My mother eating a ChicuLion Door KnockerMe and my mum with our tour guideThe Plaque outside Sir Francis Drake's houseWalking on the wall surrounding Cartagena2Sir Francis Drake's map of Cartagena

    Cartagena

    January 30, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today we had a wonderful tour of Cartagena with our tour guide Fernando. I learned that the earliest people of Central and South America included the Incas around Peru, the Mayans and Aztecs around Central America, and the Muiscas around Bogota and the Taironas around Santa Marta, including some Indigenous people around the coastline and islands. Their main currency was salt, and when the Spanish arrived around 1500 they were very suprised that the people had so much gold but they didn’t value it as a commodity. When the Spanish realised they could trade salt for gold, they started to explore the country with lots of salt. They even believed there was a city made if gold called El Dorado!

    The Spanish wanted to send all the gold back to Spain, so they sent it to Cartagena to then be shipped out. With all the gold in one place it made it very easy for pirates to steal it, so they built a wall that made it easier to protect the city. One of the main sieges of Cartagena was by the English, led by Sir Francis Drake in 1586. We saw his house today - “Casa Drake”. It had huge lion door knockers (Lion knockers represented military houses, Sea animals (fish etc) represented Merchant houses and the Lizard knockers represented houses owned by royalty) and a big wooden door. Sir Francis Drake attacked Cartagena and captured it for England, but only for 2 months (weedy job I say) but took lots of gold before giving it back to the civilians.    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    😂😂
    One of my chocolatesMixing the hot chocolate!Photobomb!Gringing the beansRoasting the beansSquishing the beans!

    Cartagena

    January 31, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    We made CHOCOLATE TODAY!!

    We went to a chocolate making workshop and I made chocolate just the way the Mayans used to 3000 years ago! We learned all about how Chocolate is produced!

    First the beans are harvested by hand to get the white seeds inside, then it is fermented over 6 days using anaerobic and aerobic respiration to concentrate the flavoured of the beans. After the beans are dried they are roasted. The Mayans used the roasting of the beans as a communal affair, so we did the same! We took it in turns to stir the beans while we each told a story. The man helping us make the chocolate’s story was about when he was younger he and his friends used to play in the grass that was 2 metres high and have a mini war by throwing rocks at each other. We then we peeled the beans while they were still warm and crushed the inside of the bean untill it became a paste. With the paste we make tea and hot chocolate!!

    Next we made the chocolate. We got melted 70% dark chocolate and put a little in some moulds. We them put all sorts of toppings in and I even put CHILLI in a few! And we filled the rest with chocolate and I put sprinkles on top of them. It was so messy but they turned out great!!    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    11Waiting for our laundryMy mum is accicted to door knockers

    Colourful Cartagena

    February 1, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Cartagena has so many colourful buildings and fabulous architecture. Every single building is unique. There are huge old walls surrounding the city to stop pirates from sealing the gold from Cartagena! The streets are like a cobbled maze with every colour everywhere you look. It’s not just the exterior of the houses and shops but the insides too. The doors are wide open and all the artefacts have vibrant colours catching your eye wherever you go.

    I will remember Cartagena for its heat, horse drawn carriages, the stunning sunsets every evening, the loud music in the evenings and the really fun place we had pizza whilst waiting for our laundry 😂    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    1
    11

    Providencia

    February 3, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    I DROVE A CAR!!!

    Well not really a car but a buggy that goes a max speed of 25 mph and 31mph going down a hill. My mum gave me lessons and I drove on the road with other drivers and it was EPIC! I drove my parents all around the island and we stopped at multiple beaches along the way. The place we went to watch the sunset had loads of super friendly dogs and there were tree swings and the sand was the softest sand I had ever felt in my life!

    Yesterday we took a mini plane from San Andres ( where we stopped for like 2 hrs from Cartagena) and the plane was so small that there was only one row of seats on each side and the isle in the middle just about big enough for me to fit through. It was quite scary at first because we took off smoothly but as soon as we started going through clouds it felt like we were falling all the way to the ground! But it was a very fun 22 mins apart from that.    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    1

    Providencia

    February 4, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Have you ever wondered what it would be like to harpoon a fish and eat it for lunch? Well I got to do that today...and it was delicious.

    Today’s adventure involves taking a boat into the Caribbean sea and trying to catch a fish by harpooning it. Our guide Josh showed us how it was done and caught 4 fish for our lunch. While my dad helped Josh catch the fish by scaring them in his direction, my mum and I went snorkelling in the ocean together 🤿. We saw some lovely fish but were startled by a giant sting ray!

    When Josh caught each fish, Captain Arnold made sure he brought the boat quickly near him because any blood from the fish in the water would attract sharks (Hammer heads, Tiger sharks and Nurse sharks) very quickly from miles away.

    Captain said Josh was new at catching fish with a harpoon so he kept making fun on Josh when he missed a harpoon so Captain said : “ Ay Josh! Are you a Fisherman or a Housewife? ”, because if he didn’t manage to catch any fish he would have to buy some from the shop!

    Then we found a secluded beach and grilled the fish in the firewood he found. Josh and I went to get some mangos and they were super sweet but very small! We snorkelled around the bay and we saw tons of tiny fish! I followed a long silver fish with a funny smile for a while and my dad said it was a Barracuda. Woahhh😳😬🐟.    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    My grandad

    Bad news

    February 6, 2020 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    We have just had some very bad news. My grandad has just passed away extremely unexpectedly so we will be heading back to England. I’ll stop the blog now until we decide what to do about this family adventure.

    Thank you for reading my blog and posting such lovely comments!! It makes me feel like I’m sharing my journey with so many friends. My grandad, Keith, really enjoyed reading my blog and used to post lots of comments. Look out for his comments!! (Keith Chadwick).

    I love you Grandad Chad. And I will miss you ❤️😘    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler

    Lima

    February 24, 2020 in Peru ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    We arrived in Lima yesterday after returning from my grandad’s funeral. It was a such a lovely service but also very sad and he will be missed by everyone. One of the reasons we came back to South America is because my Grandad loved reading my blog and commenting on it, and we knew he would be disappointed if we cancelled our trip. ❤️

    Today we had a tour around Lima with an American guide. He moved from Minnesota to Lima 6 years ago and loves learning new things from the people he tours. He showed us around Lima and showed us all the street art, architecture and told us about the geography and climate of Lima.

    First, we were shown all the street art of Lima. The most famous artist is called Jade Rivera, and is an incredible artist and paints using magical realism (if you read my blog from earlier you will know that I visited the home of the “kickstarter” or “inventor” of magical realism, Gabriel García Márquez). So for example he would paint a realistic boy but with a huge snail on his back. There is a tunnel that goes under a bridge, and all through that tunnel and around it is beautiful street art representing many things. Most were left for you to interpret for yourself. Something that really got me thinking was a female Spanish street artist who, for international women’s day, painted some Spanish words often used in a derogotary way towards women - our guide said she was proudly reclaiming the words as points of pride. Other artists painted female ninjas, and one painted a woman shown “shouldering the burden” of handling all the jobs of the house such as feeding everyone, educating the kids and taking care of everyones emotional well-being.

    We also looked at the unique architecture in Lima. There are some long houses, that used to be one house, but over time, people split them up for their kids, so now they look like many small divisions of one large house. There was one house that we saw and it had no roof! When the house lost its roof, the owners didn’t bother fixing it as there is only 1cm of rain a year in Lima! Did you know Lima is the 2nd biggest city built on a DESERT? I had no idea that Lima was originally a desert until my mum pointed out all the cacti and the sand plains on the hills! See if you can see any in the photos.    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    White flamingo!
    SUPER ADORABLE SEA LIONS1Sunset 😍1There was a gull on every post 😂4Cactus (?) etchingAnother flamingo!Another super adorable sea lion1

    Paracas

    February 27, 2020 in Peru ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Yesterday we went on a boat trip to Ballestas island to visit some of the wildlife! There were TONS UPON TONS of birds and we even saw some sea lions! Some of them were even sleeping amongst the rocks and it was one of the cutest things I have seen in my life! We were hoping to see some penguins on the island as well, but it was the time of year when they stay further behind on the island to change their plumage, so unfortunately we didn’t get to see any 😔.

    On the way to the island we saw a HUGE etching in the sand that looks like a cactus? Nobody knows who made it or when it was made, but there was some pottery that was found nearby, carbon dated to 200 BCE. Thats SUPER old!

    The island’s birds produce something called guano, which is a super fertiliser, high in phosphorus. Guano sells for £1,000,000 (1 million pounds) per 1000 tons, and there was even a war to see who got the Guano because it was so valuable! Now, the government harvests Guano and sells it across the world.

    Across from our hotel, in the sea, there are about 4 flamingos 🦩 but they are white with only a few strips of pink on them because they dont eat a lot of shrimp. Apparently they are called Andean Flamingos, and are the rarest kind of flamingos! There are also quite a few jellyfish, so I really don’t want to go swimming in the sea 💀!    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    Getting ready to go biking
    🚵‍♀️The landslide2 baby donkeys!!!BABY DONKEYS 🥰🥰🥰🥰3Moray, the terraced lab of the incas

    Ollantaytambo

    February 29, 2020 in Peru ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Mountain biking at 3000 metres is hard! Our guides, Ronald and Oscar, took us on an awesome trail around the Andes mountains. At 3600 metres, thats 2000 meters higher than Ben Nevis, which is the highest peak in the UK. At that altitude, breathing was a great difficulty and I forgot how to breathe at one point! Going down the hill was really hard as we had to be super technical with our bike handling, it was narrow and very rocky and I had to concentrate very hard to get down safely and not fall of the side of a cliff. When we got to the bottom of the trail, there was a major landslide so we had to carry our bikes over the mound!

    Next, we went for lunch in the middle of a field! There were 2 dogs and one looked like a racoon, and one was very naughty and kept biting the other dog when we gave him attention, and 3 donkeys! There were 2 foals (baby donkeys) and a mum donkey! (Move over baby sea lions because the baby donkeys have taken the #1 spot in the cuteness contest). The foals were so adorable and fluffy we just wanted to squish their faces! There were also sheep.

    After lunch we went to visit a place called Moray and it is a big hole in the ground with lots of terraces and the Incas (ancient indigenous people) used it to grow various plants from the Andes, including Coca leaves. It was a high altitude but the centre ring is the same temperature as where the plants can grow, and the next layer is a bit colder and so on, so they would test and modify the plant seeds so they could stand lower temperatures.    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    1The goat and baby Alpaca!
    At Angela's houseLunch!Terraces!Inca room!

    Pisac

    March 2, 2020 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    The Incas really loved their steps! The Pisac ruins in Peru were super cool, but really hard work to get to! It was built on top of a really high, steep mountain with LOADS of steps.

    They built lots of terraces into the side of the mountain for growing food, but these ones were for food production, not for experiments. They also hadn’t invented the wheel yet, so they had to use humans and animals to transport everything up to the settlement. The highest point in the settlement was for religious ceremonies because they felt closer to the sky and the gods.

    After Pisac, we went for lunch at Kantu Wasi in Amru. The house was owned by a lovely lady called Angela and she and her neighbours made lunch for us including Trout fish and Guinea Pig!Angela and her neighbours dressed us up in traditional Inca clothes! They are so warm!

    After we finished our lunch, Angela and her neighbours showed us how their textiles were made, all the way from the sheep to the finished product! This is how string is made:

    1. They cut some wool from the sheep
    2. They shampoo the sheep wool with a natural plant shampoo
    3. Once it is dried they spin it into a string
    4. They repeat again and now they have 2 sticks of string
    5. Now they spin the two sticks of string into a ball
    6. They then wrap it around their arms in a criss-cross
    7. Then they put the string in the natural dye
    8. They leave the string to soak in the dye for a few hours
    9. It is ready to be made into textiles!

    It takes 3 months for them to make enough string to make 1 poncho!

    After lunch at Angela’s house, we went to a huge market! There was a girl from the mountain making money from tourists by having us take photos with her ADORABLE animals! There was a super fluffy baby Alpaca and a cute goat with small horns!    Read more

  • Lara ChadwickSouth AmericaTraveler
    Some less steep stairs...
    A stone tower I made at the top of the mountainMachu Picchu from the top of the mountainWe made it!

    Machu Picchu

    March 3, 2020 in Peru ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    *this blog post is 2 days combined*

    We went to visit Machu Picchu and it was INCREDIBLE! Machu Picchu is an old Inca city that was lost (outside Peru) for 500 years!
    The story of rediscovery:
    There was an American guy called Bingham and he went to Peru to try and see the terraces amongst a forest. So he went to a Peruvian man’s house and he didn’t want to take him so he got his son, Pablito to take him to see the terraces, and then Bingham saw the old ruins amongst the trees and raided all the gold and silver. When he arrived, he found a family living in Machu Picchu but when he wrote his book, he said he was the first man to Machu Picchu, but really there were millions of people from the Inca times and even the family he found.

    The next day (today) we climbed Machu Picchu mountain, which is right next to Machu Picchu and it is 3000 metres high! It was so tiring, and I’m not so sure it was worth it when we got to the top as there were clouds covering everything! The most of Machu Picchu we saw is in the pictures.

    After visiting the mountain, we went to see around Machu Picchu again and we went to see the temple of the condor, which was closed yesterday. The temple of the condor is a room of worship with a huge statue of a condor. There was also a secret tunnel room . . . treasure?    Read more

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