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• Expeditions
  • 2008 Ausangate Ayllu Expedition
  • 2008 VCF Student Humanitarian Project
  • 2008 Lake Titicaca Ayllu Expedition
  • 2007 Ausangate review
  • 2007 Salcantay review
  • 2007 VCF Student Humanitarian Project review
  • Other Expeditions- Itu Apu

2007 Peru Salcantay Journey

Our journey began in Cusco, Peru where we spent two days learning about the Incas as we adjusted to the higher elevations. We visited churches, monuments and palaces all in and around the city enjoying the beauty and history that surrounded us.

Our ayllu was finally complete when Don Nasario Quispe, Don Manuel Quispe’s son, joined with medicine person Denise Kinch to assist in our ceremonies at each of the sacred Inca sites we visited. We climbed the sacred site of Pisac, The Temple of the Falcon to create a despacho in preparation of our journey ahead. Afterward we had a delicious lunch and shopped a little in the Indian market in Pisac. We also explored many other impressive Inca sites such as Sacsayhuaman, Ollantaytambo, Moray, Chakan and Quillarumiyok, participating in ceremonies to help us cleanse and bring us into balance with the energy of the land. We also met with Quechua weavers in the Urubamba Valley where we hand fed llamas and alpacas.

From Yukay we then drove to the farming town of Mollepata where our trek began. Apu Salcantay's imposing, glacier-clad summit reaches 20,575', dominating the peaks of the surrounding Vilcabamba Range. It is one of the last majestic Andean peaks before the landscape shifts dramatically into the Amazon Basin and is still honored by the native people in the Cusco region. In the forests and valleys at its base, the rebel Incan leader, Manco, found refuge from the Spanish Conquerors whose horses could not negotiate the high passes that must be crossed in order to reach the splendid paradise of the lower elevations beyond the Vilcabamba Mountains.  

In these same forests and valleys we found our new friend and VCF project, a young boy named Elmer. This hard working little boy who assisted his uncle and the horseman helped us all understand the true joy of life. He does not have the easiest of lives and when he is not in school he is working very hard to make money for his family. This very serious boy became relaxed and open with us during our journey together. We found he was a very talented artist when we gave him some paper and art supplies. With no experience he drew places he had only heard about like Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo. He felt safe with us and relaxed into the eleven year old boy we all came to know and love. It was truly amazing watching him as he first learned how to blow bubbles. He spent hours just laying on the ground amazed at the simplicity and beauty of bubbles! We decided to create a fund through Vanishing Cultures Foundation, the Munay Project, to support Elmer’s art ability and send him to study with a very well known Cuzco artist every Saturday.  Hopefully VCF will have some of his artwork available for sale around Christmas 2007. 

Our trek, the same path that Manco followed, was one of the most diverse and pristine trails in the Andes. And we were the only group on this route! Our trail headed up to the highlands at the base of Apu Salcantay before crossing the only high pass of our route, Portachuelo (15,580'), which brought us into touching distance of the mountain's glaciers and ice walls. We participated in many ancient ceremonies including a beautiful despacho to the Apu Salcantay receiving cleansing and high mountain rites of passage from the lineage of Don Manuel Quispe. Camping on the mountain was amazing. Sitting out late in the night we watched the magnificence of the sky with stars so low and plentiful they felt like a big white blanket. The stars would shoot across the sky and we could almost reach up and grab them. Lying on our backs on the ground (and on each other to keep warm!) one night we watch lightning reflect off the glaciers of Apu Salcantay and screamed into the night air with each flash. We were all so blessed to just be together to share the pristine beauty of this sacred place. We then descended toward the warm, subtropical valleys on the other side of the Andes. Losing elevation, we passed waterfalls, small hamlets and natural hot springs, stopping at night to camp near Quechua communities until we arrived at the Urubamba River gorge.

From this point we made our final journey to the village of Aguas Calientes and spent two days exploring the world-famous “Lost City of the Incas,” Machu Picchu.  With visits to Quechua villages, traditional markets, remote settlements and stunning Machu Picchu, this outstanding trip was one of the most complete, culturally-rich, active adventures in Peru! 

After our adventure we returned to Cusco by train. Then after a farewell dinner that night and final goodbyes to our Cuzco family and friends, we left Cuzco early in the morning on a flight to Lima to catch our flight home.