World Challenge to Peru July - August 2010

On the 14th of July 2010, a group of 14 students from Greenhead College along with two leaders left from Manchester, headed for Lima, the capital of Peru in South America, two 8 hour flights later we had arrived there and the adventure had begun in proper. From the capital our pre-planned itinery took us south down the coast to the small seaside village of Paracas, from where we visited the wildlife haven of the Islas Ballestas and took a tour into the Atacama desert, the driest place on earth which seemed to stretch forever in every direction as well as providing excellent photo's of the team leaping off sand dunes!

An overnight coach journey through the desert canyons took us to the city of Arequipa, which lies in the shadow of the still active 5000m high El Misti Volcano. Here we began our acclimatisation treks and experienced some traditional Peruvian cuisine, Alpaca and Guinea pig, in some of the restaurants surrounding the beautiful colonial main square. From here another journey took us to the shores of the world's highest navigable lake, Lake Titicaca and the city of Puno. Taking a boat trip onto a lake bigger than Wales we visited the Uros Iles, amazing floating islands made out of reeds upon which a community has lived for over 400 years! Further out onto the lake on a small island, we could just make out the snow capped peaks of Bolivia in the distance.

Our next destination was Cusco, the ancient Inca capital, where we stayed for some days doing acclimatisation treks and visiting Inca ruins in the area. From Cusco we left for our main trek in the high Andes, a minibus journey along death defying roads up into the mountains! Starting out we were in the shadow of the craggy, glacier covered bulk of Salkantay mountain, trekking uphill for 3 hours, hard at over 4000m when your breath comes fast and the progress is much slower. The night's camp was without a doubt the most amazing place any of us had ever slept, surrounded by glaciers and high peaks on all sides and with a clear sky showing a fantastic star display. The temperature dropped to minus 15 degrees that night, and waking in the morning we found all our water bottles frozen solid and ice on the tents where our breath had frozen onto them, an unreal experience! Reaching our highest point, the 4600m Salkantay pass, we then began a steady descent into the Andean cloud forest through huge valleys and canyons which seemed to continue forever. On the fourth day of our trek, an 11 hour hike, we arrived at the small town at the base of Macchu Picchu, the famous lost city of the Incas. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, it was awesome beyond all expectations, brought to life by the commentary of our guide for the trek.

The next phase of our trip was the project, deep in the Amazonian rainforest. A 13 hour minibus ride into the forest, we then had to wade across two rivers and walk half a mile along the bank to reach the small jungle village of Gamitana where we would be staying for the week. We were to be sleeping in the schoolhouse, hanging our mosquito nets above our sleep mats on the concrete floor it was certainly an experience we will never forget. During the next week, as well as playing with the local children, we built a bathroom unit for the school, repainted and restocked the small wooden Kindergarten and built an organic waste dump with bamboo fencing. At the end of the week the small community challenged us to a football match which was a great way to end the week and build bonds with the locals (we won by the way!). Upon leaving the village we left them with $1000 to develop a bio-garden under the supervision of Crees, an environmental foundation for the jungle who had worked with us on the project. We then had a day taking a boat trip along the jungle river in the traditional boats and a 3 hour trek in the rainforest, real jungle trekking, through rivers under bamboo thickets alongside the tall buttress trees, before heading back to Cusco for the journey home.

Overall, the trip was an experience none of those who went will ever forget, perhaps the most amazing way to combine team and personal development with experiences that will last a lifetime.