Day 5 of trekking!

We left the lodge at 8 a.m. this morning and walked past a farm with a huge pen of chickens. Our guide pointed out that the baby chickens had bright plastic strips attached to their feathers! It looked as if they were wearing dresses. He explained that the baby chickens often fell prey to falcons, but if the falcon saw the bright color, it wouldn’t come near the chickens! Pretty ingenious! 

Although this is the end of the rainy season, there have been several heavy rains that have caused severe damage to the trails. The trail that we were supposed to be on today was closed and we instead walked on the other side of the river on a dirt road on the edge of a sharp cliff.  Still there were several landslides and washouts on this path as well. 

We learned that most of the income in this area comes from tourism, so the trail that was closed has affected quite a number of people in the area that depend on trekkers passing their homes and businesses. 

After hiking for several hours, we met up with the bus that was to take us closer to our lodge. While driving along, the bus had to stop more than once to let all the passengers get off so that the driver and guides could clear huge rocks from the road. They had us walk past one section of washed out road and the driver managed to get the bus to a much safer place on the road before we reboarded. It was a pretty hairy day but we managed to make it to the last lodge safely. Tomorrow will be our last trek, and hopefully we’ll finally get a glimpse of Machu Picchu off in the distance.