Thursday, July 23, 2009

Rafting on the Urubamba River

*This blog is written by student Catherine Ake

This morning we started off with a white water rafting trip down the Urubamba River. It was a beautiful ride through the mountains, with Incan ruins on both banks. It was awesome to know that we were riding down a tributary of the Amazon River. Before the trip, we helped some local Peruvian women shuck corn. It was fun to help them, and neat to see all of the different colors and varieties. The trip ended with a picnic lunch overlooking the river and the snow capped Andes.


After browsing through the town, the afternoon picked up again with a game of yoga ball soccer with some locals. Yoga ball soccer differs from the traditional game by substituting two large yoga balls in place of a standard soccer ball. Each ball is worth different points according to its size; the bigger the ball the more points it is worth. The field was surrounded by mountains and gave a dramatic backdrop to our intense match. After two of our yoga balls popped, we ended the game, and played ultimate frisbee with some American volunteers that we met on the field. By the time that we finished, our lungs felt like they were going to burst due to the high altitude and lack of oxygen. (About 9,000 feet!!) We ended the day with a huge pizza feast and an evening stargazing and storytelling session.


Photo by Saskia Taylor

Photo by Saskia Taylor

Photo by Lindsay Mackenzie

Photo by Lindsay Mackenzie


Photo by Lindsay Mackenzie