Week 21 ~ Peru - Pt 3

It can be hard to find things that quiet the noise of the day-to-day ups & downs. For me, I have been lucky to find things that can act like a small dampener, but also a knock you out, and wake up and the whole world is quieter. Surfing is a dampener that comes to mind. Those are important, but sometimes you need the heroic dose of quiet serum, where you wake up and the world is quieter.

Giving back has been where I have experienced the effects of the heroic dose. Ghana in January and Experience Camps, last August, had this effect on me.

Going off the grid this past week, although not on the same level as Ghana or Experience Camps, was a quieting experience.

I want to address the rumors.

No, we were not at an Ayahuasca Retreat.

We were staying on Amantani island with a host family. Amantani is a remote island on Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, crossing into both Peru & Bolivia. It is also at 12,500 feet. Amantani is 3 hours, by boat, from the mainland town.

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There are no cars on the island, just winding paths for motorbikes. There appeared to be 2 to 3 sheep per each of the 4000 people living on the island. At the center of the island is a dormant volcano, which the local people have built a temple dedicated to Pachatuti (“father nature”).

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Although tourists visit the island, it is typically for no more than a day trip. We decided to really immerse ourselves and spend 4 days/3 nights.

Our visit started in a shockingly similar way to that of Vietnam. Mary Kate got on the back of a motorbike & I was left in the dust. I was eventually picked up, after a near vertical hike for 15 minutes, carrying like 40kgs of stuff. We both survived the Mario-Cart-style path, up the side of the volcano, down the other side, to our host family.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/24cfbc_f8b90e1688464476b9621d73edd7f558/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

We met Oscar, Dima, Ailinda, Stephanie, Flo, Samsun, 5 more sheep, 4 chickens, and a cat.

The island itself is remote. We were in the remote part of the remote island. No internet. No wifi. No English. No running water. No heat. Phones powered off. It was not for the faint of heart. But, we loved it.

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Our first full day consisted of slow morning and then taking the sheep for a walk in the traditional attire. There was a total of 6 sheep, with one mischievous big guy – Samsun. Samsun had two baby sheep with two of the lady sheep. And a big set of horns on him. At first we didn’t know if he was peligroso. As long as you didn’t get clipped by his horns when he took off running, he was chill.  

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We hand-made some bracelets, while the sheep grazed around us.

After a quality lunch, which included many of the staples from the island: potatoes, oca (some sort of potato thing), quinoa, eggs, soup, we rested. After some rest, we hiked the dormant volcano, up well above 12,500 feet, for the sunset. At the top of the volcano, we left three coca leaves. One for trabajar. One for salud. One for amor.

Our meals were special times, where we got to converse with our host family in Spanish. This evening, we got to laugh about Samsun, and his rascalliness. I saw both Mary Kate and I’s Spanish flourish over the four days.

The next morning, we went to retrieve some fishing nets. The fishermen of the island do not have it easy. There are scarce amounts of catfish & trout. We ended up catching one catfish, which we brought home.

During the day, we got to learn how to make Dina’s signature soup. Dina, our host mom, ran the house. Actually, that is not fair. It was amazing how every single person in the house contributed. The kids were 11, 11, 15, and 16. The 16 year old, Ailinda, took us on all of our activities. All of the kids would help out with cleaning, laundry, managing the animals, whatever was needed. We certainly earned our keep. No trabajar. No comer.

Back to the soup. We learned about the two-day process to wash & clean quinoa before eating it. Mary Kate got to write down the recipes for a number of soups that we helped make. Quinoa, maiz, other grains. We will share these in the future recipe book :).

We have had some funny ducha experiences. The first was in Chile, where we knocked on a random house & asked “Podemos duchar” (Can we take a shower).

Our house did not have running water. Therefore, no ducha. We overlapped one night with a French family. The mother asked about a shower. Dina responded – el lago.

We had hit 3 days of no shower, so it was time for a ducha. Down to the lago. To set the scene, the temperatures were between 40 to 60 degrees. We were a bit concerned about what the water was going to be like.

The lago ducha was solid. The water was chilly, but we got clean, which was nice. Our host family was much tougher than us in the cold water.

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Prior to our final dinner with our family, we stopped by the only store on our side of the island & picked up some treats (hot chocolate, Inca Cola, sweets, and other goodies), as a gift for our family. We snuck it into the dining area & when they found it they were incredibly appreciative.

Instead of going to the fiesta, which is set up for the tourists, we stayed in with our family. We got a treat of pollo (chicken). They do not have chicken on the island, but Oscar picked some up from the town 3 hours away, for us to enjoy as a treat. The entire family cracked into the hot chocolate, which warmed our hearts.

This time was special. We didn’t look at our phones for 3 days. We got to have amazing conversation. We bathed in Lake Titicaca. We really enjoyed the time together. The reset was much needed. Find things that can quiet the world is really important. The big learning – if all goes to shit, we can just get some sheep, chickens, and we will still have a

great life.

We headed to Lima. Running water is nice.

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But, much nicer than that, the fact that I can WhatsApp message an ENT specialist, set an appointment for the next day, walk into the office, get seen within 2 minutes of walking in, be told what everything is going to cost, and have it actually covered by insurance. Gosh, it was nice & how it should be.

Oh, and by the way, the ear is 100% better. Let’s go.

Also, I got another datapoint on my theory – what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. As many of you know, this is the approach I have taken with a questionable dairy allergy. I still eat cheese. I love cheese. Every minute spent in the bathroom after pizza is just making me stronger. I have taken the same approach with my ears. I have subjected my ears to some pretty loud music. I have been known to be put to sleep with bass music blasting too close to my head. Well, another win for what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – my hearing is exceptional – as per the additional hearing test that was run.

 High / Low / Unexpected / Learned

Nick

High: truly getting off the grid for three days was amazing.

Low: seat confrontation on the boat ride back to the mainland.

Unexpected: how much my Spanish improved over the four days where we were immersed.

Learned: Amantani is an island of 4,000 inhabitants, all of which are Quechua, with 5 schools, no roads for cars, no restaurants, and two dogs total.

Mary Kate

High: cooking with our host family

Low: being toured out

Unexpected: bathing in the lago

Learned: the process of cleaning & prepping quinoa

Go outside. Touch some grass. Tune in next week for Peru food review