Huaraz Part One: The Wilka Lodge side

After a bit of time on the coast looking at many second hand cars and even trying a few, we added the numbers. Buying a car definitely looked like a madness. It would jeopardize many of the other projects we had. So we changed our mindset and looked forward with the obvious target: flying.

We thought that it was time to do our first real flights in the big Andean mountains and the obvious place to go to was Huaraz, the outdoor capital of Peru. Huaraz is a sort of Peruvian Chamonix located inbetween the black and white cordilleras, the latter including 35 peaks above 6000m.a.s.l. We started to get quite excited and nervous to the idea of flying there. And tried to gather as much information as we could on the conditions and the spots.
 
But first I thought that I would contact a Peruvian girl that I had met in a night club in Paris just before leaving as she told me she had friends in Huaraz who could maybe host us. That's how we ended up in the Wilka Lodge. A family owned place that welcome travellers in exchange of a bit of work in the house or in the fields.

After a day wandering in Huaraz like zombies as a result of the overnight bus,Nelson one of the sons took us to the lodge located just above Huaraz at 3500m of altitude. We didn't know what to expect. Arriving the family welcomed us very nicely and we met other travellers who were there through volunteering networks. But the evening was short as Christian another of the sons needed the communal space for a San Pedro ceremony (traditional ceremony using the effects San Pedro cactus to connect with nature and the world...)

The house

The next day we woke up early to help with planting corn. We left the house with the dad and two other members of the family without forgetting to take the lama.

Juanito the lama

On the way to the field we had a bit more time to speak with the members of the family. They are a traditional Quechua family living of agriculture and now of a bit of tourism as well (two of the sons work in tourism). So they were only speaking Quechua inbetween them which has pretty much nothing to do with spanish.

View of the black cordillera on the way to work

Then it was time to work. All the agricultural techniques were very simple, ancestral, no machine, no petrol involvment, only physical effort. The morning work was to plow a few fields in order to plant corn. What a hard work!!

Plowing

Some lucky guy had bulls!

After a few hours of work our little white hands were full of blisters and by the end of the morning my head was propely spinning as a result of the high altitude, effort and sunshine. Who would have thought that a 5a.m. drunken encounter in Paris would have lead me there to plow a field by hand in the high Andes!
Anyway, it was great to realise what kind of work this guys are doing and how hard it can be. They use agricultural techniques that were used in Europe before the industrial revolution about 200 years ago.

The life at the house was very traditional too and was entirely ruled by the Mama. Clearly a womens business in the Andes. Everything was cooked on wood fire on a very simple but very effective way. The diet was mainly based on kinoa, potatoes and rice, only using local products.

Cooking

The following day there was no work planned, so we took this opportunity to go discover the surroundings a bit. Absolutely fantastic! We had a good day hike to a glaciar lagoon (at 4700m), a good training for high altitude hiking.

Queñuales Andean Trees

Celebrating 4 months on the road

Our stay at the Wilka Lodge was short, but very rich. It was very interesting to get an insight into rural life in the high Andes and to meet such a kind and welcoming family.
But looking at the sky without going for a flight was too hard for us so we packed everything and got ready to fly the big stuff.

Bonus:

Cat Man