Have you ever been river rafting? WOW! What a thrill. We started off on a calm leg of the Umbra River in Peru. Most the water is from glacial runoff. Good thing because that sun is toasty at 10,000 feet. We learned to paddle together (which is very difficult when there’s a splash fight with the other boats!) and headed down to the class 3 rapids. Coolest thing ever. Our awesome guides knew just when we needed to give extra effort to stay off those sneaky rocks. A couple times my heart felt like it was going to stop when we hit the rushing rapids. We looked at each other and realized we all had the terror-thrill grins and started laughing as we slapped out paddles together over our heads for our congratulatory cheer. We did it! When can we do it again?
I took this picture at our basecamp at Soraypampa, Peru roughly 3,800 meters up in the Andes Mountains. After completing the first days 7 hour hike in the lead group I see a bright light of confidence and accomplishment in my eyes. Day 2 would destroy that light like a waterfall crushing the faint light of a candle. After “sleeping” through rough winds, cold temperatures and a choir of wild dogs; the banging on our tent at 5am wasn’t the best wake up call I have ever had. This was the start of the most challenging day of my life. Fighting altitude, rough terrain and fatigue I would eventually reach the height of our trek 15,220 ft…before lunch; A grueling 4 hour hike up over 3,000 feet in a matter of hours. As I passed another adventurer up the trail he said something to me I would never forget. He was much older than me and he looked at me through tired yet excitedly hopeful eyes and said “Have you ever had so much fun being miserable?” It was a quote that I will always remember because I never want to forget that the things in life worth striving for often require the most challenging journeys. Learning to love the journey is what Events & Adventures is all about every single day.
We just got back from Peru and Machu Picchu. Wow! What a trip. We visited the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. We saw astounding Inca ruins. It’s truly amazing how exacting their workmanship is. They actually built their palaces and alters to withstand the regions earthquakes. All by hand, with no iron or metal tools! Perfect notched seams. They hauled those massive rocks up thousands of feet – with no tools. I can’t imagine how they did it. Machu Picchu is a beautiful and miraculous site. It definitely was a trip of a life time. I’m so happy that E&A gave me this opportunity!