Workshop Experiences
Orchids Of Peru Workshop - November 2008
By John Salventi
November 2 Travel Lima to Cusco to Wayqechas
On November 2 2008, 10 of us gathered in Lima for an 8 day excursion that would take us from the coast of Peru, southeast to Cusco and further into the Andes to the Wayqechas Research Station in the Manu Cloud Forest. Every member of the group had traveled to South America before and many had several notches in their travel belt, to this region. The goal of this trip was to focus on “The Orchids of Peru”. The orchid expertise of the group ranged from avid, expert grower to “never grown one and along for the ride to enjoy them”. The first leg of our journey was an hour and 15 minute flight from Lima to Cusco, where we were met by tour organizer. She broke the news that a national strike was scheduled that would prevent us from reaching Machu Picchu three days later. She indicated there would be a good chance that it would be postponed, but they were working on alternative plans. We boarded our bus for Wayqechas and met our first guide and driver that would be with us for the next 4 days. The concrete road lasted for a short distance and then we were on a bumpy gravel road that is so characteristic of Peru’s road system. Our first stop was at a Pre-Inca Burial site where we saw grave-site markers that to me resembled some of those that I had seen in Asia. The wind began to howl and we returned to our bus for a box lunch. It began to rain and the intensity of the wind increased to where our bus was rocking.
We resumed our journey, stopping several time to see orchids growing by the side of the road in the road-cuts. Before reaching our destination we stopped at the entrance of the Manu Cloud Forest Park to look at a planted collection at the park rangers building. We arrived at the research station at Wayqechas around dinner time. The seven men were placed in one cabin and the three women in another. We settled in and then went to dinner. I will comment only once about meals at Wayqechas because they were always interesting, hearty and very good. They were prepared by our cook, Poncho, who was also our orchid guide and extremely knowledgeable about the orchids of the region. He was also a wonderful photographer who we found out later took many of his photographs in the dark to increase contrast. Since it rained most of our first travel day there was concern about what we would do if it rained tomorrow. I had established a policy that we would meet each day to jointly, determine the goals for the day, start times, meal times, etc. so we would take care of those decisions in the morning.
November 3 Manu Cloud Forest all day
The concern about rain, vanished as we awoke to a stellar, bright, sunny day. One of the most beautiful I have seen in South America. It is difficult to describe the clarity of the air and the freshness of the tree canopy from the previous day’s rain, a physical, almost spiritual sensation. After breakfast several of us walked the road cuts looking for unusual plants and animals, not just orchids. We then reconnoitered with the remaining travelers and Poncho our orchid guide to walk the Picaflores (Humming Bird) Trail. We saw many orchids on this trail due to the fact that Poncho walked these trails often to assess what is blooming and where.
In the afternoon, after lunch, we started on the same trail but soon switched to the Zorro Trail. Again we saw many orchids and this trail was a little more demanding of the group. The plan was to switch to the Bear Trail where Wooly Monkeys had been seen the previous week. We had to abandon this segment since it had begun to rain and the trail started to get slick. We exited the trail to the road where a bus was waiting to take us back to the station. That evening after dinner, I gave a talk to our group and a group from ACA (Amazon Conservation Association) about ACEER, its purpose and Conservation of the Biosphere. Poncho gave a talk, with many slides to illustrate, the orchids of Wayqechas.
November 4 Election Day in the US Travel from Wayqechas to Yucay
This was the longest travel day of the trip so we arose early to begin this 7 hour trek. The road along the way provided spectacular vistas that at the same time took your breath away. It was narrow, had no guard rails of course; you periodically passed large construction vehicles and the valley floors were FAR FAR below. As we neared Yucay we stopped at a very large market in Pisac where everyone enjoyed the opportunity to walk around for an hour. We arrived at our hotel around dinner time. La Casona de Yucay, located in the Sacred Valley is an old Colonial Home Hacienda built in 1810.We stowed our bags in the hotel room and met out on the lawn for drinks and appetizers. We then had a wonderful dinner in the hotel restaurant, Don Manuel.
November 5 Travel from Yucay to Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes
This day would be filled with many wonderful experiences. We left the hotel for Ollantaytambo, where we would take the train to Aguas Calientes. The ride was very pleasant and we were treated to dancers and a fashion show on the train. We arrived late morning and checked into the Pueblo Hotel. The accommodations and the grounds were 5 star with a staff that anticipated your every need. The most amazing discovery, as we walked to our cabins, was that most of the foundation plantings were orchids with hundreds of Lycaste in bloom. After lunch we met with Carmen Soto who is the Resident Biologist and extremely knowledgeable about the orchid collection there. It was an overcast afternoon but we were rewarded with many orchids in bloom. At the end of the day, several of us took a guided tour entitled a “Twilight Walk”. We anticipated bats, toads and frogs; what we got was a moving spiritual experience, based on the foundations of Inca spiritual beliefs.
November 6 Machu Picchu
We met our guide, Gabriella, early in the morning and boarded the bus for Machu Picchu. She did an extraordinary job of weaving the construction of Machu Picchu with the life style, cultural and spiritual beliefs of the Incas. We spent about 4 hours at the site and then had lunch at the Sanctuary Restaurant before departing for the INC Museum which documenting the construction and restoration of Machu Picchu.
November 7 Aquas Calientes to Ollantaytambo to Cusco
We met our guide early morning for our train ride back to Ollantaytambo where we boarded a bus that would take us through the Sacred Valley. On the way we encountered a young brother (11) and sister (10) along the road selling ceramic whistles and souvenirs. Of course we stopped and bought most of what they had to sell. We were especially good customers when we found out that they had climbed the cliff, from their village in the valley far below, to reach the highway. Along the way we stopped at a Chicha bar to see how this corn liquor was made and to sample some, a Weaving Cooperative that was re-introducing this craft back into the native population and then on to Saksaywaman and Cusco. I remember during my last trip to Cusco, how impressed I was with this site. In the interim there have been additional excavations revealing more structures associated with this temple/fortress and the discovery that the area is three times larger than they thought. Some of the huge monolithic stones used in the walls weigh 100s of tons. The pronunciation of this site sounds like sexy-woman, there is a t-shirt, use your imagination and no, no one bought it. Arrived at our hotel, Il Monasterio, run by Orient Express, and another 5 star hotel. As the name implies it was previously an active monastery, with large cavernous interiors and expansive courtyards, complete with Gregorian Chants played over the sound system. At any moment you expected to encounter a column of praying Monks on their way to mass.
November 8 Cusco
We spent the entire day touring Cusco, the Cathedrals, the Farmers Market and the Temple of the Sun.
November 9-10 Cusco to Lima to Philadelphia
The last two days were a blur and ran together with the flight back to Lima, a visit to the nursery of a friend, Alfredo Manrique, dinner at the Rosa Nautica which juts out into the ocean and then a 1:25am flight back to Philadelphia.
Overall this trip had something for everyone in the group, and from the comments as we departed company and afterward satisfied everyone’s expectations.
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