Headed down to the small town of Vilcabamba to help out at an eco-lodge/reserve for 2 weeks. The lodge was set at the edge of national park and had lots of walking paths through its own grounds. The owners we busy maintaining the grounds but also trying to build more accomodation, so we (along with a few other volunteers) helped out with the buliding of some new pole houses. Was very tiring but great fun, getting muddy clearing grounds, getting wet collecting rocks from the river and getting a sore back from attempting to lay a stone floor. As We were staying in one place for a week or 2 we also decided to arrange for some Spanish lessons in town, although we were getting by it was becoming clear that a few more basic phrases and words may come in handy! Most evenings were spent just relaxing outside eating dinner, drinking lots of wine and chatting with the other volunteers or few guests that pasted through. On our last day we went for a fantastic day long horse ride into to the national park, we rode up into the hills with lovely views back down over the valley, cantered along small paths in the mountains (Nathan clinging on for dear life!), visted a stunning waterfall and just as we were nearly home, finally had the funniest moment of the day when Nathan got dragged off his horse backwards having misjudged the amount of space above him trying to squeeze under a small wooden bridge!!!
Wanderlust for Life
Adventure travel around the world