Jane Hedrick, a nurse from Connecticut, traveled to Cusco, Peru for a 3 month long Quest this past September. Though anxious at first and uncertain about her decision, she had an amazing trip and an experience that will last her a lifetime. Check out some cool pictures and tales from Cusco…
“I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance, never settle for the path of least resistance, living might mean taking chances, but they’re worth taking”… hopefully. Ok, so I finally made the decision to go to Peru; turns out it was one of the best decisions of my life.
The day I arrived in Cusco my host brother and sister picked me up from the airport. I was nervous but also very excited. They were both incredibly friendly and I was happy to learn that my sister was the same age as me, almost to the day. It was a little hard to get used to living in someone else’s house but my family was so friendly and accommodating.
Jane with one of the Peruvian children
As I was walking around Cusco, my first full day there, I was surprised to come face to face with a llama, little did I know this would be the first of many sightings.
My first full day in Cusco I met with the coordinator and had my first Spanish lesson, I was to start working in the clinic the following day. Little did I know that there were going to be country wide strikes and protests (huelgas) and that my first two days of work were going to be canceled. Because work was cancelled I didn’t have anything to do for the day, so I went out and explored the city some, oh and just stopped by some Incan ruins, it always amazed me that there were Incan ruins (Qoricancha) right in the center of the city.
When I finally had my first day of work the volunteer coordinator came with me to introduce me to the people at the clinic. For the entire 3 months I was in Cusco I worked in a clinic. It was amazing. When I first went the nurses showed me around and introduced me to some of the children, part of this clinic serves as a home for about 50 children with physical and/or mental disabilities from only a couple months old to 18. All of the children were soo happy when I came in the morning and everyone wanted to play and wanted attention.
Working in this part of the clinic the main thing you can do for the children is just play with them, they love it. In addition to playing with the children I helped with their daily care, such as brushing their teeth, bathing, dressing, and feeding them. As a nurse, I was also given the opportunity to work in the outpatient part of the clinic where I triaged the patients, administered injections, and assisted some of the doctors. The clinic has a full staff of doctors of all different specialties such as a general medicine doctor, a cardiologist, a traumatologist, a gynecologist, a dentist, and a team of physical therapists, psychologists, and speech therapists.
I also got to do a number of activities that I will never forget, starting with whitewater rafting my first weekend there. I really enjoy whitewater rafting in itself, but the scenery here is spectacular, it was hard to concentrate on the rafting with the amazing views surrounding you, not to mention the mere fact that this was the same river that went by the base of Machu Picchu and then into the Amazon Rainforest. I also arranged to go on a trip into the rainforest for four days to Manu Reserve.
Our first day there we went off into the woods and I had no idea how we were ever going to find our way back seeing as how our guide was just cutting a path with a machete, amazingly we ended up back at the lodge. Just the trees themselves are so cool, I have never seen anything so big. On top of that the flowers are gorgeous bright colors and unique.
Forging the flooded reserve!
There is also an abundance of animals, from parrots to monkeys as well as the occasional boar and tapir, and of course tons of bugs. Sounds very appealing right? But these bugs are all very interesting and mainly consist of tons of different types of butterflies, all gorgeous.
Our second day there it had poured rain all night and we went out for a hike in the morning. We spotted a bunch of monkeys and the footprint of a tapir. However, the area that where we needed to go was so flooded from a combination of high tide and the rain from the night before we were hiking through about 3 feet of water, by the time we had finished our hike and were making our way back to the boat the water in the same area was only a couple of inches deep.
Then of course there is the Sacred Valley that is right there, even thinking about it I’m still in awe that all of these things were so close. The sacred valley includes a number of towns and ruins, the main ones being Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero. While in Pisac the two girls I was with and I climbed up to the top of the ruins and were going through all of the rooms when somehow we found that we had gotten ourselves into a room and couldn’t figure out how to get back out… we ended up having to climb down the side of the mountain haha. Pisac also has a huge Sunday market where you can find almost anything you would need and for great prices, with bargaining of course.
Probably the most fascinating of all of this is, of course, Machu Picchu. Only when you go there and see it for yourself will you realize how majestic it is, and fully understand why it is one of the seven wonders of the world.
Visiting the incredible and majestic Machu Picchu
Not only are the ruins themselves amazing, but the views from being up in the mountains of the other mountains and of the rivers running through so far below you will take your breath away. It is easy to get lost exploring for the entire day, and still feel like you haven’t seen it all.
Finally, it is a MUST to at least TRY salsa dancing. It is such a big aspect of the Peruvian culture, and tons of fun. The Spanish school has an activity every week so that all the volunteers can meet and have a good time. The activities vary between movie nights, game nights, salsa classes, cooking classes, and bartending classes, all of which were very fun.
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