Incahuasi

Another bright and early morning with a 7:30am departure time and the same breakfast that I’ve had every day. I saw my little crew of Jill, Sumeet, and James this morning so I got the chance to say goodbye to the ladies and wish James good luck on Toco today. Martha was leaving breakfast as I was walking in so I was glad I wouldn’t be stuck feeling like I needed to make nice with her over breakfast. As I was heading to grab my pack, Giuliana ran up smiling and gave me a big hug; wishing me a happy birthday!

Arriving at the exploration meeting point I was nervous, I did not know how the day was going to go. But voila!!! The guide coordinating the 7:30 am departures consulter her list and told me that I would be with Rafaeli (Rafi) as my guide for Incahuasi and Martha would be with Marco, they found me my own guide! It was a little awkward though because they even split us up for the quick map orientation so Marco did an overview with Martha while I was checking my pack and then Rafi did the same with me. They really took me serious on not wanting to be with her; though we were shuttled into the same van. After a few short minutes on the road, Martha turned to me from the row in front to tell me how surprised she was when they told her we each had our own guide. I had no problem explaining to her that, from our conversation yesterday evening, I could tell we would be very different in our pace so I asked them if it was at all possible to have a second guide so we could both enjoy the hike. With my legs already being sore from the previous day’s hikes I would be moving extra careful today to make sure I don’t injure myself. She may have been insulted, I don’t know. And I don’t care. I’ve heard how she talks to people. From her face, I don’t think she knew how to react.

Incahuasi is the most advanced and technical hike offered through Explora, spanning 9 miles with a max altitude of 13,760’ and ending at the Puritama Hot Springs. Whereas my first full day I reached the hot springs with the shorter hike from the south, today I would be reaching the springs from the north. At the starting point, our guides explained that the main rule is that we would hike at our own paces but stay within visual range of each other. The guides pulled our pre-selected lunches out of the cooler and disturbed them to us. I zipped my sandwiches into my pack while Martha complained that her lunch was too bulky and she didn’t want to deal with carrying it, going on about what a pain it was and that she wasn’t going to take it. I was feeling really good about having my own guide. I rolled my eyes and said I wanted to stretch for a minute to put some distance between us from the start. Rafi explained that the area was once all glacier fields.

As with other hikes, Incahuasi starts with a nice easy trail. A young viscacha, aka bunny mouse since it looks and moves like a rabbit but is actually a rodent, perched adorably on a rock, watching us pass. The trail came to a dead end at a hill, which of course meant it was time to start climbing. Up one side and right down the other were now in a narrow valley with sparse plants and a sandy dry riverbed.

Small rocks in the riverbed turned into giant boulders that filled the canyon floor in spots. Some we had to turn sideways to squeeze between, some we had to climb up and over. I found myself doing a lot of sitting on my bum and sliding down. Sadly, Rafi is another Tian and not an Adrian, rather quick and not at all helpful on the challenging terrain. To be fair, he did have a friendly demeanor and didn’t rush too much at first, maybe he was gauging my ability before he felt comfortable getting ahead? But he never offered much in the way of help. Many times he’d get so far ahead that I had to find my own way up, over, around, and through tricky landscapes because I didn’t see how he passed through certain obstacles or where he was. It was annoying but at the same time, I valued my alone time and getting to interact with the earth on my own terms.

At times I felt like I was in another world, or on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, and worried that a giant boulder was going to start rolling towards me. It’s amazing how this boulders end up balancing so delicate on each other. Rafi did slow down to show me the copa copa plant, encouraging me to rub the leaves together the release the smell and telling me it was his favorite plant. He loves it too much, he rubs it all over his face and arms so they smell good. I easily understood his love of the fragrant leaves, I cannot find a way to describe the scent but it smelled so good I would buy a bottle of copa copa oil if I could. I wonder if I can grow it at home?

Three hours in, we found a shady spot to stop for lunch, with Rafi explaining that we were about 60% of the way through the hike. My prepared sandwiches from the lodge were lame and I combined the sandwich guts to make one heartier sandwich instead. The food program at Explora is definitely their biggest opportunity for improvement but apparently they have a new Peruvian chef who will be redoing their menus soon. Rafi pointed out boulders in the midst of erosion, looking like snakes shedding their skins.

After lunch, the trail was relatively friendly until we reached a dense canyon floor forest of giant reeds with their fluffy feathered I-don’t-even-know-what-you’d-call-them. Rafi explained that this was the most critical part because he had to figure out the right path for us to get thru successfully to continue on. With some trial and error we made our way through the dense foliage. I was getting frustrated because Rafi would forge ahead before communicating his plan and next thing I know I’d find myself trying to follow with almost zero visibility, and no warnings from him when the ground dropped out below the reeds and fluff fell off the plants and flew up my nose. I’m lucky I didn’t turn an ankle at the least and more than once I may have asked out loud, “What in the actual f*^@ am I doing?!”

We successfully made it through the tricky terrain and it was time climb out of the canyon. I figured this meant we had to be close. But no. The climb itself wasn’t bad and I was proud of having made it to this point without much trouble as I looked down into the canyon and back at the area through which we had hiked. I can do hard things.

Though the majority of the rest of the terrain was relatively flat, it was a pain in the butt to hike through. Loose rocks and gravel made for dangerous steps and little ground cactus were everywhere, threatening massive pain. After getting a cactus quill stabbed straight through my hiking boot into my big toe, my steps became even more cautious. It was starting to feel tedious. I didn’t have a good grasp on how much further we had to go and each and every step took so much care and caution so as to not get cactus stabbed I was feeling mentally drained. Though I don’t mind being alone, having a guide nearby to at least distract me from my frustration could have been nice. The final descent was a steep downhill and Rafi again left me to figure out which would be the most stable route and find my own way while he waited at the bottom.

I knew I was extra slow today but I do not feel bad about it. My body needs extra care because it is sore, I want to take in and enjoy my surrounding, and probably the most critical, with my lack of depth perception it probably takes me about three times longer than the average bear to get a feel for each step when I’m climbing up and over giant boulders or on rocky terrain.

Just shy of 3pm we finally arrived at the hot springs. Martha was sitting with a sour look on her face, having finished the hike about an hour sooner, already spent as much time in the hot springs as she wanted, and was now just sitting in a bathrobe waiting with a scowl. Oh well, not my problem! She asked me what my least favorite part of the hike was, interesting to go for the negative instead of asking what the favorite was. For her, it was coming thru the tall reeds. I was a snot and scoffed that I didn’t mind that part at all; it was the cactus at the end that was the literal thorn of my hike.

After I changed into my swim suit, the guides sang “happy birthday” to me as I entered the hot springs. Another couple from Explora was in the springs and I chatted with them while my muscles enjoyed the warm water. Rafi, Marco, and Martha all sat around the customary picnic. I felt like an outsider from all three of them but felt welcomed by the couple I was speaking with so that helped make up for it. On the drive back to the lodge we saw a little fox running near the side of the road. The driver didn’t bother to stop but at least I got a fleeting glance of the cutie.

Tomorrow is my last day, I leave for the airport at 12:30 so I have time for a morning exploration. The only part of the desert that I feel like I’ve missed out on in is visiting a salt lagoon to float. Earlier in the day when Rafi and I discussed how I should spend my time tomorrow he suggested that I would have time in the morning to do the bike ride to the lagoon. But after how slow I was today when we got back to the lodge he declared that the only thing I’d have time for in the morning would be horseback riding. My ego wanted to argue with him that I could manage the damn bike ride but the reality is that my quads needs a break and I did want to try to ride a horse so I just agreed. While I had his attention I had him help me find, and mark on the map, the areas I’ve explored so far this week.

With more than two hours to kill before my scheduled massage, I found ways to busy myself. I had been admiring the sunglasses many of the guides had with little wind/sun/whatever blocks on the sides and decided that I needed a pair from the lodge gear shop, a quick google search told me that they weren’t really overpriced and I actually liked how they fit on my face. Happy birthday to me!

After showering and doing some packing I took my phone and iPad to my usual spot in the lodge and connected to wifi. I was blown away by the flood of birthday texts that came pouring in. A very special birthday text from one of my staff made me jump back in my chair, exclaim, “are you f*#@ing kidding me?!” out loud, and brought a tear to my eye. I’m not intersecting my professional world here but the company had reached a milestone that morning, one that I’d been desperately waiting for us to get to. Martha arrived in the lounge and, much to my surprise, came to sit with me. I guess she wasn’t that annoyed with me. I told her about my upcoming Kilimanjaro trip and she was envious that I had friends who are willing to go on adventures with me. I bit my tongue and didn’t spout out that I could guess a few good reasons why nobody ever wanted to travel with her. A few minutes later James arrived back from his afternoon excursion and joined us as well so I wasn’t stuck trying to make small talk with her. She is happy to talk about herself but not once ever showed any interest in anyone else.

I escaped Martha and James to find my massage. And I do mean find, I wasn’t exactly sure where on property I was supposed to be going only that it was “by the pool.” Thankfully the bored pool bartender was still in the area and able to point me in the direction of the little old restored house, where I was greeted by Roxana. She didn’t speak much english and I don’t speak much Spanish but it was enough for us to get by. Turns out that Roxana is a phenomenal masseuse and I was in heaven as she worked my tired body. Brazilian Giulia had told me that she’d had a “delicious” massage before she left a couple days ago and this was definitely delicious. That little lady was strong! She used a citronella blend as a massage oil and I felt a little like a mosquito candle by the time she was done but it was worth it.

Dinner service was beginning soon after my massage but instead of being in a hurry to get to dinner “early” I soaked in the jacuzzi tub for a while and reflected on my adventure. I cannot believe that tomorrow I leave.

James was sitting alone when I got to the dining room and I joined him. It was nice to have some company and it would have just been weird to sit alone at an adjacent table. The dinner menu was less then spectacular, the same menu from three or four nights ago rotated in. I was satisfied with my green salad and mushroom soup but barely picked at my fish. I wasn’t that hungry and it wasn’t that appetizing. As I stood up to leave my waitress rushed over, “Are you done? Are you leaving? Please sit!”I told her that I was indeed done and leaving; she clasped her hands and asked me to please just wait. I sat back down and she ran away, returning quickly with a cake, complete with burning candle, and the rest of the staff to sing “Happy Birthday” and inform me that it was time to make a wish. The gesture was so thoughtful and made me feel special but I still feel so bad because there is SO MUCH CAKE and nothing for me to do with it. I didn’t event want dessert that late! I cut a small slice, took a few bites, and did the old ‘move it around the plate to make it look like you ate more than you did’ trick before asking the wait staff to please offer it to anyone else in dining room that might want some.

Atacama is known for its clear night skies, something like 80% of the world’s top celestial research and observatories are in this desert, as well as some research lab that studies sound waves from the stars. Explora has their own observatory and tonight I signed up for stargazing. Every part of me wanted to cancel, I was so tired, but when I stepped outside the night sky was so clear I figured I had to go, even though it wasn’t until 9:30pm and I would have loved to be curled up in bed by then. I didn’t know what to expect but I quickly knew that I was underwhelmed. The official Explora observatory is broken so some dude was there with his own telescope for us to use. It was an hour of listening to Tian drone on about stars, freezing my butt off since I hadn’t realized we would just be standing in a circle outside in the cold the entire time, and getting three quick views through the telescope. The sky was amazing though and after Tian concluded I stopped against a fence with a couple other ladies before walking back to balance our phones and capture the essence of the night sky. Our star picture snapping was interrupted by the sound of something coming towards us. Turns out we were leaning on the wall of the pasture and a stately white horse had walked over to see if we had anything for him.

Though I am glad that I celebrated my birthday with my Toco hike yesterday it was nice to be celebrated by others today. And tomorrow I get to sleep in! I don’t leave on my horseback ride until 9am so I actually get to have a leisurely morning.