My Family’s Incan Jungle Trek

A few days after Christmas my family and I went on an Incan Jungle Trek for four days and three nights. We started in Cusco and ended in Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. It was very hard to do but it was still fun. We got to meet a lot of new people on the trek.

Day 1:
The first day we had to wake up really early and head down to where we met the mini bus to take us to where we were going to the highest point of the trip (over 4,000 meters or 12,000 feet). We got out of the bus and got on bikes to ride down the mountain but the bikes weren’t in very good shape. When we started to bike it was raining. There was a lot of rain water on the road that was spraying in our eyes which was not good because the road was really windy and the cars were driving like they were in a race, so that added another scary thing to the ride. When we were going down my brother started going too fast on a turn and hit a pole and flipped over and now he has a bunch of bruises on his leg where he hit the ground and his handle bars. After he crashed we waited for the van to pick us up and take us the rest of the way down.

When we got in the van on the way down there was a rock slide and a big truck went full speed and tried to ram through but got stuck. The road was blocked for an hour, then some people started clearing a way to get through. We walked around the big truck and over the rock slide. After a while our bus was able to get through and took us to Santa Maria where we stayed the night. 

Day 2:
We had to wake up at 5:30 and get to breakfast at 6:00. We were all pretty nervous about the hike because our guide said it would be really long and hard. After breakfast we got our stuff and left for the big hike. We hiked for over nine hours in the high Andean jungle and on the old Incan trail. For a while we were walking on a gravel road and then it turned into a narrow path through the jungle. The trail was challenging because it was steep, hot, and we were getting lots of mosquito bites and had to walk on the edge of a cliff about nine hundred feet to the bottom.

During our hike we saw lots of banana and mango trees. Our guide Juan told me that the kids who live there played with the flower of the banana trees by making little boats.

The craziest part was going on the “cable car” which was actually a little plywood platform that rolled on a big cable that men pulled across with a rope. It was over one hundred and fifty feet up above a raging river and over three hundred feet across a canyon. We were waiting for an hour for our turn, which made it even worse because the whole time we were thinking of how dangerous it was. Finally it was our turn and my brother sat in the front and my dad and I sat on both sides and they pushed us over the edge. There weren’t any seats or seat belts, you just had to dangle your legs over the side and hold onto a little bar. It turned out to be not as bad as I thought it would be. When we got across I was really proud of myself for doing it. When the long hard day was over we got to go in hot springs that were very nice after a long hike.

pet monkey with teddy bear at rest stop

Day 3:
On the third day we were relieved that the long hard walk was over and expected a mellow walk. But it turned out to be just as hard as the day before. What made that day hard was walking on the road without any shade, there was a lot of annoying “vamanos chicas” from our guide who would walk really far ahead. The day before was really cool and amazing but the third day was on a long dirt road for a hydro electric plant.

part of the hydro electric plant

After lunch we walked along railroad tracks which was actually kind of nice because it was flat and pretty. I also liked just getting to talk with my dad for a long time. When we finally arrived at Machu Picchu Pueblo I was exhausted after over eight hours of hiking. Then our guide said that we had to wake up at four in the morning to walk up to Machu Picchu which is at the top of a big mountain.

my dad and I on the railroad

Day 4:
My family and I decided we were too tired to walk up to Machu Picchu so we took a bus at five. When we got to the ruins it was super crowded and there were clouds literally floating where we were standing since we were so high up. It was crazy. We spent the day walking around and checking out the ruins.

Machu Picchu

the farming terraces 

The reason Machu Picchu is one of the seven wonders of the world is because it is the only Incan city that the Spanish didn’t find, loot, and destroy. It wasn’t until about a hundred years ago that it was discovered again by an American professor. After we were done looking and checking out the ruins we walked down back to the Machu Picchu Pueblo and went to hot springs (but I liked the ones in Santa Theresa).

After the hot springs we had to wait for a while till our train arrived which we would ride in for two hours and then get in a mini bus for two hours as well. When we were in the mini bus I got the worst seat because it was a one seat and there wasn’t anyone to keep you steady, so when I fell asleep I fell on the floor of the mini bus which was embarrassing. After I fell out of my seat I couldn’t go back to sleep because I thought I would fall again, but after a little while longer we arrived in Cusco. 

I think that this trek was very fun and exciting and if you go on a trip like mine I would recommend going on a trek.

the big group