El Fuerte

El Fuerte is located on the top of a mountain. The drive up was 6 kilometers mostly driving right on the edge of a cliff. At one point it was very steep and also muddy and our truck starting sliding--a little nerve racking to say the least but it was worth it. Once we arrived to the spot to park and pay we had to hike around to the different locations of the ruins. This mysterious place has been given many explanations for its origin. It is supposed that El Fuerte is the work of the Amazonian pre-Incan Chane culture, and later was used as an advanced city by the Inca people and finally by the Spanish colonists that turned it into a fortress. This was the second largest meeting plaza in the Incan times. They would hold military events and other important occasions in the center of this rectangle.

This is the largest carved stone in the world with carvings on top and on all sides of it. There are all kinds of crazy designs in the stone and some people have the theory that alien ships landed on the rock leaving the marks.

This is the side of the main rock--the top part is part of the religious meeting area and in the right hand corner are some houses.

This was at the top of a steep hike so we took a break enjoyed the scenery and took a few pictures.

Las Cuevas

Sunday on our way home to Santa Cruz we stopped at a place called Las Cuevas (the Caves). It's actually a park with a river running through it and three waterfalls. It was an easy hike and really beautiful and cool with the water misting everyone.

Self portrait :)

This is part of the second falls which I think are the biggest. There is a huge area of sand in front where some people were playing volleyball.

This was the third falls and the furthest away from the park where we left our vehicle. The waterfalls are so pretty and they have sand so it looks like it will be great to swim in later when it's hotter.

Samaipata

This weekend we had Friday off for Memorial day. Grant and I decided to go to Samaipata which is about 3 hours from Santa Cruz up in the mountains. We had already visited on the youth retreat but we were busy the entire weekend and didn't explore anywhere. The drive up was so much fun just because of the scenery. The mountains and valleys are beautiful the only problem is most of the time they are covered by clouds. On the way home it was perfectly clear.

There was a rope bridge on the way and so we stopped and Grant tested it but it groaned and sagged and some of the boards were already broken so I stayed on solid ground. There was a place to stay on the other side of the bridge and we still aren't sure if there is another way to get there other than the bridge.

We stayed at Traudi and had a wonderful view. The only other thing we were worried about was having was bed bugs :) It was nice but some people have warned us that it has happened.

This was our room--it was called Amancaya, which pronounced in Spanish resembles "I'm on fiya" It gave us a good laugh.

On the way home it was sunny and we stopped several times when there was room on the side of the road to take pictures of the gorgeous scenery.

Day of the Dead

Here is one of the graves on the roadside on the way to Samaipata.

All the graves are above ground and now they are cleaned up and all have wreaths on them.

Here is a stand selling the paper flower wreaths that are placed on the graves.

November 1 was Day of the Dead here and November 2nd was Memorial Day so we did not have school. On Thursday and Friday families go to the cemeteries and clean the graves. They also bring food, many times whatever favorites their loved ones who had passed away loved when they were alive. The family gathers around the grave and eat the meal and spend time with their loved ones in the cemetery.