Rachel Wickey
Class of 2018
Trek Day Two: A Different Kind of Freedom
4
JULY 2017
Travels
Interact
Peru
Starting my day off at 6:15 am is not my preferred time for getting up in the summer, but on this day it was worth everything because of the thought starting the infamous hike.
I was extremely tired nevertheless, but ready. I slowly, but surely, packed up all my things, trying my hardest to have my pack as weight free as possible because I was going to endure a 8 hour hike through the Inca Jungle.
The first part of the hike was extremely hard. Almost all uphill, I wasn’t fully understanding the hype of the all amazing hike we were supposed to be enjoying. I tried very hard to stay at the front of the group, because i saw it as getting the chance to rest quicker. Once we got to the first rest stop my whole perspective changed on the entire day. The vibe of the Monkey Bar restaurant was astounding. Just seeing the views of the mountains in the distance was overwhelming.

Emily Van Haitsma near the summit.
As we sat down I was amazed by what i have encountered across my journey.The views alone could make me stay for years. Once everyone had settled, Pepe then educated on many different sorts of medicines that the people in higher altitudes used to survive, we even got to try some. Now i can honestly say, i drank something that was soaking with a snake. After the lesson we got to look around and interest with the animals that were there.Unfortunately, sooner then I would have liked, we had to heads on our way.
“I was hiking through in Inca Jungle, in the Andes mountains on the USA’s Independence Day. Not many people can say that.”
As we were hiking along the minuscule path, the more and more I realized how unreal this moment I was experiencing. I had been walking for so long and may have smelled more than I would like to admit, but i would never take it back. Once we had finally got to the the next step of our journey, going down the mountain, I had reached a whole new realization; I was hiking through in Inca Jungle, in the Andes mountains on the USA’s Independence Day. Not many people can say that.





At the beginning of my day I had my doubts about this expedition, but more and more through the day I became extremely grateful for the amazing experience I was given. Between the views and the history of the amazing trail, I had hit the jackpot on the experience i was given. At the end of the day we ended it with an amazing hot spring that soothed all my spore muscles and made me renewed for the next day.
That night, when I was laying on the ground, in a tent, knowing my body was going to hate me in the morning, I knew, I would never change this experience for the world.




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