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Machu Picchu ~ Ollantaytambo ~ Cusco ~
Parents!
Children! Grandparents! Grandchildren! This trip to the most mysterious and beautiful place on the planet is designed just for you. The seasonal theme of this journey will highlight the priority of the blessings of the material world in support of love, rather than as a replacement for love. So very often when I take groups to the sacred sites of Peru people will make comments such as “Oh! I wish I had brought my children on this trip! They would so-o-o love it.” Or “ Geez, my parents/grandparents have never done something like this. I wish they could, even just once, visit this spectacular place. They deserve it so much.” It is for these ones, the ones who might never see this on their own, that I have created this journey to the most powerful and beautiful places of Peru… and that you can do so as a family. We will stay in hotels that are not so corporate that there is no touch with the people and land, and not so third-world as to be uncomfortable. A fine balance is achieved by knowing the people, the places and the culture so that we enjoy the richness of the exploration of our intent. Travelogue December 19: Arrival in Lima, Peru, where you will be met at the airport by myself and/or Alan Leon, the proprietor of Sacred Heritage Travel. Arrangements have been made to spend the remainder of the night in a comfortable hotel near the seashore. December 20: Mid-morning we board a flight for a one hour ride to Cusco. Immediately we will be taken by ground transport on a drive through the Andean highlands and down into the Urubamba Valley. Here we will board a train for Aguas Calientes, the town that sits at the base of Machu Picchu.
Our Quecha guide, Kucho December 21: Summer Solstice (we are south of the Equator, so the seasons are reversed!). We will spend the entire day on Machu Picchu, first being led by our Quecha Indian guide, Cucho, who will explain the meanings of the various temples and their alignments with the Solstices and Equinoxes and stars.
Sunrise viewed from
Machu Picchu December 22: Boarding the train mid-day, we travel up the Urubamba River to the ancient village of Ollantaytambo, where we will stay for two nights in a restful and flower bedecked healing center. Here we will be offered traditional herbal healings by the Quecha Wise Woman, Julia Flores.
Ollantaytambo Healing Center December 23: A day of respite and exploration of the pre-cataclysmic megalithic stones of Ollantaytambo. Weighing over 240 tons, these remains of an archaic building are unable to be moved and set with such precision with today’s technology.
Megalithic pink
granite building blocks December
24 & 25: We
will be staying with the families of Casa de Milagros, sharing in the excitement
of Christmas with the present, and past, orphans of this wonderfully hospitable
orphanage.
Casa de Milagros Casa
de Milagros (Home of Miracles) is a children's home in the Sacred Valley near
historic Machu Picchu, Peru. It was founded by the Chandler Sky Foundation to
heal the mind, body and spirit of many of the thousands of orphaned and
abandoned children living in poverty on the streets of Cusco, Peru and
surrounding towns. Casa
de Milagros provides shelter, food, clothing, basic medical care, and education
and arts programs that promote self-confidence and self-worth for children in
need. This is done in a truly unique environment in which progressive programs
are used to foster a healthy and positive consciousness. Based on the philosophy
that we must start at the root of the problem, healing and educating children so
that they can give back to their community, The Chandler Sky Foundation aims to
provide positive long-term benefits to the region's social and environmental
problems. The
Chandler Sky Foundation aims not only to heal the street children, but to
educate them so that they may be able to return to their communities equipped
with the skills and the spirit to heal the area's economy. In addition to saving
the lives of many needy children, the Chandler Sky Foundation helps to conserve
one of the world's most biodiverse rainforests. Through teaching children
methods of farming that allow the land to be used over and over again, there
will be a decreased need for migration into the precious rainforest reserves
that we, as a planet, need for survival. These programs, developed from a
progressive global consciousness, place the Casa de Milagros in a category of
its own. For
more details about the project and how you can help please visit the web site http://www.chandlersky.org
December
25: Cusco is our
destination, a short drive from the orphanage.
Christmas in Cusco! Cusco
is the capital of the ancient Incan Empire. Today it is a cosmopolitan city rich
in the arts, music and festivities. Staying in a comfortable hotel, we will
enjoy the sights and sounds of Cusco at Christmas time, allowing for personal
Christmas celebration if you and your family so choose. December
26 & 27:
We will travel to lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable fresh
water lake.
Reed boat and the
Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca There
we will stay in the beautiful village of Chucuito, where we will visit with some
of the happiest people you will ever meet, though they live a very
simple life. Chucuito has been in existence and occupied for over 4,000 years! Taking
a boat ride, we will then visit the unique Floating Village of Uros out in lake
Titicaca. People actually live on these floating islands made of woven and
compressed lake reeds. December
28: Our travels
take us to the romantic city of Arequipa. Here we will rest our traveler’s
bodies in comfort and placid ease. Arequipa is noted for its colorful
architecture and El Misti Volcano.
The bright colors
and dome of Arequipa with El Misti December
29, 30 & 31:
We will be in the seaside desert of Nazca. It is here that the famous Nazca
Lines are to be found.
Nazca Lines: the
Hummingbird The
Nazca Lines, discovered in 1927, are a series of complex designs, some up to 300
yards long, which can only be seen in their true dimension from the sky, at an
altitude of at least 1,500 ft. The lines that decorate the desert floor have
been declared a Mankind Heritage Site by UNESCO. We will
fly in an airplane above these animal figures that ancient people drew into the
desert floor. We will also be visiting the archaeological site of the Cahuachi
Pyramids, a massive (20 square miles) complex created, then deserted, by an
unknown culture from millennia past.
Nazca Lines: the
Monkey Theories
abound regarding the Nazca Lines The most probable theory is that of María
Reiche, a German researcher who believed that the lines were part of a vast
astronomic calendar whose figures marked different solar phases. Ms Reiche,
affectionately nicknamed the Angel of the Plains by the local inhabitants, was
the first to discover the ancient technique of digging into the tough and dry
Nazca desert floor and covering the track with stones brought from distant
sites. The
hummingbird, the spider, the condor and the monkey are among the more than 30
figures etched into the plain. New
year’s Eve will be spent in Nazca, where, as everywhere, celebration reigns
supreme! Ica Province, in which Nazca resides, is home to Peru’s notable
native brandy, called Pisco. If you choose to raise a glass at midnight, you
will be participating in a celebratory drink that has been distilled by the
locals for many thousands of years. January
1:
We embark for a drive down the Pacific coast, then take a boat out to the
wildlife sanctuary of the Ballestas
Islands where flamingoes, penguins and sea lions are prolific, the
scenery astounding and the beaches warm.
The Cathedral Cave
near Pisco We will also be viewing the mysterious Candelabra, a massive carving in the local rock that points to Nazca.
The Candelabra January 2: Flying from Pisco to Lima, we then take it easy at Larco Mar, a modern mall with fine restaurants, movie theatres and shopping. We will be delivered, with much fond farewell, to the Lima airport in plenty of time for our flights home. Note: Travel itinerary is subject to minor variations due to local
conditions and alternate awesome opportunities that are just too good to be
missed! $3,100 16 & older $1,700 Under the age of 16 For more info
and to register contact Jade
Wah’oo Grigori ~ 928-284-0110 You may
register previous to deposit. A
deposit of $1,000 per person is due no later than September 20, 2006 Full
payment is due no later than October 20, 2006 Here are some relevant links from the Sacred Heritage web site. It is the site of Alan Leon, the logistics organizer and person with the contacts with the wonderful people and families with whom we will be visiting while in Peru. http://sacredheritage.com/itnewyr.html http://sacredheritage.com/deposit.html http://sacredheritage.com/affirm.html
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