Today had a bit of a confusing start since we hadn’t made any plans yet and weren’t sure what was going to work out. Finally we got some details figured out and headed out on foot to explore.

We walked an hour uphill outside the town to a viewpoint of Caraz. The highlight of the walk was when Lanita said that she heard something and we both took off running down the trail with two orange lizards after us. Turns out, it was just one lizard chasing the other, but it sure gave us a scare and a laugh. In our defense, they looked like they could be poisonous.

After coming back down from the overlook, we walked another 30 minutes or so to a lovely blueberry farm with horses that you could ride. I forget the name of these horses, but they are a unique kind that has the gait of a camel instead of a typical horse. It makes for a very smooth ride. Veronica, the lady who owns the horses, and another girl walked with them as we rode, so we didn’t get into any galloping and such like. It was fun for my first time on a horse!

We walked back to our inn after that, seeing many interesting sights in the town once again. It was mid-afternoon when we got back, and we decided that was not too late to pay a visit to some natural hot springs about an hour away, so we hopped in a taxi and headed there.

The roads were scary, narrow, mountain roads, but the views were incredible. We could see the Santa Cruz mountain from the bottom until it disappeared into the clouds and it was incredibly high. I didn’t take my camera, and we were in a vehicle so I couldn’t get good pictures, but it was one of the prettiest drives we have been on so far.

Kelly clipped us fresh eucalyptus, lavender, and another herb that looks and smells like pink peppercorns. We took them with us into one of the private rooms and turned on the spigot to let in the naturally hot mineral water into a giant blue bath. It was such a fun new experience and quite relaxing. We could stay as long as we wanted for $3.00.

After de-stressing in nature’s hot tub, it was time for the bumpy 1 hour drive back home. It was dark and scary, especially when we met the buses coming up, but we made it back around 7:00.

Joel, the chef, made pork chops and French fries with the same delicious yellow potatoes for us when we got back. We made plans with to be picked up in the morning for another hike and thus ended our day.

x Ella