PART I Jeremy and I head out mountain climbing to Mt Ausungante.
Fulfilling one of my lifetime dreams was to take both my sons to Peru as a graduation present from college. For the past nine years, I have been involved in learning energy medicine from the native South American people called the Q’ero. I have found their practices to be so closely aligned with nature, that it has been a great source of comfort. There were several legs of the journey that you will see, but first, was our trip to the most sacred mountain in the Andes, Ausungante. I was called to see the mountain Dona Teresa in one of my classes, and the only way to see it was by getting to Ausungante first. A 4 hour ride outside of the Inka Capital, Cusco, took us up to 14,000 feet. Pretty high.
Along the way, you see almost every kind of animal living peacefully on the land.
Of course we had to get out and look, and being city folk, we were so fascinated by all of the animals. Seeing a herd of sheep, alpaca, some cows, and a few other animals crossing the highway, is not something you see every day in the United States.
When we arrived to the base of the mountain, we found that we were staying on the grounds of a wonderful family who owned an Alpaca farm. The owner, Jose Louis, was kind enough to walk us around his property and give us a tour. Jose Louis explained how lucky he was to have this wonderful herd of Aplaca. His pack had a multitude of colors, which is very good when selling their wool to markets that make things from Alpaca. Apparently there are thirteen different colors of Alpacas, and then of course, there are the colors made by blending the wool.
Here you see Jose Louis catching one of the younger alpacas to show us what they looked like up close and personal.
Jeremy and I were very entertained by how Jose Louis was able to just pick up one of the alpaca who was scrambling to get away. When you own an alpaca farm, I guess this is one thing that you are good at.
Next we went back to our campgrounds where our tents were set up for us. We were at 14,000 feet where it gets pretty cold. That night it got down to about 23 degrees.
Well, neither my son or I are used to camping out. Especially with no air mattresses and on hard ground when it was 23 degrees outside. We both had some problems with the altitude, but nonetheless, the next day, we headed up our trail.
I didn’t even try to hike, I started out on a horse, which they brought along with us in case someone like me can’t make it up climbing. However, as we got farther back down the mountain, I was able to start hiking.
Finally, we made up to where we could see Ausungante up close and personal. It’s hard to explain the awesomeness of this sight.
And as we climbed in closer to Ausungante, there was the feminine mountain, Dona Teresa. In Q’ero belief, she is mountain that is meant to heal broken hearts. I felt like both Jeremy and I could use to spend some time with her. By the age of 22, who doesn’t suffer some kind of broken heart? I guess I won’t know if it healed anything in either of us for a while, but, nonetheless was compelled to make this journey.
When we got back to camp and saw how far we had climbed up to that huge sacred mountain, we were both pretty pleased with ourselves.
Even the horses were tired from the journey that day.
So, we said goodbye to the beautiful people of Ausungante and headed home.
It didn’t take long for Jeremy to fall asleep on the way home after not sleeping very well for 2 nights, some stomach issues due to altitude, and hiking at 14,000 feet. All in all, I would say it was a great adventure and a successful trip. They say the only place you grow is outside of your comfort zone, and so we definitely must have grown from this experience. I treasure every moment of it that I got to share with my son, which made this all the more special.
LOVE, WENDY XOX
Your Life’s journey continues to inspire.
God Bless
Thanks so much Virginia, I appreciate all of your kind words and support. Best, Wendy Xox