Hola familia and friends of our dragoncitxs!
We’re writing to you from the small town of Toro Toro, where we’ve recently returned after four days scampering around Toro Toro National Park. We timed our return from the trek to coincide with a satisfying burrito lunch where we gave our gratitude and said our goodbyes to our wonderful guides Hector, Emilio and Timoteo! By day, they shepherded us through the incredible desert scenery of Toro Toro, teaching us about the myths and legends of the land, showed us the real footprints left behind by dinosaurs and how we can differentiate them by their prints, and kept us safe as they guided us through a cave for several hours – which proved to a bit scary but mostly exhilarating for our dragoncitxs! By night, they regaled our ears from afar with the beautiful, lively tunes from the charango and zampona, both traditional Bolivian instruments as we prepared dinner for the group.
The I-team had tasked our students with organizing a trek meal plan, making lists of ingredients, and going out to get groceries while we were in Aiquile. Once on the trek, the Student Leaders, Katya and Isaac, organized the group into cooking and cleaning team rotations and each morning, a team would wake up early and prepare some boiling water and set out breakfast – usually oatmeal, peanut butter, bread, avocado, tea, coffee, jam, fruit, multivitamin grain-based powder, milk powder, and dulce de leche. We’d also pack ourselves lunch for the day, which was typically sandwiches with a combination of whatever students wanted from options of fruit, ham, cheese, peanut butter, jam, avocado, butter, etc or leftovers from dinner the previous night (ask Tucker about his quinoa). The students had also prepared a trail mix and lots of snacks for the group in advance.
Each morning, we’d wake up, pack up our tents and bags, eat breakfast and pack lunch, and pack up the rest of camp. Our daily stretch circle and check-in mostly got lost in the rush to leave camp and we’d head out for the day – each day, through a vastly different landscape. The first day, we started at Ciudad de Itas, which was the highest elevation of our trek, and we explored majestic rock features (including a giant rock that looks like the mammoth from Ice Age), stopped for lunch at an epic spot with a view where Talia and Tucker hit us with the iconic Titanic pose, and then continued descending over the hills until we hit our campsite, a beautiful sloping hill nestled between two rock walls.
Here the first dinner crew encountered some… interesting challenges when they realized that there was only one pot, pan, cutting board, knife and no dish soap. Luckily, we have a resourceful group and a passable potato, carrot, quinoa dish was produced including half of the packet of yellow chili pepper (much more than Jose recommended thanks to a wee lil slip of the fingers by Ava and Larkin). Lauren, Zia and Isaac enjoyed climbing up the rock crags on the sides of camp to watch the stars at night, while Ava, Tucker, Larkin and Soumya enjoyed them from rocks in the camp until they started seeing a dark shadowy figure lurking about and then the sound of rocks falling – surely this was one of the canyon spirits the guides had just told them about? Seconds later, Jakob swooped in on them (like a condor, Jakob alleges) and completely scared them.
Day two we continued descending until we took a long, relaxing lunch and then entered the cave. We were very proud of our dragoncitxs who all made it through despite some levels of hesitation and fear of small spaces in the group. We had such a blast shimmying and army-crawling through some very narrow gaps, sliding down slick rock surfaces on our butts, observing the calcium deposits forming the stalactites and stalagmites, and experiencing the steady temperature, darkness and unique smells of the cave. From there, we headed on to camp, set up our tents, and most of us went for a refreshing dip in the nearby river.
The sandstone rocks that form the majority, if not all, of this canyon landscape make for the perfect places to rock-hop, lay out, and reflect. That night, the cooking team peeled and chopped potatoes for what felt like two hours (!!!) as well as carrots, garlic, onions, broccoli, and chili peppers. It was all worth it, however, when the veggies turned out to be a very flavorful and delicious, highly sought-after accompaniment to our lentil & rice mush.
On day three, we were amazed by some of the most incredible scenes yet. After breakfast, we got to see some dinosaur tracks – many different kinds. For our lunch break, we stopped at one of the most perfect swimming holes I’ve ever seen. Smooth cream-colored sandstone, tantalizingly green water beckoning below, the heat of the sun contrasting with the crisp, cool sensation of the water. We stayed here, swimming and enjoying lunch, for a long while. Later, in the area around El Chiflon waterfall, our jaws dropped at the contrast between the tall creamsicle-colored canyon walls softened by the lush green shrubs and trees and the steep drop into the riverbed below. We watched as the light green-blue water slipped her way down the canyon walls, dancing between worn rock pools that looked as inviting as they did dangerous. Further away, we could see an epic waterfall gushing into the rocks below from a great height and then joining the river disappearing into the bend in the distance. We followed the bend, albeit from a much higher point along the canyon wall, eventually reaching our final campsite of the trek. We stretched, napped, read, and made dinner – this time a delectable pasta dish with the remainder of whatever veggies were left over and notably, no tomato sauce – there was a little grocery shopping mix-up and canned fish in tomatoes were bought instead. Shockingly, there were no takers.
On day four, we packed up camp for the last time and headed to El Vergel waterfall. In the shade, we shivered as we approached the frigid waterfall, but some of us did go for a swim. Happily, Luci and Rishi finally joined us as they had just returned from Cochabamba where they’d detoured for a few days to see to Luci’s medical needs. It was a sweet reunion. And finally, we made the last climb out of the canyon and returned to the town of Toro Toro, where our burritos awaited us. But it wasn’t just lunch we were looking forward to – the I-team had also been secretly working on getting custom shirts made for our Toro Toro race – and we had our big reveal!
Today, we plan to rest, hydrate, eat lots of carbs, and prepare for tomorrow’s race. And after that, we’ll be in the students’ hands as we embark on X-phase!
Stay tuned and please enjoy these photos from the last week of Aiquile (our goodbye celebration including ISP presentations, dancing, and wholesome futbol at night) and from our Toro Toro trek.
The I-team
