I decided it was about time to give the old legs and lungs a bit of exercise, so myself and 2 Swiss lasses chose a leisurely meander through the Rumi Wilco nature reserve on the other side of Vilcabamba village to check out the precisely labeled flora.
Halfway up Ridge Trail 3 the word leisurely was severely put to the test and almost transformed itself completely into the words slightly and dangerous! I exaggerate a tiny bit but ridge did indeed mean ridge, nothing in comparison to the south ridge of Everest mind you but an introduction to mountaineering none the less. Climbing the occasional vertical up and shale footing we picked our way carefully to the top (numerous breaks were called for by me as I didn't want to push too hard after exactly a month). The view down over the reserve and town across to the Mighty (yet small- a mere 2020m) Mandango was fantastic enough to release all memory of how we got there.
2 steps down the other side gave the girls a sharp reminder and even though both are scouts I got the impression they were a little out of their comfort zones. I on the other hand was in my element and enjoyed every slippery gut wrenching second down to the gully trail that joined us back with the main one. One of the best moments was devouring a scrumped passion fruit discarded by one of the fruit trees overhanging the gully and washing the stickiness off in the cool river - simple things I know. More thumbnails ...
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