Urubamba River Trip continued: The other four members of our entourage learned how to hold the paddle correctly and follow the captain’s commands of “forward,” “stop,” and “back paddle.” All I had to do was enjoy the gorgeous scenery with networks of hand-constructed terraces on either side of the high river walls which were used by the Incas centuries ago to help feed their civilization. There is still evidence of Incan canals and homes interspersed in the agave cactus and Scottish broom (yellow gorse.) We only encountered one level 2 rapid and avoided the protruding rocks.
At our landing point, Edgar and the boat crew served our picnic lunch of fried chicken, yucca, avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers, pita bread, cookies and coke. Placido and several other Andean boys demonstrated one of their local dances and we all participated. Since the elevation made us extremely thirsty, the daily bottled water that we received was very welcome.
