Peru: Tuesday May 12th

Lions, pumas, alpacas oh my! Who would imagine a zoo in the midst of mountains? Today we visited Granja Porcon which is a city outside of Cajamarca located 3,500 m above sea level. The people of this city work very hard to support themselves through tourism as well as exporting their handmade wood furniture, textiles, and dairy products. They have developed an artificial jungle by planting thousands of pine trees (the only tree that can survive at such high altitude and low temperatures). They use these trees for their carpentry and to make a secluded home for the Peruvian animals. Tourists (us) are taken up the mountain by van to learn about the culture of the people, but to mostly see the variety of animals in their zoo. We saw everything including wild pigs, bears, pumas, parrots, condors, ducks, peacocks, and the biggest hit of the day—the monkeys. The kids enjoyed feeding the monkeys and John almost had his sweatshirt pulled right off his body by a very greedy monkey. That will be an experience he will never forget!

A Peruvian weaving a wall hanging with a loom

Me standing in the Vicuna (an alpaca variety) observation gazebo.

Astrid and Jessica feeding the crazy monkeys

All of the students resting after our walk through the zoo

In the evening, we went to the Novoa Sanchez family home for dinner to check on how John was getting along with his host family. We were welcomed graciously and felt like we were at home. We ate a wonderful meal including pork with a sweet sauce, mashed potatoes, and rice. We had an intriguing conversation about culture and the differences between the US and Peru.

Kelsey and I working on a puzzle that the family has been trying to complete for a year!

All of the Novoa Sanchez family