Our hostel was perched on a hillside overlooking Vilcabamba with views to the high peaks across the valley. Downtown at the main square, local shops and restaurants mingled with new gringo cafes serving organic vegetarian meals and raw cacao shakes. Five years ago before Vilcabamba was written up in a U.S. magazine that extolled the beauty, tranquility and alleged longevity, property was inexpensive. Now there are at least three real estate companies, and prices have skyrocketed. Seeing long hair, baggie pants and loose shirts was like stepping back in time… anyone for a spirulina smoothie?
Actually I liked it there, as a lovely place to visit rather than settle. We reconnected with Galapagos friends, Alex and Katharine and made new friends at the hostel with whom we went hiking.
Hiking here means up – lots of up to make your pulse pound in your ears and your legs heavy with the elevation. However, no matter how high we went, no matter how precarious the footing, grazing cows were waiting at the top or had left evidence of having been there ahead of us. Not goats but cows.
This time of year is particularly beautiful because the rainy season is just ending, and the valley is carpeted in green from the river bottoms to the highest peaks. What constantly amazed us was the extent of cultivation which goes as high as a farmer can walk with a hoe. Imagine a patch quilt of shades of green that covers an entire mountain.
We met an interesting fellow named Yves who showed us his labour of love he calls Sacred Sueños which is an experimental organic farm he created from 10 hectares of scorched land on a mountainside above Vilcabamba. In addition to growing fruits and vegetables, Yves tends two milk goats from which he makes cheese to sell in town.
On the way back from his farm, we dropped down to the valley floor to visit a refreshing waterfall before the long walk back to Vilcabamba.
Too soon we had to leave Vilcabamba and head north to the central highlands.
For more photos from Vilcabamba, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/sataylor/sets/72157626633613563/
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