June 22 - Packing Up the Llamas

It’s midday on June 22nd and since we last reported in we have covered quite a lot of ground.  Right now we are at the end of the road and from here the llamas are being loaded up as I speak, it’s quite a scene.  We are saying good-bye to our bus and all motorized transport for awhile as we will be moving to Condoriri Base Camp.

We will report to you about the climbing and adventures we are going to have in the Condoriri.  It’s a beautiful area; you would not believe how the brown hills of the altiplano abut right up to the glaciated peaks of the Condoriri.  It’s really an inspiring and exciting site for all of us.

Yesterday after I reported to you, we actually walked 8.5 more miles on the Island of the Sun (Isla del Sol) as measured by Bob Burnett’s GPS unit.  Then in the evening we took our boat back across Lake Titicaca as the sun set and a full moon rose over Copacabana.  As you may remember Copacabana was our home for two nights on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

So we drove away today feeling satisfied that we had one of the most wonderful experiences and saw such a fascinating place, Lake Titicaca.  Now we are excited about our upcoming climbing.

As I am watching our giant duffel bags being loaded on to the llamas here, I was reminded of yesterday as we were hiking on Isla del Sol how much fun we had photographing small children with the llamas.  Shawna especially because every time I looked at her she had her camera out taking pictures of the youngsters on the island often with a small llama or an ‘alpaca’.

So we are having great fun with the people of this area, it’s very photogenic obviously.  Beautiful area, beautiful people and we look forward to seeing the brown altiplano after 5 days in the high mountains.