Medio Luna is a sustainable tourism organization in the Sacred Valley of Peru that is run by some of the local rural peoples of the valley and their families. Medio Luna’s rural tourism circuit is a rare gem in an ever increasing hub of tourism, and within the bustle of Peru’s modern life. In Media Luna one receives more than just a rare glimpse into the life and world understanding of the rural persons of Peru whose customs and habits can be traced back to Incan traditions and ways of thought.

In this unique full day cultural experience one is welcomed by some of the peoples of Media Luna and then taken to the beginning point of the day. The day begins with a hike, with a true local guide, to the salt flats of Maras. This guide explains along the way the trails of the Incan peoples, and their ways of thought around the salt flats. After a strenuous climb one is rewarded with a stunning view of the flats and a walk within them. After a brief rest, the day continues with a visit to an adobe house where cuys (guinea pigs) are raised for eating – there a very welcoming woman explains the processes of raising and cooking cuys and also why they have been a staple of the Incan diet for many many years. After finishing this activity a local lunch is enjoyed in a rustic setting where one can both digest a delicious meal and one’s experiences thus far.

The afternoon resumes with a showcase on natural textile dying and weaving and a meeting with a medicine woman who treats you to an explanation and show of the valley’s herbs and their use. Finally, you end up at a house where there is a woman who explains what exactly chicha is and how it is made. Of course you are invited to a glass of this natural corn refresher before your day ends and you are whisked back into the bustle awaiting you.

Since having gone on this full day cultural excursion with Media Luna, I feel so blessed to have a greater understanding of the rural peoples of Peru and their customs and ways of thought. Thank You Media Luna!! 

Lima is quite the interesting city both architecturally and culturally. In our week in Lima, we mostly hung out where we were staying in the posher area known as Miraflores, as well as its artistic cousin area of Barranco. Miraflores had your typical big grocery stores, a myriad of fast food joints including a Mc Donalds and KFC, as well as many of the Embassies, upper end housing with lush gardens, and small cute chocolate shops, organic markets, and yoga studios. Barranco was more an evening / night scene area with art galleries, cutting edge bars and clubs, and colourful restaurants - reminding me of the town of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. What I love about the housing is how it is more to human scale than we are used to seeing in Canada. There are colourful walls, balconies, and cactus plants everywhere. The fences are wrought iron but also painted in various colours, and things are very clean but energetic looking. Because the area of Miraflores also houses many of the government buildings of Lima you have these human scale houses kitty corner to big sky-rise buildings of towering glass. You also see security officials with batons and at times guns patrolling the streets and buildings giving the city a surreal sense of security. For how safe and relaxed these areas seem the security and stories that float around whisper otherwise. The most beautiful part of Lima, at least for myself, is its endless boardwalk that skirts the city and the ocean. It is green, and houses parkland, and sculptures, docks, and water restaurants and of course a passageway that runs through. We went and walked a part of it at night one day. My friends had been talking about taking lanterns to light with us - and I was wondering what these were. Interestingly when we arrived to a parkland area of the boardwalk we stopped, and were each given one of these kite lanterns. One by one we lit them and watched them blow away into the sky like rockets - there we watched them sail over the city until they faded in the distant night sky.