Spanish teacher Michelle Bakeman, 10 upper school Spanish students and one recent graduate spent ten days over the winter vacation traveling through Peru.
Their tour started in Lima where they had a guided tour of the city including the Cathedral of Lima, City Hall, the Government Palace, and the San Francisco Convent. The second leg of the trip took the group in Cuzco where they visited an Indian market, the fortress at Ollantaytambo, and the Incan sacred site Sacsayhauman. The group then traveled to Machu Picchu, the site of an ancient Inca city, high in the Andes where a drizzling rain covered the ruins in fog. As they climbed higher, the clouds parted, the sun shone and they were treated to a rainbow. Rounding out the trip was a cruise to Taquile Island, located in the middle of Lake Titikaka, where students met with indigenous Uros families.
Highlights of the trip for students included celebrating Christmas Eve, Peruvian style with spiced hot chocolate and panettone.
"Trips like these are a wonderfully enriching way to bring our classroom studies to life," said Jason Mundy, associate headmaster and head of the upper school.