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Pampas to Ayacucho (Part one of two)
Quita has had her last few days as an Inca Rider and she has been a great help in our rapid progress through Peru . The team said goodbye to their Gringita before she embarked on her fourty hour bus to get to La Paz, for her flight home. The day after she landed she had to go to an interview at work and we are very happy to report that she got the job with Ralph Lauren! Quita spent her last few days riding on different horses and with all the team. There were some amazing reduras (short cuts) on her final day and the team were very sad to lose a key member only a couple of weeks away from Cusco.
The following day Nick and Quita made their way to Ayachucho whilst Ed and Phil packed the horses and began their ride ride along Pampas valley. That night they stopped in the small town of La Esmerelda , where late negotiations saw the horses moved from a cactus garden to a grassy field. Ed and Phil also had a late upgrade as a kind family let them stay on the floor in their old house. With our Primus cooker out of service they headed off to the local resauant with the families daughter in tow. She had taken a bit of a liking to a certain Inca Rider and it was very hard to separate her from Ed until they went their seperate ways to go to bed. Whilst sorting out the horses the next day Phil came face to face with a large hairy spider and this was swifty followed by a scorpion. Luckily he regained enough composure to take several photos of the offending spider.
Another day of riding along the valley saw the team reach the other side, and the small town of Mayocc. Any grass there had been in the valley had disappeared and it was Nick and Celeste who were on their way to resolve the current crisis. The tent was erected amongst the cactus plants and the horses were worried that they might not get their usual supply of alfalfa. The next morning produced a frantic rush to find more food as Rocio and Pajarito had escaped in the night and eaten all the supplies. Luckily Phil managed to track down a good suply of maize stalks for the horses breakfast.
The next day's ride saw Phil and Ed reach the fertile valley around Huanta, where Nick had found a great spot for the horses. They had so much grass that they took no notice of the mare in the adjoining field. The riders enjoyed a two day break with Victor Tello and his family in their beautiful Recreo. Here the saddles were finally cleaned and oiled as well as a large pile of washing sorted out. With the horses and riders refereshed the team set off again with Ed and Nick in the saddle on the road towards Ayachucho. That night the team camped next to a police station with armed guards brandishing machine guns and body armour. The team couldn´t help wondering about what might lie ahead of them.....
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