Last one from Machu Picchu!
July 22, 2024
As this session of our Machu Picchu adventure slowly approaches its end, after all these flight changes, we want to say thank you. We could not have asked for a better group of individuals to end this unforgettable Moondance summer with. Thank you for trusting us to care for and lead your children these past two weeks. We can confidently say that we learned just as much from them as they did from us.
Eleanor taught us the importance of gratitude. She approached each day with excitement and happiness, something that immediately spread to everyone around her. Her love for life and this trip was infectious.
Dash reminded us how to take life one step at a time. He never got too ahead of himself or the group and was always living in the moment. He didn’t worry about the future or stress about the past, but instead always went with the flow of the trip!
Anna showed us the power of embracing who you are. She was unapologetically herself throughout these two weeks, and it encouraged everyone around her to do the same. From her silly jokes to her contagious laugh, she was always genuine with everything she said and did.
Maggie fosters connections. She makes you feel like you’re talking to your best friend in any situation. She balances intentional listening with engaging conversation perfectly and never failed to bring a smile to everyone’s face!
A.J. is the brightest light and joy! Whether it was a joke or an intentional conversation, everyone loved spending time with A.J. because it meant they were destined for a great time.
Sophia taught us the power of resilience. During our long trekking days, Sophia never chose to give up despite some sickness. She pushed herself and was determined to find a way in every challenge she faced.
Ashby showed us what true kindness looks like. She never failed to make the people around her feel seen, loved, and appreciated. She has such a comforting presence that made everyone want to be around her.
Emma brought a fun, positive energy everywhere she went. People loved being in Emma’s presence because she was always finding ways to make the most out of every situation.
George brought curiosity to our group. He was always eager to learn about what we were doing and why we were doing it. He immersed himself in the cultural trail conversations with our guide, practicing his Spanish skills whenever he could, and we loved seeing him thrive here!
Lindsey showed us strength. Her maturity, paired with her ability to have fun, brought the perfect balance to our group. She is humbly confident and inspired everyone around her to embrace who they are.
These students were genuinely all we could have asked for and more to finish out this special summer in Peru. We shared memories that we will hold onto forever and created friendships that will last a lifetime. Thank you again for sharing your wonderful children with us these past two weeks. We were incredibly lucky to lead each and every one of them.
To MPU 3, you know how special of a place you have in our hearts. You made our final Moondance session something we will remember forever. Please never be a stranger! We are always here for you and love all of you more than you know! Endless thanks for everything and safe travels home.
For one last time…
Cheers, John + Caroline
Checking in from Peru!
July 19, 2024
This trekking section of our trip has been nothing short of amazing! The students have been loving their time on the trail, and our group has bonded even more closely. We can’t believe that we’re nearing the end of our trip, but we are so grateful for all the times we’ve shared together!
On Day 7, we returned to Cusco to prep for trekking and welcomed our second HQ guest of the summer, Ben Sweeten. Ben works for the Moondance Office as the Director of International Operations. He got the chance to visit a trip this summer, and we were lucky enough to welcome him to Peru! He’s been such an awesome asset to our group, and this section of the trip would not have been the same without him.
On Day 8, we transferred to our trailhead where we began our trek. After a short hike to camp, we played some hacky sack, ate lunch, then started on our day hike up to a beautiful lake surrounded by the snowy Andes Mountains. The trek up was good practice for what the next day would hold, but all of the students made it up to the lake to appreciate the gorgeous view. After lots of pictures and a snack at the top, the group headed back down the mountain to our campsite for dinner. On the way down, Eleanor reassured us, saying that although tomorrow’s trek might be challenging, this is an experience we are so lucky to have and said, “you’re never going to be hiking in Peru at 17 years old again with a bunch of people you just met.” After making it to camp, we got bundled up in warm clothes and enjoyed dinner followed by Moonup. One of our LODs, Lindsey, asked the question, “What is a message you want to tell the world?” Hearing the students’ answers was so special because it showed us what they value in their lives.
Day 9. The Salkantay Pass. Waking up on this day, there was some nervous excitement across the group. All were eager to conquer this challenge, and each of them proved it was nothing to be anxious about. All 10 students made it to the top of the Pass, gaining 2,100 ft in elevation and reaching a maximum altitude of 15,100 ft. We were so proud of each student challenging themselves and proving to themselves that they are capable of anything. It was such a special moment making it to the top and hearing the students’ reactions to how rewarding the feeling was. Eleanor and Emma kept describing the views as “sick” because they were in such awe of the beauty. We played plenty of trail games along the way, including the STAR movie game where one person would say the initials of a movie followed by a brief summary, and the first person to name the movie got a turn. We also loved playing the carabiner game, where students would secretly move a single blue carabiner around to people’s backpacks, and whoever arrived at camp with it lost. After making it to the Pass and taking plenty of photos, we headed a few minutes down the mountain to the most perfect lunch spot with a great view of Salkantay Mountain. We ate delicious sandwiches while enjoying each other’s company and sharing lots of laughs. As we continued down the mountain to our next campsite, we hyped up the experience with some great music, courtesy of a playlist full of the students’ favorite songs. We made it to camp and enjoyed a popcorn appetizer, which AJ and Dash were the first to dive into. As a pre-dinner activity, our visitor Ben introduced us to a new game called “Bob the Weasel.” The students would put their arms around each other in a circle with one student in the middle and pass around a Nalgene water bottle called “the weasel.” The person in the middle would have to figure out who had the “weasel” while the rest of the group sang a song that went with the game. This game quickly became a fan favorite, with all the students laughing hysterically. At dinner, Eleanor couldn’t stop smiling, reminiscing about how great of a day she had. She was so happy, and her joy was contagious. She had so much energy before going to bed that she managed to get Lindsey and George to play tag with her to tire herself out (which, at that altitude, it most definitely did). Once again, we got cozy in our tents and eagerly awaited our next day of trekking.
After a long day’s work but a good night’s rest, we knew that Day 10 needed an exciting wake-up. This called for a music wake-up, as the hype songs quickly got the students out of their tents and ready for another great day of trekking (and this time all downhill🥳). About halfway, we stopped at a little hut for a snack break, where Ben gave us a great riddle. AJ and Lindsey were the first to figure it out! We finished up our hike that day with some more downhill trail chats, then a delicious and rewarding Mexican lunch. Dash commented this was his favorite meal yet! After lunch, we took a van to our next campsite located in a small town called Santa Teresa. Once we changed into clean clothes, we all sat at our outdoor dining room table for a night full of games. While half of the table played ERS with one deck of playing cards, the other half played Kemps. Ashby was a quick learner and became a big fan of Kemps, as she and Caroline were victorious. We followed the card games with another round of Three on a Couch, in which Anna and Ashby were in charge of collecting all the stories and deciding on which three people spoke at the front. Sophia is excellent at this game, as she fooled the entire group, only for us to realize she was, in fact, lying in her story. We got plenty of good laughs out of this game the first time, and it was nothing short of that this second time around! We enjoyed a yummy spaghetti dinner, then proceeded to a wonderful Moonup, led by Emma and AJ. Afterwards, we walked across the street and watched a pickup soccer game! Upon returning to camp, some of the students taught one another Texas Hold’em poker. Maggie learned for the first time and quickly won several hands, much to her opponents’ surprise!
Day 11 was full of great memories! We drove to Hydroelectrica and began our trek alongside railroad tracks to the Machu Picchu town, Aguas Calientes. This trek was full of beautiful views and genuine laughter. After a couple of hours, we made it to Aguas Calientes and did some souvenir shopping before taking a shower for the first time in 4 days!! We enjoyed two ice cream treats as a congratulations for finishing our trekking section!
As we prepare to see Machu Picchu, we cannot thank y’all enough for sharing these students with us. They have been a joy to be around these past two weeks, and we wish we had more time with them! One final update to come….
Cheers,
Caroline + John
Ashby: Hi guys!! This trip has been so amazing and I can’t wait to tell y’all all about it! We get to go see Machu Picchu today and I couldn’t be more excited!! I miss everyone so so much and I’ll see y’all soon!! Love you all!🥰🏔️🦙
George: Hi Mom and Dad, this trip has been such a good experience and about to get even better when I go to Machu Picchu. I am super excited and I know it will be awesome. See you soon.
Emma: Hi guys!! This has been the best trip ever, and we haven’t even gone to Machu Picchu yet!! (We go today) see you when I get back!! Miss you 🥰
Maggie: Hi guys!! This has been the best trip ever and we haven’t even gone to Machu Picchu yet!! (We go today) see you when I get back!!
Lindsey: Hi everyone!! Today we get to tour Machu Picchu and I am so excited!!!! This trip has been amazing and I am so sad to have to leave. I miss you guys and will see you soon! Love you!
Dash: hey family thank you for sending me on this trip it was super fun
AJ: Hi Mom, Dad, and Riley! Today we hike Machu Picchu and I’m so excited. This has been an awesome two weeks and I can’t wait to see y’all and give you guys a hug.
Anna: Hello family, I hope you’ve been having a good 2 weeks. I miss y’all very much and will see you very soon. Today is the day we get to see Machupicchu and I’m very excited! Todays our last day and then I’m on the way home. I love you guys ❤️💋
Eleanor: Hi! Peru has been so much fun, and today I’m going to Machu Picchu. I have loved everything, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it
Sophia: Hi!! My groups heading to Machu Picchu today and we’re all so excited! Peru has been so much fun, and I can’t wait to tell y’all about it! Love you guys 🏔️
John + Caroline: Hey HQ! Thank y’all so much for the best summer ever!! We are so grateful for this opportunity and appreciative of all your hard work and help throughout. See y’all soon!!
Moondance Magic in Peru!
July 15, 2024
MPU 3 says hola from Peru!!!
We’ve been having a blast on this last session of the summer and these students have made it so special! We cannot thank y’all enough for sending each of them on this trip. We are so grateful to get to lead these awesome people!
After meeting the students in Lima and then flying to Cusco, we enjoyed a delicious lunch before our van transfer to the Apurimac River for our rafting section. Despite a long drive, the students had great attitudes and excitement about being in Peru and couldn’t wait to start rafting! We arrived at our campsite after sunset so we ate dinner, had our first Moonup, then got cozy in our sleeping bags and ready for an exciting day ahead!
Day 3 brought a very fun day of rafting! The LOD’s (Leaders of the Day), Eleanor and Emma, created our two rafting teams. We got to experience some pretty awesome views and gnarly rapids! Anna’s contagious laugh had everyone in Caroline’s raft laughing as we went down each rapid. Ashby thoroughly enjoyed her first time rafting and said it was completely different than she expected (in a good way😉). We stopped halfway through the day for lunch and indulged in some absolutely delicious tuna, avocado and tomato sandwiches that everyone loved, but especially Eleanor as her favorite food is tuna! In John’s raft, AJ and John found themselves at the front of the raft narrating each others every move like TV announcers! We finished up rafting for the day and got to our beautiful beachside campsite along the river. We played a big group game of Uno before enjoying a yummy popcorn appetizer. After dinner we had a great Moonup around the fire then headed to bed for our second day of rafting.
Rafting day 2 was only a half day, but still nothing short of fun! Caroline’s raft played the alphabet country game, where we would go around in a circle naming a country in the order of the alphabet and the next person had to add a new country and repeat all the ones that came before. It was a challenge but nothing our raft couldn’t handle. John’s raft shared plenty more laughs courtesy of AJ! We finished rafting, ate lunch, then transferred back to Cusco where all the students got to take a hot shower and get ready for a great dinner ahead! We headed to our favorite pizza spot in town and enjoyed some comfort food. We ended the night with a sweet ice cream treat and Moonup then headed onto bed excited for phase 2 of our trip to commence: community service.
As a part of this trip, we get the opportunity to travel to a small town about 45 minutes away from downtown Cusco, called Ccorca. Over the course of our 3 days of community service, we painted the community center where the community hold large meetings. After our paint job, the room appeared much brighter and more lively and we are so grateful to have gotten to help out the town. In the afternoon of Day 5, we had some free time so our group headed down to a nearby soccer field and played World Cup. Despite the altitude being a strong contributing factor to our tiredness, Emma was victorious! To cool off from our fútbol game, we played some cards and our new favorite game called Spot It! Maggie was a pro at Spot It and swept the playing field every time. That night, our chefs hosted a cooking class for us where the students prepared our steak, rice and veggie dinner. Sophia, Lindsey, Ashby, and Anna were in charge of chopping some vegetables for our soup; AJ, Dash, and George showed off their dicing skills and even tried a bite of a spicy pepper; Maggie and Emma held back tears while slicing onions; and Eleanor helped prep and cut the steak. While waiting for dinner to finish being cooked, we played a group game called “Three on a Couch.” Students would come to the front of the room in groups of three and tell us a story about “the time I….” but only one of the stories would be true! Sophia tricked everyone with her very true story that she posed as a lie. The students loved this pre-dinner game before indulging in the delicious food they prepared.
Day 6 was full of surprises! We woke up and all hopped into a truck to drive out to the farmland of Ccorca. Here our outfitters helped us surprise the students with a traditional Inca ceremony, thanking the Earth for its beauty and all that it provides. The students loved this because it allowed them to be immersed in the culture and see some pretty rad views along the way. We got to climb through a small cave while we were there, and George absolutely loved it. He later said it’s been his favorite part of the trip so far! The truck ride there and back was filled with awesome music and a lot of laughter. After returning back to the main Ccorca square we did more painting at the school and we were so impressed with how diligent the students worked as well as their excitement to be there. We made it back to our lodging and enjoyed yet another delicious meal with many laughs shared at the dinner table. That night we had a very special Moonup around the fire hosted by our LOD’s, Dash and Lindsey. Dash came up with the question “what is most important to you in life?” We got an array of different answers and it was so beautiful to hear the way each student talked about what they find important and why. We all agreed that on this day we really felt the Moondance magic!
We woke up the next day to a yummy French toast breakfast before heading back down to the school to finish up painting. After a few hours we got to see our finished 3-day product and we can confidently say we left the community center better than we found it, thanks to the students hard work and the city of Ccorca welcoming us! We headed back to Cusco to explore the town and get ready for phase three of our trip: trekking the Salkantay Trail!
As we find ourselves halfway through the trip and excited to start trekking, we are so grateful to have the opportunity to spend these two special weeks in Peru! It’s already been so wonderful and we can’t wait to keep on rockin’ and rollin’! More updated to come!
Cheers,
Caroline + John
Emma: Hi family! I miss y’all so much! I hope you are all having fun on your trips. Thank you for sending me here! I love my group and leaders. Tell my friends I said hi! I love y’all! 🥰🤩🫶
Maggie: Hi friends and fam!! Thank you tons for sending me on this trip I’m having the best time with my friends and leaders! Miss and love you lots!! 💌💌
AJ: Hi Mom, Dad, and Riley!! I am having such a great time and can’t wait to trek to Machu Picchu. I am having a great time with all the people and our counselors. I love y’all and miss you guys. I also bought Riley a gift so send her this message as well!
Dash: Hey dad and Mary. Thank you for sending me on this trip I am having fun. We start hiking the trail to Machu Picchu tomorrow and I am exited.
George: Hi Mom and Dad! I am loving Peru, it is super amazing. It is super beautiful and I love the scenery. I am having an awesome time and I am super excited to climb to Machu Picchu.
Sophia: Hi family! Miss y’all!! Thank you guys for sending me, and I hope you’re having the best time at home. My counselors are great, and Peru is super pretty. Tell Allie I said hi! (I know she’s missing her favorite roomie). Love you guys so much! 🫶🦙
Ashby: Hi family!! I miss you all so so much! I’m having the best time in Peru. It’s definitely an experience I’ll always remember! I’m making so many fun memories and I can’t wait to climb up to Machu Picchu! I love our counselors and I can’t wait to tell y’all all about it!! I love you all!!🫶🫶
Lindsey: Hi Mom and Dad!! Miss you guys! I am having a great time in Peru and we are about to begin our trek to Machu Picchu. I love my counselors and all the other campers on our trip! Hope you guys are doing well and tell Natalie I say hi! Love you and can’t wait to tell you about all the fun I am having! 🫶🫶
Eleanor: Hi Mom, Dad, Charlotte, and Webb!! I’m having so much fun in Peru, and we are starting our trek to Machu Picchu tomorrow. I love my group and my counselors so so much, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it! Love you!🩷
Anna: HIII mom, dad, and Nathan. I miss y’all so much 🫶 I hope y’all had fun in vegas. The trip has been amazing and I have met so many great people. We start the hike tomorrow and can’t wait to tell so many stories when I get back. I love you guys💋💋
Ben: Hi HQ! Do you guys miss me? Peru is great; I’m having so much fun!
Caroline: Hey fam! Peru has been so incredible and I can’t believe I’m coming up on my final week here. Miss y’all so much and see you soon!
John: Hi y’all! Happy 20th Birthday Buster! Starting our final trek today and ready to rock n roll this last session! Hugs to Teddy and the rest of the crew. Back in the states soon. ¡Hasta pronto!
Safe Arrival in Cusco!
July 9, 2024
Hello Machu Picchu Families!
We heard from our leaders this morning that the group has landed safely in Cusco! The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure.
Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next week! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
