Homestay in Cusco

We are staying with a lovely family in Cusco in a beautiful house which is quite new and spotlessly clean. The father´s name is Abel and he works for the local Dept of Agriculture managing projects which are converting farmers growing coca to growing legal commercial crops. A very interesting guy who knows a lot about plant species. The mother is Sara and we are calling her the movie star because she is so pretty and has an outgoing personality to match. She helps us with our spanish when we have a ¨bloque mental¨ because she does speak english. The kids are home on vacation from their university studies at a private uni in Lima. The son's name is Nano and the daughter is Reisa. Both are great kids and take after their parents. Reisa's friends Alexandra and Sandra are from Lima and are also staying here for the uni holidays. Sara's mother Antonia also lives here as does Luisa the cook who has been with them for 30 years and is considered part of the family. It all sounds a little crowded but the two story house has seven bedrooms and there is plenty of room.

Yesterday they took us to some Inca ruins at Tipon where there are huge terraces that were used for cultivation and the Incas had made a complex system of aquaducts to irrigate the crops. Much of it was still working. It is quite amazing to see this place and imagine how they were living in Inca times. We had a surprise picnic after looking around the place. It was a feast that had taken hours to prepare unbeknown to us.