Day Eight - Beginning the Santa Cruz Trek

We were woken up this morning at 5:15 by a loud knock on our door, freaking out that we'd overslept! Turns out they'd got the wrong door and we actually had another 35 minutes sleep before we had to get up. Of course, we now couldn't sleep!!

We dozed for a bit, and eventually gave up and started to get ready. Nelly came to pick us up at 6:15, we loaded our bags and got on the mini bus to meet the rest of our group - a lovely bunch and all English speaking which was helpful for me!

We drove for about 2 1/2 hours to our breakfast stop, where we all started to get to know each other a bit better - and me and Brendan discovered that we were in a group of keen hikers!!!

We continued our drive up the mountain, stopping at a beautiful lake, to the highest point of the journey at 4,870m, winding up the roads past beautiful landscapes I knew my dad would die to see!!

Looking around the bus on the way to our start point, everyone was somehow snoozing (including myself at some points!) despite the unbelievably windy and bumpy roads! Catching all the sleep we could get!!

When we finally arrived at the start point, we got our snack packs and had some lunch of veg, potatoes and avocado. Then we set off!! We walked downhill for around 45 minutes, trekking through little villages and countryside. We then began the first ascent, lots of young children zooming past us in school uniforms and smart shoes compared to us panting all geared out in our trekking shoes and clothes, putting us to shame! I was already a little worried about Brendan as he seemed to struggle a bit more than me because of his very recent broken leg injury and lack of muscle in it! The ground started to level and we all began chatting more as we got our breath back!

We arrived in camp around 5ish, and helped the donkey drivers and crew set up our tents. We were set next to a small river completely in the middle of nowhere, which was strange satisfying! The sun had already gone behind the mountains so it had gotten quite chilly! We headed into the crazy warm food tent for a snack of crackers and hot chocolate - perfect after a day's walking!

We then went into our tents to sort out and have a quick nap before dinner. Dinner was incredible!! We had a pasta soup broth for starter, the most amazing trout ever and some warned peach in syrup - we were al very impressed!! The group kept chatting around the table for a bit longer and then one by one, we headed to bed.

We had our first experience of the 'toilet tent' which was interesting, took me back to Glastonbury!! It was bitterly cold in the tent so we wrapped up and hoped for the best, with my thin sleeping bag and 9 layers of clothing!!