vilcabamba continued....

Soooo as our journey continues, we worked at Cafe Cosmos for the weekend, cleaning dishes, preparing meals, and soaking in some of the great vibes in this town. Nalassa is a really great chef and no matter what we were doing, we were surrounded by wonderful aromoas of stir fries, chais, and other scents.
After the weekend, we headed off to Nori and Richard´s farm/ ecovillage/ healing center. Both of them have pretty incredible histories from riding bikes across the USA to studying modern dance and calligraphy in college to speaking with Russian Diplomats about the future of the world. Emil, Lil and I headed out there with high hopes of learning as much as we could from these two wizened souls as well as getting our hands dirty working in their garden. We put in about 4-5 hours everyday, mostly weeding in the garden (as there were tons and tons of plants to ripe out of the ground), and leaving the afternoon open for yoga, reading and exploration of their property. They are in the process of creating a new village bent upon getting rid of the old system that is no longer working in the US and having a more conscious approach to living with the environment and improving our world. Nori has written several books on the topic as well as has a website under the heading of the Best Game on Earth (check it out...really interesting stuff there). Currently, they have one house, a spa room, a healing center and a large restaurant with three rooms above for visitors. We stayed in two of the rooms above the restuarant, which also goes by the name Cafe Cosmos. Wood worked ceilings, brick walls and comfy beds (camas)were the highlights, as well as a blender that Richard and Nori let us borrow to make smooties from the vegiies and fruits we picked from the garden!.

(Lilli is writing now)... I just wrote a really awesome entry and this computer just deleted it all....so I´m a bit frustrated right now and will try and recreate it, but it may be a bit abbreviated:(

We spent the first half of the week working in the fields with Nori and Richard and our evenings cooking dinner with them and sharing stories. Nori and Richard are in their mid 60s and have many interesting stories to tell. We talked about the importance of befriending people from different generations and our opinions and ideas concerning the current state of our world and our environmental future.

Richard and Nori left mid week to go back into Vilcabamba to work at their cafe in town and we continued to work 5 hours a day on some projects that had left us with. We spent the afternoons making smoothies, relaxing by the river and hiding from the sandflies (really obnoxious little bugs that bite you and itch for days!)

When Nori and Richard arrived back at the farm on Saturday, they brought back their friend who has been working with medicinal plants for his whole life and has learned the secrets of medicinal plants that have passed down from genereation to generation in his family. Hi is helping Nori to plant a medicinal garden and will lead tours for tourists to teach them about the art of medicinal plants once the garden is finished. He told us a story about the only time in his life that he has been to the doctor and how the doctor told him that he would need to have an opperation for an enlarged prostate. He ignored the doctors advice, made a cocktail of medicinal plants from his garden and had cured his ailment in less than a month. He is now 77 years old. Truly amazing!

Speaking of older people, we met an older man at a bustop in Vilcabamba who approached the busstop carring a 40 pound sack of oranges. We got to talking and he told us about his life as a farmer, family man and land owner. When we aked his age, he smiled and told us that he was 81, although he looked to be no older than 65. He attributes his health to eating a simple, healthy diet, being active in the fields most of his life and living in the valley of longevity; vilcabamba. We have been in awe of the vitality and lifestyles of the people here. What an amazing place to live!

Other quick stories of note:
While staying at the house on the hill cleaning the kitchen, I moved a dishtowel and a tarantula popped out and landed on my butt. This was quite a scene. Then, 5 days later, at the farm, I went to put my shoe on and about half way into putting my foot inside, I felt something furry and crawly. I pulled my shoe off and threw it across the porch while screaming. Another furry friend emerged. Dave and Emil think this is hilarious. I do not. See our pictures of our furry friend below.

Also, as a farewell to Emil, yesterday, the 3 of us decided to hike Mandango, a beautiful rock formation in Vilcabamba. The hike was one of the most beautiful I have ever been on, with sweeping views of the entire valley below, green hillsides and bird sightings along the way. Pictures below as well!

Alright folks, I have been retyping this entry for what seems for forever now, so I am going to go. Dave and I are off to Podacarpus national park tonight (also in Vilcabamba) and will stay until Thursday, when we will jump a bus for the Peruvian boarder. We hope to arrive in Peru in time for my birthday on Saturday!!!

Hope all is well with our friends back home. We love and miss you all!
Many hugs and hasta luego!
- Robin:)

some pictures from our hike ouside the rumi eco lodge:







some pictures of the wonderful food made at cafe cosmos...where we volunteered (in exchange for delicious food) over the weekend:








pictures from the garden of paradise:




Our guest house at the farm...pretty nice huh?


one of the projects we worked on...building creative rock gardens for planting medicinal herbs


mmmm radishes


taking a midday swim after work


Dave with the second tarantula that has tried to attack Lilli in the past week (notice the short new haircut!)


gorgeous wildflowers



the view from our porch on the farm


Dave, Nori and Emil overlooking the valley


whoa! look at all these veggies we picked from the garden!


emil and dave weeding the garden


Some pictures from our hike of Mandango...our last day with Emil!


spontanious yoga on mountaintops:)


Dave in the pose of victory


Lilli in the pose of victory


aww, we´re so cute (disclaimer: this picture has no religious significance, all of the tops of mountains have crosses on them down here!)