Colta Lagoon

To start off the day, Global Glimpsers went to Jatun Yachay Wasi, an Andean university, which caters to everyone of all ages, where we met our tour guide and healer, Luis. He invited us to take off our shoes and socks to become grounded with the earth and nature around us. He explained that the palms and soles of our feet are portals to our energies. I (Virgil) really resonated with that and I think he knew that, he gave me the drum and invited me to drum while he spoke and gave a tour of this university.

Student Virgil drummed and PC Mateo played the flute while our guide and healer Luis spoke.

Luis lead us to the medicinal garden and gave us each a piece of ruda. He told us it was a protection herb with healing properties and is often used for graduation ceremonies and for cleansing as well. I lead the group around the egg-shaped dome while I hit the drum rhythmically and proceeded on to the ceremonial circle where Mateo played the flute while I drummed. Everyone lined up along the circle and took deep breaths. Afterward, we were led to the healing forest where Luis told us about masculine and feminine energy. All living and nonliving things.

Visiting a medicinal garden

We took another quick tour to Colta Lagoon. There were many diffrent stories about how the lagoon came to be. It was filled with many different kinds of ducks. The scientific theory was that back then the mountains had ice on their tops, but due to the change in climate the snow melted and the ice came down to the hole where the Lagoon stands today. The second story starts with four brothers bringing out a big paila (pot) outside for a community party. However, it started to rain heavily so the brothers sought out shelter but left the paila behind on the soil. They realized that the paila was quickly accumulating water and slowly sinking into the soil. The brothers rushed to take the water out but it would only fill up faster. The community was called upon to try and free the paila of water but in the end they watched the paila sink further into the ground. The empty space was soon to be filled up to become Colta Lagoon.

Colta Lagoon

After the tour, we were invited to eat Pachamanca. The food is cooked underground using heated stones and took about an hour. Usually, the harder solid items go on the bottom while the softer items go on top. However, the rocks are put down first then the food for each layer. Once the food was cooked, we used a type of lettuce as a plate and our hands to eat. Everyone agreed that the food was super delicious, including the refreshing lemonade.

Pachamanca