Andes to Amazon in Peru 2021
My name is Lucy Brada and I am From Green Bay, Wisconsin. I am a senior in high school. I have been involved in cross country for all of my middle school and high school years. I play three instruments; piano, trumpet, and french horn. As you can tell by the instruments I play, I love to play music and listen to music.
I love to travel and try new things at least once. I have never been to Peru or any part of the Andes Mountains. My parents took my older siblings a few years ago to Peru to see Machu Picchu. I knew from their experience that I wanted to go to Peru but I also wanted to do service and help people out while I was there.
One of my older sisters has done trips through programs where she got to travel while doing service, which is what inspired me to do a trip through Rustic Pathways. I had an unforgettable time for the two weeks I was in Peru doing adventurous activities while helping those people in need.
One of my favorite activities that I got to on my trip was going to an animal sanctuary and helping the ladies out with the animals. I love animals to the point where I for a while wanted to be a veterinarian. I will do anything to help animals out. The fact that my group got to experience the life of a lady who takes care of animals that have been mistreated and slowly bring them back to their natural habitat, was mind blowing for me. I loved being able to get up close to the monkeys and birds.
One of my other favorite and memorable parts of my trip was being able to go to Machu Picchu. Even though it was raining the few days my group was there, I still had an incredible experience. Even the scary bus ride all the way up to it was unforgettable. I feel that going in the pouring rain gave a better experience because with the rain came fog causing not much of a view at times. The anticipation of waiting for the fog and rain to stop so that we could see the unbelievable view made it more exciting.
Going to Peru taught me to be open minded and the ability to work with people that I do not know. From planting trees along the mountains, I had a better awareness of nature and that it needs to be taken care of better.
Later in my life, I would like to come back and help out with the animal sanctuary that my group went to. I would like give those animals that are held captive to bring theme back to being healthy and so they can live in an environment that’s made for them.