Deliberately Detouring in Cusco

July 6, 2025

Dear Family, Friends, and Fellow Travelers,

Sara’s Recap and Thoughts

At long last, we have made it to (nearly) the end of our family sabbatical. We planned a longer stay in Cusco so that our kids could attend a Worldschool Hub through a program called Deliberate Detour. Deliberate Detour runs two-week hubs in both Cusco and Oaxaca, where Monday through Thursday the kids explore the local area through workshops, neighborhood walks, cultural sites, and food. On Fridays, the company offers family field trips. This is the first (and only) official hub in which we’ve participated on our year abroad, and it more than exceeded our expectations. The two hub leaders, Camila and Mar, are great with the kids, and Camila in particular has been inordinately helpful with everything else (including finding Justin a doctor here to look at his eye). The company was flexible with us, allowing Calla to attend the hub full time despite the fact that the typical age range is 7-16. Making things even better is that the three other families with kids in the program are awesome, and we were really happy that they all wanted to hang out outside of the proscribed hub activities! One night, we went to Qucharitas for “ice cream for dinner.” Another day, I organized a private tour of an animal reserve. All of the kids really enjoyed interacting with the Andean bears, alpacas, and condors.

Between Inti Raymi (see below) and Cusco’s position as an excellent base for longer hiking trips, the city was filled with tourists. After traveling through sparsely toured Ecuador, this has felt like a pretty big shift. Some of our highlights:

Family Field Trips

Quechua Village: On our first full day in Cusco, we awoke bright and early to meet hub members for a visit to Huilloc Alto, a Quechua village in the high Andes. There, we were invited into the home of Juanita, who introduced us to the other women in the community. We tried on local clothes and then visited a kindergarten. While there, we played Pato, Pato, Ganzo (Duck, Duck, Goose) and Musical Chairs. It was adorable, these tiny bundled up little people running around and chasing all of us! As the village is very remote, we were asked to bring some small gifts. Our hub leaders provided blankets, and the other hub family brought colored pencils and finger puppets. Calla and I had picked up several coloring books back in Lima, and she was pleased to be able to gift these to the head teacher. After visiting the kindergarten, we participated in another pachamanca ceremony (where the food is cooked underground). After lunch, we cut grass and then took it to feed the guinea pigs. We ended our visit by learning to weave bracelets and participating in a goodbye circle. It was a really nice way to kick off our time here in Cusco.

Maras, Moray, and Huaypo Lake: Our second Friday field trip included several stops –first, we briefly stopped to see a weaving demonstration, though as our family has already seen several of these, I stayed in the van with Jonah and Simon (who had fallen asleep). Next, we visited the Maras Salt Mines, which resembled several square blocks of brie and is one of the largest salt extraction centers in Peru.

Then, we visited Moray, which are stunning Inca ruins that resemble amphitheaters. As the Incas do not have a written language, historians aren’t entirely sure what purpose Moray held, but there are several theories, including that it was used as an Incan Ceremonial Site or for agricultural research.

Finally, we visited Huaypo Lake, where the chef made us all a beautiful meal. While our itinerary said we’d have free time to kayak and paddleboard, zero family members had any interest in going in the water. As the sun had finally come out, the kids all had far more fun exploring the green space. There was also a foosball table and a game called “Toad,” which was like skeeball but with tokens that you have to try to toss into the mouth of a frog. It was remarkable what a difference just one week makes! During our first Friday field trip, only one of the other families joined, but this time, all 16 hub participants (kids + adults) attended. It feels a little like sleepaway camp, where the kids have already tightly bonded. After lunch, Calla ran off with Avalyn (7) and Alice (9), while Jonah hung out with Julian (12) and Simon spent time with various permutations of kids while the adults split a bottle of wine and relaxed in the sun. Never satisfied, on the way back after a long day, Calla remarked, “I haven’t had any chocolate today except for my chocolate cake!”

Hub activities

For the most part, parents did not join in on the kids’ hub activities. A few exceptions:

Inti Raymi: The second day at the hub coincided with Inti Raymi, a traditional Incan religious ceremony in honor of the sun god. It is the most important and best-attended celebration of the year in all of Cusco. Our hub leaders managed to secure us a balcony spot at a local restaurant, where we met in the morning and ordered juices. The kids hung out, drew, and played games while we waited for the parade to start. We all squeezed into a balcony overlooking the parade to watch, and it was unreal. The only thing I could even remotely compare it to is attending the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, but I think the magnitude here was even bigger. There were various acts performing in the street all around the square. I’m so glad we were here in Peru to witness this.

Fundacion Ninos del Arco Iris: During the second week at the hub, the kids visited the Fundacion Ninos del Arco Iris, a school in Urubamba. The school provides education, nutrition, and medical services to under-resourced children in the local community. Several of the parents came along, and we toured the beautiful school grounds, ate lunch, and played games with the kids. Towards the end of our visit, Mar dressed up like a clown and gave all the kids lollipops. It was a good day.

Expo and Pachamana Ceremony: On the final day of the hub, each of the kids presented on something they learned or enjoyed about their two weeks in Cusco. This was followed by a lovely pachamama ceremony where blessings were made and we connected with the earth.

Kid-Free Activities

Qoricancha: One afternoon, Justin, myself, and another Mom (Stephanie) took a guided tour of Qoricancha, a small museum that houses fragments of Incan civilization as well as paintings and textiles. Our guide, Silver, was really engaging, showing us how the bricks - which were assembled pre-iron age - were attached using Lego-like connections. One of the things that was most interesting to me was that historians are still uncertain as to whether or not the Incans had a written language. He told us about Quipus, which are record keeping devices using a sequence of intricately fashioned knotted cords. While these were clearly used to track numerical data, there is speculation that the knots - which used various colors - may have also functioned as historical record keepers.

Cooking class: On our kids’ first day at the hub, Justin and I took a cooking class. First, we were given a tour of the San Pedro Market. (We’d just visited the day before, and the place is dizzying, with endless stalls both indoors and out. Somehow, I was convinced to purchase three rainbow Jell-O cups with whipped cream for lunch because I am nothing if not a responsible parent.) At any rate…. We first made passion fruit pisco sours, to which I added insufficient egg white. Next up was a delicious trout ceviche. We’ve eaten a lot of ceviche since arriving in South America, and this one included sweet potato, which was a first. We talked about how, in Ecuador, ceviche is served with popcorn, and we tried to convince the instructor that this is quite tasty. Next, we made a vegetarian quinoa risotto, and finally, a fruit cup. Now I am typically in camp “fruit is not dessert,” but this one actually made the cut. We mixed cherimoya into whipped cream and added several other Peruvian fruits including tuna (prickly pear), lucuma, and granadilla, which is like a less sour version of passion fruit and probably my favorite fruit I’ve tried here.

 Overall, it’s been so nice to have some down time. One day, Justin and I spent hours wandering around the city, poking into stores, stopping for lunch. I’ve also gone for a few massages, and enjoyed additional kid-free time at the San Pedro Market.

Mil: So, I swear I wasn’t planning to go to yet another acclaimed tasting menu restaurant, but when we met Avalyn’s parents, Jessica and Shawn, and they expressed interest in Mil, I may or may not have immediately invited ourselves along. Mil is the sister restaurant to Central, where we dined in Lima, and I couldn’t pass up another opportunity to taste this incredible chef’s work. Mil was recently rated #75 in the world, and we’d read that the experience was completely different from Central. Upon arrival, we were given a tour of the grounds. Each couple opted for one alcohol pairing and one mixed pairing to accompany our meals. The menu was heavily focused on locally grown produce, including corn and potatoes, and well as meats (duck, lamb, alpaca). Unlike Central, there was no seafood on the menu. Each of the 8 courses arrived with a card with a photo and an explanation of the dish. Our foursome had a lot of fun, ending our adventure with a rousing Hamilton sing-a-long in the car on the way back to Cusco.  

Rainbow Mountain

Rainbow Mountain (or “Vinicunca”) is famous for its stunning array of colors due to its mineralogical composition. The best way to do this hike is through a tour company, so after a bit of research, I booked a tour several weeks before arriving in Cusco. Given the high popularity of Rainbow Mountain, the tour company picks up participants around 3am so that they are on the mountain before it gets really crowded. On the day in question, I set my alarm for 2:45am and carefully crept out of our apartment. So, the thing with going solo on a group tour is you never quite know what the social dynamic is going to be like. In this case, I quickly realized I was on a tour van with a dozen twentysomethings, many of whom were also doing some of Peru’s more intensive multi-day treks.

It takes about 2.5 hours to get to Rainbow Mountain, but we stopped for breakfast at 5am. I chugged both coffee and coca leaf tea, which is meant to help with altitude, and then immediately regretted it as the liquid sloshed around my stomach as we drove through a windy road for the very last hour of the journey. While the hike to the top of the mountain is only about 4km, the summit sits at a whopping 5,036 meters above sea level. (For comparison, Cusco is only about 3,400 meters above sea level.) From the moment I stepped out of the van, I knew the hike was going to be a challenge. The first 20 minutes or so are fairly level and I was already gasping for breath. As we started hiking the steeper climbs, I had to slow down, and stop periodically to catch my breath. I’d heard that one way to combat the steep altitude is to walk in a zig zag, so that is what I did, one hiking pole in front of the other. (No one else had hiking poles because they weren’t in their 40’s.) There are sort of two summits – one, with a bunch of vendors selling hot drinks, snacks, and offering to take your photo with llamas in sunglasses, and then another a sharp incline higher. This is the one that sits at over 5,000 meters and has better views. Here I am standing there! It was freezing and I couldn’t take my gloves off, so I didn’t stay up there for all that long. On our way back down, we took a detour to Red Valley before meeting at the van to head to lunch. I definitely underestimated how challenging it would be to climb at such a high altitude, and between the super early wake up and the altitude, I developed a nasty headache upon my return to Cusco. I ended up going for a post-hike massage later that day. This is a specific service offered by various spas around here, and I have no idea what the massage therapist did to my head, but it worked wonders.

On our way back to our Airbnb on the final day of the hub, a little boy with a blue plastic sword came out of nowhere and started stabbing at Simon. We giggled and and quickly shuffled indoors. Three hours later, we left the Airbnb to go to Limo, a Japanese Peruvian fusion restaurant. As we were leaving, the little boy with the sword jumped out at us again. So. Many. Questions! Was he standing there waiting for us all this time? Where were his parents? And why does a plastic sword hurt so much?!

Next newsletter, we’re going to write about our trip to Machu Picchu (July 4th - 6th; as of this writing, we’ve already returned to Cusco, but we want to make sure to do the experience justice), plus our surprise final stop and our thoughts on returning back home. Here’s one final photo from the time Simon and I snuck away for (yet another) tasting menu meal.

Justin’s Soapbox

Cusco is a unique city in which to be completing our world trip with. And it’s astounding to type that: completing our world trip. It’s hard to believe we’re in the last days of this journey. And I do think this sense of bittersweet bewilderment is in part due to the character of the city of Cusco and how we’ve been spending our time here.

Cusco is a very old city, and this mountainous area has been permanently occupied for well over 1,000 years. It was the capital of the Inca empire, and subsequently the center of Spanish colonization in the region. As a result, it is much more of an “old world” type of city, especially when compared to Lima, Quito, or even Santiago; covered with narrow stone streets and small alcoves.

Cusco is a major center for hiking tourism, but certainly does not feel “touristy” at all. And as a result (along with our prolonged 2 week stay here) I’ve been feeling more embedded in the flow of a city than I have in some time. I think it was as far back as Hoi An in Vietnam when we were this ensconced.

Having arrived here in the midst of the Raymi holiday celebrations has also been a treat. Not only were we able to witness the enormous Raymi parade, but each night different corners of the city have been coming to life with small processions, brass bands, fireworks, rows of local food stalls, and dance groups. Pockets of vivacious social life abound. The spontaneity of it (from my perspective) has made walking around Cusco a real joy; you never know what you’ll stumble across.

The family hub that we have been participating both adds to the feeling of having some roots here (by providing routine, child care, and a sense of community) but also somewhat detracts from it (since we are mostly Americans doing activities together). It’s an interesting dichotomy. But mostly, Sara and I have been exceedingly thankful that the kids all seem to be enjoying it and have been able to make friends and have some structure to their schedule.

In stark contrast to some earlier group-based activities on a certain archipelago which will remain nameless, the kids here are actually able to socialize with peers, run around, make jokes, and play games while learning… i.e. be respected for the capability of their age and high levels of energy they possesss. I can’t tell you how great a feeling of relief and pride I’ve been able to get from hearing things like “the Spanish lessons were fun” and “yeah I talked with this other kid for like an hour.” Socializing is back, finally, and seems to be just what we needed.

And that’s why, for all of Cusco’s charm, our prevailing thought for the past few weeks is how much we are looking forward to coming home. The kids clearly thrive in an environment of routine and need to be able to interact with peers. Of course they have already made huge strides in their flexibility skills by being thrown into to a wildly diverse set of places and activities over the past year. They’re coming back prepared for all kinds of new challenges, and the past few two weeks have given these capabilities a shot in the arm. Once we’re finally resettled, I’m optimistic that the benefits of us bringing them around the world will be reflected in how they approach “normal” life once more.

Here are a few highlights from Cusco that will stick with me for a while -

Moray! The Incan archeological site that was essentially a pre-Colombian genetic engineering laboratory for crops it had a very Stonehenge-like quality to it, but the fact that it was used for practical agricultural development rather than ancient mysterious who-knows-what gave me a real appreciation for the Incan civilization.

Mil! An amazing “lunch” experience, which coincidentally was right next to Moray (we drove out there twice). Probably the most expressive concoction of Peruvian flavors I’ve had on this trip. Our previous dinner at Central was worldly and modern, and this meal at their sister restaurant was earthy and rustic in its flavors. This isn’t to say it wasn’t prepared anything less than immaculately, just that the signature flavors of the region (corn, potatoes, chocolate, etc) were all up-front stars of the show.

Condors! Sitting in a giant netted area with giant condors walking and flying around us! Huge! Epic! Condors!!

Jonah’s Musings

Peru is our final destination on this amazing trip we're taking, (except for some surprise at the end). Cusco is the place we're in right now, and I have been having a lot of fun at this hub I'm going to. The hub is pretty much a camp with a bunch of kids aged 5-13. Every day was quite fun, we went to a chocolate museum, a fortress and much more.

All the kids at the hub are pretty nice, and everyone seems to be getting along well. Our last big trip will be Machu Picchu, and I am very excited. Our last day at the hub we did a Pachamama ceremony. An Andean local gave us leaves and did a ritual to make our wishes come true. After that we danced (not me though, I don't dance that much.), as he played a song.

One of my favorite activities at the hub was going to an alpaca sanctuary. At this place we saw alpacas, llamas, guanacos, vicunas, one sheep, a random deer, and some condors. I really enjoyed feeding the llamas and alpacas, and the Andean condors were also very cool. Condors have the 2nd largest wingspan of any bird only second to the wandering albatross. Their wings can be up to 10.5 feet from one tip of the wing to the other. We also went to another animal sanctuary that had three spectacled bears. This one was very funny!

For some reason the other kids and I saw some random ostrich in a back enclosure. We also saw a sheep and a deer. As I said before I am quite excited for Machu Picchu, where we have to take an hour and a half train ride, followed by a 20-minute bus ride to get to our hotel. After that we have to do a medium long hike to get there. I am interested in seeing the ruins of course, but I am also excited to have the chance to see some animals out in the wild.

In the next blog I will talk about All the adventures of Machu Picchu and if I see any interesting wildlife. But anyways, that's all for today. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow our newsletter, see you in the next one!

Simon’s Reflection

When we arrived in Cusco it was night so we had to go to bed right away, and it took a bit of time for mom to find food.

The next day, we got up early and we went to this traditional village. They made really good food for us, and they made us bracelets. They also gave us traditional clothes to try on and a flower necklace.

We went to a school in the village which was mostly young kids. The older had to walk every day to a school further away. We played some games with the kids, but it probably wasn’t the best idea to play duck duck goose, the kids weren’t exactly what I call fast. But they were extremely cute.

We left the school and had lunch that was pretty good. We also saw guinea pigs. People usually say “guinea pigs are so cute! They are so nice! They never bite!” Well that is completely FALSE. When we got there they were squirming around very cutely, then my brother picked one up. It bit him! Then I picked one up. It scratched me! In a moment of seconds, most of the kids started screaming. When we left I was actually very happy.

Later we looked at crops where a person used a sickle to cut them. Everyone got a turn to use the sickle. It’s a sickle!

A few days later we went to a meeting at the hub so we could learn everyone’s names. I saw a ball there and I noticed I was a bit too strong to use it for volleyball (I hit it and broke some tiles… it was an accident!). Then I hit the ball over the roof by accident.

The next day was our first official day at the hub. There were three new kids. Jonah became good friends with the oldest, named Julian, and so did I. It was a fun first day. We just kind of hung around and met each other.

The next day we went to this parade. It was called the Raymi parade and it took an hour to start and went on for about two hours. I think I fell asleep at part of it. I remember there are lots of people dancing around.

Over the next few days we made alfajores, we went to a climbing gym, a llama farm, and I took Spanish lessons.

On Thursday night I had a giant thing of ice cream. Other kids from the hub also came. My ice cream was lemon flavor and had gummy bears in it, and the cone was chocolate with sprinkles. I ate it too fast and my stomach started hurting. At least I finished it!

Another day we went to an animal sanctuary. We saw condors and their wing span was amazing.

On the final day at the hub, everyone needed to work on an expo presentation. Some people wanted to use props, but l didn’t. I would just, which meant I had a lot of time. But Louis asked Jonah to help him draw planets for his project, but Jonah said “10 bucks!” But I did with him for free and did the drawings.

I had some rough days at the hub but also good days. The city of Cusco was very complicated because the streets were narrow, and it was kind of hard to walk. But overall I had a very, very good time.

Calla’s Corner

So, I did this one day. Well, it’s mostly a blog. And I’m going to tell you about it. Thank you so…I needed you to come look at this blog today because I’m so happy about this. I’m going to start talking soon as I’m done with this little talk. I like how this….you guys are going to love this blog. So here I go!

First of all, when you’re reading this blog, no shoving to look at it or anything like that. Ok, this is real time now.

So, first of all, I am in South America. This is Calla speaking here. If you don’t know me…. I’m sure you all know me. One day I visited this farm [Huilloc Village] where they made us lunch. So, that’s fun, and they made me a bracelet and we got to try on clothing. We didn’t get to bring them home but I got a souvenir. It was a big purple hat. I don’t know where it is right now but that’s okay. I went to a school and we got to play pato, pato, ganzo. At the place there was a little cute, adorable baby I helped around even though he spoke a different language. He got a little blanket. It’s nice talking about this. So, I like doing a blog so much because it teaches me a bunch of stuff. So also, the other day we went on this big family field trip. It was so cool. We got to visit the salt mines. I met a new friend called Avalyn. 

Mommy: Calla, we are in Cusco and you have been doing a worldschooling hub with other kids the last couple of weeks. What has that been like? 

Calla: Well, it’s pretty good. I like it. I got a prize, it’s a guinea pig. So, I painted one day, this big sun thing. It’s silver and it’s so cool.

Mommy: Can you tell me about the other kids?

Calla: So, in the hub, there’s me, Jonah, and Simon and a bunch of other kids. There’s three kids we saw a bit of a different day. There’s one called Julian and one called…. A big girl, and there’s a little girl. I forget their names. And also there’s two kids called Louis and Alice. I made friends with them. Louis is the boy and Alice is the girl.

 Mommy: And you visited another chocolate factory?

Calla: Yeah, and we got to make our chocolate and I chose M&Ms, marshmallows, gummy bears, and sprinkles, and milk chocolate. And they’re in the fridge right now. It tastes so good!

Mommy: What about your second week in the hub?

 Calla: I’ll talk about two things – flying kites [ed note: she then refused to discuss this] and also the thing I did today [July 3^rd]. One day, I went to this school [Fundacion Ninos]. It was so fun. We got to play in the park and at the end we got lollipops with gum inside. My mom didn’t let me eat the gum. The lollipops were so good.

 On the last day of the hub, which is today, I made an expo. I writed [sic] about the chocolate factory, but no words just pictures and I said about it. All the other kids got to talk about things, too. There was a little ceremony. Me and my friends, Avalyn and Alice, made a fortress. So, you may not know them because they’re different friends of mine and you haven’t met them. 

Mommy: Calla, are you excited to head to Machu Picchu this weekend?

Calla: Not really.

T-9 days until we are home!! Thanks to the Fergusons, McDonalds (+ Emily), and Merkines for making the last couple of weeks extra enjoyable.

xo,

Sara, Justin, Jonah, Simon, and Calla